College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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Where did you get thoni, old cbaj) ? said he, aa he laid his hand affection- ately u|)on lay shoulder. I related to him my adventure of the coat. Before I had finished, he broke into a loud roar, shaking his head and slapping his knees in his laughter. What ' s th(! matter? T cried, astonished. Do you know who that minister was ? No, and I don ' t care. That was old Bismarck Frank. I felt my conscience smite me, and wiped a tear from my eyelid. Jess laid both hands uptm my shoulders consolingly, and said in his feminine voice: Cheer up, old chap; the parish will vote him another one. So T cheered up, for I smelt chicken, and was hungry. Come on, Jess ! I smell chicken. Where have you got it ? The smile grew radiant upon my old chum ' s face as he said, Come on, old boy; they are as fat as butter. And they were. I seized upon a drumstick and began gnawing ravenoiisly. Where did you get them, Jess ? The gift of a farmer, he smiled. Oh ! Jess, old boy, I fear you have been up to your old tricks. He gi ' inned. Do you remember old S. A. McDonald ? Yes, I managed to mutter. These chickens came from his poultry farm. I tried to appear astonished, but was choked. Does he live ai ' ound here? Yes, he is married now, and is running a big poultry ranch down the road a little way. He found the poultry business so profitable while at college, he felt he could not give it up. I am glad he didn ' t ; aren ' t you ? Jess and I continued our conversation. He had found an old William and Mary Magazine in McDonald ' s yard when he swiped the chickens, and, thinking it would be good to start a fire with, had crammed it into his pocket. He had torn off most of the leaves, but the alumni notes were still in, and the following claimed our attention. We quote from the magazine : H. G. Carter, ' 08, who has made a fortime from his oyster beds, and then, like Alexander, desiring new fields to conquer, organized a baseball team, which last summer won the woi ' ld ' s championship. For the winter, however, Mr. Carter will attend to his large oyster business. We undei ' stand that he 26

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Prophecy I AWOKE. It was morning, and cold as blazes. I rubbed my eyes to make sure they were open, flopped my arms to start the blood in circulation, and, with a yawn, climbed over the fence at the corner, where I had spent the night, and started off down the track. I was within a mile or so of a small railway station, and as I approached it, I heard the shrill whistle of a westbound freight. They were whistling down brakes, and I knew they were going to stop ; so hurrying along, I hid myself in the thick underbrush which lined each side of the track, and as the freight rolled in sight from around the bend and roared along in front of my hiding place, finally stopping before the station, I sprang up and prepared to nail her. I made a dash for a box car, whose side door was open. Placing my hands upon an iron bar, I vaulted in. The train, starting as I sprang, threw me backward with a thump, which nearly knocked me unconscious. Half dazed, I struggled to my feet, and as I did so a man rolled up from the corner, and with a terrified yell, started for the open door. He evidently thought I was the brakeman. He had reached the door and was about to leap from the freight, when I caught a front view of his face, and as I did so, I made a flying tackle for his knees and brought him down. Hello, Jess Ewell, old boy ! Are you an ordained gentleman of leisure like myself ? Well, I ' ll be hanged ! ' John Sharp ' Williams ! Give me your hand, old boy. Give me something to smoke. You have a mighty good-looking coat. I glanced down at my new broadcloth coat and grinned as I thought of that minister back down the road who was quietly working in his garden as I passed along, and whose coat, which hung over the fence, I had carefully appropriated, leaving mine instead. I reached into an inside pocket and to my delight pulled out half a dozen cigars. Cigars! shrieked Jess. The first I have seen for six months. I scarcely get a chance at anything but a cigarette. Exports too. Here ; give me a match. T did so, and a broad grin spread over the face of my old college chum as he drew in a mouthful of the smoke and then blew rings upward to the ceiling. 26

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will soon take an extensive trip West to complete the business details of several large contracts for supplying many western hotels with his Chesapeake Carter- selects. C. M. Hall, ' 08, ex-Governor of Nevada, is now making an active canvass of the State for the Senatorship. Professor H. P. Birckhead, ' 08, founder and president of the University of Hawaii, has recently been given a leave of absence on account of ill-health. After recuperating in the West, Professor Birckhead will pay his Alma Mater a visit. E. F. Shewmake, the famous Shakespearean actor, who has had many successful seasons in New York and London, has gotten together the best troupe in the world and will make an extensive tour of the West. He promises to come East and give a play for the benefit of the Colonial Echo. We had just finished reading of our classmates when the engine gave a series of loud shrieks, and the train slowed down. I knew we were approach- ing some town of importance. We both arose and crept stealthily towards the open door of the box car and peeped out to ascertain the lay of the land. We were in the midst of a great city, and as we looked, the train came nearly to a standstill. I heard some one say Reno, Nevada, and I instinctively felt for my purse. It was gone. I saw Jess conveying something into his hip pocket which resembled it greatly. I was about to lay hold of him when the faces of two trainmen appeared at the opposite door. Jess saw them at the same instant. Good-bye, John Sharp, old boy; I am compelled to retreat. Eeverence my memory. He dropped to the ground with a laugh, and started down the track like a streak of greased lightning. My purse, my purse! I cried, and made a leap after him, but failed. A rough hnnd had laid hold of my coat tail as I leaped, and I was for the moment a prisoner, — but only for a moment. Throwing back my arms and making another l ap forward, I left my coat in my captor ' s hands, and dashed across the track, down one of the prominent streets of Reno — the two trainmen at my heels. On I flew, the number of my pursuers increasing at every step. The citizens were joining in the chase, thinking something terrible had hap- pened. Some one hallooed Fire ! It was taken up by the crowd. I took it up and yelled as I ran Fire! Fire! The ruse saved me. I heard the clang-clang of the alarm bell, and then, in a few moments, the engines came tearing along. The crowd followed the engines, and I was saved, — but no! 27