Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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PAGE TWELVE THE SASSAMGN It was finally decided that the suggester was to be the spokesman. At last, after a mile of tiresome wading through snow hip deep, and slush almost a foot deep, they reached the summit. The man foremost in the sombre procession ut- tered a muffled exclamlation. ' Somebody must have taken the shack away! he cried. Another member of the sensed the situation and broke into Daffy a run, the others stringing out- behind him. After a short run they reached the place the cabin once stood. where The thaw, after the first snow, had made a soft, slippery slush. A heavy snow had then fallen and the whole mass, with its slippery base started slowly to move down the hill. The great mass gathered moment- um and with characteristic force hurled it- self against the back of the tiny home. Curiously the front wall withstood the shock, but the roof and sides bulged out- ward like paper. The back wall was pressed snugly against the front like a horizontal press. Against the front window, which was still intact, were jammed the lifeless bod- ies of The Widow and her son. As this group of lumbermen stood spell- bound for a moment, a thought passed through the mind of each, just as it passed through mine, whether or not the pair had been killed instantly or whether they had just been pinned there to die slowly in un- merciful agony. Who knows? FRED' KUNZ. THAT RADIO Second Prize Mrs. Howard was calmly sweeping the back piazza. Suddenly she heard a terrible noise. It sounded as if someone was fall- ing down the stairs. Bob and Dick, her two sons, came rushing out to her. Mother, said Dick, it's my tum---. No, it isn't either, yelled Bob. It is too. It is not. Boys, boys, what is the matter now? Mother, said Bob, pleadingly, isn't it my turn to tune in on the radio tonight? Now, mum, you said I could, Dick yelled at the top of his voice. Boys, stop this noise at once or I won't let either of you even touch it, Mrs. How- ard sternly replied. This silenced the two boys, for they knew that their mother always kept her word. Each determined to ask father and see what he said. That night at the supper table Mr. How- ard was very much surprised to fmd the boys so quiet. Usually one or the other had to be asked to soften his voice a little. Every once in a while Bob gave his father a pleading look. Mr. Howard could not un- derstand it, but he was soon to find out. When supper was over and the family were ready to listen to the radio, Bob and Dick made a dash to see who could reach it first. Bob was lucky. Dick said nothing, but quietly sat down. WNAC-The Shepard Stores, Boston. Did you hear that? cried Bob, excit- edly. 'Tisn't very clear. Just turn that dial a little to the right, said Dick, in a know- it-all voice. Say, who's doing' this? asked Bob. Careful, boys, said Mr. Howard, in a quiet voice. WGI-Medford Hillside-Violin Solo. Isn't that woman a dandy player! Dick said, excitedly. I wish I could play like that. Depends upon what you call a fine play- er. Then Bob, with a twist of his thumb lost the station. Of course, there was a great hullabaloo. . Let me try it for a while. l'll get you something worth hearing, said Dick, in that tone that Bob could not stand. O, go ahead. I suppose we'll have some- thing fine now, said Bob, sarcastically. Dick had better luck than Bob and Mrs. Howard praised himl. You see, Dick was her favorite son. Bob could stand it no longer. With a dash he ran out of the room, down into the cellar and started to shake the furnace. Have you happened to

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THE SASSAMON PAGE ELEVEN grant apple tree the fairies gracefully danced, singing: Oh sweet and happy springtime I With your little babbling brook, That trickles o'er the hillside, Through cool and shady nook. You whirl past bending birch tree And splash round mossy rock, While tiny purple violets Smile at your ceaseless talk. And all the birds of springtime Warble at break of dawn, But you, oh brawly brooklet, Just happily ripple on. MINNIE BERRY. A WINTE.R'S TRAGEDY Second Prize Any traveler entering the town of Hill- side would immediately conclude that the place was appropriately named. To the north rose a precipitous hill. Here and there among the massed boulders showed a patch of scraggly grass or heather. As your gaze follows up the hill, you may, in clear weather, see a small house, hardly more than a shack. In this lived a woman usually termed The Widow, by the vil- lagers, 'and her son, Billy. The Widow's real name was Mrs. Green. She was a frail, gray-haired little woman whose face continually wore a wistful, searching expression. Billy probably inher- ited some of his mother's traits, for he was a quiet, thoughtful, little fellow of about eleven, who seldom mingled with the other boys of his own size. in the village below. Instead, he spent his time wander- ing along the cliffs and ledges of the hill. On these various expeditions he was always accompanied by his inseparable companion, Shep. Shep was a shaggy collie that had just recently been added to the family pos- sessions. It was near winter when the boy started out one day for the other side of the great hill. It was a chill afternoon and he walked jauntily, with. the dog trotting ahead. He had a knife in his hand and was whittling a small stick. In a little less than an hour the