Kennebunk High School - Rambler Yearbook (Kennebunk, ME)

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Stone's smile faded. This man was a fool, truly. He considered his extra five 'hundred dollars all important to the racer. The buyer was a fool, for he fancied the gold the colt would bring to him. He was an empire lover, a capital lover. Stone took the check silently. He himself was a fool too. He was a fool for the love of glory when you tear up the turf of a raceway, when you shake hands wit-h the horny palmed men who beat you-or lose to you. He was a fool first and always, though, for the gold that scattered his spacious pastures . JANICE CHAMBERLIN, '5fl. ...li 1 .i0,.iii.. W A TALE OF WOE Once there was a foul, foul fiend. Now this fiend was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill fiendg it was an almost unimaginable, eerie sort of thing. It had no definite shape or formg and it seemed to be invisibie at times. at other times glowing with a mysterious, irridescent l-ight. This fiend was in the habit of haunting a high school in the Town of Bennebunk. Several of the townspeople -had spoken to the principal of this high school, a Mr. Robin Mayrrardson, concerning the strange colored lights they had observed moving about in various rooms of the school after dark. Many confusing things had occurred since these lights were first noticed. Books were missing, paper was strewn on t'he floor, and a queer smell hung in the air each morning. 'Some of the pu-pils were getting scared, it was evid'ent that if these were not the doings of a supernatural being, it was so close to it that it wasn't funny! Mr. Maynardson was worried. He decided as a last resort to call upon that courageous, noble association of young men, the corridor moni4 tors of Bennekunk High School. These youths -had long been noted for their fearless' courage, 'brute strength, and high character. As I was a member of this great organization, I had an opportunity to get a first' hand account of the horrifying experience of vanqui-Shing this terrible fiend. George LeBarge, Raymond Emmons, Ken Burns, Jake Jackson, Fred S-mith, Dave Snow, Nelson Wentworth, Fish Clark, Russell Clark, and Kaye Moody-all young men in the prime of life-risked their very lives for their school! We met a.t the stroke of twelve at the side entrance to the school. All of us were wearing sneakers so that we could walk quietly: and we all had our Dick Tracy Junior G-Men badges with us, which reassured us no end. All was quiet within. No lights, nothing! Silently, we stalked down the corridor. All of a sudden we noticed a peculiar bluish glow emanating from the laboratory? As soon as we had opened the door, the glowing stopped! Now we heard a low moaning coming from the direction of' the downstairs shop. Our hair was standing on end! We soon no'- ticed this fact, and as Raymond had had the foresight to bring a bottle of' Wildroot Cream Oil, we took out our trusty com-bs and plastered our coiffures down again. Quickly we flung open the shop doorg and care- fully tiptoeing, we fell downstairs together. As though somet'hing had heard us. a horrible moaning began! A terrible shrieking, piercing scream of mortal terror rent the air! We looked in upon the furnace room, and a ghastly sight shocked us to the core? There in all his in- famous glory was the foul, foul, fiend committing one of his most hideous' crimes! There were stacks upon st-ack-s of valuable school books, and this monster was ruthlessly heaving them into the open door of the furnace, 26

