Saint Ursula Academy - Scroll Yearbook (Toledo, OH)

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boarding house at the other end of town. I had to wait there until they removed the bodies and then was grant- ed permission to leave. Upset and nervous as I was, I found I still had an appetite. I ate a hearty dinner in a small restaurant , as the sign read. Upon leaving, I slowly walked to my new abode. A few weeks later I came home from a jaunt to the bank and went to my room, hardly expecting to be confronted bytwo burly men who said my presence was requested at the Police Station. Upon recovering myself, I said, Hsurely, Ifll be glad to -accommodate you, gentlemen, but would you mind if I washed up a bit first ?!' They looked at each other and gave a silent approval. I smiled at them warmly. I took my leave and walked to the lavatory -at the end of the hall, silently locked the door and got my-! But what is this? Someone rapping on the door. f'I'll be through in a minutef' I called. Unlock the door a minute, Johnsonf! answered the voice on the other side of the door. Then, and only then, did I know that I had been discovered. I grasped a razor blade, and quickly slashed my wrists again and again, Then my ankles. Hurry! They'll be getting help. Oh! Things are beginning to get hazy. They're at the door again! Too late! Crash!! The door gave way to faces bobbing in front of me. f'Too late! I screamed at them, 'ftoo late! YVhen I regained consciousness, my wrists and ankles were swathed in ban- dages. and there was an armed guard sitting outside my door, and one stand- ing -at the foot of my bed. At first I wouldn't tell them why or how I had done it, but then I knew I was going, and I wanted them to know just how clever I was. Here is the story: One night I discovered quite by acci- dent Klrs. Slaxtonfs secret cache of money. I had been dozing in a chair and when I awoke, it was well after Page Fourteen dusk. I reached out to turn on a lamp, and because I couldn't see very well, I knocked it to the floor. As I fumbled around to reach it, my grasping fingers encountered some paper-a wad of pa- per. I anxiously turned on the light. A roll of one-hundred-dollar bills glared up at me invitingly. I stuffed them into my pocket, as I heard footsteps in the h-all. Whats the matter. called Nlrs. Slaxton. Did you drop something? UNO, I lied, I only bumped against the lamp.'! I sauntered into the kitchen and talked to her for a short while, and then, because I could no longer stand the money burning in my pocket, I went upstairs to my room, closed and locked the door. I stumbled to the dresser, turned on the light, and pulled the money from my pocket. I nervously counted it-one thousand dollars. I fell back on the chair, stunned. I had no idea it was such a large amount. It was then I remembered an article I had read in an old magazine about food being poisoned in .a natural sort of way. I hunted through the pile of magazines on the stand. Ah! Here it is! Here's the page! I mused. Botulism is poisoning from eating meats, fish, or vegetables in which a specific bacillus has developed. This can happen, espe- cially in home cooking, when you do not cook the food and pack it in jars immediately!! The dangerous thing concerning botulism is that it does not change the color, nor the odor of the foodf' I concluded half aloud to my- self. Then I proceeded to think of what would happen if I did exactly what it said not to do. I knew IXIrs, Slaxton had canned a few pints of tomatoes from her meager garden. Yes, I murmured to myself, now you are using your brains. gn Y! I took a stroll that afternoon and passed a small, weather-beaten farm. A fence, or what looked like the re- mains of one, enclosed a- Well, of all things, I exclaimed, 'fa lovely little tom-ato patch! Arriving at the hotel later in the day, I cautiously inquired of Nirs. Slax-

