Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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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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4 THE PAX TOM HIGH SCHOOL REELECIOK ately, and that he wanted him to carry it thru to Salt bake City on the following morning. Harry arose early the next morning and went to the commander’s room, where he received the money which the quarter master had left for him. After mounting his pony he started on his long and dangerous journey. He had no trouble for about the first ten miles About this time, however, he noticed dark objects appearing ov- er the prairie roads and then disap- pearing. He also heard the cry of the prairie wolf, and knew that tha Redskins were on his track. So he urged his pony on as fast as he could Presently the objects appeared closer. He was now nearing a patch of tim- ber, and he knew that here his trou- bles would begin, so he rode at full speed. At the same time he drew out his six-shooters and made ready for a dash for his life. To his sur- prise he entered the timber without hearing a sound, and it continued this way till he was over half thru. So he began to think that he was not go- ing to have any trouble after all. When he was within a hundred yards of the edge, however, the stillness was broken by the awful piercing war-cry of the Indians and a stream of bullets was poured about him; but as the Indian is not a very handy rifle- man only a few came near him, one hitting his saddle and another graz- ing his left cheek. Harry lay down on his horse's neck and dashed for the edge of the timber, but just then another volley was sent after him. This time he felt a numb pain in his right shoulder. That was the last he knew until about three hours later when he woke up and saw that he was in a log- cabin, and a woman was standing over him. When he asked where ho was, the woman told him he was in Weatherby’s cabin, about ten miles from Salt bake City. When he hear! this he was very glad and wanted to get up and start then, but Mrs. Weatherby would not let him, because she said he was very weak. Two days later Harry, after offer- ing Mrs. Weatherby some money which she would not take, thanked her and then started for Salt bake City He arrived there about four o clock that afternoon and after find- ing out where the government build- ing was located, he made his way to it. Upon reaching it he asked to see ...© governor and was ushered at once into his drawing room. The governor was seated at his desk, and, when Harry entered and told his business, he rose and shook hands with him. He asked him wdiat his name was, and then wished to see the money. Harry took out the wallet and handed it to him. The governor at once sat down, opened it, and poured its contents on the table. It no sooner struck the desk than the governor gasped and fell back in his chair, while Harry, who was standing near turned pale and nearly fell over; for there on the desk was a roll of paper, and not mon- ey. “What does this mean?” exclaim- ed the governor in a rage, ‘this bring- ing me a worthless roll of paper in- stead of the money, I needed so bad- ly.” While he was saying this he had walked over to his desk and touched a button, after which a butler appear- ed. “John he said, “call a couple o? guards to arrest this young scoun- drel ’ As he said this, he drew a re- volver out of his desk and covered Harry with it. “There’s no reason for you doing that, for I have no reas- on to try to escape you,” said Harry. But the man with the gun paid no at- tention to this and never said a word. Presently the two guards appeared, and taking Harry by the arm led him

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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