Northeast High School - Nor Easter Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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Nor' easter? himself, and stood for a moment. looking doubtfully at the wreck, and then realized what had happened. He turned towards his son, placed his hand roughly on the boy's shoulder, and growled, Cut out th' bawlin'. Yuh make me sick,', and shook him vi- olently. Then he shuffled back up the street to his favorite soft drink sa- loonf, 1 Iohn's body was still shaking, not from his father's rough treatment, but with suppressed sobs. Presently he shrugged his shoulders and began to pull the wreckage apart, and to show other volunteers where some one of the tenants might be buried-alive or dead. But he knew that his mother was dead-a small, but calm and quiet voice seemed to arise from the secret, unsounded depths of his soul to tell him that he would have to work on without her. As We Consider fEXplanationj Mr. Phillips' English Literature classes have just completed a most interesting study of Chaucer's Can- terbury Tales, and our coach, as we frequently call him, thought it would be a grand finale to have each student write a personal letter to Chaucer giv- ing his opinion of that elegant writer. One student in the fourth hour class was bravesenough to try, and I am sure you will later agree that she suc- ceeded, in writing a letter to Chaucer in his own blue-China English as our coach describes it, which all Chaucerian, students declare to be most difficult to interpret. To give you the benefit of this un- usual letter, we have been given per- mission to print it, and hope that you readers will enjoy it just as much as those who have heard it read aloud. EDITOR. Kansas City, Mo., Ian. 19, 1922. Derre Chaucer, It maist sem straunge to yow that, from far of America a lettre- you shoide have. Yet, in reding your tales and scriptures, I how beene so esed that I wolde beg yow to leet me telle of me delyt and pleasaunce and per- chance a question ask yow. O of our greet and couthe critics seyen of yow that yow weren that beest remenaunt of Norman yeast upon the hoombake Saxon lof, an me Chaucer Today thynketh it accordaunt. Yow tried to souphen the harsh souns and hardy- nesse to maken English swete on the tonge, and wel did yow do by giving unto it a lustynesse of French and the Italian. Me thynketh it noght acord- aunt for to pynche at your uncoth- nesse and tediousness whan yow tried to spare it. An as for vileonyes, the Canterbury Tales sem not ruggy an tedious, with the ese and fredom an easy flow, hum or, and penaunce, for the discriptions depeynted with the clennesse of Hogurth wich clennesse on canvas. 4 Sundry critics do also say a gilte opportunity was los.'It maist be rightes, but to tak the wordes of the greet American, with which yow have and wher yow wer, the beest yow dooinf' Nouth jolif ol' Dan, me desirygne to ask som questions. Whan to Italy yow romed and worshiped their wityng and passant -beautee, on your viage did you sette at soper with Boccaccio at his contree hom? It wolde beene so lusty to ete with disport with lifly noble Boccaccio. I can how yow speken of your work and how yow of- fered comments in a campaignable wey, and enned eshoon in pley. In the Canterbury Tales wich from the nyne an twenty in the compani- gnye was yow? Everrechon thynken the worthy knight, but me thynketh it the host. They do not trowe it is the trouble, for yow ne describe the host, bu1 hof thi wo bee I T E Glt fou we: ber knc yea Glu of the Eve hisi any wa: doc strz Rid sha the con ple. gall a ti of four chil bad dist was shi? to 1 It of 1 Joh hou: Arn' darl- hon: Yeti tles, ding one

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had able 5 he iool. was hool osen oem, the his e he best ption rrect im- E his f the owed uring ed at iginal abate, nr to e had nd he ss his :lared mefore happy satis- e and iother ed -do- a suc- id or- nd the looked for his ighted didn't v upon ol into ts that feather lt. He intable ke this ed him OP' QJSIQI? 15 towards the place he called home, he remembered that his 'paper needed more jokes and wondered if the local editor could get more tomorrow. He remembered his father and hoped he wasn't home. ready to mistreat his mother when she came home from work to that ancient-looking tenement in which they existed, it was so old that no one could remember when it was built, and it had been condemned last year by an official who examined it carefully, looked serious, and shook his head gravely. As a result, the empty upper rooms had never been re-rented. And he hoped they never would beg at least, not while he lived there. . The street car came to his stop. I-Ie got off, turned up the collar of his overcoat, and remarked to a passing acquaintance, These mists from the 'Big Muddy' are almost as bad as a London fog. He half ran the short distance to his home where he discovered two large, heavy moving vans in front of the tenement and learned that two fam- ilies were moving in. He watched the movers raise- a half-wrecked piano, it was hoisted to the top story, accom- panied by a creaking noise which did not seem to come from the pulleys. Then climbing up the stairway, he en- tered the- place he called home and was surprised to find his mother there so early. What's the matter, Mother? Chl I just had one of my sick spells an' had to come homefl Can I do anything for you? No, I'm all right now. I want you to run down to the store, though, an' get a loaf of breadf' What's that pounding from above? he asked from the doorway. That's our new neighbor cuttin' a hole for that window which should have been built there. He'd better be