Rockland High School - Cauldron Yearbook (Rockland, ME)

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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

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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 .111 ev ag- OL-,al el 0:1 41' gl IL- 41- .ev an ef- gg- 5- 11- gigs- .vin 11- 41- ,OLD ,o1- 11- -1- L- ,og ,v-p T. :,T.':-. 7-.'.-. ii.- :-. ini.- :-.T-it.. .-.- .,. ,-.. ,-,w- V.. ,..,Q.,,.,-Q-,-,-y,v.,v.x.Q schooner and the submarine disappeared in a wave of floating debris and oil. The pale moonlight reflected on a medal bearing the words Olympic Champion, and a small splashing sound faded away into the black night. RALVAN WELKER .4-1 on 0--0-4--.vu T .T .FT -TT -T'-TK C THE GREAT HUNT Jim went wading through the dark wilderness of the great forest which he had learned to love and admire. In this great wilderness he had learned to know every sound and every animal, but now he was fulfilling a great desire to go forward and to see what lay beyond the boundaries which he knew so well- to see what new adventures he could find. What he never dreamed of was the big adventure that lay ahead of him. Dusk was creeping up on this vast stretch of wilderness, and the forest was quiet except for the usual sounds of animal life. Suddenly the animals began to move faster and the birds arose from the trees and flew away, for there was a new scent in the air. And then a large man appeared in the clearing, a man whose face appeared to be worn and tired. H-is rugged body showed that he had led a life of adventure and hardships. Following close behind his master was a large brown and white collie called Brownie. Well, I guess I'll have to camp here for the night, for it's quickly get- ting dark, thought big Jim to himself. Tomorrow if I start out due north I ought to reach those distant hills, and there I ought to find what I've come for--adventure. Perhaps I may even run across the trail of the huge white bear which is said to have gone in this direction. After he had finished unpacking and had gathered some wood, Jim started a fire and cooked himself some stew, made from a rabbit which he had shot a little while before. He also fed some of the meat to Brownie Then after this feast he lay down on the soft moss and fell into a peaceful slumber. In the middle of the night, Brownie was awakened by a slight stir in the wilderness. He lifted his head and let out a growl that awoke Jim. He stopped and waited patiently for the word that would send him flying into the underbrush after this unknown foe, but his master did not give the command. He was waiting to find out what the unseen foe would do. Suddenly there was a noise close by in the underbrush, and a minute later Jim could see outlined against the full moon a bear--a huge bear with a white coat of skin. This was what he had hoped for. If only this were daylight, thought Jim. The bear was now moving off into the darkness, but Jim did not move. Then he said to Brownie, We will trail him as soon as daylight comes. 21