Stadium High School - Tahoma Yearbook (Tacoma, WA)

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T26 THE TAI-IOMA Pipes oi Pan LORNA GALER 'I9 453 E WAS a strangely quiet Vg il and handsome boy, his skin tanned by the desert sun. I-lis deep blue eyes, and his hair very light and streaked with gold, were the only marks that distinguished him in appearance from his Arab com- panion. l-le had been born on the great desert under the shadow of the Sphinx: this accounted, people said, for his queer ways. For the boy loved wild flowers, but would not pick them from their stems, as other children did. Also, he seemed to have the power to commune with the timid wild animals and birds. l-le had no playmates, for his quiet retiring manner did not win him many youthful friends. His mother, his Arab servant, the woods and his books, made up his little world. ' When only six years old he had come with his mother to the great forest country of Maine. I-lis delicate health kept him from school, so his mother and the Arab servant were his only tutors. The education given him might have been frowned upon by some teachers of today, for he was taught only that which interested him most. The best liked of his studies was the Myths of Greece and Rome. I-Ie knew every story that was associ- ated with the name of each god and goddess. l-le thought of them, ,dreamed of them, and played with them until they seemed human com- panions. But the god beloved above all others was Pan, the joyous, the irresponsible, the maker of sweet, plain- tive music, the god who never grew old. The Boy as he wandered through the forests wished with all his young heart that Pan would come and to- gether they would skip and dance far into the heart of the forest. In imag- ination he could see Pan dancing over leafy hill and dale, 'his slim goat legs keeping perfect time to the music of his two pipes. l-lis long curly hair was wreathed in fresh, fair flowers. A low tender melody came from somewhere near, it rose and fell, and was silent. The Boy listened intently, then started forward calling eagerly, Oh Pan, wait for me, l'm coming! He ran and the melody seemed just ahead. on, on, down hills, over dales, and across brooks and through green tangles th-e music led him, until ex- hausted he fell murmuring the name of Pang then all was blackness. A tiny brown bird on a limb near by ruffled its feathers and its throat swelled with a low, joyous rippling song full of melodious chords. Months had passed since the Boy had followed the notes of a hermit thrush, thinking it the music of Pan. Months, and still he lay pale and al- most lifeless on his white bed, where the Arab servant had brought the un- conscious boy from the heart of the forest. The doctor looked at him and gravely shook his head. l-le will surely die if we cannot arouse him from that stupor. The words had hardly left his lips when a song of infinite beauty and plaintiveness floated quivering thru the air. Again and again it was repeated.

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THE TAI-IOMA 25 that crab stood it as long as he Eid, for he stuck to Flossy's bare foot for half a block, Flossy only going 54 miles per. The only way to pacify him was to let him take a picture of us. We stood up with as many fish as we could hang on to and let him shoot. lqhe fish didn't mind it half as much as the men, who all ran, except one, and he was tied to the boat. Those nights up in the Canal were great. The mountains came right down to the water's edge, and the scenery beats anything I ever saw. After supper, which was usually beans, bacon, fried spuds, fresh trout and coffee, varied, of course, according to the locality, we used to lie around the fire. You clicln't have any inclina- tion to do anything or say anything-- just listened to the wind in the trees and watched the moon over the water that was lap-lap-lapping on the stones. Gee! That was the life! And you ought to have heard us singing 'When the Moon Shines on the Cow Shedf Away down at the end of the Canal we met a bunch of joyriders from Seattle. They were whooping it up. like good sports and werc a trifle under the weather fwhich wasnlt any too good to begin withj. They had evidently bought out a tobacco store before they left Seattle and pres- sed upon us a box of stogies, twenty- five centers. They even insisted that we light them then and there 'like gen'lemen.' So Cherub and Flossy half hearted whiffs and that they ought to tie more securely. Useless linger, but tore ourselves found the other two the boat. There were in it that they had been to take away the dizzy took a. few then decided our boat up and I clidn't away. We resting near some oranges trying to get feeling, but so far had been unsuc- cessful. The Cherub complained peevishly that the boat didnlt stay in the same place. 'The tide must be coming up,' and believe me it was 'coming up' in more ways than one. Finally Flossy solved the question by pointing an oar at the boat and crawling along, hanging on to that oar for dear life-and oranges. The trip home was made for the most part in a hurry. Our camps were few and far between, for the inhabitants of that part of the country were too well known to us-or rather, we were toot well known to them for our peace of mind. We hadn't been quite out of touch with civilization, for Useless had been more than generous, and we lived like kings all the way home on stuffed olives, chocolates, tinned meats and jams. f-le was a good old sport, even if he did bring along lavender silk pajamas, and the pictures he got were certainly great. We got into Tacoma about 'ioon one day, just two weeks after we had started, loo-kingolike veritable 'Knights of the roacl,' only in this case it was water. We made for home the quick- est way possible, but Useless gave a fitting climax to our adventures by taking his car from in front of the Pan and riding home in style. Vlfhen Useless, sister came out and looked for the car a little newsie offered the information that a 'little guy wid whiskers' had taken it. Of course, this is only my version of the story,H said Bilious in con- clusion. 'iThe other three kids may have different ideas, but one thing we all agreed on and that was the superiority of the cake which was made for us Cin imaginationj. Gee, it has a different kind of frosting every time I think of it.

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THE TAHOMA 27 The frail form on the bed stirred, and a faint smile curved the thin, pale lips. A whisper hardly more than a breath said, Pan, you have come back at lastg dear Pan, you are so gooclf, i The crisis passedg soon the Boy began to grow in strength of body and minclg but always, even to manhood, he had a listening attitude, as if always waiting to hear again the pipes oi Pan. ff, v, , f to f Q55 24-NN ui JMX Rf MXSQYXIII ff WKTTTLIH W A G51 f- 55-angie FN 5 S10L3iiTfTiiiTTTJR :N 1 E Eli? 75-4?-ieiff K