Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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THE SPECTATOR 19 A Eirifa Smprrwainn nf Ihr Arrnplmw Rachel Dibert, '21 Mrs. G. VV. Pigeon alighted on top of a bird house and looked about her. None of her friends were in sight. A bird house is not a good place from which to view the surrounding city, so she flew away in search of the one pigeon she wanted to see and could not End. Across a street, through a back yard, over several house tops she flew, and there on the curb- stone below her was another pigeon. This pigeon was quite as large as Mrs. G. W. and equally as good looking, if birds are called good looking in Birddom. Mrs. G. W. Pigeon flew down and greeted her friend, Mrs. W. B. Pigeon. They exchanged conlidences and then: I must be leaving you, Mrs. White Breasted Pigeon, said Mrs. G. W. Mr. Pigeon promised to patch our nest today and I know he'1l never do it unless I remind him. He wanted to put it off till tomorrow morning, but if the people in this great city intend to have a holiday then, I think we should have one, too. Stay one moment, Mrs. Gray Winged Pigeon, said Mrs. W. B. Why are the people having a holiday here? They are not having one in the towns to west ot us. Have they beaten another nation of Germans, or has their President declared a holiday ? Mrs. G. W. stared scornfully at Mrs. W. B. Don't you know P she asked. Tomorrow is Victory jubilee Day. And with that Mrs. W. B. had to be content. :sf 4: 4: af af PF fr uf af 4: Victory Jubilee Day dawned bright and clear, and with the dawn all the birds were up. Now every two weeks a meet- ing of the Household Society was held and all lady pigeons were expected to attend, and most of them did. It happened that this was meeting day. Many of the pigeons wanted the meeting postponed, but Mrs. F. F. Pigeon, who was chairman, had said it didn't matter who was having a holiday, or when they were having it, the meeting would go on. She conceded

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18 THE SPECTATOR Among the wheat, answered the woman. Aren't they pretty ? Burke was speechless. Steel moved closer to examine the Bowers. The wonder shone in his eyes. lt can't be, he said. He received no answer. In a moment Burke broke the silence. Steele, he said softly, you know what those flowers mean. I do, answered the farmer, with a faint trace of a sad smile. In two days Burke had burned Steele's wheat crop to the ground. Nothing was left except the charred stalks. Before leaving the expert had a talk with Steele. lt is all right, he said. The pest did not spread to the other iields. We checked it just in time. Your crop is gone but the others are saved for England. I think I can manage to get through the winter, said the farmer. But Florence will have to wait another year for her things. I will wait hfty years if it will help England, said the woman, appearing in the doorway. She carried two glasses and a jug of wine. Here,,' she said, drink to England and think no more of rne. Next year we will begin all over. Burke took a glass. To England, he said. Stele was thinking. He had lost his whole year's work. He could not buy his wife what she should have. Then he thought of England. He brought the glass closer to his lips. To England, he repeated.

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20 THE SPECTATOR this much, however-it would be held at 6 a. m. so that every one would have a free day. ' At 2 o'clock in the afternoon some twenty pigeons, Mrs. G. W. and Mrs. W. B. included, all members of the society, gathered on the housetop where the meetings were held. Some- thing extraordinary had happened, as was evident by the ex- citement among the pigeons. It certainly was too bad you stayed at home instead of attending the meeting as you should have done, said Mrs. W. B. Mrs. Fan Tail arrived promptly at 6:00, called order, and the business of the meeting was begun. She talked and talked about something that was very tiresome. She never finished that speech, however, and that is the reason a second meeting was called now, for there began an awful whirring sound that increased every minute and seemed to be on all sides of us at once. Mrs. Fan Tail was looking up in the sky at the moment. She screamed, and we looked, first at her, then at the sky. There, away up in the blue, sailed a something that dipped and dived and turned and twisted gracefully. It was a golden color in the sunlight, and it made the noise which frightened us. Then, as we looked, there came right out of the sky a great bang and a puff or two of smoke. Mrs. F. T.'s tail stood up with terror, and I suppose I was as badly scared as the rest. The echoes of one bang had scarcely died before it was fol- lowed by another and louder bang. I never was so frightened in all my life! And there were so many of those loud explo- sions ! Mrs. W. B. paused for breath. Did you hear them ? she asked. Did I hear them? repeated Mrs. G. W. I was so frightened, I almost fell off the roof of the Fort Stanwix Hotel, and I-my goodness l she screamed, interrupting herself, there are the Somethings and they're letting the stars fall! Look ! Stars falling? Nonsense! came from Mrs. W. B., but she was not long a doubter. Truly the stars were falling! 1