careful. The mortar in that wall is old and has crumbled for years, john remarked as he closed the door and stumbled gropingly into the hallway. I He thoughtfully descended the tene- ment stairways, as if he would never climb them again. But he shook off his foolish thoughts and proceeded to the corner grocery. As he bought the bread, he saw a man shuffle unsteadily past the store window. . That's Father, he sighed and hur- ried out to help him home. .As they approached the tenement, his father demanded of him, Is the old woman home yet? Yes, he answered him as he helped him up the front walk steps. The loaf of bread slipped from under his arm and he stopped to pick it up, while his father shuffled on. An in- describable sensation, perhaps it was only the clutches of the clinging cold, seized him and shook him into a vague terror. The large, heavy moving vans had been emptied. One of them moved ponderously and jounced and jolted to- wards the unusually high curbing and the other followed closely. The front wheels of the truck plunged over the curbing with a jarring joltg a small rattling noise was heard.. And ,it seemed as if a pedestal of the East porch, above which the light of johnis home shone, slipped from its founda- tion. The back wheels of the first and the front wheels of the second truck thudded upon the street pavement sim- ultaneously, the rattling increased to a roar. john straightened up suddenly and saw his father knocked down by fall- ing bricksg the evil half of his soul was delighted to see that part of the scene. And then to his horror he saw the weakened East wall sway and fall with that rattling roar. Then the remain- ing part of the wall, and the East porch also, bent inward and the entire East half of the tenement collapsed with a crash like an avalanche. john dutifully rushed to his father. Alas, he could not reach his mother, she was buried forever by that ava- lanche of bricks and mortar. He helped his father to rise. And that degraded man swayed, steadied

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t, but .y he ln to show ne of VC Ol other quiet ecret. J 'tell 'k on ed to ardy- n the giving .d the .cord- icoth- tried 5, the 'ugglf 'edom iunce, gh the .nesse gilte at be if the ' have yow gne- to I yow g and e did :io at ne so lifly yow iw of- gnable from ipani- vnken .eth it is the host, g lil Olaf QHSIQIT 17 but trewely yow do at the ende. The host is a man of your condicioun, and the fact yow did ne describe hem wolde be a resour why yow wolden beene hem. ' Praising and esteeming yow for the lifly concom in men and in nature wich me loven as yow, with re-- doutynge alway. - Your reder, FLETA HARRALL. The Haunted House in Hoo-doo Hollow VVILLIAM PHILLIPS About two miles from the town of Glump Ridge, Ihlissouri, there may be found, even today, a small, one room, weather-beaten house tucked away beneath a hanging boulder in what is known as Hoo-doo Hollow. For many years the respectable citizens of Glump Ridge had shunned the region of Hoo-doo Hollow as though it were the harbor of some terrible plague. Even the small boys knew the entire history of the house in the Hollow, and anyone who ventured into the house was commonly believed to be hoo- dooedf' It seems that two men, strangers to the people of Glump Ridge, had built and occupied the shanty. These men had never shown the slightest inclination toward be- coming acquainted with the town peo- ple. One night the two strangers had galloped away on horseback, leaving a trail of blood in the hollow. Some of the people of Glump Ridge had found, several days later, the body of a child in the shanty. The body was badly mutilated and blood was freely distributedabout the house. The body was buried and from that time, the ghost of a child was generally known to inhabit Hoo-doo Hollow. It was on a june night in the year of 1920 that two adventuresome boys, John and Sam, went to the haunted house on a dare, to discover the ghost. Armed with rifles, they arrived before dark and proceeded to explore the house from garret to cellar. The gar- ret contained some empty, broken bot- tles, a few old newspapers, some bed- ding, and a quantity of cob-webs. The one room of the shanty contained one window, one door, a few pieces of furniture and a ladder to the attic. A hole in one corner of the floor gave access to a cave, dugout to serve as a cellar. As the cave was very dark, the boys gave it a hasty glance and returned to the cabinis one room. Let's fix our bed in this corner, suggested John. I think we'd better sit up tonight, replied Sam. Of course, I'm not afraid, or anything like that, but how could we see the ghost if we were asleep? john had no answer to this, so the boys sat down on the doorstep. Dark- ness descended and the silence was un- broken, save by the chirping of the crickets and the twittering of the birds. Time passed and greater quiet descended. John stirred slightly, as if about to rise, when a low, wailing sob broke the silence. Sam clutched Iohn's knee and together they listened, while goose-flesh crept out on their sun-- burned arms. The sobbing grew louder and seemed to come from the room from behind them, painfully they turned their heads and saw at the top of the ladder leading to the attic, the white form of a child. The apparition held a candle in its hand, and before the boys could withdraw their eyes, the ghost began to descend the ladder. Now our two brave heroes could see blood dribbling over the child's white garment. Nearer and nearer came the figure and Iohn, the braver of the two dventurers felt for his box of 21 '- v ' matches. Instantly the figure was gone I Pooh! we imagined it,', said John.