Richmond Hill High School - Archway / Dome Yearbook (Richmond Hill, NY)

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THE DOME Page ll '4 Oh, shut up! yelled Beard. MI want truce. I came here to talk sensef, 'C We rejoice to see you sensible, Beard, ac- knowledged Hack. 'G Honestly, having you start a zoo in your bedroom was awfully humiliating to us fellows who try to uphold the traditions of St.John the Divine's Military School for Boys. But, on the other hand,- 'cl told you I wanted truce! 7' 'L Truce to what? 7' queried the bewildered Hank. ulxlobodyas picking on you. You've got a guilty conscience for having tried to make us two look foolish. You didnit, and you couldn't. Weire not sore, weive nothing to be sore about. There's no reason a fellow whoid keep a lamb in his bedroom should imagine every other chap was as simple. We donit mind because you're foolishg we're only sorry. We pity youf' Beard looked at them dazedly, then bolted. He saw his career at St. ,lohn's falling about his ears. He began to doubt even the wisdom of the Head. He wished that he had never been born. H And I guessfi chuckled Hack, N about now is the time to give that poor simp a run for his moneyfi Hank approved, but they reckoned without considering one person at St. ,lohn's who never should have been overlooked. The Head had no desire to have a cocky Fifth set up a soviet government in order to save him any slight ad- ministrative labors. It was, of course, by mere chance that he happened upon Hack and Hank one afternoon just prior to the Easter vacation. At the moment they were doing nothing more desperate than pegging tops on the walk before BANK STAFF

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Page 10 THE DOME going to lead it with his drum-corps, everyonels going to doll up. Make your costumes screams. WCl1'C counting on you two for knockoutsfi D 'cWhat's the idea? queried Hank. Wet- cher celebratini? '7 Nothing. Starting a new custom,- the Car- nival of the Sixth platoon. 4' Then let- fHe stopped, Hackis toe had landed on his shin.j H-,er go, he finished. if Weire with you.', C' Thought we could count on you. Keep it dark, and don't leave your quarters until you hear Duke. Then come double-time. We've got to get started before the instructors can stop the funf, Trust usf' agreed Hank, and the two walked on. 4'What,s the big idea, Hack? 77 he then asked. at Dunno. Beard isn't lowering his self-impor- tance out of any tender affection for us.', Goin' to parade? M at You bet! - During evening mess the Sixth was surpris- ingly cordial. Hank nodded encouragingly to Maurice, and was rewarded by a wink. An hour later, the usual twilight quiet was broken by the roll of a drum. There was a yell and a rush of feet, and the gladsome Sixth ap- peared before the dormitory to await the coming of the becostumed Hack and Hank, who would look wondrously foolish when they realized that they alone were all dressed up. if Give ,em a real laugh when they comef' ordered the grinning Maurice. That,ll make ,em see what easy marks they are.'7 The Sixth crowded nearer the door. lVlost of them had suffered, and were eager to repay. There was a moment's silence. Then the door was thrown wide, and a jeering, triumphant shout went up,- only to die in a gasp. Out of the building marched twenty members of the Fifth, two abreast, their faces angelic, their arms full of books they might study that even- ing. And in the rear stalked Hank and Hack, bearing a transparency which read, H Don? bail a trap with a cheese! Beard stared, his face white with anger, and started forward, but Duke caught his arm. They outnumber us,,' he warned. Trust Hack to arrange thatf' While they hesitated, the silent Fifth marched through. Only Hackls eyes wavered. M Oh, hello, Maurice! he exclaimed. 'LAW- fully sorry to disappoint you, but the Fifth feels that someone should uphold the dignity of St. Johnisf' H Now you'Ve done it! 7' groaned Duke. ulVlau- rice, how could you! 'fl don't know,', he admitted disgustedly. I thought they'd bite. H They did! We're teeth-marks all oVer.', M lill get ,em yet! 'Q he promised, and stalked away, too sick to argue. But within two days he began to have an im- pression that his usual good luck had deserted him. The Fifth was not in revolt, it merely ignored the existence of the Sixth. It took unto itself all the traditional privileges that it should not have enjoyed for another year, and refused that the boys so to argue or debate-beyond stating brigade was too mature to listen to young that they could find pleasure in dressing up and so making 'themselves objects of ridi- cule. Beardfs throne began to totter, and the heirs-apparent were Hack and Hank, who made life one long nightmare for the older boy, but did it so skillfully that he could not quite iden- tify them as the causes of the disasters which overtook him,- even on that occasion when he found a lamb, imported direct fromCentral Park, in his room and labeled, H Little Brother? He thought matters over for a day, then went into the lionls den. M See here, he began abruptly, at this thing's got to stopf' M And what are you ravin' about now? in- quired Hack mildly. That lamb, an' all that stuff. Hack drew a long breath. M Honest, Maurice, he said regretfully, ul don,t think weive a right to interfere with your selection of personal associates. l-3'

