North Central High School - Tamarack Yearbook (Spokane, WA)

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'z' 'll .J .a :' sporl rt wrth a new fence It would be more than a shame rt would be a srn' That fence had to stay there' Then Hernrrch thought of the many wrongs he had suffered at the hand of hrs neighbor of the many trmes he had grven rn to avord a quarrel H knew as drd every other person for mrles around that Cyras B Flrntskmne was the meanest man rn all New England that hrs one arm rn lrfe was to gather and hoard the long green He also knew that Cyras would stoop to anythrng to obtarn thrs coveted cash Had he not robbed wrdows and orphan of therr last crusts of bread that he mrght add to hrs fortune5 He had' And Hernrrch saw clearly how he proposed to rob hrm for the same purpose The hay crop was lrght thrs year and every ton of golden gram would be wortr rts werght rn gold the comrng fall A strrp of land ten feet wrde and ful length of the best meadow rn the state was not to be desprsed' Once mor Hernrrch broke the fourth commandment' But the summer sun shone warm and brrght and the fresh mornrng an was good to breathe and the meadow larks sang sweetly' Trs a good old world after all mused Hernrrch half aloud afte he had been standrng he knew not how long with arms restrng on the old old world he repeated Too good to waste the trme rn rdle strrfe Whats a strrp of land more or less3 That perrod of wrld ragrn blood thrrsty anger was over Now came the trme of cool thrnkrng careful werghrnv lrke a calm after a fearful storm at sea A moment more and Hernrrch Honeteschlager swayed by the peace laden breeze would have forgotten hrs vows and submrtted to one more out rage at the hands of hrs nerghbor when Get off my land' In that moment the fate of the old lrne fence was decrded Hemrrch awoke wrth a start to fmd hrmself starrng down the gleamrng barrel of 1 rrfle at the other end of whrch two small sharp cruel eyes blrnked threaten rrgly For a moment he stood as rf paralyzed Then he broke forth rn a trrade so terrrble so awful that hrs earlier blasphemys seemed almost relrvrouslr proper as compared to rt You drrty strngy mrserly dog you' he concluded You wrll try to drctate to me wrll you3 Not rf I know myself That fence rs on the lrne ard rt s gorng to stay there' Do you hear me you cur5 I fnlr II Il I . V f ' ' -fi g 9 U 'v 9 ' 'A ' 2 , ' 5 . . A . ! - I . ' ' ,s v 3 I .. , : 1 , Q 1 y s f rail fence, gazing with unseeing eyes out across the verdant meadow, A good Y ',, - ,, . . . . ' ,A . Y. . U - . V V , D, g . . 4 V -as c ' , ' I .. ,, . ' . . Y . U U . Y 1 U l - 1 . . ' ' , ' . . .D. -V - ---- ,. .. . I U I ' ' V 5 ' I . w ' 7 ' 9, ' 'na - '- il '

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'3' T CK '3 says Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God rn varnl Bu when he drcl look out for l-lernrrch' At those trmes hrs eloquence often got the better of hrs judgment So rt was today He swore steadrly fearfully for an hour' But at last he paused a moment rn hrs ragrng up and down to examrne once more the scrap of paper he held rn hrs hand It was sorled and crumpled and the w rrtrng thereon was almost rllegrble Wrth drffrculty l-lernrrch made out the followrng Mrster l-lonestslager Esq Deer Srre I rrte to you to tell you 1 am a onest man 1 never rob nobody therefore 1 w1ll not let nobody rob me Your fence rs just ten feet off the lrne thereby robrng me of ten good feet of meadow Your fence rs so old rt rs roten Tomorrow 1 wrll start on a good new fence whrch wrll be on the lrne 1 wrll do the w orlt you wrll pay for the stug Cyras B Flrnt sltrnner Lrlte fun I w1ll' sard Hemrrch Honeteschlager and embellrshed rt wrth a rare old Dutch oath that farrly made vour harr curl Thus was a state occasron' That nrght Hernrrch slept lrttle or rone at all Lrlte the rest of hrs brothe countrymen he was slow to anger but when that anger was once fully aroused rt grew lrlce a fire before the blast Old Cvras Flmtskrnner would burld a Good new fence across the meadow would he3 And he l-lernrrch Honeteschla ver would pay for the materral of sard fence at the same trme grvrng a strm o good meadow land ten feet wrde and extendrng the entrre length of th meadow 3 X es he would not' That fence was on the lrne and rt would sta there or hrs name w as not Hernrrch Honeteschlager' The frrst farnt beams of mornrng found hrm out rn the open wanderrnsv armlessly about tryrng to thmk of somethrng besrdes that hateful letter and rts more hateful author But rt was of no avarll Some unexplarnable rrre sr trble force seemed to draw hrm down through the meadow down to the old lrne fence l-lernrrch was an artrst' l-le loved the prcturesque and hrs wrath e turned tenfold as he stood for a moment at the edge and watched the blue mrst roll slowly up from the meadow leavrng rt luke a great ever changmv emerald sparlclrng rn the mornrng sunlrght That wrth the old snake fence gray wrth age wrndrng rts lazy way rn and out rn and out across rts shrnmv bosom A scene that no true artrst could resrstl It would be a shame to I 1 fm Hgh! ,fr ,.J' 'os ,O ' D on . . ,, t . . ' Y l ., . , .- Vt . , . V V V,,V V , - - VV ,. . . ,, . . . . . . - V V V . 1 . ' Y - V V V V V V V V V . , , - 1.1 9 ' 1 -:V - V V 1 L, '- ' e ' , v . . V V . , . . A. V K V T V K - . . . . . . - V - . . . , 5 V . . , I - V V - V V ,- V - V V f V V -1 ia '-

