Steele High School - Annual Yearbook (Dayton, OH)

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Page twenty-two THE ANNUAL After supper Peter went to bed. He could hear the old men talking in querulous tones below, but finally he fell asleep. The sun was streaming in the little room when Peter awoke. He sat up in bed. Birds were twittering in the tree outside the window. Everything seemed happy. Peter was happy, too. He had been dreaming of the old farm and Johnny. Breakfast was a counterpart of the supper the night before. The same monotony prevailed. The matron spoke of the beautiful weather. It won't last long, I guess, one of the old men replied. But for the most part they were sullen and unresponsive. After the meal was ended, the matron called Peter aside. Now, she said, suppose you tell me where you came from and where your folks live. I am afraid you can't stay without the papers. It's against the rules, you know. Peter was silent. Oh, here he is, here's grandada! I've found him. A little boy rushed into the room. Following him closely a man and a woman were ushered in by Mr. Samuel Abernethy. Peter looked on astonished. Could it really be Johnny come to him? Yes, oh, yes, it was! He held out his arms. Tears were streaming down his little old wrinkled face. He held the boy close. johnny didn't forget his old grand-dad, he murmured. The matron and the superintendent slipped from the room unnoticed. The woman came forward and folded the two, Peter and johnny, in her arms. Come back, father, dear father, she sobbed. The old farm wants you and we want you. She looked into her husband's eyes. He held out his hand and Peter grasped it. johnny freed from his embrace ran towards the door. Come, grandada, he cried imperiouslyg come, I want to fish in the brook. ' dl 'AF -AF INCOMPREHENSION Smiling, you dream in the fire's glow, While the graying ashes slip belowg What do you see that I cannot see? Is there some place where I may not be?- Some far, dim spot in an unguessed land, Where things are easy to understand, Where you may find peace for your troubled soul- While I see only the glowing coal.-Katherine Kunz

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THE ANNUAL Page twenty-one It was as though some one had struck him. The little old wrinkled face grew hard, the shoulders, before so erect, drooped slightly. He tried to arouse himself but sank back in his chair again. He had come for nothing, then all the tiresome journey was useless, but now he oould not go back to the farm. He had forfeited all right to return-forever. They would not receive him. Tom had said he ought to be in a Home, that Sarah couldn't stand waitin' on him. He had overheard. Yes, that was why he had come. No one had known, but Johnny. Sarah had gone to a funeral and the men were at work in the south field-but now it was all in vain. And where should he go? The man was looking at Peter half scornfully, half pityingly. We can't keep you here, he said finally. Yes. Peter still sat in the chair. The little old valise slipped from his hand. What's the matter, pa ? A fat, good-natured-looking woman appeared in the doorway. Peter did not look up. The old man's a little shaken up, the superintendent replied. Come here expectin' to get in, I suppose. Sorry, but he'1l have to leave. Now just you listen here, Samuel Abernethy, that old man isn't goin' to be sent away tonight, anyway, papers or no papers. Don't you see he's nearly exhausted? The matron went over to Peter, who was sitting upright now. You just come with me, she said, and we'1l find a place for you to- night. Peter looked grateful. He was still weak, but he followed Mrs. Aber- nethy and she took him to a room where he might rest. I'll call you at sup- per time, she said, and now you lay down there and rest. Peter obeyed. He was too tired to think Everything seemed whirling about him. One thing only remained clear in the confusion of his thoughts. He could not stay. He must leave but not return to the farm, no, that was impossible now. Where should he go? He must have fallen asleep. The room was dark and someone was call- ing. It must be Johnny. You can come with me now, for supper's ready. Ah, now he remembered. johnny had vanished. The matron was a reality. Seated around the table were the old men of the Home, The matron placed Peter by her side. The old men regarded him curiously, half jeal- ously. But he did not notice. The meal proceded in silence. The old men ate and drank mechanically and when they had finished each one carried his plate and cup to the kitchen.

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THE ANNUAL Page twenty-three AN ANCEINT CITY OF CHINA By BERNICE MURRA Y away the South Gate Pagoda, and beyond that the walls of the city where I was to spend six busy, happy months. After two days and a half spent in a Chinese cart anything that offered a cessation from its exquisite torture would be welcome, and so Hsu Chou Fu, as I first saw it outlined against the evening sky seemed to me to be a veritable haven of rest. I had the distinction of being the first white woman outside of the missionaries who had ever been in the city, so you see it was real China, and not the modified variety one gets in the ports. Imagine, if you can, a city with as many inhabitants as Dayton, confined inside of a wall, three miles in circumference. Small wonder that half of the city seems to be on the streets and every little alley is literally swarming with people. On three sides of the city is the old bed of the Yellow River, once a busy waterway, now a sandy waste. Before 1852 Hsu Chou Fu was one of the principal cities on the river. Situated a little over one hundred miles from its mouth on a bend in the river it was an important port and the city was a flourishing one. The people, however, lived in constant fear of the Hoang-ho, and they called it Chinese sorrow, for they never knew when it would overflow its banks, leaving behind desolation and the sound of mourning. There are many interesting legends connected with the river and these are used as the basis of some of the stories still told in the tea shops. On Yuin Long San, one of the hills outside of the city there is a build- ing made in the shape of a boat which, the story says, was built by a wealthy ofiicial as a work of merit. At the time of flood all of the people were to gather in this ship, a la Noah's ark, and be fioated away to safety. Another legend tells of Shu Guniang, a young and beautiful maiden, the daughter of a high official, throwing herself into the river at the time of a flood when the city was threatened with inundation. Her act appeased the anger of the gods who had sent the flood and it immediately subsided. So appreciative were the people of the city that they erected a temple, not to the girl-that would be conferring too much honor upon youth-but to her parents. The temple may be visited outside of the North Gate to-day. 7 UST at sunset we came through a pass in the hills and saw fifteen li