A B Davis High School - Maroon and White Yearbook (Mount Vernon, NY)

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the seemingly unanswerable question. My mind would not commit itself. it would not decide which course I should take. I barred the door and was making my way to my bed when something happened. which dispelled all doubt in my mind as to what I should do. I saw my wife's figure coming towards me. I saw her sweet. sad face with its sweet smile. and on the spot I knew what I was going to do. for the thought of being the cause of a transformation made in her face by pain and sorrow seemed the most repulsive one that I could imagine. She took my arm and led me up to my bedroom, kissed me, and left without saying a word. Although she did not know my thoughts she was probably able to see by my face that my heart was too full to enable me to talk. The sun streaming through my window awakened me. bringing a new day and with it the grave realization of the work I had before me. Breakfast was soon out of the way and after a difhcult farewell to my wife and son. I found myself on the way to New York. It was only then that I first thought of the consequences which would follow my being appre- hended with the incriminating map on my person. However, I dismissed .this unhappy thought from my mind and tried not to think of it again. I reached my destination before mid- day and after partaking of a light lunch in a tavern I set about plotting the de- fenses of the city on the map. This was quite difficult because of the numerous soldiers who roamed the streets, but I completed it without being accosted by anvone and started on my journey back to Monmouth. I was just passing the last Sentry out- post of the citv when I heard the voice of a soldier in the booth say. That's the man. Immediately two soldiers came out and roughly grabbing me, led me protest- ing to their commanding officer. Presently I stood before him. He scru- tinized me closely and said. We have been informed that we should look sharp- ly for a man of your description and search him. NINETEEN THIRTY-THREE MAROON AND WHITE My heart sank and I knew everything was lost. I had taken no precautions in secreting the map which could easily be unearthed by a careful search. I had not been cautious in hiding it because I did not think it possible for anyone to know I had it. This aroused a question in my mind. Who could have told the soldiers about it? I asked the officer this as they were taking me to the guardhouse, but he stated that they had received the information in a written mes- sage which was not signed. As I sat in the bare, cold cell after the soldiers had left me. I pondered upon my position. Many questions arose in my mind. Had I made the situation any worse for my wife? Had I brought more harm to her than if I had gone back to England to prison? I felt then that the answer to all of these questions was yes, but that the circumstances which prevailed at the outset made my being captured as a spy seem insignificant. The court-martial the next day was very brief and to the point. For the crime of conspiring against my country in time of war I was sentenced to be hanged by the neck. which sentence. of course. was no shock to me. However, there happened the night fol- lowing the court-martial something which made my last two weeks upon this earth a living hell. and this is what it was. A letter. November 24. 1770 Dear Ben: Now that ye are in prison and about to be hanged my mind is happy and relaxed. As long as ye were at freedom and enioy- ing life. I could not rest. Your death was as important to me as me own life. And now before ye die, matey, I want ye to suffer just as I have done through these long years. Ye cannot imagine what it is to have a disfigured face. Ye cannot dream of all the torture and suffering me mind has undergone because of it. And what was the cause of all this? Ye was. me matev. and ye'll sure regret it. Before I close I would like to tell ve that if ye wish to visit England anv time in the near future. ye may go with an Page One 'Hundred and Forty-fiv

