Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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THE SPECTATOR 19. At last the day came. Thora arose early and dressed in her very best clothes. She then got into the cart and she and her brother drove to Stockholm. They arrived at the capital about IO o'clock and immediately went to the market place to sell their butter' and cheeses before the shops closed. Thora sat on the seat and looked about her. She was a very pretty girl, with light hair, blue eyes, and a fair and rosy complexion. She wore a red skirt, gathered very full, a black velvet bodice laced in back and front, and a bright yellow waist. After her brother had sold the cheeses and butter, he drove to the main street and left Thora there to see the king pass, while he drove to the wharves to buy some fish. A large crowd had already gathered along the sides of the street. Thora could not rind standing room in the front row. As more people came, she was gradually pushed backward until she was far from the street. She heard a band play the national hymn, heard the people cheer, and heard horses prance by. ln vain she tried to look over the crowd. But through her blinding tears she saw only the buildings on the opposite side of the street. At last all had passed and the crowd began to disperse. Thora sat on the curbstone and cried bitterly. She had not seen the king. While she was sitting there, a hand was laid gently on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw a kindly face smiling down at her. Why are you sitting here? asked the stranger. l came to see the king pass by, when all the people shout and cry, 'Long live the king', replied Thora. Why do you cry? asked the stranger. Because, said Thora, I am so small that when the king came riding by I could not see. l Then stop your crying, pretty maid, and look at me, for I am the king, said the stranger. m , ' WETSN

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I8 THE SPECTATOR A Familiar Tale Done in Rhyme. BY KATHARINE TAGGERT, '12 OUR-year-old Robbie had been quite ill, But was up and about by the doctor's Will. His dear little hands were tired and weak, So he dropped his toys, his mother to seek. He leaned his tired head against her side, Then opened his blue eyes big and Wide, He gazed into her care-worn face And fumbled his hand in her sewing case. Mother, I feel like an old, broken toy, Wearily sighed the Weak little boy. She gathered him close in her tender arms As tho she would shield him from all harms. Mother's boy, she cood, sit on mother's knee, And let me hold you close to meg Ah! darling boy, there, do not weep, And mother will sing you fast asleep. How Thora Saw the King BY JAMES ADAMS, '12, BOUT ten miles from the City of Stockholm there lived an honest peasant and his family. They lived on a little farm of about twenty acres. There was one girl and Hve boys in the family. The girl, whose name was Thora, helped her mother keep house and milk the goats. The boys helped their father in the helds and tended to the flocks of goats and sheep. Several times a month the father or the eldest son took their products of butter and cheese to town and brought home clothing and other articles in exchange. Thora had been to Stockholm but once or twice, and then only for a short time. So it was with great eagerness she looked toward the coming of the national holiday, when she and her eldest brother, Olin, were going to Stockholm.

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20 THE SPECTATOR A Bit qf Pleasantry BY RALPH A. DE FREHN, '09. UST after President McKinley made his call for volun- teers, at the outbreak of the Spanish American War, there were hundreds of men travelling eastward in response to the call. At a certain railway station in Pennsylvania a regiment of raw recruits stood in front of the station waiting for the train. They were lined up abreast in four or five lines, each line about one fourth of a mile long. For some reason or other they were in good spirits that morning and had planned among themselves to have some fun. They were going to play a joke on the Hrst important personage that came along. ' They didn't have to wait long for a victim, either, for soon they saw a very portly gentleman strutting along in front of the lines. Almost instantly all the men in the lines knew, by the nudge that he recieved from his neighbor that here was their victim. Just as the stranger came to about the middle of the lines one of the soldiers stepped forward and said, Stranger, will you please tell me what time it is? With an air of importance and pleasure the person ad- dressed reached in his pocket, pulled out his watch, looked at the time, snapped the front shut, and placed the watch into his pocket again before he said anything. Then he said, lt is now just about twenty-two minutes after nine. The soldier stepped back to his place in the line, and with that as a signal every man in the whole regiment, at the same instant, made a low bow and with no uncertain force said, Thank-you-sir, Thank-you-sir, Thank- you-sir. ' The Child's Surprise BY HERMAN Ro'1'H '12, HE people of Hanover, Germany, were excited. They lined up along the roadside waiting for the emperor to pass. Soon they cheered and shouted, Hoch! der kaiser.