Madera Union High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Madera, CA)

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PURPLE AND WHITE. 13 wild, and the beautiful flowers were crowded out of their beds by The whole place as- med yines grew tall, uneainly weeds. sumed an air of mournful desolation. Every day the wite thought of her old home, and how her plants were neglected. Every day the wife praved that she might but to appeared bright and happy. some day return ; Joe she always Their journey was slow and tedious. At and privations taxed On casion, while encamped in a lonely spot in the woods, they were suddenly surrounded Although frightened molested, every point hardship one OC- their streneth to the utmost. by a band of savages. nearly to death they and Joe by dint of much friendly gesticula- tion gifts of other trinkets persuaded them to depart in peace. were not and by beads and After many adventures with wild animals and a few accidents, which greatly delayed their progress they arrived in California at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Resting they then began to look about for a favorable place here for a few days, in which to build their enbin. An ideal spot, by a clear stream of water, was at leneth discovered. Joe at once began to cut down trees and gradually their rude, but picturesque home, was completed. His wite tried to make the little ¢ abin as nearly dif- fieult for Joe to put in a wooden floor, so like her old home as possible. It was his wife cut up the canvas tent which they had with them, sewed the pieces together to fit the space and stretched it on the ground. To beautify and soften the rough exterior she dug up wild rose bushes which grew near-by, and planted them all around the place. The hope, began his search for gold. the morning he would start out, with pick and shovel, and work until nightfall, every to strike a rich mine. full of Early in home being finished, Joe, moment expecting Many times he was just on the point of abandoning hope, but the discovery of a few grains of the precious metal in his pan always encouraged him to even greater ef- months He worked for about six Then he gave up all hope, forts. without success. and to add to his misfortune, his wife’s health, never too vigorous, began slowly to Tn spite of all that he could do, she finally passed quietly away and left him decline. a lonely, broken-hearted man, with a child of four as his sole comfort and companion. For weeks the widowed husband scarcely He could not bear to leave the spot endeared to him stirred from the little cabin door. by so many evidences of his wife’s skill and The little plants he tended with His pick and shovel lay neglected and soon be- devotion. a loving care that was almost pathetic. came covered with rust. His life was cen- little recalled the memory tered in those thines which most vividly of her who slept beneath the pines on the hillside. One evening, just as the sun was tinting gold, his head in his hands, think- The thought of future added new weight to She had wild flower, the western sky with Joe sat on his doorstep with ing deeply of his troubles. Annie and her his erief-stricken mind. erown up in this new country like a and was daily becoming more beautiful. ‘Poor little daughter! How vide for you as I had hoped and planned? What will be I, too, : 9 gone? can I pro- your fate when am papa!” broke in the childish treble at this moment. “See pretty ittle buttons! I finded ’em for little child; would never «Papa! mama!” Poor she did not know her mother return. ‘See, papa, how zay shine! “buttons” in his great, One glance told him that their mine had at last been discovered. A the rough hands. Joe took ray from the dying sun elanced across his daughter’s head, ne it to gold. ‘ Little pressed her to him, “ you are more precious Nugget,” he said brokenly as he to me than all the gold in California !” Annie led the way down to a little stream where she had found the gold, and in a short time pick and shovel uncovered a ledge that fairly glittered with the precious metal. Next morning, with specimens of the rich ore, they journeyed to the nearest town, where after some delay, the mine was finally

