Anderson High School - Andersonian Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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glze 4921.4 ' .fbiafzy Modern .Xian was taking his afternoon snooze out underneath the big cactus. The hot sun beat overhead. He yawned, rolled over, and squinted out over the desert. As he looked, he saw the figure of a man coming over the horizon. Stretching out his legs, he rose and bellowed out his greeting- Howdy, howdy there, stranger. Come over and chat awhile. Dragging his pots and picks and jugs, Qld-timer ambled up. He dropped his equipment to the ground with a clattering crash as he sputtered, Strangerl l VVhy son, I was here years before you ever heard about this place. VVell, I guess you're right, but we always refer to anyone we don't know as 'Stranger'. Old-timer chuckled and replied, Yes, we used to call you 'Stranger', too, but now you all took over the land and old fellows like me just roam around the desert, taking up lodgings where we may. No hard feelings, though. Nlodern iW'Ian's interest in the old-fellow began to grow, and he found himself asking questions. Say, you must really know a lot about the land around here. How about some stories? I'm not a walking history book, but I do have some recollection of them days when folks first started out this way. They called it the Gold Rush. Them was the good old days. VVe had our times all right. lxlodern DIan's curiosity prompted him to go on. Nobody else had heard about the gold yet, and I figured I had plenty of time. I got up a party of about eighty and an advance guard of Redskins. Our guards were few in number, but strong in force. They fought bravely that first year in many battles and were seldom defeated. That's quite a record in any man's language, replied Modern Man. Yes, it was, and we were very grateful to them. The first town we came to was Freshman Valley. Yve decided to stay awhile before we traveled onward. Many things happened there. One thing I recall was the old fellow that me met on the corner of Cross-Bone Gulch and Dryskull Ridge. That fellow proved so helpful that when we packed up, he went along with us to furnish supplies for us. VVe traveled for three long months to a nice little spot called Sophomore Ridge. By this time our party numbered seventy-five, and our guards had increased in order to protect us through this totally new country. Their campaign was very successful that year. You took a long time looking over the lands and towns on your way, didn't you, Uld- timer? YVell, son, the way we figured, no one else knew about the gold secret, so we thought we might as well take our time and enjoy the scenery as we went along. Well, to get on with the story, we stayed in Sophomore Ridge for nine months and finally decided to move on. By this time, because of sickness and certain hostile tribes, our party numbered about fifty-five. We set our sights on Iunior Gulch, and arrived there with a great deal of eagerness. But our old restlessness kept us constantly on the go, and it wasn't long before we packed up again to search for our destination, gold. Of course, by this time, the secret was out, and it became quite a race to get there first. Modern man chuckled and asked, I'1l bet you really were enthusiastic right about that time. Did you End the gold, Old-timer? Now don't get impatient, young feller. lust let me take my time. We had a lot of difficulties to overcome on the wayhstray animals, lack of food, hot weather-but we pulled through and at last we struck our gold. Well, don't you think it was well worth the effort? Yes, young feller. In those days you worked hard for anything you wanted to accomplish. Too many folks now days just let things slide. I feel sorry for you modern folk, nothing exciting ever happens to you. Well, now that I've rested my bones, I guess I'd better get on my way. Thanks for your company, young feller. So-long, Old-timer, thank you for the story. Modern lVIan watched Old-timer until his figure disappeared over the horizon, and then he chuckled to himself as he rolled over to finish his nap. . Page 22