Woodstock High School - Eureka Yearbook (Bryant Pond, ME)

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After waiting for the girls to pack our lunch and get ready, we started for the foot of the mountain by boat. Upon our arrival at the base of the mountain, the sun had risen high in the sky. It was really warm so we prepared for the climb to the top of the mountain We took our lunch and started for the top. We couldn’t climb straight up the face of it for it was too steep. As we were all from the city we weren’t used to this and didn’t make very fast headway. Once we came to a place where you could look out over the lake. It was a beautiful sight. The boats looked like ants crawling along a mirror. After resting for a few minutes, we continued the climb. It wasn’t too long before we reached the top. Upon reaching the top, we found a small Hat field surrounded by trees. Non was the time to solve our mystery. We hurried toward the center of the opening and found a fireplace. There had been a fire in it the night before for it was still warm. We looked around but didn’t find anything else. We listened and we didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. After we had sat around for a while, we started for the bottom of the mountain, our mystery still unsolved. What evet was there the night before was now gone. Now your guess is as good as ours. What was it? Maynard Cushman ’55 ALL ALONE Slam! went the back door as two little boys rushed through. They were covered with so much mud and jelly the freckles didn't show, but they were numerous. “Mom! Mom! come quick!” Mother’s head appeared from the cellar door. “I’m down here sorting jelly for you boys to smear all over your faces. You stay up there. It's cold down here.” “But mom; we've got an idea. We want to sleep out in the tent tonight.” There was a crash from the cellar, then silence until mother’s head appeared again. “What did you say?” “We want to sleep out in the tent.” They dancetl around excitedly making the kitchen floor fairly bounce. “Well, I don’t know. The last time the neighbor's dog scared you in. You'll have to ask your father.” “Oh boy!” shouted Johnny. “Yippee!” yelled Jerry, “we can.” Mother knew she had lost the fight as well as they did. Father would sleep in the tent himself if she would allow him to. She sighed and went back down cellar to the jelly. That night was a warm starry night with the crickets singing happily — the kind of night when noise seemed much louder and right beside you. The boys had been tucked in and mom and dad had gone into the house. For a while the boys slept, then they seemed to awake almost at the same instant. A sudden sound brought them upright in their beds. “What was that?” stuttered Jerry. “I’m scared. Let’s go in the house.” Johnny tried to act brave, but he found he was inclined to agree with Jerry. Suddenly he got an idea. “You stay here, he told Jerry. Creepy sounds followed him across the lawn and into the back door which Mom had wisely left open. He crept upstairs to his parents' room and opened the door. Dad awoke to find someone shaking his arm. He rolled over and opened one eye. “Dad,” whispered Johnny, “will you come sleep with us in the tent? Dad closed his eyes and almost went back to sleep before he realized what Johnny had said. “You mean outdoors?” he asked. 16

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MYSTERY OR NOT We arrived in camp about 7 o’clock the night alter the 4th of July. We had traveled all day long and were very tired. We also had been out the night before playing pranks on people. This probably didn’t help any. The camp looked the same as usual except that the owner had built a new wharf which ran out into the lake. This also had a nice diving board on the end of it. We would probably spend a good many hours swimming here. As we walked up the stairs to our bedroom we wondered if the Dawson Twins were here yet. These were two girls, seventeen years old, whom we had met the summer before. We had spent about two weeks entertaining these twins and had enjoyed it very much. We talked over the old times as we waited for sleep to overtake us. Johnny and Pete were two boys from the city. Johnny had come every year with his parents since he was a little boy. He was now eighteen. Last year he in- vited Pete, his next door neighbor. That's me. 1 had really enjoyed that trip and when he invited me this year I almost shouted with joy. 1 had been looking for- ward to this trip for a long time and now that we re here it sure seems awfully good. The next morning we rose early and hurried down to breakfast. It didn’t take us long to devour the pancakes and maple syrup and we were soon in the boat heading for the Dawson’s camp. The outboard motor was a speedy one and we soon arrived at our destination. The twins came rushing down to the wharf as our boat swung along side it. Janet was a light blonde, about five feet two, and Janice was a brunette about five feet four. They were both very good specimens and the boys always liked their company. After talking over old times we decided to go for a boat ride around the lake. We climbed into the boat and with Johnny at the motor we were soon skimming over water. The lake was a big one about seven miles long. One side of it was covered with camps while the other was stili wild. A big mountain overhung the water forming a very haunted effect on the water and islands near. There were several beaches along the lake and this usually drew a lot of summer people. After several hours of riding we decided to visit the islands on which we used to have picnics. This island was in the shadows of the mountain which towered above. It didn’t take too long to reach it and we were soon scrambling up the banks onto the island. We found the place as we had expected to. We sat down side of the old fireplace and joked and talked. As we sat there, the time passed and it started to get dark. Just as we started for camp one of the girls jumped and told us to listen. We listened for several minutes and were about ready to give up when we heard voices from the top of the mountain. It sounded like someone yelling. We listened and heard it several times more. We couldn’t make out what they were yelling. We soon headed for home as it was getting darker by the minute. We were all mystified by the voices and finally decided to come back the next day. It was really dark when we pulled into our camp and boy were we starved! We gulped down our supper like hungry dogs for we had only a sandwich for lunch. It didn’t take us long to get to bed for we were planning to rise early the next morning. The next morning I awoke to find the sun already pouring in the window. I Hew out of bed and woke Johnny without too much of a tussle. We hurried down stairs and ate our breakfast in a hurry for we were already late in getting started, it didn’t take us very long to arrive at the Dawson’s camp and expected to find the twins mad because we were late. As we landed the boat at the wharf, Janice came running out of the camp to tell us they weren’t quite ready. 15

