Central High School - Red and Black Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

Page 32 text:

ms .Q N 5-L -.li .4l'.4au.4lulna' .AP'.4!' 41' A-' .1 .1' 41' .1 41 .-quail' THE RED AND BLACK she would glve her arm prettlly to the conductor who always helped her on She new er falled to turn and glve him a sweet smlle and her age old l thank you When she got to town she would elther go to some church dolngs or would trxp through Maas Brothers buying pretty blts of rlbbon and lace She never ex clted herself and through the hottest tropl cal weather she was cool and unflushed I can remember only one tlme when l saw her m a posltlon she dldnt know exactly how to handle gracefully The Port Tampa street cars ran on the half hour and lf the motorman saw a passen ger hurrying down the road he usually walted a few mmutes for hlm One morn mg Mrs Pratt was late and he walted untll she got there As the conductor took her arm she sand l thank you so much for waltmg for me Wnth a kindly laugh he sald Oh that s all rnght I had to Walt longer n that for my wrfel l dont thmk Mrs Pratt could qurte flgure out which one of her gestures to use so she slmply found her seat and watched the waves of the bay glxsten ln the sun Mrs Pratt had sllver gray halr and It rather shocked the neighborhood when she had lt bobbed It seemed to me that rt was ln perfect keepmg wlth the little tmt of rouge on her cheeks and her lace parasol The flappers luke Thelma ones called her cute the middle aged women thought she was a sweet old Ihwtl soul and had a tendency to mother her The other grandmothers of Mrs Pratts own time didnt have anythlng to say about her On Mrs Pratt s eighty fourth blrthday Mrs McM1nns ran over wlth a llttle re membrance and lt seems found her ln a mood entirely out of her character For Mrs Pratt was complaining l try so hard to be patient but lm gettlng so tlred l m all alone ln the world and l feel that l ve accomplished my work here on this earth l ve llVCd a long time l know It IS a sm to wish for death but somehow l feel Ill be happy when lm at rest A few months later she died Mrs sugar and gettlng no answer to her knock went mslde She found Mrs Pratt ln her bedroom She was lymg wlth her sllver head restmg on a dainty embroidered pll low She had on a fluffy nlghtgown with ruffles of lavender rlbbon around the neck Her thm hand rested on her breast as lf It had fluttered there ln one last gesture A smxle was frozen on her wrinkled face Nothing ln the room was out of place The bed was smoothed It looked as rf Mrs Pratt had arranged her self for death and such was the gentle and peaceful end At the funeral no one dropped a tear for Mrs Pratt Not one person wore black or mourned her loss As she was lowered into the ground they all smlled oh so tenderly for the rest that had come to the dear dear httle old lady' ' V s a .. , , . . ., tl n O , . . . . . y . , - , ii . A ' . McMinns went over to borrow some . . , , . . . , 1 . . . l ' ' , . . . . V - , I - I Iaiuur

Page 31 text:

'L L XX 4 J J 1 145 41.4.11 TH? Ra A10 BfAcfc A ld ralhcr Izte onthe farm emu dill Thurs a s ufru o I0 cztu LL bert xts rrof half as emu Gzte me a house some bzrds and lots or trees A brook CI burn and fl Coolzna breeze Xl mffrs Snotttf and Summers LL arm Get Bou In other ufrds Cll F MI A f XR W CHARACTERS BU Doro! Fu Dunn ADA JEAN DA JEAN was a waxtress She had seemed to fit lnto the atmosphere of the Orange Blossom Tea Room A cranky old lady named Mr Llnden al ways came IH about three o clock ln the afternoon for a sandwlch and a cup of green tea Ada ean never had llked her because no matter how hot her tea was she always sent xt back to be made hotter One afternoon she had eaten about half of her sandwich when she stared down at somethmg ID her plate She called Ada .lean over to her and her mouth was drawn together as If she had eaten a green persnmmon l cant bear to look she said turn mg her face away Tell me what that IS on my plate l blt mto lt' Ada Jean looked then turned scarlet The cook dld have false teeth She won dered then she stammered out the truth Why It s xt s a tooth' My heavens above' sand Mrs Lm den tlppmg her chair over rn an attempt to get her coat on more hurr1ed'y What kmd of a place IS thls anyway3 l dont thmk l ll ever be able to eat agam Oh' she sald rn a famt tone as she put her hand over her stomach and opened her mouth It was really rude of Ada ean to start laughing but l hardly blame her You see when Mrs Linden opened her mouth Ada saw that one of her teeth ln the top row was mlssmg' LITTLE MRS PRATT Llttle Mrs Pratt was elghty three years old She wasnt over five feet tall and her wlthered frame was dellcate and thm She never wore black dresses just dalnty ro e colored or lavender srlks that reached to her shoe tops Sometimes when she was golng to the Methodlst church she would wear gray She lived alone m a little yellow frame house down on Gadsden Road and one rn ght see her at any tlme ln the forenoon step llghtly down her petuma path to the road carrying a lace parasol and plcklng her way carefully through the sand to the Boulevard When the street car stopped Ihzrly Ihft L-1 1 l I ' U1 1 I F Lf-.. 'f F' I ' ' I I T I ' . -L , .- - . 4 A -,. X' . I X I V 1 W Q ' ' ' I , View ff! as . I '. f 'f . .' . y .. ' a happy way about her that just I . l ' ' s. ' - ' l ' ' ' .. . .. - s ' . . . 5 - - T- , tr:

Page 33 text:

4' 51: S 4 44 ' '1-ui' his Ain auscfc DRFAUING lily Xlurze I ommlc f fc my to mhz! lhe hours ULLLIU lm srtlmq clcmn and LiItt1l77IV7tl O! Ihmqs lomf dom cmd Ihmqs If un we ind uomlu ul lhur nmznzrw 4 uhrlf lm 7 L Ol fuuzfm lfmcls ll! duum im ffl I ll mrms cm L1r7fznoLL17 sul fr muh Ihuf 1101414 n cfltarn zlhm rm than s Cl timplzna um lhul LIIUES ml to roam ,Sc me fulure dau ll! maize lhzs choue lo Icczue mu f1LlllLt' hrme Amd when to dzitcml lcmcls lu mme U 11' I contented he U on I uszoni of my chzldhoof hom- Cull m rn memory Ami when lu Slzlled thu! templznq Lone fha! urged me fur to roam Qrhups then afar all my Lhoz L U Il! in to come haulz home I I , , , A , , x A -Y 1 .1 V X . A 1 A H' , is . .Q K ' hz J A J , V . . ' , ' ' .L 1 7' An! ' f ' Ill the rfuczr-, J 1 , ' ' J X .' r ' ' I I A yy' , . ,I 'L - -L. .. Q I 1 ' I K -gf ' X 1 . I u , A. 1- ' 'm - Y ,V L - 1 49 ' ' . ' H ' ' z' 2 f f A .' , , '.,I ' I 4, ' . '. , Y y ' I .A 'P I ' 'L' 1 7 . . Q ' - r ' f + X - , ' 1 'N X. 1 r -: I l.. X- - -f 1 ' 1 L