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139 My K5 vga Cyras had lowered hrs gun at the begrnnrng of the outbrealt and stood wrth eyes and mouth wrde open rn astonrshment Was thrs the mrld tempered man he had always known as Hernrrch l-loneteschlager3 Impossrble' Th was some strange ragrng creature' Possrbly some escaped lunatrc' At any rate Cyras decrded that rt would be best not to cross hrm and above all not to appear frrghtened Wrth an almost prtrful attempt at brarerv he drew hrmself together and prepared for rnstantaneous yet seemly flrght We ll see srr he sard rn a thrn tremblrng yorce as l-lernrrch paused for a moment to regarn hrs breath We ll see Wrth that he shouldered hrs gun and marched away It was Hernrrch s turn now to stare rn open mouthed amazement What could haye gotten rnto the old man3 Hed neyer done that before Was rt a declaratron of war o was rt Hernrrch felt certarn that he would Hght to a hnrsh Cyras B Flrntsltrnner was not the man to baclt out Get off my land' The rnterloper thrs time was a mere lad a lad wrth the adyenturous lrght ol twenty rn hrs eyes and a pleasrng smrle on hrs lrps There was somethrnr rn that franlt open face that drew Hernrrch to the boy a he stood there I1 exact rmrtatron of old Flrntskrnner Some Boston lad who has run up for a few hours hshrng betw err trams thought l-lernrrch as he measured the boy w rth a satrshed Glance Vt hy dont you get mad3 chrded the lad Im gettrn tned' Srde lye got to hurry rf I have much trme at the Hole ' Hernrrch laughed a hearty laugh that would hare done any pessrmrst Good to heir Boy he sard rn that rrch Dutch brogue of hrs as he motroned toward hrs house Just yrsrble through the wrllows let the Hole vo hanged today I wrll keep trll next trme But and he paused sugvestrrely there s a hun dred dollars up there at the house w artrnv for the man that keeps thrs fenc where rt rs Gerard Nathan was an artrst too and more than that the proposrtrorr appealed to that lrght rn hrs eyes Im on he laughed bacls Ill call for the money rn just twenty mrnutes And he swung oyer the old rarl fence and plowed through the warst hrgh gram toward the hon s larr Hernrrch followed the youth wrth a pleased lool. rn hrs eyes untrl the 7fIHfl I fr . , Y F all l Avo ,G X ,,JT..aMf..L . 9 4. , 7 - ' . . 15 , . . 5 9 D 1 Y , . 4. y . ,, . . . . . . . 1 1 r , r . - - tt , rr - v . . , , . , - . , . . 1' -fH0. .. vt , , v , . .3 , U 5 c r tt , ' , . . . H, c , . ,, . . . . 1 I ,, 'C ' tt I , N - .. t -v - - - , 1 Y - H 5 . - A Qu 1 - - . r N D e . 4. .. - - - - - 1 - v r L H f - - - - - tt t . - w w 0 , - L Y- v V - n . v Y .r Q - L . , 1 1. , D . 5 - H - , , , V tt , H 4. r - - , V 1 v , . . ,, . v I . . . , , . - v , , ,