Central High School - Mirror Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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THE AESTREA LITERARY SOCIETY

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through the trees, and hearing the crackling and snapping, they almost fiercely seized their children in their wild dash for safety. As the motley crowd watched from the bluff of the river and saw the last of the cabins go up in smoke and flame they well knew that 'Old Marster' would have new quarters within a fortnight. That is one of the slaves' privileges. With this thought they trooped as gay as ever up to the main quarters. Only Jonntee's mother thought to gather up the inert mass which had saved the lives of all of them. She bundled the limp form into her arms and brought it to me. Helpless to move or speak he remained a paralytic the few years left of his short life. The negroes whom he had tumbled out of bed at such an hour swore that he had started the fire by some of his witchery, and several of the wenches took the trouble to tell him so. 1 think his helplessness to deny the falsehood killed him—martyr that he was. 'Sins of the father, ’you know. The terrible run brought the final stroke on. I am sure, for it was threatening him all the time. But. Xerxes, his run was an unsung marathon. Two of us. Jonntee’s mother and I, never believed anything else but that some barbecue fire started that blaze. But be that as it may, 1 have never grown any rice since, nor do I intend to. Still 1 have to endure that trader’s boast every season. ETHELRED LUNDY SYKES, 'll. PEACH BLOSSOMS To see peach blossoms on the slopes in Spring. You think how sad it is so fair a thing So soon should fade. But as I see them lying blighted, dead. They are souls of brief, sweet minutes fled. The truant, wayward thoughts of things unsaid. Each blossom a soul, a light, a fragile thing. Of swift awakening thoughts that come in Spring. SUSAN MABRY. ’24. Page High teen

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UN MAUVAIS QUART D’HEURE It was my Saturday afternoon to shoot trouble. This means taking care of all cases of electrical mishaps in the city, be it the simple matter of replacing a blown fuse in a residence and explaining to the usually flustered lady of the house that her light bill will therefore be two bits' more for each new fuse, or be it the delightful pleasure of hiking poles, repulling service wires, or the like. The long hours had dragged slowly by without a single call, and I had been giving the clock frequent inspections and letting my thoughts wander a few more hours in the future. A very special engagement was mine that night. A certain girl acting on my rather urgent plea had broken a date in order to give it to me—for which she seemed to think I should be eternally thankful. My dreams were interrupted by the jangle of the telephone, and answering it. 1 received directions to go to a section of the city inhabitd by members of th darker race, to see why in thunder a member of that racial fraternity was raising such a howl. In forty-five minutes my working day would have been over. 1 said a few things and ran for the door. Outside, this form of exercise was continued until Nineteenth Street came in sight, whereupon the desired street car was perceivd hoving out of sight. The twenty minutes wait for the next one would have been fatal, so I gave chase. At the end of the second block 1 staggered on board and leaned weakly against the door. Four blocks down the street, the car made an unfamiliar turn, which caused me to question the conductor. Pratt City car? He grinned. No. headed for the barn. Twenty minutes later 1 boarded a Pratt City car and sat down. 1 had read the name before getting on. The city fathers, in laying out the streets of this city, undoubtedly were endeavoring to construct a Chinese puzzle, the solving of same being left to the future generations. Upon alighting from the car I proceeded immediately to the given address, knocked and inquired politelv the nature of the trouble. 1 was given a cold stare and informed that there had been no trouble lately, family or otherwise. Explanations over, there followed a hectic half-hour tracing vague directions unsuccessfully, until disgusted. I sad down on a seat by the trolley line determined to return to the city. Momentarily my eye wandered to the high hung outside a store and thereon I discovered the name of the person for whom I sought. The trouble was simple, new fuses being the only things required, but when informed of the extra charge to be assessed, the negro objected on the grounds that reconnection of lights was free. On inquiry it developed that the service had been discontinued about a month before because of an unpaid light bill. Our sometime patron then claimed that he had paid the bill a few days before: but he could produce no receipt. I called main office, gave them the facts, and asked for instructions, and was told to call again in five minutes when they had looked up the records. Five times 1 called and five times was instructed to call again later. At last, when 1 was feeble-voiced Page Twenty