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turned proudly toward the other three well dressed men. Gentlemen, he smiled, you have seen the son of two of the mosft valuable horses in the west. West? In the world. Stone, one of the men volunteered, I'll give you two thousand dollars for that colt as he stands. Two thousand ? Stone drew deeply on his pipe. That colt is worth four thousand if he's worth a cen-t. H-is mare, Golden Gift, is worth thirty-five hundredg his sire, Sunburst, is worth thirty-two hundredg and you, Mr. Carr, you oder me two thousand. A -second man, taller than the first, 'spoke up, Stone, I will make one offer, one only. It is yours to take or to leave. I bid twenty-five hun- dred for your prize colt-twenty-five hundred as he runs in that field, unbroken, untrained to work or touch. The rancher gazed straight before him. His ranch grounds were perfect in every way. His fences were picturesque, useful, his workers were happyg his horses were flawless-his horses were flawless and worth thousands to every rancher, every raceway operator, every wealthy sports- man in the country. He turned away from the pastures, his back toward the men. Aloud, to himself, he commented, They offer me a few hundred for a horse that I'm in no hurry to sell for a few thousand. Stone, the remaining man snapped impatiently, two men have offered you immense prices for a colt which, to be sure, has good blood lines but no definite promise. I'll make you an offer,too. I'll make you just one offer. You take the glory. You train him, race him. You make him famousg you take the glory, Stone. He'll -be your horse publicly, but I'll get the cash he 'brings in. The offer stands, Stone-I'll give you two thousand doll'ars, but the colt will still 'be yours. Stone. the Rancher, paced a few feet away. His eyes clouded. The fields suddenly became a track to him. He was sitting a sulky, in the traces a magnificent gold horse. Other beautiful animals flanked the gold one-beautiful, but not nearly so beautiful as the great gold horse. Sud- denly a bell clanged. Impatient hoofs struck the turf solidly. Every horse was swiftg the race was excitement personified. There were horses ahead of the great gold one but not for lon-g. Easily he gained on his opponents until there was just one in the way. The one remaining op- ponent was a black, sleek-coated animal, which could match him pace for pace. They were neck and neck near the rail with the gold one to the inside advantage. Stone glanced toward -his adversary, toward the oppos- ing horsels nose. He was a few inches ahead. T-he finish line was only a short distance off. Stone bit hard on his lips. His face, could any spectator have seen it, was probably the most grimly contorted face that had ever travelled the track. The Gold one was straining: he too felt the mystic sensation of the track. The turn in the track marked the lmt stretch: and the driver's intuition inside the wiry sulky driver said, Give him his head-he can do it alone . Stone saw it all before him. lt would be a photo-finish, and the winner- The rancher smiled again at the thought. He turned back to the man with the check book, his smile 'broadening in-to a grin. The buyer misunderstood the horseman's expression. All right, Stone. I said just one offer, but I'll make another. I'm a fool, but I fancy the gold of that colt. I'll pay you twenty-five hundred dollars-with the same terms. Do you accept my offer? 25

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where they were :being consumed by the flames! All this time the fiend was so engrossed in hi-s devilish work that he didn't notice us. Suddenly Iiayndropped his pipe: and the fiend spun around wi-th murder gleaming in his one eye like a beacon. Dave turned to me and whispe1'ed, I think he intends to do us harm! I agreed with him. As the fiend advanced towards us, intending, no doubt, to fling us into the open furnace door, we sat down and held a short conference. None of us could rightly say that we 'had had dealings with a real live fiend before, and we didn't know how to dispose of him. George reached into his pocket and produced iust whrat we needed! It was an'old and battered copy of HOW TO PERFORM BLACK MAGIC . We im-mediately found that to disperse evil spirits it is necessary to place five crystals of iodized salt on their tails and one half a pound of pepper down their mouths. Fortunately, we had the necessary materials with us. The fiend was almost up to us now, all the while turning from one color to another, like an oil spot in the sunlight. Although he was a- rather shapeless mass, Jake grabbed what appeared to be his feet and applied quite a bit of bending stress: at the same time Russ depressed his stomach considerably with his foot: and the rest went to work antagonizing him in various ways. I grabbed my half pound sack of pepper which I alwavs carry for iust such emergencies: and I stuffed it, bag and all. down the foul. foul. fiend's facsimile of a throat. He didn't seem to like it. In fact, he was downright ungentlemanly about it! If it hadn't been for George and his salt, I probably wouldn't be here now. The minute that salt struck the fiend's tail, he j-ust groaned and vanished! This document has been composed for the enlightenment of various teachers. for we should all realize that high school students are basically good. When you see a paper airplane floating through the air. a spitball curving down the aisle, or an eraser jumping from the hands of an innocent soul. you'll know who is really to blame. That's right. None other than thf- foul. foul. fiend! Though his bodv KI use the term looselvi has departed. his spirit will probably be with us for as long as we have schools. KAYE MOODY, '50. EXPERIENCES AT SUMMER MUSIC SCHOOL i For two weeks last August two hundred and fifty high school stu- dents, representing twelve different states, attended the music school on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. This was a rich experience both musically and socially. It is difficult to keep to oneself and yet difiicult to share the enjoyment and inner satisfaction gained from these two weeks. However, I should like to relate, for those who are interested, something of a typical day at the Summer Youth Music School. Our daily schedule was as full and varied as it was possible to be. It began when the clock on Thompson Hall-or T Hall, as it is always referred to-struck seven o'clock. Everyone hurried eagerly down to the breakfast line. which extended outside the cafeteria door and was as lone' as the large brick building itself. At half past eight a general assemblv was held, at which Mr. Bratton, our head director, made any snecial announcements of the day. At nine o'clock classes began. For orchestra members that meant finding a chair, tuning up, and then wait- ing for the arrival of the director, Mr. Kushious of Portsmouth, N. H.