Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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I0 THE SPECTATOR thru the building, the alarm clanged, Whimp rolled on the floor, convulsed with laughter. The Gila was worth the five dollars, after all. The Doctor soon quieted the boys, then ordered a search of the building. Dobson was sent to the second floor, while he imprisoned Puck in the inhrmary, or as Whimp called it, the medicine-factory. When that in- dividual saw Dobson coming, he slipped unseen to his room without waiting for further fun. The ever-watchful Dob- son, suspecting something, swiftly followed. Without ceremony he opened Whimp's door. As he entered he saw a boy in blue pajamas snuff a small candle, then dive head- long into bed. Dobson advanced three steps in the dark, stumbled, then fell over the Gila's box, knocking his shins smartly. As he arose his one hand slipped thru the crating, touching something rough, scaly, snake-like. With a loud exclama- tion, he jumped aside. Then a very tiny blue cloud en- shrouded him. Violent sneezing, coughing, and muttering followed. Whimp stuffed a good part of a pillow into his mouth. The master was thoroughly frightened, but he meant to stick to his duty, no matter what the cost might be. Brown, he shouted fall frightened people doj, light your candle quickly. There may be smoke or snakes or some such thing in your room. Quick! Yes-I-certainly-ha, ha-sure-just a minute, sir, answered Whimp as he jumped out of bed and seemingly proceeded to fumble for the candle with matches. In reality, he had made his way past the master and was pushing the box quietly along the floor towards his bed, a few feet away. Did you drop the candle on the floor? Hurry up, Brown, sure, came from the wondering Dobson. I have her now, answered Whimp just as he com- pleted the trip of the box under the bed. Luckily the animal did not again throw off smoke, Whimp was thanking his lucky stars that Puck's room was now vacated. Even while he thought of this he was act- ing, for it was no place nor time to be caught. lt was but the work of a second to overturn a chair and throw beneath

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THE SPECTATOR 9 in Arizona, he was now engaged in figuring how he could live until vacation on nothing. That mysterious box, clearly labeled Do not tease, contained nothing else but a small Gila monster, a venomous reptile-like animal of the desert. Why in theworld his brother should send such a dangerous, good-for-nothing brute by expensive expressage, the receiver did not know. As a result of the expressage, Whimp was forced to offer the connie two cents and three postage stamps for car fare on the way home from the village with his box, thereby finding himself very gently deposited on the track, to trudge two miles to school with an animal cage, just for fun, as he afterwards said. By one o'clock he had seen his way clear for two bucks ln disgust he picked up a baseball bat and dug the beast thru the crating of the box. A thick, smoky cloud issued thereupon from the animal's nostrils, floated toward the ceiling, and disappeared slowly. Nlost of it went thru a small secret passage thru the ceiling connect- ing Puck's and Whimp's rooms. The boys used it fre- quently to pass down or up eats, books, or matches. Soon he heard Puck jump from his bed and arouse the house. He himself ran out and joined the procession, all the time knowing what the trouble was. After the excite- ment of the first alarm had quieted down, the financier crept back to his room, lit the seventh candle of the even- ing, and started again on his accounts. But he could not compute an additional cent with all his figuring. After an- other half hour had elapsed, he again seized his ball bat, and viciously punched the defenceless Gila. The smoke act was repeated, this time the cloud being so large and dense that he himself had to run from his stuffy room to breathe. Hardly was he in the hall, when the shocks from the iron weights above came. Chuckling to himself, the highly elated animal trainer ran upstairs to join the second fun of the night. This the Doctor cut short, Whimp run- ning back to his room, bent on involving poor Puck deeper in trouble. But ten minutes later, the Gila was punched again. Whimp bounded up the stairs and waited. In asurprisingly short time, the now almost frantic Puck came loping down the hall like a pursued deer. Shouts of Fire! Fire! rang

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THE SPECTATOR ll it his wash-cloth, snatched from the stand close by. Then he lit the candle, muttering about lost matches. Ha-ha! Look, Brown, nothing but a chair and wash-cloth. Nly hand slipped thru the rungs of the chair when I fell and touched the cloth. Next time have your room in better order. You should raise your windows and get this peculiar musty odor out of here. lt truly was a scare. But I came here to see-ah-er, why did you slip to your room so suddenly a few minutes ago? said the master. Well, the fun was over. And l didn't want to get mixed up in this Ere affair. Then Puck is a good friend, you know, I didn't want him to see me laughing at him, he is bigger than l am, answered Whimp, truthfully enough. Ali, to be sure, I am only searching on the Doctor's orders, you know. .Sorry I broke into your room this way. Good-night. Good-night. Long drawn out sigh of relief, as the last of Dobson's footsteps sounded far down the corridor. A Page from My Summer Diary BY DONALD CUSTER '12 ET nine o'clock we took a train from Belfast for the Giant's Causeway, via Port Rusk, the Atlantic'City of Northern Ireland. This city is beautifully situated on the north coast of Ireland, Here we took an electric train for the Causeway. The ride provided many fine examples of coast scenery, the route lying along the high bluffs of the sea for almost the entire eight miles, and presenting far-reaching sea-views. On a clear day Scotland is visible in the distance. Chalk cliffs, covered with lava and basalt, have been worn into fantastic shapes by the waves, some resembling giants' heads, others elephants' legs, The invigorating atmosphere of the trip made us very hungry, and we were glad for a lunch before engaging one of the many available guides to conduct us over this won- derful formation. Before going to the Causeway, we were conducted by