Rockland High School - Cauldron Yearbook (Rockland, ME)

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THE CAULDRON 19 toddle down the stairs and gather up the clothes. They were dirty anyway, we try to tell ourselves. By this time our spirits are pretty low. XfVe remove the joint from the pan and attempt to get it back in place. After an hour's toil, we finally succeed and, stag- gering up the stairs, flop on the couch. :af as vs PK :if The little woman comes home from church and finds us there, snoring tenderly. 'llhe sound of her voice awakens us and immediately our spirits soar at the thought of showing OH our handiwork to an appreciative audience. Making a good story out of our trials and tribulations, we take her by the arm and lead her to our masterpiece. VVe turn on the cold-water faucet, step back and-Wfhat? The water's hot? Desperately we clutch at the hot-water faucet fperhaps the cold-water will cool off laterj. No such luck! The hot water is cold. We stutter and stammer our way out of the embarrassing situation by saying that we can easily switch the faucets and there you are-a job well done. She sighs and says, Oh, well, dear, you tried anyway. EIDITH CARR SEA CAPTAIN Cap'n Zeb Halloway had, for many years, lived in the small sea coast town called Anchorage Anchorage was typical of any little sea coast town with its customary wharves and white-washed cottages and sailing vessels returned from all over the world. Cap'n Zeb, however, was the outstanding person in the town. His history was as colorful as a new patch work quilt. He was of average stature and slightly bent with age. His skin was as weather-beaten and brown as an oak leaf in November, and the fringe of hair that showed from beneath his hat was silvery grey. The one outstanding feature of the old sea captain, however, was his eyes. 'llhey were of the deepest blue imaginable and they could make life-long friends or enemies. 'llhey could be kind or cruel, they could cut like a knife or be filled with tenderness and pity. For many years Cap'n Zeb had been docked like the many old sailing vessels of his days. but even now the young captains-and not only the captains but the ordinary seamen-came and talked with him, asked his advice about certain courses, talked with him about the old days, as Cap'n Zeb called his sailing days. Cap'n Zeb's career as a seaman began when, at the age of twelve, he ran away to sea and became a cook's helper. His career as a galley boy soon ended, how- ever. when one of the ship's deck hands was lost at sea and Cap'n Zeb was taken out of the galley and made a deck hand. From the time Cap'n Zeb could remember, he had wanted to own his own ship. Many were the times that the first mate would find him day dreaming when he should have been working. Cap'n Zeb's first voyages were short ones, not even out of the United States, but after a while he was offered a position as an able-bodied Seaman on a ship

