Cloverdale Union High School - Spectator Yearbook (Cloverdale, CA)

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30 THE SPECTATOR ifow Jfmnttf Irokp Up tlip iKorkg Jlnutt (fkttp WISH to warn you, gentle reader, that if you are looking for romance or for silly senti¬ ment you had better not waste your valuable time reading this tale, for it is a story of men; men in the open, out in God’s country where they play the game of life fairly and never grumble if the cards are against them. I shall introduce our hero immediately. His name is Jimmy Hogan, mechanic by instinct and game warden by profession. He became a game warden because he had to live in the open and this job gave him a chance to make money while recovering his health. He could still exercise his bent for mechan¬ ics, since his district was small and he had little to do. Being in¬ terested in aeronautics, he had built and perfected a flyer some¬ what along the lines of a Bleriot monoplane. But this will come later. I said before that he had very little to do. This was a mistake, for rumors had begun to float around that deer were being killed and shipped to the big hotels in the city. Hogan was warned by some friendly ranchers to watch what was known as the Big Rocky Point, for the rumors said that it was here that the hunters had their camp. A few days later he decided to visit the point and see for } himself if there was any sign of hunters in the country. He spent the day in fruitless search finding nothing to re¬ ward his efforts but a deserted camp hid in a nook of the hills. Nothing doing, he decided, and about four o’clock turned his mule’s head homeward. He was riding along a smooth grassy ridge covered with scrub oak and interspersed with large open places of an acre or more in extent. Just in front of him was a clump of manzanita and in it hung a deer. “Holy mackerel,” breathed the game warden (only he said something different) “Wonder who did this, guess I’ll turn Becky loose and hide and await develop¬ ments.” He quickly unsaddled and, hiding his accoutrements securely, he climbed a small live oak about two hundreds off and prepared to wait for the hunter to come and claim his prize. The limb on which he sat was beginning to get very hard when his waiting was rewarded by seeing a couple of men come up the hill¬ side with another deer, and, almost simultaneously with their appearance, a low humming sound struck his ear. “Gee whiz, wliat’s that ? Why it’s an aeroplane,” flitted through his mind so

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THE SPECTATOR 29 hall to a small, though snugly furnished bedroom. He looked around in wonder at the snow-white bed and curtains. Dick was then told to follow the maid to the dining room. He stood in the doorway until Mrs. Brown came toward him and led him to a chair beside her at the table. At her left sat little Grace, their only child. She was a small child with large, blue eyes, rosy cheeks and curly blown hair. Mr. Brown spoke kindly to Dick and told him that this was to be liis home, and that he and Mrs. Brown would try to be a father and mother to him. These kind words put Dick at his ease, and he was soon eating a hearty dinner, in spite of the homesick feeling that stole over him now and then. After dinner Dick was told that he would be allowed to do whatever he pleased for a week or so, until he grew stronger. He could go wherever he chose as long as he stayed within sight of the house. In the days that followed, Dick went from place to place. He was so deeply interested in everything pertaining to Mother Nature! He learned to know all the birds and trees, and often wished that his pals at home could share his joy—this living so close to Nature. His cheeks were becoming pink! Happvland was to be his salvation! Soon New York and its miseries seemed a thing of the past, but his mother, sister, and brother were ever before him—a sacred memory. He was ever planning what he would do for them when he became big and strong. Eight years have passed. Dick has grown to be a tall, manly lad of twenty. Mr. Brown has made Dick assistant manager of the farm. Dick has saved his earnings and has purchased a small farm adjoining Mr. Brown’s where live his mother and brother. His sister had died two years after Dick left for the “Happy- land.” Grace has grown to be a tall, beautiful girl of eighteen; and her friendship and Dick’s has ripened into love. Often Dick wanders into the woods and among the flowers and trees that he has learned to love so, to reflect upon the time when as a poor, frail lad he first beheld the wonders of Clover- dale, his “Happvland.” M. E. D., ’17.

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THE SPECTATOR 31 fast he almost fell out of the tree. Hogan planned fast. “I have got to try to get them,” he thought, “they may get me but I’LL have to take the chance.” As the aeroplane landed Hogan jumped down and started toward the poachers. He had no sooner started than one of the men, whipping out a revolver, opened fire on him while the other two went for their rifles. The game warden had but one chance left and that was to get into the timber and get there fast. And he got, I assure you. As he tore down the hill he suddenly found himself in the camp he had noticed that morning. Why not hide here? No one would ever think of looking for him right in the robbers stronghold. The poachers plunged by, never for a mom¬ ent supposing that he had dared to go into their camp. After looking around for a while they returned to their game and to their accomplice’s machine. Hogan had been planning all the time while in the camp and had decided that his only chance of capturing the game was to use his own machine. So taking the nearest cut across the hills, he started home. Luck seemed to be with him, for as he ran down the hillside he met his mule. He jerked a cord out of his pocket and, making a halter out of it, he started down the hill on a dead run. The other machine had risen and was circling preparatory to leaving. Just as Hogan ran his machine out of the shed, they were started for Frisco. Hogan jumped for his engine and started it, then, with a hasty glance at the rudders, he slid down the hillside and rose swiftly and gracefully over the tree tops. He knew the general direction of the other fellow’s flight and, after rising about five hundred feet, he set out in pursuit. The other machine was just a mere speck when Hogan sighted it. As soon as he was sure what it was he opened his throttle and darted forward, filled with the desire to chase and capture the daring birdman. The man in front was now aware that he was being chased and was using every effort to lose his pursuer. They were nearing the city now and the man in front sud¬ denly descended and seemed about to alight. It was so dark that Hogan was afraid to approach any nearer to the ground for fear of striking wires and wrecking his machine. The man in front began to have trouble about this time and all of a sudden dived toward what was apparently the ground. Hogan expected to hear a crash when he heard a splash. The man in front was in the water and apparently in good shape, for he was calling for help with a very lusty voice. Hogan turned his search light toward the ground and saw that they were very near the beach. He therefore alighted and went to his prisoner’s rescue, for he was a prisoner, there was no doubt of that.