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

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FQ. s.u. ' Pi' ADVENTURES OF MY GRANDFATHER CHUN A TRUE STORY By George Young, '35 HUN was born on a farm near Pekin. His parents were hard- working farmers, who were con- tented and happy with their lot. But their happiness was not to last, for when Chun was but four, a band of mountain robbers swept down to destroy the farm- houses and kidnap the people in order to hold them for ransom. Chun's parents were so excited that they left him sleep- ing in his bed, and ran to gather pro- visions from the barn before escaping. When they discovered that they had left Chun, it was too late to try to rescue him, for the bandits had already arrived at their farmhouse. The best they could do was to hope that the bandits would not notice him. Chun, who was awakened by the noise the intruders made in breaking into the house, hurried to the outside rooms, and started to do what the strangers were doing. No doubt he thought the strangers were helping the family move at night. He worked diligently not realizing that he was to be kidnaped by the men that he was helping. After the bandits had taken all they wanted and started to de- part, a tall man seized Chun and carried him off. Nineteen

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'N A Mk XR' we Q it H 'S at t 'num www ,thltlllll'llIilllIIllllIUt - itil ll'tllllIIlllll'....,'llll' mmwlllll .!!!'llntlllllEl1lltWlll1llUll .,. h E- -I .. ,A.. img. , .jig-f Q 41- -'.- '- .1 . A:A ' 'gtallgzfiiig' ' ,fait it -- 2 -.- I l isti 7' ' a it I ' - , Sm I . . I ., , , L.-H ut 5 f VQAI g X xlvv, YZ' in 4 lllly ,. I nv... in : 'h III l l :msn 'I Amt- 'x I Mc- ,, X IllllllllllII!UlllIllIlllllI1lnn tllltl .illtlllllllllllll ,1lIllIIl .tllnl lllllll lllltlllillllllll,-c.,., The next clay, while the farmer's son was plowing corn, he became very warm and drank a great quantity of cold water from a spring near by. He became very ill and was forced to go to bed. Knowing that his son had been to the home of a woman who was accused of witchcraft, the old farmer thought that his son had been charmed by her. Having heard of Doc Halleyhorn and his power to drive away witches, he thought it best to send for him. Upon arriving, Doc took his stick, that was now famous, beat on the bed, on the floor, under the bed, and on the walls of the room to drive away the witches. The farmer's son soon was well and gave his thanks to Doc Halleyhorn for saving him from a miserable death. Al- though the natives of this small village believed that this was true, whether the farmer's son was really charmed by witchcraft, l do not know. If I were asked for my opinion, l would say that the boy was only sick from drinking a great quantity of cold water when he was hot. OUR OLD RED FORD By Del Burdick. '33 Poor Romeo is ten years old. But he is worth his weight in gold. They say the gas tank leaks, and yet, Whenever we want to go. we get Into our old red Ford. The sun was shining bright one day, My friends and I were feeling gay Enough to take a bouncing trip. Yes, even if the gears did strip. In our old red Ford. lVe now were started on our way, The bus was running smooth that day. XVe passed the Cadillacs and Stars, And every single form of cars, In our old red Ford. A sign which stood beside the road Did show in automobile code A boulevard stop in letters red: My pals and I went right ahead In our old red Ford. Eighteen And still another one we saw To make us keep within the law. Detour it said in letters black, But we were over without a slack, In our old red Ford. And here's another of those things, But Romeo was made with wings. So fifteen miles on curves is slow For this gay gang of us to go In our old red Ford. There was one thing that made us stop. Perhaps you know of him-the cop. For ever since this car Hrst ran. We ditch the cop whene'er we can, In our old red Ford. So if you see us going along. You're sure to hear a happy song, And Romeo will be our friend, As we travel on to the very end, In our old red Ford.

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4 ,152 li jf' Y fn T ..... ..r : M 1 r Ii' '.,. A1lQ ' ' IllllIIlllllllUllllllllllllllinl.ni Jlllll m 'HH' HH llllllll IIIIIVN IIHIII llllllllllllllllll' 'llllllllli Wlllll' lllllllllllllllllllllllllllb 'lllll lllllllllllllllm-'Till' llllllllllllll f.. 'mllllllllllwllllllllllllllllm When he awoke next morning and found he was in a strange place, he cried for his mother. He disturbed the bandits greatly, and they tried their best to cheer him. After many a trial the men suc- ceeded in making him stop crying, and were thankful for a little rest. As time went on, Chun became used to the new life and home, and forgot about his early life and parents. He spent sev- eral years doing hard work-carrying water, keeping things orderly, and some- times helping the cook with her work when he had time to spare. He mingled with the band when they were at home at night, and some of them were kind enough to teach him to read, for education was an important factor in China at that time. He inquired about his parents-if he had had any. The bandits, to tease him, told him he was found in the moun- tains. Some were so convincing that Chun actually believed that he never had had any parents. But an old woman, who cooked for the band, took pity on him, and told him the truth-that his mother was living and that the bandits were de- manding a ransom from her. Chun, who was now twelve years old, had, up to this time, been very fond of the bandits. But now he greatly disliked them for what they had done to his mother, and he planned to escape. The cook, to whom he had told his plans, gave him directions to town, and also gave him some money that he might need. At nightfall he crawled out of his little shack while the bandits were sleeping peacefully on. He would run a distance, rest for a time, and, while he was resting, he would eat some food that he brought Twenty with him. He kept this up until he reached the outskirts of the town. It was nearly noon, and as he was very tired, he looked for a place to rest. He came in sight of the public house and started to go in to ask information as to the whereabouts of his mother. To his surprise, he saw a reward posted for the capture of the bandits, who had robbed the E.mperor's shipment of valuable pos- sessions. The army captains in the terri- tory of the bandits, were to supply the needed amount of soldiers to capture the bandits. Chun hurried over to the Cap- tain's tent and tried to explain to the :Captain that he knew where the bandits were and could lead him to the place. Finally, the captain agreed to go with Chun. They mounted the horses that were ready and started off with a troop of forty soldiers. After riding a while, the Captain grew suspicious and threatened to beat Chun if he was telling a lie. But they rode on until Chun led them into unfamiliar coun- try. They rode a little way up a moun- tain and came in sight of the robbers' den. Chun cautioned them to be as quiet as possible. They surrounded the camp and surprised the bandits. The fight was a short one, but it was a desperate one while it lasted, for each one of the bandits was doomed to die if he was caught. There were only six captured, the rest were either slain or escaped. After they arrived at the town, Chun found out where his mother was living. He hurried to the house. His mother was overjoyed to see him, although she did not recognize him at first until Chun told her who he was.