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

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Hij iFortmtr (Awarded First Prize.) As my Senior year in high school had been a strenuous one, vacation brought a very acceptable chance for recreation. My family was especially desirous for me to get out into the hills and do whatever I pleased in the way of taking life easy. Since fishing has always been a source of great enjoyment to me, I planned to take a trip of that nature. I was anxious lest all the trout should be taken from the streams before I could get a chance to try my skill, so my apparatus was packed and I was ready to accept the first opportunity of getting to a favorable trout hole. Consequently, when 1 heard of a chance of a ride to Cummisky creek, I did not delay. The gentleman was going to a neighboring town on business, and was glad to have my company as far as I wished to go. He would start early the next morning. That evening saw me busy rolling up blankets, buying bait, and ordering a good lunch put up in readiness for my departure. Having had previous experience I was sure to see that the cook at the hotel was tipped so as to make him able to measure my fisherman’s appetite correctly. When the package was handed to me I felt satisfied that all would be well, for even the newspaper in which it was wrapped seemed to be eager to tell me of some surprise hidden within it. We started from the hotel at seven o ' clock, and it was not much later that 1 bade my friend goodbye, assuring him that I would meet him at the same spot on the following evening. He wished me luck and, with good-natured chaffing concerning the size of my lunch box, drove away. The morning was fair and balmy, the kind that brings spring-fever to the working man in town but fills the angler with delight. Never have I seen the hills and dales as beautiful as they were then. The high peaks were cov¬ ered with sunshine; the valleys were a deep blue at a distance; the entire scene radiated peace and joyous life. I could have spent the day happily enough in just enjoying the varied aspects of Nature at that wonderful season of the year. But ambition was surging through my veins. I longed to catch some of the fish that I had heard about so often at the postoffice on summer evenings, —the kind that help to establish a reputation, if not of a fisherman, at least of a good fabricator. To that end, I started up creek and, after secreting my lunch box and blankets, began to try my luck. All the rest of that beautiful day I spent 16

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MACPHERSON TYLER OSMON AHRENS JEFFRIES ROUX COOLEY EELLS OTIS DONALD UfoBltmnt (Hass I. Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the Freshman class of the present year. On the twenty-third of August in nineteen fifteen, Hardly a pupil but remembers how green Were the class of 1919. 2. We resolved at the first to climb to the top; And no upper classmen could give us the stop. From morning to noon, from noon to night, We worked with a will, with all our might. Though lessons were hard, and sometimes long, We conquered them all with laughter and song. The pranks that our classmates played us at first Were received with a smile, whether better or worse. Our friends, the Seniors, to commencement are coming; Their record is fine, but we ' re still in the running. And so, if we all will stay by the ship, In three years more from C. H. S. we will skip. G. V. C. LS

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casting my line and pulling out the speckled beauties. My skill and good fortune combined had helped me pull in some of the finest specimens that I had ever seen. About five o’clock in the afternoon I began to experience the cravings of a raging appetite. Two biscuits that I had put into my pocket had been all that I could stop to eat for dinner, so I sought my small camp rather suddenly and hastened to prepare a hearty meal. With the dry wood so handy, a good fire was a matter of only a few minutes. The lunch box was freed from newspaper and string and I began a belated attack on the contents. Whoever has not experienced a good meal after an active day in the open air of the hills, has missed one of the joys of life. I stopped only when I remembered that what food was left must suffice for the morrow. After preparing camp for the night and cleaning my mess of fish, I found that some little daylight was left me yet, for it was only seven o’clock. I was tired from the hard exertions of the day, so decided that I would rest by the fire until I became ’ sleepy. The paper that had encompassed my lunch box was lying on the ground nearby, so I picked it up and perused its columns. In looking for the date of publication—that I might know how stale the news was—my eyes rested near the top of the last page in the left-hand corner on a short piece whose headlines read: “Search for Lost Heir Begun; Large For¬ tune Awaits Claimant.” This looked somewhat interesting, so, after discovering that the paper was but little over a week old, I turned my attention to this short space of type: “The search for one John R. Brownwell, sole heir of the vast estate of the late Robert Brownwell of San Francisco, was begun in earnest today. The detective agencies have been notified and, although previous efforts to locate the said party have been vain, it is believed that he will be found shortly.” John R. Brownwell! That was my own name. Could it be that I was the fortunate heir to an estate? The print ran together before my eyes and the paper shook in my hands. Doubt seized me and my common sense asked how such a thing could be. If I had ever heard of a relative by that name I might have believed it, but of this man I had never heard. On the other hand, what was to prevent its being true? Although my people had never told me of a rich relative, such things had happened before. I sought out the article and read it through a dozen times, digesting it by parts and trying to get the effect of each line. As it slowly dawned upon me that it must be true, my doubt gave way to delight and a strong feeling of exultation. Now I could really have those many different things that I had always looked upon as distant hopes so immeasurably far away in the dim future. A college education of the best sort; a splendid home; a high-powered automobile; time in abundance to spend in any way that suited my fancy; high position in the world of finance,—all passed in gorgeous array before my mind’s eye. Castle upon castle I built, until, with a start, I came to a realization that the fire was almost out and that the damp dew of night was causing me to feel chilly. I quickly piled more wood upon the glowing coals and soon was rewarded with a bright blaze that lit up the open space and drove the shadows back into the recesses of the dark woods. I made sure that the precious news- 17