Plymouth High School - Pilgrim Yearbook (Plymouth, MA)

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THE PILGRIM 9 to seek the boys' find. As the days of the contest passed the girls saw the prize slipping away fron1 them. Guess we'll get it, said Jimmy confidently a day before it closed. I bet it'll be somethin' swell. P'haps a shotgun or somethin' like that, anticipated Eddy. Say, Jim, you know the fiowers are all under your name on the board. Don't forget we helped you, though, said Eddy anxiously. Course not. said Jimmy dis- dainfully. What d'yer think I am! Then came the day on which the prize was awarded-and to James Parker. He was called to the principa1's room and presented with a medium-sized package. Eagerly the boys waited for him after school and they hastened to a secluded spot to open it. Speechless they gazed at-a book-entitled Wildflowers and Where to Find Them. Disgust was written on the three faces. , Gosh, all that work and two lickin's fer not gettin' wood after school, fer just a book, came Jimmy. Good-night, and what I got fer trying' to sneak my father's gun to scare the girls, from Buddy. That's nothin', I got a cold that was so bad I can't go swimmin' till July, my mother said, from Eddy. Here, said Jimmy, who wants the first turn takin' it ? Aw, you can keep it fer havin' the good idea and' doin' the hard work, said Eddy, and Buddy nodded agreement. Guess my sister can have it if she thought it was such a peachy prize. C'mon home 'n' ask my mother fer some doughnuts. K. SAMPSON '25 TEA AND TEARS It was when a little girl I met him. He had bare feet and curly hair, and was just as brown as he could be. Every morning he passed by with the cows, and every morn- ing I watched him, furtively, from the porch, but he never so much -as smiled. It was only after much encour- agement and not a little urging that he became friendly enough to say hello and usually he said that way down deep in his throat -and I distinguished it only by closely watching his lips as he formed the word. One day, how- ever, I gained courage enough to offer him a doughnut, and for some reason I was surprised to see him take it. And how he ate! As I remembered it, there were two bites and it had disappeared. But I was glad. He was friendly enough to take it, anyway. One morning I made him prom- ise to let me go with him and help drive the cows, but he did so only on condition that I would bring him a doughnut or some other form of sweets every morning. I did so gladly. Each morning I saved some of my good things for him and I enjoyed watching him eat. Those days in the pasture were happy, but one day I had to leave and go to the city. Mother thought I had grown well enough to go to school. Six long years I went to school and then I traveled for one year, not writing to my blonde, curly- haired Jean all this time. When I returned home after traveling, I became ill and the doctor urged mother to send me to the country where I had been so happy when a child. I longed to go-to see Jean again. As my brother and I rode, I thought of him, his blonde curls and flashing teeth, his deft hand- ling of the great staff he carried. I wondered if I would see him in the morning. At last! There was aunty's house, unchanged as was

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8 THE PILGRIM and overturned, spilling the full contents upon the gown of his dearly beloved. What wrath then darkened her eye! With what dignity did she rise to depart with a scornful good night ! The boundless cavern of utter despair yawned wide to engulf Mr. Alton Spruce. V. CUSHMAN '26 REWARDED MERIT A very acrobatic waving of arms on the part of Jimmy Parker at last caused the teacher to glance up from the arithmetic papers she was correcting. Fifth grade ideas on fractions are liable to be mis- leading. Well, James ? she said. Please, can I sharpen my pen- cil? he asked. Yes, she answered, ignoring the grammatical error. Again she centered her attention on the papers, and the class re- sumed its supposed study of geog- raphy. An observer would be puzzled to note that Jimmy's pencil had an excellent point and yet he made his way towards the sharpener in a most business-like manner. Far from being absent-minded, he had an end in view. His soul- mate, Eddy Black, well divined it and was ready to receive the note which was dropped on his desk. Wait for me after school. I got to stay for arithmetic. Tell Buddy to, was scrawled on it. When at length Jimmy was re- leased from the house of misery, he expressed his personal opinion on fractions. Gee whiz, I don't see what good the old things are. I can't get 'em straight. Oh, you must be a dumb-bell. Them was easy ones today. What you want us for? Good night, We almost fell asleep waiting fer you, Eddy tactfully changed the sub- ject. N ow you listen to me, and don't you dare tell anybody what I tell you. Cross yer heart and hope to die, said Jimmy solemnly. The rites were satisfactorily performed. You know that contest to see who gets the most kinds of wild- fiowers? The girls are 'way 'head of us. But, listen, I found two' corkin' places they can't go to. One's a swamp where there's loads of swamp violets. You hafta wear boots to get 'em. The other's 'way up in the woods. I betcha we can. get some kinds they ain't got yet. An' say, my sister in the seventh grade told me the prize this year is a peachy one. Some rich guy is goin' to give it, I guess. Now, you guys can help me an' then We can divide it, see ? finished Jimmy. Say, interposed doubtful Bud- dy, 'spose it's only a little thing. Who'll get it - you ? Aw, we'll take turns using it if it's like that, said Eddy. C'mon, Jim, when'll we go? Well, said the business-like Jimmy, I'll be busy every day after school makin' maps of how to get there. Let's go Saturday. O. K. with me, answered Eddy, echoed by Buddy, to equal Jimmy's importance. With a S'long, fellers, they parted. Sad to say the girls discovered their plans and the boys found it necessary to resort to strategy. Planned beforehand, their conver- sation at recess times ran along gruesome lines. Hey, Buddy, called Jimmy from some distance and from where most of the girls could hear, you better bring your father's gun in the woods today. 'Member what we saw yesterday ? All right, Jim, but say, you'll hafta shoot it. My arm's still sore from that snake bite I got in the swamp the other day. Their classmates appeared cred- ulous but they made no attempt