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PURPLE AND WHITE. LITTLE NUGGET. BY EMELIA LOINAZ, N the spring of the year 1849, there lived in a little New Hampshire vil- lage a happy family; Joe, his wife, and their only child Annie, a winsome lass of three years. Their home was an humble cottage of three rooms, a parlor, bedroom, and one that served for both kitchen and dining- These were scantily furnished but The porch was hidden room. very neatly kept. from view by carefully trained vines, and the front yard was filled with sweet scented flowers, the pride of the little housewife. Although Joe’s wife had been brought up amidst more luxuries than he could pro- vide for her, she was perfec tly contented, All day the garden and as happy as the day was long. she was as busy as a bee; now house and amongst the flowers. tidying now working in the Little Annie was the joy of her home, and the pride of the village. Her sweet childish both old Old men delighted in taking’ her graces won the hearts of and young. on their knees and telling her fairy tales. She opened wide her large blue eyes, and listened attentively to the wondrous stories. Joe, a middle-aged man, loved his wife and child dearly, and his one desire in life was to gain enough wealth to provide for them a home filled with all the comforts and luxuries to which his wife had been accustomed before her marriage. Every day the men of the village round the little postoftice, and read the evening papers filled with marvelous tales gathered of the rich gold mines in the far west. Although incredible they created great excitement in the little country town. sit for hours talking about the gold mines, many of these stories were The men would building castles in the air, and making plans for prospecting trips, but when some of them, looking also on the dark side, began to talk about the dangers of the journey, the wild animals of forest and plain, and the wilder savages, the excite- ment would gradually die down, and the subject be dropped—only, however, to be renewed the next day. Joe never tired of talking about th e gold fields. looked seriously into the matter. He seemed to be the only one who He had made plans to equip himself with a camp- ing outfit, and journey with his family to the gold fields. So much did his plans prey upon his mind that, at last, he decided But the thought of ex- posing his wife to the dangers and hard- to carry them out. ships incident to the rough trip and the subsequent life in a wild country, made him backward about revealing his plans to her. When he first began to talk about it, she thought he was only joking, but having heard all his plans, she knew he was in She little who did not fear danger, but the thought earnest. was a brave woman, of leaving her home and friends caused depression which all her efforts could not quite dispel. whole They money Joe and his wife were busy for a month making ready for the trip. the a “prairie schooner” sold their cottage, and with bought a team of oxen, —a covered wagon such as travelers used in those days when crossing the plains. After bidding their friends good-bye over and over again, the little party started out on their westward journey. O, how the village people missed the beautiful child, who had carried sunshine with her wherever she went! “Perhaps we shall never see her again,” said some. Others imagined they saw her, in after years, a proud and haughty woman enjoying the wealth ac quired by her ambi- tious father. How lonely the deserted cottage looked! It had been bought by a wealthy man, he intending to rent it, but it remained unoc- cupied. During the day no friendly smoke issued from the lone chimney; at night no cheerful light shone at the window to glad- The melodies that used to float out over the village at twilight from the little porch The carefully den the eye of the wayfarer. sweet were heard no more. trim-

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14 PURPLE AND WHITE. sold to the representatives of an Eastern company for a modest fortune. Joe’s first and last thought was to return to his little New Hampshire home, spend the rest of his days in peace and and comfort. The trip eastward was uneventful, and they were soon weleomed home by their old friends. The sad news of the death of the brave young wife cast a gloom over the whole village; but Annie’s coming gelad- dened the hearts of all. Joe re-bought the cottage of which his wife had been so fond, and by various im- beautiful provements converted it into a and comfortable home. There father and daughter lived for many happy, peaceful years. Joe never remarried. His greatest joy was to-work out in the garden, among the flowers his wife had planted and cared for, and to train the vines her loving hands had caressed. “Tittle Nugget ” ple now called her—grew day by day more as all the village peo- beautiful, constantly reminding her father of the wife he had lost, and filline their little house with that peculiar light and true And truly this is worth more than all the gold that radiance, which only shines from a heart and a sweet disposition. the mines of the world could yield. . DEBATING SOCIETY. BY ARTHUR DEBATING society is an educational department in a High BELCHER. essential School. advantages and privileges are distributed In this organization unexcelled equally among all; such as cannot be ob- tained in any other part of High School work, A parliamentary education is inestimable to a person in the political world as well With sition of this knowledge comes also a as the social spheres. the acqui- gradual release from that embarrassment which is characteristic of an inexperienced debater. Another disadvantage which a debating society tends to remove is the lack of ex- pression which has been hampered by a small vocabulary, as well as slowness and poverty of thought. The power of expressing your thoughts and the ability of thinking on your feet are priceless aids to a man in his career and a permanent foundation for a successful life. What lawyers are successful? Those who talk? No. Those the greatness of their eloquence and the sub- the attention of the jury and sway their minds do not who by limity of their thoughts command like a mighty wind sways the tall and nimble pine. They are the kind that make the practice of law a success. And how do they obtain such a lofty position? By gift ? No. and by the labors and profits of past expe- By perseverance in the art of debate, rience. There is no royal road to success. Be taught how to speak and think, using all the opportunities offered by the societies of your school. Any school which has nota debatin e soci- ety is not up to the modern rank, and the students of the school do not enjoy the privi- Garfield ‘“Our society resembles the ocean, leges that they ought to enjoy. said: where every drop, even the lowest, is free to mingle with all others, and may shine ut Let us seek to develop ourselves throuch the last on the crest of the hiehest wave.” privileges offered by a debating society, so that we may be the drop that shines ou the highest wave of our society. ° Miss Lingerlong —I shall never marry! Maud Brisk—Oh! Cheer up, dear! You should remember that Naomi, the daughter of Enoch, was 580 years old when she married! —Puck. —-? A servant-girl living in Gloucester, Had a mistress who actually bossed her! And the people were few, Oh, very! who knew, Or could know what pangs all this cost her, —Exchange. a Mrs. done! Weary Willy—T’anks, Mum! tramps I'll send ’em round! Farmer I have several odd jobs I want If I see any odd —Exchange.