Sutter Union High School - Gold and White Yearbook (Sutter, CA)

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13 GOLD AiND WHITE. Huga Holbrookfs Rebenge. It was an awful nightg such a night as strikes terror into the hearts of the bravest. Through the inky blackness, which closed down over the mountain in an im- penetrable mass, the rain, driven by the raging, roaring tempest, cut the flesh like rod-hot iron. l'oal upon peal of thunder rolled and crashed overhead, reverbcrating from canon to canon, followed by blinding flash- es of forked lightning which smote the mighty pines, converting them into thousands of tiny splinters, which were whirled away before the breath of the on-rushing blasts. It was as if the elements, mighty in their fury, were bent upon the de- struction of every living thing and the leveling of the mighty moun- tains over which they raged, to the earth below. lt was an awful night, one which would tend to dissuade even the bravest from venturing forth and subjecting himself to tl1e fury of such a storm. But nevertheless, on such a night a young man labor- ously and with great pain, was slow- ly making his way through the great forest which covered these moun- tains, the forest which was a play- thing in the hands of this terrific blast. He was unarmed save for an automatic Colt's which lumg at his hip, he had long since thrown away the carbine which greatly im- peded his progress over the moun- tains. lf one could see his face he would see that his mind was upon something far removed from his present surroundings and that he was evi-dently paying no heed to the storm which beat upon him so sav- agely. Every now and then an ex- pression of deep pain would settle upon his pale, handsome face and he would increase his pace, cursing the storm which held him back, until his worrying brain and unstrung nerves became more composed, when he would slow down again into the steady tread which had marked his progress from the time the storm had burst upon him. As he fought his way along the narrow path, he heard, or was indif- ferently conscious of, a terrible, blood-curdling scream, which arose above the din and roar of the temp- est, not ten fet away. He knew that this scream could have come from the throat of but one animal, the ter- rible, blood-thirsty mountain lion. But he paid no heed to the beast, only pushing on with a greater de- termination and energy, he did not even take his gun from the hol- ster. It was plainly to be seen that his mind and soul were set upon some undertaking from which they could not be diverted, no matter what turned against him or stood in his path. He had traveled for three days and nights, without food or rest. and was now nearing the end of his fatiguing journey. But his strength and fortitude were al- so nearing their end. He could not face such a storm much longer, and every few minutes a prayer to the Maker crossed his lips and floated out in the storm. 'Nh God 1 he moaned, but Srive me strength to save her from those devils and I can die in peace. And then he would push on with renewed energy, his whole mind and soul bent upon reaching his destina- tion. At last he came to the end of his journey. But the little log cabin which he had hoped and prayed would be there, was gone, and in its place lay a pile of hissing embers, as if it had been burned but a very short time before his arrival. My God, he groaned, too late! r Then he sank in a heap on the ground. But his faintness was only momentary, for the next min- ute he was on his feet, his energy so nearly spent, returned in great- er forceg his mouth was set in a hard straight line of determina- tion, his eyes contracted to narrow slits, and he was seized with a vio-

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I3-5I.D AND WHITE. 17 Q4 Sophomore? Dream. How I Was Taught My Geometry. A lesson was I to take, Many shapes was I to make, Thus he commanded me without imploring He placed me like a lame hen, Upright like other men: Now you are perpendicular to the floor- ing. Next I was forced to kneel, And the Prof. made appeal For the Sophies to observe the fine rec tangle: He lifted me once more And stood me on the Hoor D And then he bent me all into a triangle But Till When he a circle tried, I thought I should have died, Especially when he tried to square it, After the trapezoid I felt an aching void: The faintness grew until I scarce could bear it. I gasped and tried to speak, But really felt too weak, Just then I was a parallelopipedg When arcs and sectors come, They made me feel so lame I thought I was a most unhappy biped. Supposlng all was o'er, I sank upon the floor, when my teacher to desist consented, A-stick each, the Sophies siezed, And yelled, and sang, and sneezed, I was almost. if not quite, demented. CHRIS JACOBS, '12. QQ M i 4 I 1 7 Q: VRS ll K.

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GOLD AND lent rage, which shook his young frame as with a chill. 'tYou damnable ours! I will kill you as I would a dog and rejoice in the killing. He was seized with a mad desire for revenge, a desire which could be satiated only by the taking of a human life. He forgot every thing, forgot his surroundings, forgot the storm, forgot everything but this terrible revenge which was raging within him, demanding with loud cries for blood. He remained in this blood-thirsty mood for some little time, running around tl1e em- bers like a mad man, all the while cursing his ill1luck, the storm, and nurturing the mad clamorings for revenge which still held complete sway over his body and soul. He was brought to his right senses with a crash, as an unusually bright flash of lightning lit up the scene as in daylight, at the same time displaying to his eager gaze a small foot path on the side of the ashes leading through the dense un- derbrush up the canon in which the cabin had formerly stood. He never knew why he did what he then did,but without a lll0Il16llt,S hesitation he set off up that path. The path, as I have said, ran through dense underbrush which sheltered him 'from the blinding storm to such an extent that he was able to make his way on a run! Why was he running? He did not know, but he did know that as he ran, some mysterious impulse which he- could not on his life account for, urged him on. He fell down every few steps but when he arose, he only pushed on the faster. He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile in this fashion, when all at once. his foot came in contact with some soft object across the path and he was thrown to the ground with stunning force. But while falling he heard faintly. a low moan which seemed to come from the object he had struck. Guessing the truth at once, he threw all his will and ener- gy into the process of rising, which WHITE. 19 was made extremely painful by a sprained ankle received in his fall. But at last he succeeded, and as best he could made his wayback till he found the object of his search. As his hands fell upon it, he uttered a low cry of unutterable Joy'while he pressed the object to his heart, passionately raining kiss after kiss upon the pale death-like face. My little sweetheart, he cried, God be thanked, I was in time. No one shall ever take you from me again. Speak to me, darling, and tell me how you came to be in such a place as this. But she did not answer, and in alarm he picked her up in his strong arms and started, he knew not where, through the blinding storm and darkness, making his way as best he could with his crippled foot. He never knew how he did it, but a powerful mind and body such as he possessed, take mighty odds to defeat and overpower them, after he had gone what seemed miles and miles to him, with his death-like burden, he saw a light gleaming faintly through the darkness. He directed his steps toward this, and after a great deal H101'8 pain and labor, finally reached the little cabin through whose lone window it shone. He laid his sweetheart down on the side of the cabin which was sheltered from the storm, and has- tily going round to the little door, rapped loudly upon it with the butt of his pistol. There was silence within for a few moments, then a gruff voice, a voice which Hugh was sure he recognized as that belonging to the man he hated, asked, t'Wl1o's there and what'd you want? Let me in immediately, for God's sake, called Hugh. I have a dying girl with me who must have attention at once. There was silence within for a few minutes, interrupted by the low earnest conversation of two men. At last the grulf voice offered, VVoll, stranger, T reckon yuh can come in a while. if yuh 'll be mighty careful how yuh act.