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10 THE PILGRIM the rest of the scenery- and I loved it. . Next morning early I rose and watched eagerly for the cows and Jean. I heard them coming and soon I saw a barefoot boy. He was not a blonde. He had not the flashing teeth and bashful manner of my childhood friend. He passed on staring as he went. How d1s- appointed I was and how silly to think that he should remain a cow- herd all these years. That afternoon brother and I took a ride through the hills. On the return trip brother's horse lost a shoe. Fortunately there was a smithy in the village. An old man pointed it out to us, a long, low, brick-red building, and dirty. Within I could see the smithy working. How dark it was and how the hammer clanged. The smith came out to us. How strong he looked. He was tall and had blonde hair and curly. His sleeves were cut off at the elbow and the cords stood out in the arm in which he held the hammer. I knew it was Jean. But why did he look at us so oddly? He didn't even know me. I who had spent days with him in the pasture. He fixed the shoe and brother paid him, but he looked at me only once, and then casually, as he might at any stran er g . Many times I rode toward the smithy's, however, and met him fairly often. I was a little frigid at first fbecause he didn't recog- nize mel but after a while became very friendly. One day he asked me to go riding with him. I was delighted! Brother had gone home and my rides were lonesome. I waited with girlish excitement for the day to arrive. Usually boys bored me, but Jean was handsome and strong and had blonde curls. How manly he looked as he grasped the great hammer. I com- pared him, I think, with Adonis - but then I was a little girl. At last the day came. I recall now how big and splendid he looked, though he did appear a little uncomfortable and unnatural in his dress-up clothes. His cravat was gaudy but every man likes a gaudy neck-tie. When he smiled and threw his head back. how his teeth flashed and how his blonde curls shook-I liked him then -- better. It was on the way back we came to a delightful little tea house. Jean asked me in. I don't believe he would have if I hadn't hinted refreshments and if he hadn't felt it the proper thing to do. We sat at a table in the corner. Every- thing was so pretty and the table so neat. Jean's great hand rested on the table. How large it was and what broken nails he had! A sweet waitress brought our orders and Jean smiled at her, but I didn't care. We had wafers and tea in dainty little cups. Jean was so large and the cup so small! As I looked at him he prepared his tea for drinking. I'll never forget it. A stranger across the way laughed and told another to look. He grasped the cup around the sides. I-lfis hand was too large to put a finger through the handle, and, my stars! He poured the tea into his saucer. Then placing his forefinger on the edge of the cup, just enough so that its tip soaked in the tea, then the thumb back around the edge for additional balance, and the rest of his giant. hand underneath-he steadily raised the saucer to his lips and without spilling a drop-have you ever heard a person sucking the last remains of a soda out of the bottom of a glass through a straw-well, it sounded just like that. A lady turned and glared. I raised my handkerchief to my mouth and bit my lip. He