Leominster High School - Magnet Yearbook (Leominster, MA)

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THE MAGNET 9 Tex HE day’s work was finished and, supper having been eaten, we were TT sitting on the cool grass back of the large corn crib. There were five of us, including myself. They were, Tom, our regular man, Jack and Tim, two men who we hired during the harvests, myself and Tex. Tex was our latest addition. He knew nothing whatever about farm- ing, but he had learned remarkably well. He was also our man of mystery. No one knew whence he came or who he was. He had expressed a desire to be called Tex, so Tex he had remained. He was a dark, rather small man, with a curling mustache, and very clever fingers. He had always kept silent as to his past, but at different times I had thought of him as a cowboy—once when he had stuck to the colt after three had been thrown, and another time when he had shot a woodchuck with a worn 44 at a dis- tance at which I could not have hit a barn. It was a typical August evening, and the five of us were smoking, con- tent after a hard day’s work. In the southwest a storm was gathering, and having nothing else to do, we were watching it. The men, except Tex, were discussing thunder showers, their origin, and the freaks that the bolts had wrought. All at once the western sky was cut by a flash of lightning, and just before, the thunder rolled. I heard a smothered sob from Tex on my right. The men were attempting to beat one another in the tales of the storms they had seen. Jack was about to tell of a monstrous storm when, to my surprise, Tex spoke. When he spoke he talked in such a way that one couldn’t help but believe him. “T have been East here for some time now, and I haven’t seen a shower that compares with the last one I saw before I came. I used to be a cow- boy, and one night during the summer I had been placed on duty to watch the cattle at night, I and my pal, Silver. He was a good fellow, and the two of us had stuck together for about six years. We had been on guard for about three hours when the sky began to darken. We had been on the plains long enough to know that there wasalarge storm coming. Thecattle knew too, for they got up and began to snuff the wind and move around uneasily. The storm came very swiftly and was about overhead when a heavy clap of thunder aroused the rest of the cattle. It was our duty to keep the cattle ‘ melling,’ that is to keep them going continually in a circle without going forward, for if once they get frightened and start running straight ahead, there is nothing that will stop them. Anything that cannot get out of the way is trampled upon; and to get stamped on by three thou- sand steers is no trifling experience.” Here, he stopped, and for a moment I thought it was all. But through the semi-darkness I could see him rolling a cigaret He lit it,and the flame showed his dark, lean, face. He then started.

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8 THE MAGNET A Windy Day AUSING as I passed by the open window I glanced out, and was P greeted with a shrill blast of wind. It was not only cold, but very sharp and biting, whistling through the trees with a shriek unlike any’ earthly sound. The view from the window was very picturesque. The many colored autumn leaves blown from the trees, fluttered here, there, and everywhere,, very beautiful as they fell to the earth, only to be carried up again when. another sudden gust of wind passed hurriedly by. It was very dry, as no rain had fallen for some time.. In the road, the dust blew like a wairlwind.. In people’s eyes, striking against the windows: and houses, this cloud of: sand flew. Dust, dust, everywhere. To those who were out in the whirlwind, it was anything but pleasing. They could: feel, see and taste the gritty sand.. Men.and boys are having great difficulty’ with their hats and caps.. See, here comes a well-worn, late-in-the-season,. straw hat, the property of anmirate old gentleman, who is madly trying to. gain possession of it. It rolls along, stops, as the wind dies down, then at an extra strong puff, is off again to resume its hasty flight. Here we seea little rosy-cheeked fellow, frantically running after his cap. The wind be-- ing the stronger, he is unable to make much progress. At last, however, he manages to capture it, and pursues his. way,.not seeming to mind the chase. Everybody is-hurrying; some not of their own free-will, however. The wind, as it howls and moans in and out among the trees, seems to push the people along, unwillingly. Man and horse alike, walk with their heads held: down for protection from:the sharp:and stinging blast, which seems to cut. their faces. Even the:houses are disturbed; it would almost seem as if they moved: on their foundations. The glass in the windows rattle. The wind, whist-- ling down the chimney, is answered by the fire blazing up with a sudden: start. I leave my position at the window, and pass over to the fire. There. in a comfortable chair, with an interesting book, and some fruit near at hand, I sit,.comfortable and exceedingly contented that I do not have to: journey out on sucha day. VERA M. HOLDEN, ’I5.

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10 THE MAGNET ‘Just before Silver and I parted, for one goes one side of the herd while the other stays on his side, Silver come to me and said he had a ‘hunch’ that he would never see me again. It was the first time he had ever spoken to me in that way and I was troubled, and tried to cheer him up. He gave me a long, thick, envelope, and asked me to see that it was delivered if he did go down. Then we shook hands and parted.” Tex again stopped and the rest of us sought a more comfortable posi- tion. After a pause of about two minutes, he started again. ‘Well, I never met him again. Several times during lulls in the storm I heard him singing. The sound of a human voice soothes the cattle. Another time ina bright flash of lightning I saw him—for the last time: Once a light blue flame appeared on the top of every horn. This isa omen of distress. ‘“About midnight the cattle, as if by common zmpulse, started forward on the run. I did my best to stop them, but it was impossible. They kept running for two solid hours. I kept up with them. Once I heard the sound of a revolver three times right a-going, and I was troubled. Was it Silver? Finally, at the end of the third hour, they were feeding quietly, and I started back for the camp and breakfast. ‘ Happy,’ my horse, was nearly all in, and I wasn’t far from it. When I got to camp everybody seemed to be afraid of me. They kept at a little distance as if they were afraid I would speak to them, and they seemed to have asecret. I wondered where Silver was, but asked no questions, for I thought he was still on his way back. ‘After breakfast the boss approached me and said quietly: ‘One man went under last night,’ and I knew from his face that it had been Silver. That was why he had not come. I followed the boss to where they had laid Silver. He was hardly recognizable. They had found him surrounded by acircle of dead steers that he had shot in an attempt to save himself. Fie and his horse had been trampled on by about fifteen hundred steers. “After that, the West had no attraction forme. I tovk his gunas a souvenir and went to the station where I mailed the package and was go- ing to sell ‘Happy.’ I found I couldn’t sell him; it was like selling a brother, so I took him out on the prairie and left him. Then I took the train, came East, found a job, and then got this one, so here I am.” We smoked in silence. We had nothing to say. A little while after we heard a shout from the front of the house and went around to investi- gate. It was the mail carrier. The horse would not stand, so Tex held him while I got a lantern. I was going around the horse when Tex asked me to hold the lantern up. I did so, and just above the collar I saw a white spot the size of a dollar. Tex whistled in a queer way, and the horse jumped; then under Tex’s hand quieted down. The others who were talk- ing with the mail carrier did not notice all this. I wondered, but said nothing. Next morning Tex did not come to breakfast and we found that he