d REUNION 4 THE LIFE of a Provincial police officer is not just one of maintaining the stern interpretations of law and order. The men of this proven force are human and the record of their contributions is largely one of humanity and service. There is humour, gaiety, new life, death and tragedy. All have their places in the day-to-day story of those who watch understandingly but unobtrusively over NELSON HOTEL Pete Pezel, Proprietor LICENSED PREMISES 60 Miles North of Nanaimo On the Island Highway All Rooms Modern Rates - - $1.00 and up EXCELLENT MEALS 60c BRITISH COLUMBIA UNION BAY FRASER & HORNE M. I. HORNE AND SON The RED & WHITE Stores Dealers in GENERAL MERCHANDISE SHIPPING SUPPLIES UNION BAY B. C. LONEY'S STORE LIGHT LUNCHES CONFECTIONERY DRY GOODS © LAKE COWICHAN THE STYLE SHOPPE ELLICE M. MILES, Proprietress LADIES’ AND CHILDREN’S APPAREL HATS, SUITS, COATS, DRESSES AND LINGERIE e LAKE COWICHAN British Columbia the lives of the majority of the men and women of British Columbia. Too often it is tragedy that catches the attention of the force. Not the tragedy of the violently dying. Rather that of the still living. It is this tragedy, compara- tively great or small, that is written into the records of the Provincial Police be- cause this wide, raw land is hard to fight and the old, the weak and the sickly bow to its cold, its great expanse and its pene- trating loneliness. Take the case of the old man, confined for the shortening years of his life to a remote cabin, seemingly forgotten by all who in earlier days should have meant happiness a purpose for living. True, many, many years ago this man had suddenly left his wife and small children. He had drifted to the West and had never been traced. No one attempts to justify or excuse this deliberate wreck- ing of a home with the irreparable damage to its members. But who can say what inborn weaknesses, what characteristics and faults implanted by weak parentage, what crushing defeats had early warped and seared the reason and emotions of this then young father and rendered him inadequate for his responsibilities. That was the primary tragedy of his life. And now near-final tragedy, like a huge, brain-numbing night cap, had de- scended. His cabin, drafty, damp and insecure as it was, but nevertheless the shelter of his last years, had suddenly been reduced to grey ashes. Subsequent exposure had led to pneumonia. Andy Fairbairn (now Staff-Sergt. at Kamloops) stood by the bedside of this critically ill, forlorn old man. There was the last record to obtain so that relatives could be advised. He had lived in the district for close to forty years but little was known about him. Nothing had ever come out about his life before he drifted into British Columbia. : The officer added nothing to the records by his efforts to build up the past. How- ever, it wasn’t going to be necessary to locate relatives because the old man was tougher than the pneumonia. A few weeks later he walked out of the hospital, once more to pit himself against thé loneliness and meagre livelihood of his small, iso- lated holding. But Andy Fairbairn thought abou; once in a while, and in his spare mop began to run down his past. Then he covered a strange thing. The man lived under an assumed name durin his long years in the north of the pro: of B.C. Patiently, with the knowledge anc perience that comes to members of force, Andy Fairbairn kept probing wall that shut off the past. Finally efforts brought results. He contactec old man’s son in Eastern Canada. * one day the son stood in front of | bairn’s desk. This man, no longer young himself, sympathetic and forgiving. Together made the trip out to the cabin of the ing old man who, maybe, now d understood the price that must be for sins and faults of earlier years. But Andy Fairbairn did not aspir be an analyst of the old man’s thou or possible actions under emotional sti He had determined to proceed with utmost caution. He would introduce son by an assumed name and let the . sequent conversation lead to a poss happy conclusion. Accordingly, as the oldster wa slowly towards his visitors as they ne: the cabin, Fairbairn spoke: “Jake— you to meet Mr. Brown. I brought here to where the river’s easier to cr Thought possibly you might like to | him your boat so’s he can ‘take a lool the land on the other side.’’ The older man’s failing eyes turned wards the younger man. Suddenly stood still. Andy Fairbairn watched intently. TI was a strong similarity between these men. The face of the son was the - of the old father, stripped of the wrink leathery mask of long, weathered ye As if about to speak, the oldster’s lips moved slightly, but no words ca He continued to stare at the stranger no clue to his thoughts was recorded the lined, haggard face. Maybe it was thirty seconds before deep creases seemed to soften. Then old father’s thin, hesitant voice broke strained silence. “By , son but you got big,” quavered. GORDON STORES | GENERAL MERCHANTS ov | LAKE COWICHAN, B. C. Page Thirty SHOULDER STRAP * * IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE IN THE Compliments of Industrial Timber Mills Ltd. — TRADE — EY LOGGING OPERATIONS AND SAWMILL YOUBOU (on Cowichan Lake, Vancouver Island) THE SHOULDER STR.