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MAROON AND WHITE stopped in my tracks. He continued, Ups, it's me. Claypool. your old shipmate on the old 'Panther' and I don't wonder ye are surprised to see me. But ye would have recognized me if the lamps hadn't been doused. I daresay ye'll never in all your born days forget that scar ye gave me. But I don't hold it agin ye, matey. ye may lay to that. Nobody ever knew Job Claypool to hold a grudge against an old shipmatef' The last was said with a trace of irony which did not escape me. No, it's not a pretty sight , he con- tinued. as if talking to himself, it's a disfigured map it is. that old face of mine. and me who used to be a lady's man. I-Ie laughed a bitter, hopeless sort of laugh and lapsed back into silence. As for myself. I can hardly describe my feelings at the moment. My mind was in a turmoil as I looked at the dimly outlined figure before me and stretched my memory back to the days when I was Ben Talbot. able seaman aboard H. M. S. Panther and Job Claypool was my bunkmate on the same vessel. I could clearly recall the oc- casion when Claypool had received the scar referred to as the result of a six inch knife gash which I had accidently given him, Then I heard his voice again. Ben, he was saying, how's your luck been since ye deserted from the old tub? I froze inside. Claypool, keep your voice down, I whispered. My .wife and son are upstairs asleep and 'I don't want them awakened. I-Ie snickered. So ye never told her ye were a deserter, a fugitive from justice. and liable to be sent back to Newcastle at any time, eh? For God's sake, Claypool. speak lower! I cried. She might hear you! There was a moment of silence un- broken save for the gentle pat-pat of rain on the roof and low rumblings of thunder in the west. Then I said. Well, Claypool. what is it you want of me? For I had already divined the apparent object of his visit. I could hear and vaguely see him shift in his chair as he prepared to speak. It's a hard piece of business to put Page One Hundred and Forty-four into words, Ben, but seeing it's a king's order it has to be done and here's the gist of it. The Crown offers ye complete ab- solution from the charge of desertion for just some services which ye could do in one or two days. It's jest as simple as all that. 'But what are these services? I asked. Well, from what I can gather from thc letter ye are jest to go down to New York City. make a few markings of the defences on this map I have here, and that's all. I gasped in despair. Why that's trea- son, I can't do that! It means betraying the country which has treated me so well while I've been here! Aye, and it means prison and disgrace on your family if ye don't do it, he fin- ished. Disgrace on my family, I echoed as in a daze. My son's father a convict. Why, Dick is so sensitive he could never live it down. And my wife, why, it would break her heart. My brain throbbed as I fought it out with myself within. Which was I to spare. my country or my family? Then I felt something being put into my hands. It was the map. I could hear Claypool putting on his cape. I-Ie started moving towards the door and unconscious- ly I followed him. As he opened the door, he turned, and on the instant a lightning flash illuminated his face, giving me my first and last sight of him that evening. I-Iis face looked for all the world like the devil's own. His lips were drawn back in a smile and his eyes glittered weirdlv. The scar was accentuated by the ghastly violet light from the electric flash and the expression of hidden hate which his face conveyed would have given me much to think about if I had not been in such an uowrought state. Even as we stood there, one of the con- flicting forces within me counciled me to give the map back to him. but a little voice which said. It means the disruption of your family if you do it, proved the StrOng6r. Then suddenly he was gone and I was standing there alone, staring blindly at the door and asking myself again and again NINETEEN THIRTYTHREE

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MAROON AND WHITE untroubled heart for that desertion charge was given up years ago. Yours for a happy winter. Job Claypool When I had finished reading the above. I fell into a swoon probably caused by tremendous mental reaction. and through the darkness I saw his leering face with its insidious smile, and when I awoke I grew hysterical from thinking about the devil's deceit who had led me to the gal- lows. Oh, there they are now. My saviors, my deliverers from a fate worse than death. Now, gentlemen, if you will al- low me to finish this last line, I will go with you willingly and happily. No, I am not getting light-headed, gentlemen. just light-hearted, yes, that is it just light- hearted. Soon my mind will be free from the torture it now undergoes, and I ask you, gentlemen. should one be sad when he is about to be relieved from suffering? HOWARD GURVITCH. Class of 1934. SEA EVENING The horizon is a sharp, clear line against the orange of the Sunset, like a moving range of mountains. Peaks rise. and then slowly slip away into valleys. as the tireless sea moves about. A steady. warm breeze whips the spume from the crests of waves, brdaking it into salty mist. There are few clouds. and the weary sun. seeming strangely dull and deep- colored after its glaring brilliance of mid- day. is wholly visible as swiftly and more swiftly it slides over the horizon. Watch it closely, and you will see. just as it dis- appears, a quick, electric flash of green. There! It's gone. The sea is changing from the deep blue of the day to the dull black of night, and the yellows of the sky slowly deepen to orange and red, while dark shadows creep over from the east. Lights spring out on deck now, and our ship seems even more isolated than during the day: a brightly lighted island in an infinity of darkness. All outside light has been smothered by Page One Hundred and Forty-six the grey hordes of night. except. clearer and nearer. the comforting stars. and. when that lonesome cloud passes, the large and motherly moon. In these latitudes. heaven is nearer earth, and the moonlight seems to have a warmth wholly different from the eerie coldness of the northern moonbeams. Recurrently water poles up at our bow and rushes out in a wild charge of silvery foam. with tiny phosphorescent lights gleaming in the depths. Moonlight gleams on waves, changing them to herds of wild horses. or rolling hills of a countryside. or fields of gleaming snow. as imagination may turn. We look out of our small spot of light into the veiled darkness. the alluring un- known. Soft music in tune with the beat of the sea on the hull. Shall we dance? The best part of our day is here. ideal for lovers. evening on the Caribbean. GEORGE STOCK, Class of 1933. NfNETEEN THIRTY-THREE