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Page 12 THE DOME the Penf' Yet this was a sacred privilege of the Sixthis. The Head paused. 4 ul thought you were hoth in the Fifthj, he said. 'LWe are, sirfi M Does the Sixth permit you to assume its childish prerogatives? H 'L It hasn't told us not tof, retorted Hack, with a grin. '4Uml Rather thought you two had more originality. See l shall have to help you. Sup- pose you start a little custom of your own. Send downtown and buy a pair of hoops, and roll them on the parade grounds tomorrow afternoon. 'C But- 7' I believe you heard me, Cadet, broke in the Head, then walked on. H And here,', groaned Hack, 'C is where we get the laugh from the whole blamed school. Boll hoops! Oh, sufferin' snakes, they'll guy us to deathf' A So roll hoops they did. It was worse than they had expected, and they had not lacked vis- ion. They finished the term with heads down. They began the spring term the same way. H This has got to quit, declared Hank. H We will go out for the ninef' uHe'll make us roll those blamed hoops 'round the bases! protested Hack. 'cWisli l could go to another school,- or die,- or do somethin'. 'T Play ball, then. That's doing somethin? for St. ,lohnisfi N More apt to be doing something for Blairs- town,', growled Hack. I'l1 'try anything once, thoughf' The next afternoon they rolled their hated hoops diamondward. The Head, who loved base- ball almost as much as he loved his boys, heard the'welcoming chorus as they approached and went to meet them. 'tlf you're really trying for the ninefi he said, 'E leave those things in your room tomor- row. We canlt have practice interrupted by your playfulnessf' They looked at him with grateful eyes, but did not speak. They went out to field ground- ers as if their very lives depended upon their success. uYVish that pair had come out last year, said Colonel Scott, the coach. N They look pro- mising, and seem in earnestf' 'almagine they arefl said the Head dryly. 'L Don't be afraid to work them. Hack and Hank worked. There was no ques- tion about that. Freed from the humiliating hoops, they were ready to try anything. And, more to their own surprise than to the school's, they made the nine,- Hack at short and Hank at second. But they played like well oiled ma- chines. Colonel Scott had looked for brilliant plays from them. Their reputations warranted it. But they clung to the obvious and expected. All they wanted was freedom from those hoops. They came down through the season with average records both at bat and in the Held. The 'team turned out to be a crack outfit. La Salle, Cornwall, Ohio, Culver, Staunton, Penn Hall, all went down before the Scarlet and Sil- ver bats of St. John. The team neared the end of the season. They played Kiski, and walloped them for the hrst time in eight years. Still the impending shadow of Blairslown hung over the St. John's nine. True, they were winning games, but the Blair Academy crowd was doing the same, and doing it more impressively. What the New York team needed was pep and life. The coach tried to get Hack and Hank on the coaching lines, but he could not. They had had their till at being gladsome at someone else's expense. All they wanted was peace-and a world without hoops. Because the key of its inheld played without inspiration, the nine was mechanical. lt worried the Colonel. He wanted to beat Blair, and he knew that, playing dead, his team couldnit. And as the day of the great game approached he talked it over with Beard, but that worthy promptly refused all invitations to take a hand. Scott, desperate, went to the source of all knowledge. The Head listened in silence.