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Death In cz Fruit Jar X TI-III poorest section of the town of Little Rock, Uhio, a middle-aged spinster owns a broken-down board- ing house. Her name is IXI1's. Slaxton. There are two boarders who occupy the boarding house. The older fellow. KIr. fXIurphy, is a carpenter by trade. The younger man, meaning myself, is a writer. if and when he's in the mood. lIy cognomen is Johnson. A few weeks ago, possibly two months, I noticed that 1Irs. Slaxton re- ceived a package of papers and a check from her brother. This happened every week. Once I heard her say to the postman that it was from her brotheids business, whatever that was. Ir was about a month after this in- cident that tragedy struck in this ram- bling, crumbling, boarding house. One fine sunny day about noon. I was awakened by a pounding on my door. At Hrst I thought it was thun- der, but when I glanced out of the cracked, dirty window and saw the blazing sun, I deduced it was only XIrs. Slaxton trying to collect another month's rent in advance, VVhen I thought of this, I decided I had better unlock the door. O lr was quite shocking to discover an officer of the Law standing outside my door. I imagine I surprised him even more by appearing in the doorway, robed in bed clothes. He quickly sup- pressed a smile as he took in my appear- ance at a quick glance and I glanced down at myself sheepishly. He then inquired. HAre you XIr. -Iohnson TI Yes-sf, I answered hestitantly. VVould you please get dressed and come down to the front room 7' Of course, I told him, but whats happened W' Your Iandlady's dead, and a 1Ir. Klurphy also. he calmly replied. And with that he left. I started to dress hurriedly, all the while mulling thoughts over and over in my mind. How did she die? Why did IXIurphy die also? Vvhy not me? As I reached the foot of the stairs, I asked the policeman on guard where the bodies were found. -Iust then an- other policeman came from the kitchen and convoyed me into the living room. I looked at his granite face and asked him no questions. I assumed I was un- der suspicion. In a few minutes I dis- covered my assumptions were correct. Q W. . '4' 4' 'l '.' ii' YW' 'I' 1 By Ruth Moore Q'--'O-4k4k.i1P-AF lf 41- PP!! 'I' ku The coroner said she died an acciden- tal death, Klr. Xlurphy had died the same way. They had both eaten some food that was poisonous. Inspector Klulligan of the 47th Pre- cinct asked me the routine questions, which I answered as truthfully as I could. This took about an hour, after which I made plans to move to a Page Thirteen

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ton where llr. Nlurphy was. She said that he was in his room, sleeping, and she was about to do likewise, because she added a few more pints of tomatoes to her already plentiful store. UAm-azingf' l whispered to myself, Hand l thought crime,-No, I must not say that. Well, what is it then?y' l argued aloud to myself. ln the kitchen, on a small roughly built table. stood six beautiful, gleam- ing pints of tomatoes. I Carefully extracted the tomatoes from my pockets, and found a knife in the table drawer. After peeling them, I opened one of the pints. l thought of what l would do with the tomatoes in the jar. After a meal of only tomatoes-the good ones--l Carefully packed the others in the pint jar and sealed it. l then retired for the night. llrs, Slaxton served her first jar of tomatoes two weeks later. I ate corn instead of tomatoes. VVell, that's all to tell. That's the way it happened. I only wanted Nlrs. Slaxton to eat them, but old glutton Klurphy had to eat also. 'fSay, l gasped weakly. how did you find out? 'fYou were seen taking tomatoes from lllrs. Swartz's garden, and the poison- ing came from the tomatoesg so we came to the Conclusion that you were the one. I moaned. and said weakly, Hthose rotten tomatoes. they -- .H Dead, someone said softly, dead. BECAUSE I mics li'?ZL'ZL' a man who zvas oId and gray, IIO 'zcas jmor and clothed in rags, 11nd ht' tald me the story of 'why it was so- Of zrhy hr was dothffd in rags. II Izvn I was young, I was greedy and mid, And had nothing to do with the poor. I never had time to say a hind word, Or pray for the sich a cure. I 7lt l't'7' smiled at little children I hmficx flnd I rzvwr tcm! out of my way, To sand flowvrs to those who were IanvIy, Or say thanhs for II favor one gafuefi Nou' I'w last mifrything and have no jwlarv to go. rind nary a friend do I fad. I'm afonv in the tvorld, and the reason zt'hy- Is hvfvzzzsv I 'zcas never hind. So I Ieaw you this message: Never For- aft! That the best things in Iife are free. For a song, a s1niIe, and a hind word shared, Illahe Iifv a s-zveet symphony. -ANN Loisizt '46 Paga Fifteen