Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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THE TAX TON HIGH SCHOOL REFLECTOR TH« Wit kt tsepft» e -t» “GETTING EVEN” There was great excitement in Miss Selkirk’s Select School for Young Ladies. Cicely Trevor, one of the boarding pupils, had been found holding clandestine meetings with a young gentleman from the nearby col- lege for young men. She had receiv- ed her punishment in the shape of be- ing forbidden to leave the main hall except to attend the various classes of which she was a member. Great was Cicely’s anger at Miss Selkirk when her punishment was made known to her. She immediately planned to “get even” with the lady; and, in order to acquaint her class- mates with her plan, she called a secret meeting in her room after study hours. As the great bell in the belfry tolled at the hour for retiring, pupils were sen to scatter here and there to reacn their rooms as quickly as possible. Several minutes after the watchman had made a tour of the corridors and, on finding every one quiet, had re- fired for the night, dark forms could be seen stealing toward the main place of attraction—Cicely’s room. As they reached the door it was swung open and they were ushered into tne room, where their classmates were gathered. Ciely’s room was filled with girls of all sorts and descriptions who were packed in as close as possible. Their seating was a difficult matter for each room in Selkirk school contained only a bed, dresser, two chairs and a sofa. This sofa, however, was plentifully supplied with sofa-pillows which were seized upon at once and thrown upon the floor for the use of those who could not nd seats on the bed, sofa, chairs, or in each other’s laps. When all had seated themselves Cicely, as hostess and chief originator of ti e plan about to be divulged, call- ed them to order and asked if each one was willing to take the responsi- bility upon herself in case they were discovered. All promised, and they were then acquainted with the plan. The words had scarcely left the hos- tess’s lips when she was seized upon by her classmates and pounded on the back, patfed on the head, and re- ceived much rough treatment which s’o.ved how well the girls received

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THE PAXTON HIGH SCHOOL REFLECTOR 5 out of the building into the street. They had walked about three blocks when they came to a large stone build- ing which was to be Harry’s prison till the time for his trial, which was to come off in three days. The day on which he was to be tried finally came, and Harry went sadly o the court house. His trial came sec- ond, and, when he stood before the judge and heard the charge against him, he tried to explain, but nothing he said was believed, as the evidence against him was very strong. In the end the old judge read his sentence thus: By the requirements of the law, any person stealing or carrying off any government property shall”— Harry was very pale and hated to hear the final words of the old judge —“within the next three days and at sunrise of the third day be shot at ten yards.” When Harry heard this he turned pale as death, and would have fallen if some of the men had not grabbed him. The next day Harry spent in writ- ing letters to all his friends and last- ly a long one to his mother, father and little sister. The next morning he was called out about four o'clock and led along the street to the edge of the town to a level stretch of land. There was already a crowd of men there, and five tall soldiers with long muskets. The sun was just peeping over a distant hill. Harry was stand- ing with his face toward the sun, and the five soldiers, with their long muskets pointed directly at his breast, stood facing him, while an officer was there ready to give the signal. The sun was over the hill when the officer held up his right hand, “Ready, aim . Harry shut his eyes and pre- pared for his last; but just then some- thing happened, a young lady dressed in white with her long hair streaming over her shoulders, dashed from the crowd of men and placed herself in front of the guns. Tne soldiers low- ered their guns, while the officer, af- ter recovering from his surprise walk- ed up to the young lady, and asked her what she meant by interfering with the law in that way. The lady made no answer, but pointed to a horseman coming at full speed. He dashed up to the officer and handed him a note. The officer opened it and read it. Then he walked over to Har- ry and said, My toy, this note saved you in the nick of time. This is a dying confession of the quartermaster at the fort. He says that he had a grudge against you, and, having gam- bled all the government money away, he thought this would be a good way to get even. I am very glad you are saved, for I did not believe you were guilty when I first saw you.” To make a long story short, when Harry went back he took the Gover- nor’s beautiful daughter with him,and when he reached the fort he found that his term had expired. When he heard this he and his wife started for home town accompanied by many regrets of his friends at the fort. Af ter they had arrived home and hai v:sited his mother for a few days, they settled there in a beautiful little cottage; and now as the partner in a large clothing firm, he is a very pros- perous man. Oscar McKegney. Weep and you’re a baby. Laugh and you’re called a fool; Yield and you’re called a coward; Stand and you’re called a mule, Smile and they’ll call you silly, Frown and they call you gruff; Put on a front like a millionaire, And some guy calls your bluff

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THE TAX lOH HI EH SCHOOL REFLECTOR her idea of “getting even with Miss Selkirk. The plan was then discuss- ed thoroughly and after receiving light refreshments in the shape of cheese and crackers, they retired to their rooms. As they left, their whis- pering and laufhter showed how they enjoyed the thought of playing a prank on their preceptress. The next night Cicely stepped out of doors; and, seeing that the night was clear with a bright moon, decided to carry out her plan. She ran swift- ly to the garden and crept down back of fome bushes. She had hardly hid- den herself when she heard the mur- mur of voices, and, as they came near- er, saw to whom they belonged. Slow- ly down the garden path, arm-in-arm. walked Miss Selkirk and Professor Black of the Young Men’s College They were engrossed with each other and did not see their self-appointed spy back of the bush watching them. As soon as Cicely saw them walking down the path toward the garden bench, she stole back to the dormitory and related her discovery to her fel- low-conspirators. Then, stepping softly, they followed Cicely out of doors and crept in around about way until they were hidden in the bush- es directly behind the garden bench, where they hoped the elderly couple would stop. They were very still but found t necessary to look out every now and then to see if the Professor and Miss Selkirk were coming that way. Their viigls were soon rewarded for they saw their prey approaching and scar- cely had time to conceal themselves before they had come arpund the curve and slowly approached the gar- den bench. They halted in front of it, and the girls’ hearts were in their throats for they heard the Professor ask Miss Selkirk if she wished to rest or continue the stroll. They were thankful that she chose to rest and seited herself on the garden bench. The girls grew very impatient a3 they sat very still and waited for the Professor io speak. After several mo- ments, however, he ventured to take her hand and began his old-fashioned courting. He leaned over and was about to caress her when a great light flashed on them and they knew that they were discovered. They covered their confusion by ordering the girls to the house, and they followed soon aftei. Several weeks later. Miss Selkirk was much surprised to receive a par- cel in her morning mail. On opening it, she beheld the duplicate of the scene enacted in the garden several weeks before; also, a letter from Fred Trevor, of the Young Men’s College. In it the asked permission to call on his sister Cicely, as he heard that she had been forbidden the use of tb grounds where they had be n p ing. The preceptress was very ang. to think that she had made such : mistake, but she did not release Cicely from her punishment; instead, she included the other girls in it. Although the chief one, that the girls wished to annoy, was Miss Sel- kirk, they did not forget the Profes- sor and sent him a duplicate of the flashlight picture. Myrtle Hammerlund. Laugh, and the teacher laughs with you. Laugh, and you laugh alone; First, when the joke is the teacher’s, Second, when the joke is your own. “Johnny’’ said a stout lady, “can I get through that gate to the river?” T guess so,” answered Johnny, “a load of hay went through there this morning.”