Christmas Letters -- Murdoch Mysteries

Chapter 2

Christmas Letters

Chapter Two

DECEMBER 11, 1875

William drew the thread between even white teeth to break the strand, then handed the finished product to one boy while accepting the next item from another hand. The Jesuits at St. Ignatius emphasized cooperation and self-sufficiency along with the expected academic rigor and dedication to the Catholic faith. The school grew most of its own food, did its own laundry and cleaning, took care of the building and grounds, with students and the teachers all taking part, giving more responsibility to students in the higher years. Each first-year boy was introduced to all aspects of running the school, whether they were made for the task or not:

'Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.'

In William's case, among other assignments, that meant he was sent to pull up endless rows of sod for new vegetable beds until his back, arms and shoulders burned and his hands became numb, never daring to complain as he laboured alongside Brother Francis who was literally five times older, brown as a nut and wise in agriculture. At least I am not on a boat! William reminded himself each day under the blazing September sun as soil was exposed, the rocks removed and cultivated by hand.

All of that was well and good; William accepted it. In the dormitory it was also supposed to mean that each boy was equal to any other and supposed to charitably assist his peers. Of course, that was easier said than done in a bare three months when the first-year boys came from such different backgrounds, with expectations formed during disparate experiences in their, albeit young, lives. It had taken William some adjustment to be counted amongst the youngest and lowest ranked class at school, since he had been used to independence, adult responsibilities and a certain latitude in his behaviors back in Portuguese Cove. There was a bewildering array of rules and a complicated hierarchy at St. Ignatius to understand and appreciate that ran counter to some of his upbringing as well.

Like William, each student arrived with a pre-determined, if often unarticulated understanding of where they 'fit' in a larger group, and despite the best efforts of the Fathers to create an egalitarian environment, it took no time at all for the boys to size each other up and develop a hierarchy of sorts—the leaders, the followers, the funny ones, the serious ones. In even less time, it became obvious which boys brought valuable talents to their collective good outcomes since the teachers dealt with each class of students as a whole when it came to reward and punishment. The boys, therefore, were forced to share their 'wealth': pen knives, paper, ink and writing instruments, books and amusements, down to shoe laces and boot black, always on the lookout for a tool or talent as required, since all available resources were to be exhausted before one could ask Brother Gregory for any supplies.

It turned out, in addition to a coveted personal dictionary, an Aristo slide rule and an inquisitive mind with a gift for memorization, William possessed a unique set of fine-motor skills, such as fixing small objects, excellent penmanship and sewing. William began learning the art at age seven to help his mother as her eyes failed for reading or close work, and he kept his father, sister and himself adequately pieced together – at least enough to avoid embarrassment. He kept the ability a secret until he was about ten, when he saw Father Keegan darning a sock whilst he visited the priest's sitting room for tea and chess one evening. "But Father, you have Mrs. Walker to do that for you. Why are you doing that yourself?" William's curiosity having overtaken his manners.

Father Keegan had set his work down, and gave his pint-sized interlocutor serious consideration before speaking. "Young William, no labour is beneath a man, and it is good for a man to be self-sufficient, especially a man with a religious vocation such as myself. Besides, if you know how to do something correctly yourself, will you not then be able to evaluate the quality of the work done by someone else?"Father Keegan's words rang true, allowing William to feel satisfied with his skills with a needle and moving himself one slight increment further to becoming more like the priest.