Eureka High School - Sequoia Yearbook (Eureka, CA)

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a scream half of joy, half of fear, Otholia leaped from the lowest row of seats to the floor of the arena, and running to Otho, was clasped in his arms just as fthe lion sprang. There were tears in the eyes of more than one person in the audience, for the iron hearts of the Romans had at last been touched! So now, as you walk through the Colosseum, the guide tells you this story and points out the flowers that sprang up in memory of a sister's love. HELEN S. ALBEE, 'l1. .- , fa 4, ' I I Qimgw N-. -1-1-,.- 6' Q Q, u. 6 I 6779 Mystery. El AIRPORT had a mystery. No one ever doubted that. Even the iii? stranger who chanced, in his travels, to come that way, was struck I-,Q-,U ,Riffs with the air of mystery that prevaded the place. The old men of 3?'i'?5'5iiwi' the village, as they smoked their pipes before the rickety inn, 'li W eil Spoke in subdued tones about the unsolvable mystery. The agp women, as they hung over the back gates, discussed it freely, and Wifi never once thought of their burning bread or if their cakes were 'ijust to a turn. Even the children suspended their play to wonder and surmise. The sole object of all this gossip and excitement was an old man answer- ing to the simple name of Joshua Briggs. He owned a tract of land just outside ff the village. Through his property ran a deep, dark gorge. Far down in this, fy on the sloping side, his house was built. It could, however, hardly be called 21 house since it was of the most primitive kind, being built of hewn logs and split ,X shakes. Close at hand was the stream, running swiftly and silently past. just Q xx above the cabin was a waterfall which thundered and roared continually. The gossips of the village declared that the ravine was haunted, and there was little f ff doubt but that it was. They also said that there were many secret passages j 1 known only to the owner, by which he could disappear and reappear supernat- Q.. K f. urally. Xgjtgi Joshua was a tall, thin man, with long, white hair and beard. There was ffl W constantly in his eye a lurking, puzzled expression, and as he walked jerkily fi Qi along, he glanced ever about him as if searching for something. 5 No one knew from whence he had come. He had appeared suddenly one xg day about six months before, and l1ad never made friends with anybody. !f'f'fx Different people of the village had seen him on several occasions stalking ki ,Fm K, t PAGE TWENTY-THREE ,R X,-X fx lm K I 6 i J i 1 Xl X-.J r E CG , J V h iv- V l 2 A r l ,f .. 3 . ,L r , 1, rg?-J .g 333l' V.. I 5 if-55314. . , 1, - -S :rw-4.1 -. sw -'-A wx --fi. ff ara?-.1 . - -. fyfjwg- -if r- fail?-'Z ., 2 . 'iz t-f , , ,-she-fL-fLf-3155? -f 7s'if-459154 4 2 1-A -i-if :u r i K X, -1 hug? 'QQYXQ gi t.. ' if 'wwafm x. X x fp Q QQ. i 'c- '- J'-L-f-'fmfx fy i ' -W glluklffgywi , ' 'T K f A X 5 j, ,lawf ' . FQ C1 X-

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A Sister's Love. Freshman Story. 'W' F 4 AR over the sea in the quaint old town of Rome, is the Colosseum 'H or amphitheater. It was built long ago by Vespasian, an emper- L J, or. In it the Romans used to gather to see the combats between N' men and wild beasts. 1 i , Though decayed and tumbled down, it still stands there ' :? where it stood hundreds of years ago. Inside is the open space or arena, with seats arranged around the walls. In this arena grow beautiful flowers, such as are found in no other place in the world. They are drooping and graceful and of pure white, with one bright red spot in the center like a drop of blood. The origin of the flower is given in the following ..,,g g amz., ww ....,: 31165, e-If 5355 es. ' X u'- I 6 - -. ,'s:::g't:1f:: ' I story: Long, long ago, so they say, when the Colosseum was in all its splen- dor, Rome was at war with a mighty Gallic king. Many, many years she had tried to overcome him and each time had failed. The king had one son, Otho, and a beautiful daughter, Otholia. The children lived and played and grew up together, inseparable companions. At last, in a great and memorable battle, the Romans overcame the king and took as chief captives Otho and Otholia. Then a new trouble arose. 'They are young and beautifulf said one, 'we must not kill them.' But the rest laughed scornfully. 'Dost thou forget,' asked one, ithat the emperor's birthday comes soon and we must provide for the amusements of the day? The boy is strong and manlyf'twill be a goodly sight to see him overcome by T ingus, the lion. As for the girl, 'twill be easy to kill her after the sportsf The rest agreed and the date of Otho's death was set within the week. The emperor's birthday dawned bright and clear and throngs of richly dressed nobles and ladies poured into the Colosseum. As they took their seats they whispered to one another the report that this would be the best combat of the season, and everyone was well pleased at the prospect. At ten o'clock the Colosseum was filled and Otho was led into the arena. He had kissed Otholia good-bye and held her in his arms, begging her not to cry, for she would soon join him. The arena was now as still as death. The roars of the fierce, half-starved beasts were distinctly heard. A cage on one side of the arena was opened and a great shaggy lion leaped out and ran straight towards Otho. The boy leaped back. By a series of dodges and jumps he escaped death for at least five minutes. But the strain was wearing on him. Great beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead, and his body was torn and bleeding. The eyes of the audience were riveted on him. All saw that the end was near. Suddenly there was a great commotion in the eastern end of the arena. With PAGE TWENTY TWO

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about the mouth of the glen, muttering to himself. Now and then he would pass his hand slowly across his wrinkled brow. He had also been seen digging about the cabin, presumably for hidden treasure. Old Mrs. Bassett declared that she saw him standing in plain view of her house one evening, and the next in- stant he had vanished. Nancy Reed, the leader of the village gossips, asserted strongly that she saw him with her own eyes sink into the earth and the next instant reappear several hundred feet from the spot where she first saw him. At any rate, the village was in a high state of excitement about this hermit and his strange behavior. One moonlight evening Mr. Long, the village pastor, was hurrying home from an errand of mercy, and, as he neared the mouth of the glen, he heard strange mutterings. He stepped aside and the next moment Joshua stumbled past him and hurried on down the path, muttering and grumbling to himself. Early the next morning the entire village knew of this incident. Great excitement prevailed. A special meeting was held in the town hall and it was decided that a number of people would secrete themselves at the mouth of the glen that evening, follow Joshua, and settle the mystery once and for all. Accordingly, each found a safe hiding place, and impatiently awaited his coming. Sure enough, here he came, stroking his forehead as if to recall some vanished thought. He stalked boldly forward until just opposite the anxious watchers, where he suddenly stopped, stood rigid for an instant, then smote his thigh soundly, and with a muffled cry of joy, hastened back toward the cabin. The astonished watchers hurried after him. They saw him run to the corner of the building, reach up under the eaves, and bring some small object down in his hand. The crisis had come! The town mayor, as spokesman, stepped forward, grabbed the old man rudely by the shoulder and said grufliy, See here, what does this mean? We've had enough of this,'l and shaking Joshua roughly he added, HExplain, d'ye hear?H The old man wrenched himself free, and, stopping not an instant, fled toward the friendly shelter of the ravine, at the same time calling over his shoulder, l'It's me pipe. I mislaid it six months agone and jest couldn' rec'lect whare I put it. Now I kin e11joy myself fer oncef' EDITH E. SAUNDERs, '10, ff .2 :Q i J-aids 'mi1'm '4-, ': V'- , .,- 5 I Vw f'wgcw'- -:QA -J PAGE TWENTY FOUR