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 Yes,” urged Johnny, “my bed is big enough for two. Mom won't know you've gone if you sneak back before morning.” Dad, pleased with the idea, took his pillow and blanket and silently they tip- toed from the room. When they had left Mom got out of bed and looked out the window. Down on the lawn Jerry ran to meet them and two little boys and one big boy tramped across the lawn, blankets dragging behind. Mom snugged back in bed and said to herself “Now I can go to sleep without worrying about whether the boys are all right.” Denise Noyes ’57 HILL NO. 206 It was warm for February. The mercury has climbed to 11 above today at noon, maybe not warm compared to Miami, but warm for Korea. The Seventh Calvary has fought, walked, crawled to within ten miles of the 38th parallel. Now they are resting, licking their wounds, and preparing for another slow, tedious drive. One would never know' that these boys flirted w ith death every second, by their outward actions. In this weary moment, with the Communist troops in the immediate vicinity, they joke and laugh as they smoke cigarettes and clean guns and personal effects. Of this group one man doesn’t fit. You could tell if you had just come from the streets of New' York that he doesn’t fit. As the rest smoke and laugh, he sits sullenly and centers lus wdiole attention on the cigarette in his hand. Dave Hig- gins, that is his name, comes from Vermont. Family man, has two kids, and a pretty wife. That’s why lie's so bitter. It seems he fought all through the 2nd World War and then he got married. He just got settled, when this “police ae lion” breaks out over in this good-for-nothing hole. Oh no, they couldn’t draft single boys, who are running around killing people with cars, they have to drag him back into this dirty mess. Why is it a few always get the dirty work? Oh, that’s not all, he could stand the dirty work, but the people back home don't even know a war is going on. They open the paper to the sports page and see how the horses did. Why, the news of the war has taken the second pages now. He could stand it if he knew the people were behind them, but they aren't. Only the rela- tives of the boys know' what is happening over in the “hole”. As he thinks of his wife Betty and his daughters, Barbara and Kathy, his eyes soften, but, in a lew moments, they have again assumed that rough, indifferent look. They start forward again, crouched ready at any minute to dive to cover. Dave is flanked on his left by a Texan, a tall lean man with whom Dave has been here in Korea at the same time as Dave, and who has been liked among the best ii. remotely friendly, and on his right is the guy from Wisconsin who had arrived here in Korea at the same time as Dave, and who has been liketl among the best in the squad. Jason Smith is his name, and he too is married. Glancing at Jason, Dave notes the new lines in his face and the haunting eyes that every veteran possesses. Communist ground batteries pound away in the foreground, accom- panied moments later by shrill whines, as the shells mourn overhead or by the sudden crash nearby. The crunch of snow' under foot is all that can be heard whenever the big guns die lor a moment. “What is the name of this hill.-' Jason is asking. Dave says two hundred and something, he doesn’t know for sure, and they continue, crouched for a sudden leap, not knowing when or where, but know- ing it will come. Suddenly in front and a little to the left a machine gun chatters. To Dave's left four men double, grab their stomachs and fall, all dead when they hit the soft snow. Their legs kicked once or twice and then are still. Dave, the Texan, and Jason are hugging a little embankment, which provides momentary shelter from the machine gun, which somebody will have to knock out, before further ad- vancement. Looking about, it dawns on Dave that everyone else is in the same position. 17