Rockland High School - Cauldron Yearbook (Rockland, ME)

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, THE CAULDRON 5-7915151 5-51 gg-gre-gg.-:ying-5: ggglgrgugig-11:AL1,a::Ll1-.a,o:1,0::,ep,o:p,o.g ,v. ... ,.. .- .Q .5 .Q .sTQ ,Q-...T.T- ..?,v... ...TQ gy. ,-.:1. ,,.i- rw.,,.,-..:v..Tf.'i,:f5 him in a small out building that formerly had been used for tools, and sys- tematically they began the planning of a secret submarine base on the island. He over heard their fantastic plans of building a base from which to invade Luzon and Mindaro. They planned to board up the buildings and to put up closed signs. He realized with a sinking heart how the gullible natives would swallow this. As he tossed feverishly on the grass mat, his only hope of salvation came to him. The Japs had no way of knowing the chan- nel, without hiring natives, so they would have to use him to guide their subs and perhaps he might find an opportunity to escape, so with a sigh of relief he turned over and sank into a dreamless sleep to await the dawn. The squeaking of the bats under the eaves awakened him to see the sun sparkle on the lagoon. He heard chattering and splashing by the dock, the Japs were taking a morning dip. He marvelled at their small but tough bodies, and he also noticed they were very poor swimmers. He patted the shining medal on which thewords, Olympic Champion, Free style, 1932, were engraved, when he saw this. They appeared around nine o'clock to take him to the house and to give him his breakfast of rice and coffee. Sip- ping the hot coffee, he let his eyes wander about the room. The duffle which the Japs had insisted on stowing was that powerful radio on the table. The one called Taki was manipulating the dials now. and suddenly through the loud speaker, came the monotonous tones of a Jap. In Manilla, he had picked up some Japanese, and he was able to make sense out of the message. The message, from a Japanese submarine outside the island, said that they wished to be guided through the treacherous straits and channels marked by sharp jagged coral to the island. A grin spread across the J ap's face giving him a horrid and repulsive ap- pearance as he turned toward the American, and in broken English he told him of the excruciating and unbearable tortures that eight years of unbroken war had produced and that these would be used on him if he did not agree to bring the submarine to Simara. His racing mind had already formed a plan of escape, so he agreed without any ado. The smaller spoke his suspicions but was told to calm down, that the Americans were a cowardly lot. He was then led back to his makeshift prison, and the Japs set about closing up the shops and boarding up the old plantation house. That evening he was again led to the house and given dinner. He learned that the Jap, Taki, had listened all afternoon and was unable to re- ceive any message. A loud buzzing was heard, and then the Jap's signals came in strong and clear. He assumed that the submarine would be out- side the strait at eight o'clock the next evening for a meeting. He thought that over and laughed grimly to himself. A meeting--no ---- a rendez-vous, a rendez-vous with hell! P That night and the next morning were spent in preparing the schooner 19