pair had reached the other side of the hill, where the grass was in slightly greater proportion than rocks. At the further end of a grassy enclosure stood a cow, lazily cropping the scanty herbage. Go get her, commanded the boy. The dog circled about the cow, and with much barking and yelping forced her out of the tiny pasture onto the narrow path. The three were steadily making their way homeward when the boy chanced to look up from his whittling. Whistling soft- ly, he gave the cow a couple of sharp prods with his stick and put the knife into his pocket. The three quickened their steps for they were but half way home. The sky was ,now almost wholly overcast. A raw, biting wind had sprung up and the dog hung to the lee side of the boy. By the time they had reached home, it was blowing a bitter gale. Billy drove the cow into an adjoining shed, gave her some- thing to eat, and went out, closing the door behind him. He and the dog ran over to and into the house and slammed the door. Just then it began to snow. All that night and two more days and nights it snowed, a blinding, driving snow, composed of big, wet, heavy fiakes. On the afternoon of the third day a mild thaw started, but three days later another sonwstorm began and lasted half a week. Ik 41 8 A band of lumbermen were going, one day, up the great hill north of Hillside. They had just reached the halfway point of the tiresome climb when one member of them, Wishing to take his mind off the tire- some climb, began to talk about The Widow. Say, fellas, he ejaculated, what's the matter with takin' the widder and Billy to camp wid us? You all know she's a crack- erjack cook and Billy, well-he could drive a sledge! The suggestion was met with instant ap- proval and the small party talked it over as they laboriously climbed the steep hill.

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1 THE SASSAMON PAGE THIRTEEN listen on a radio when someone is shaking a furnace? If it doesn't make you grit your teeth, I'll lose my guess. Bob came up with a great air of triumph. What are you getting now? he asked, trying hard to hide a smile. Oh, replied Dick, just as you went down to shake the furnace, the station signed off for three minutes. They've just begun again. Dick tried hard, but he couldn't help laughing. Finally peace was declared for ten min- utes. Dick got WEAG in New York. Say, Dick, you want to turn that dial there a little to the left. Who's doing this, you or I, cried Dick, in an angry voice. ' Hal Ha! Makes a diiference who says that, Dick, doesn't it? Can you keep quiet for a few minutes? Dick inquired, in a still angrier voice. Well, mother, said Mr. Howard, I guess it is about time we went to bed. It's half past ten. You're no kind of radio fan, dad, said Bob, with a covered up yawn. Can't we stay up a while longer? No more tonight, boys. The music may have been good, but the only music I heard was that of you and Dick. Then the boys felt ashamed. They thought over the events of the evening. Not very satisfactory. Without another word the boys went quickly to bed. At eleven o'clock peace once more reigned in the Howard house. I wonder what hap- pened the next evening. People who have a radio can use their imagination! ELEANOR HOLDEN. A FRIEND INDEED One afternoon, in early September, four girls were standing outside the Faybrooke High School, engaged in a lively conversa- tion. It's a mean thing! declared one mem- ber of the group. Mean! this from Jean Preston, I call it outrageous! To think that the town has built as fine a school as this, and with such a splendid gymnasium and now, you might say, not be able to use it because we lack an instructor. Well, said Marion Sayre, philosophical- ly, I suppose that if the town can't afford to pay one, we must go without this year, but maybe next year-. Next year! Jean broke in, scornfully, what good will that do us next year, when we're graduating this year? Besides, it's high time this town did decide whether they can afford one or not. Here it is the sec- ond week of school and the decision was an- nounced only last night. Now, after set- ting our hearts on building up girls' ath- letics in this town, and counting on it ever since they started this new building, our plans go to smash. Well, said another girl, hopefully, maybe we will be allowed to use the gym anyway, even without an instructor. Oh! of course, returned Jean, but we want to get up a snappy basketball team and we need someone to coach us. I won- der--yes, I believe we can do it. Do what? asked the other girls, in chorus. Well, don't you think that by having a drive, as you might say, that we girls could raise sufficient money to hire an instruc- tor ourselves? The girls were enthusiastic over the idea and decided to meet that very evening at Jean's house, to plan the details. When the girls were all assembled at Jean's home, that night, she, being the or- iginator of the idea set forth her plans at once. Now, she said, I have talked it over with the folks and they think we .ought to succeed in this undertaking, so let's pair up and divide the work. Therefore, they planned to cover each street in town. For the first few days of their campaign- ing, the girls were very enthusiastic, but after four days of this, after school hours, their spirits and interest began to decrease. At each house the plan to obtain a physi- cal instructor for the new school had to be explained, and this was done so much that