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18 THE CAULDRON We turn the hot water knob and start to whistle a cheery tune while we wait for the tub to fill. But what is this! Nothing happens! Oh, well, fsighj, per- haps the pipes on the second Hoor are frozen. We'll have to postpone that lovely warm bath 'till the sun rises high enough to thaw the pipes. As we skip down the stairs, a sense of foreboding fills usg but we shrug it off and put our mind on more pleasant things, such as the little woman in a frilly little housedress standing by the stove watching the bacon and eggs-and that coffee she makes! It makes our mouth. water just to think about it. Rounding the corner into the kitchen, a startled gasp escapes our lips. There is no coffee, no bacon, and no eggs, all is in an uproar! There on the floor the little woman! Her hair is disheveled, her dress is torn and dirtyg and she is surrounded by piles of newspaper, a wrench, and several candles. She is evidently having some trouble under the sink, as her head disappears every so often, leaving :just her legs protruding from under the sink as if it had suddenly swallowed her up. Having regained our senses, we Hy to the rescue, like the daring Young knight on a silver charger. VVe calm the little woman and send her off to clean up while we do the job up brown. VVhen at last we have bundled her off to church, we settle down to the task at hand. Now let's go at this in a scientific way. We decide, first of all, to examine the pipe and discern the ailment. As we attempt to squeeze our head and shoulders into a space large enough for a very small pekinese, we see that this method of examination is all wrong. Now, how are we going to see up under the sink? Ah! An idea hits us! Where did Billy keep that toy periscope? We dash upstairs, ransack Billy's drawers, fremoving them entirely from the bureau and putting them on the bedj and fly down again with the toy periscope in hand. After standing on our head holding the periscope in one hand and balancing iourselves with the other, we finally hnd the source of the trouble. just as we thought. The pipe is frozen in the elbow between the sink and the cellar. We decide that the only way to fix this is to disconnect the elbow and bring it up to the kitchen to thaw out. VVe enter the cellarway with caution. lfVow! It's dark in here. Groping around for the light switch, we hit our head on the cupboard door. Ah l There's the light! No, it's just a star. It must be over here. Ouch! So that's where she keeps all the niousetraps. At last we find the switch. A sorry sight greets our eyes. There are a clothes basket full of dirty clothes, an axe, an ironing board, and a wooden saw horse, complete with buck-saw, arranged carefully just where we want to step. Oh, well, it won't take long to move them. We were right-half an hour isn't really long. VVhen at last we get down cellar, and shut off the water, we discover that the pipe is screwed on so tightly that it is impossible to remove the elbow with our wrench. Fired with enthusiasm, we dash upstairs and bring back the hammer. Holding a flashlight between our teeth, the wrench in one hand, and the hammer in the other, we finally extract the elbow. Now let's see. That kettle would be iust the thing to put it in. lVe'll simply take it up and set it on the stove. It will be all right in a moment. Crash! What's that? We dash madly into the cellarway, only to find that the clothes basket has fallen down cellar. Well, we shan't give up all hope yet. We

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20 THE CAULDRON bound for the tropics. This was the thing he had been waiting forg here was his chance. So he took it, and after that his rise was steady. Soon he began to realize that all of his dreaming about owning his own ship was not in vain. He tried hard and was very quick to learn, and in practically no time at all he was ready for Captaincy. Then one day his dreams came true. He owned his own ship. He was the commander, not the commanded. His crews were carefully chosen and he was well liked by all. You could tell that by the way they fondly called him t'Cap'n Zeb instead of Captain Hallowayf' He sailed for many decades, and then came the thing that all seamen fear more than any living thing-old age. Capin Zeb found that he was too old to sail any more. His type of sailing ship was being replaced by the more modern steamship. Sadly he retired and lived for many years in Anchorage, listening to stories told by men returning from the lands he knew so well, talking with other old sea cap- tains about the old days, or listening to the storms howl outside his snug, warm cottage. But all that is gone now and all that remains of the old sea captain's romantic life is the old iron anchor, which is placed in the little cemetery on the hill over- looking the sea and which bears the inscription : Here lies 'Cap'n Zeb' Halloway. This is his anchorage. BARBARA DYER THREE IN BLUE My name is Terryg my last name is not important, at least not right now. I was studying at the NVainbridge Memorial Hospital to be a doctor's assistant. Yes, a certain doctor. His name was Steven, Dr. Steven Deerborn. He was known to everyone at the hospital as Steve. There was another doctor in this story. His name was Dr. Peter Lawrence. He was a very tall man with dark wavy hair that fell down on his forehead, and he had black eyes that twinkled when he smiled. Steve was equally as tall, but he had red hair and blue eyes. Peter and Steve were the very best of friends. Because I was studying under Steve, the three of us were together a lot, in and out of the lab. You see, Steven had always lived in Xafainbridge, and after he had finished high school, he went to medical school. There he met Peter and they finished their course together. Steven had planned to come back to Wfainbridge to prac- tice, and he finally persuaded Peter to come with him. I had not decided to go into the hospital until about three years agog but I was learning fast, and was surely going to make a wonderful assistant, so Peter said. Vtfhenever the three of us got off for an evening, we would go to the movies, or dancing, and then have an ice cream soda afterward, just for fun. On Sunday we would goito the beach or for a ride in the country and a picnic lunch. But no matter where we went or what we did, we always made the most of it and had a wonderful time.