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THE CAULDRON 5-,Q Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q. Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- Q- .-.Q...,v..,.... :Q .v....,...-... Q.. i..':Q.-.-T.. :Q :-T,::-....-.. ...:- :-1-TQ,.T once a month for supplies. When the pilot boat had drawn up to the neg- lected wharf, the American again had been impressed by its mysterious ap- pearance and had the feeling that someone was behind him. He had turned --to see nothing. He recalled fondly repairing the small warehouses and laying the ways. It had been a proud moment when he wrote his first bill of repairs to a small fishing vessel. He had marked the date on the hemp stained walls, August, 1941. Hauled out beside the ancient warehouses, he had discovered an old schooner, formerly used to carry the hemp which once was grown on the is- land. It had been in excellent condition because of the heavy covering, and it had taken him only a few weeks to fit it out and put it over. His shop had soon become well known among the natives, and his business had grown by leaps and bounds. The natives had conquered their superstitious fears, and life went on regularly. Still, ever present in the back of his mind lay the dis- turbing fact, that when the sun dipped low in the west and the shadows lengthened, when all the fishermen had departed and had left him in his quiet solitude, the mysteriousness returned. Time and again he had the feeling that someone was near him, but as he turned, only the quiet lapping of the water greeted him. In. the first week of October he had again made his monthly trip to Manilla for supplies. Three had gazed piercingly through thick-lensed glasses at the sea-worthy schooner nosing its way through the crowded harbor up to the fishing wharves. Welcoming shouts had greeted him as he lowered the sails and had made fast 'along side his friends and customers. Whileloading supplies the next day, three Japanese made their way across the fishing fleet to the schooner. With an Excuse, pleeze, they came aboard. After giv- ing them a silent onceover he had nodded a curt hello and returned to his work. He had heard strange tales of these too polite .laps from the fisher- men and he had learned to distrust them. I-le soon found that they were tourists and wished passage to Mindaro, a neighboring island. Letting his guard drop he had realized that their high offer for passage could buy new machinery for his shop. He had soon sealed his agreement and had told them of his intention to sail on the noon tide. He thought it strange that they had wished to stow their own duffle, but the thought of the passage money quelled his suspicions. He had hoisted sail with a light heart, and the little schooner stood out to sea with all sails set and a bone in her teeth. The luffing of the sails startled him from his reminiscing, and he set himself to the task of mooring his boat. The same close feeling enveloped him, and he involuntarily turned his head to gaze into the slant eyes of the Jap brandishing an automatic that glinted murderously in the pale moonlight. He regretted with every fibre in his body, putting in at Simara for the night and not sailing on to Mindarog but instantly he raised his hands, for tales of Jap atrocities were suddenly all to fresh in his memory. The Japs locked 18

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THE CAULDRON fuel-1:-:Lucene-:La:y .Q-2-,eng .ogngnopguauoin ,c:,n,gA,g:,gn.o-.-,g-.o:.:,a:.::L:,oy,oy,4-Q sw- :vis 'rvrfv-T.. :Q 1-7-. . -.Ts is reisfrsrs i-.Ts is 'ig 7,:Tf.T.rv,. , ,T-gr- , -. g-.Ti for sea. The Japs forced the American to hoist the sails and to take the helm. At eight o'clock sharp, the lines were dropped and the boat slipped silently out of the lagoon and into the sound. When he had been in the Navy on patrol through the Archipaleago, the patrol boat had stayed for some weeks in one section of the strait through which the schooner would have to pass. They stayed in this section to practice minelaying and sweeping and he was in high hopes of finding them there now. The Japs mumbled endlessly in the cabin, and he realized that they were planning torture and slow death for him because of his aloof and in- sulting manner. Again the phrase Hrendez-vous with hell flashed across his mind because that patrol boat might not be there. In about half an hour he would know. The schooner rounded the head and swung into the channel. Suddenly he realized the swift tide was carrying the boat up the wrong channel, and after a quick glance at the chart he knew he would have to meet the submarine because this channel took him directly out to sea. At seven-fifty the schooner crossed the bearing where the submarine would be. A rumbling and roaring off the starboard beam announced its presence, and the conning tower emerged from the foaming water. After a few minutes of exchange of conversation, the submarine submerged to periscope depth, As the American put the helm down he made out the dull gleam of the automatic in the J ap's hand. It served as a grim reminder of his fate if the patrol boat was not in the strait. The South China Sea had disappeared over the stern, and the strait was in sight. His heart pumped wildly as he strained his eyes to see through the blackness of the tropical night. The strait was deserted. The patrol boat was not there. In a few hours they would be back at the island, for there was nothing that he could do. The feathery wake of the submarine's periscope blended perfectly with the wake of the schooner making the periscope invisible to any boat in the sound. He knew if he was going to try anything it would have to be in the strait where the submarine could not maneuver. Glancing idly over the side, he noticed the line of small red markers that all local fishermen were warned of. Mines! The patrol apparently did not have time enough to sweep them up. With never a change of expression he came about and headed between the red markers. The periscope slowed, stopped, then followed the schoon- er. Suddenly two huge explosions shook the islands for miles around. The 20