Plainfield High School - Milestone Yearbook (Plainfield, NJ)

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THE ORACLE it near as possible without them seeing me. I was within thirty feet from them when he saw me climbing a stone wall. He gave three loud, angry caws and they all flew away to a distant tree. Then I saw a fox coming toward me, of a reddish yellow color, about as large as.a medium-sized dog. He came toward me, confidently, for he had not seen me. Then he stopped suddenly and, seeing me, gave a little bark. All I saw was a red streak disappearing around a blueberry bush. Going a little further, I came upon a small gray animal which had a flat head, very short legs and a long body. He broke out in angry chat- tering, telling me in perfectly plain, woodchuck language that I was tres- passing on his private property, and must leave immediately. I walked toward him and he growled savagely. Nevertheless, he ran into his hole. I heard an oriole calling and answered him. We carried on a con- versation until a third broke in, when I made a graceful exit. I wandered over the hill seeing many wonderful views. One, the lake, a very deep blue, sparkled as though covered with millions of dia- monds. Around the edge, trees were reflected in the water perfectly Then I lay down with the determination to be absolutely quiet, but found myself in a bed of wild onions, on an ant-hill. I got up immediately and stamped vociferously. I changed my seat to a stone wall, and was there but a moment when a six-foot black snake crawled slowly out of the rocks, three feet away from me. Cold shivers crept up and down my back for ten minutes. A rabbit scurried across my path, and I imagined a bear was chasing me. Just below me, I saw three cottages, a thin thread of blue smoke curling upward from the farthest one vanished in mid-air. Cautiously a locust commenced a dry rasping sound, gaining volume as it continued. Others joined in foretelling a hot day. I looked at my watch. It was just 6 o’clock, and as I thought it was too late to see anything more ““hig,’’ I started down to my canoe. At the edge of the lake I saw a deer and two fawns drinking. I stood perfectly still. They raised their heads, paused, then trotted off into the woods. I got into my canoe and paddled down to the boat house, feeling very hungry. I walked up the hill and into the cottage just as the family were sitting down to a breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast!

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10 THE ORACLE An Early Morning On the Hill (As told by Dorothy Roberts, Winner of the First Marsh Prize) One morning in the middle of August, I lay half dreaming, half awake. I thought it must be very early, for the sun had not yet risen. Then, downstairs, the bronze clang of a grandfather’s clock sounded four times. A mosquito’s incessant buzzing awoke me, finally, to the extent that I knew I could not go to sleep again. The cool damp wind from the lake made me want to POPOUt AL. dressed quickly, went down to the boathouse and took out my canoe. We never use any other kind of boat. I looked at my watch. It was half-past four. The sun was just com- ing up in the east. The cold, fresh wind which always comes early in the morning in summer was going away. I paddled slowly up the shore of the lake, until I came to ‘‘Laurel Point,’’? where I landed. This point juts out about ten feet into the lake and in the spring is covered with laurel blossoms. My brothers had built a camp there, and invading it in search of something to eat, I pulled my canoe up on the bank. My brothers were not there because it rained the night before, and the camp leaked badly. From a shelf I took a quarter of a loaf of very stale bread out of a wax-paper wrapping and dipped a slice in a can of condensed milk. The bread was much too dry to be good, but was slightly improved by the milk. Feeling still hungry, I looked about for something more. I found about half a candle, some ant-infested sugar and some fresh worms for bait. There was also some mouldy pancake flour, egg powder and lumpy salt. Not caring for anything T found, I climbed the hill behind the camp for some blueberries, which grew in abundance there. All around I could see the blue mist on the surrounding hills which form a portion of the wonderful Berkshires. I soon had enough of the large, fresh, dewy blueberries. Near me a partridge flew up with a loud whirr, announcing my presence as dangerous. I saw a flock of crows feeding noisily on the ground, while in a tall pine tree was the sentinel watching for danger. Every flock of crows has a sentinel, and each crow takes a turn. I determined to creep up as

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