All Saints Commercial High School - Excelsior Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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All Saints Connrinnieireiiaiil School Bess, with the advantage of ten months and six days, advised loftily, Don't grow hot and excited, child. He was probably looking right through you-thinking of something that happened in Monterey a long time agoff That p. m. Pat was called from school by a phone call saying her mother had been stricken with an unexpected heart attack. When Pat reached the gate a cab-driver ushered her to a taxi standing at the curb and informed her he had been sent to bring her home. The girl friend hopped in and the taxi departed in the traditional cloud of dust. After a few minutes riding Pat realized that something was up. She was falling into the arms of Morpheus or wherever chloroform sends you. When she regained consciousness fthis sounds like drama a la Nick Carterl she was in a kitchenette, somewhere in Brooklyn for maybe it was New Yorkl. Anyway, it was a kitchenette, bare of furnishings and very high above the street. Our heroine had but one thought-escape. Suddenly, the Shadow stood in the doorway! Did he snarl And now my proud beauty! and stalk menacingly toward her? He did not. He lounged against the doorpost and apologized for the treatment she had suffered at his hands. You see, Iittle girl , he purred, you have something that belongs to meg something that I went to a great deal of trouble to get. And what is that? asked Pat, all curiosity. Oh, that pearl you pickfed up in the church tower said the villain nonchalantly. I suppose I'll have to tell you the whole story. Myfere profession is not exactly smiled upon by Law and Order. Don't misunderstand me. I always give them a sporting chance. I have never failed to tell them of any objective I had in view or any object I felt the desire to possess. You mean, faltered Pat, you are a crook? Oh, not the way you mean it. I am a cosmopolitan, so to speak. Race andnation mean nothing to me, boasted the Shadow. In this case, I had gone all the way to India, to the Inner Temple of the ancient and mysterious cult on the Ganges. For four days I disguised myself as a priest of the Temple. My aim was to get their largest pearl but I got only one of the smaller stones, because I gave them a sporting chance. Still, it will help me pay the messenger boy. Before I ask you fortthat stone I'Il tell you what part you played in the the affair. The cult sent some of their agents after me. I came to the States. Most of my hide-outs were known to these men and also to the New York police. I happened on the church as a good hide-out. I used the tower room. There is a secret door at the back of the room which leads directly to the church proper. That is how I got downstairs before you girls. I was interested in what you w-ould do with the pearl, so I followed you home and kept a vigil outside your door. In the morning I followed you to school. You know the rest. I won't bother you for the stone now but I will be back in ten minutes for it. So long. p Page 36

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All Saints Commereiiall School A Busy Lunch Hour QXSEXD Dear Polly, I am taking a few minutes at lunch time to tell you about Pat's merry adventure. All the facts are before me and I am giving them to you in logical order. So, here goes. One day our vivacious friend suggested an exploration of the belfry tower of the church. With Pat at our lead four of us sneaked up the choir stairs. We went all the way to the top of the staircase. With trembling knees and excited giggles we stood before The Door. Excitement reigned within and without as Pat grasped the doorknob. The Door flung open. Half a moment later we were standing within The Door making scathing comments on the ordinary-ness of the tower room. A scuffling noise drew our attention to the farthermost and darkest corner of the room. A figure crouched low against the wall. Our high nervous screams echoed and re-echoed as we made a dash for the stairs. We fell in a heap at the bottom of the staircase, gasping for air and wailing, It was a ghost , No, it was Satan himself , Oh, no, it looked like a hunch-backed maniac to me. Maybe it was Lon Chaney , sobed Peg hysterically. Where is Pat? Red answered the question herself by tumbling down the stairs and landing on us, a scared and yet exultant look on her face. In her hand she held a beautiful, pearly-colored stone. I found it at the foot of the ladder leading to the steeple, not two feet away from where we were standing , she replied to our questions. Bess, a sceptic and critic, looked at the stone and decided its worth. A A five and dime special , she stated. Pat sighed and put the stone in her pocket. As we stumbled into the church proper our glances met that of a tall, lanky, swarthy-skinned chap. I can hardly say that he glanced at us. I-Ie actually stared. While we rushed through the alley Peg caroled, Hey, that dark black-clothed man looked like a clothespin to me. Mightn't we saye-a shadow? . Bess wanted to know. Next morning Pat saw the Shadow again. She told us about it before the bookkeeping period. I could swear that I have seen that man more than once since yesterday. I had the feeling I was being followed. But on the train this morning he stood right across the way from me and stared in the most terrifying manner. Page 35

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All Saints K30!U1l'l111lilC1FCilEilllSCllil00ll The villain departed. Our Nell, pardon, our Pat cast frantic glances to left and right. She couldn't go out the window and the use of vocal chords would bring only the Shadow. What should she do? Her eyes rested on a small door built in the wall. The dumbwaiter! Patty rushed over and opened the door. Well, what good did it do anyway? The dumbwaiter would only carry fifty pounds. Thought our heroine, If I slide down the rope, my hands will burn and blister. Hold everything! Here's a ladder running along the side of the shaft. Pat lifted herself over the sill with as little noise and as much speed as was possible. On her way down she passed several doors. As she neared the bottom someone above began to send the dumbwaiter cellar- ward. Pat made a wild and sprawling jump of the last four feet. She dashed around the cellar wondering what to do. The principal idea was to get out. Suppose the Shadow should see her after she did get out? A pair of overalls and a paintfstained cap hung on a nail. Five minutes later Pat carelessly walked out disguised as an ashman-in a costume that did not fit her and a cap that was far too large! Soon Red stopped and collected herself. She was near Fulton Street and the Extension. Her net capital was thirty-three cents-and a pearl. She got rid of the overalls-a telephone booth. Would she call up the police? She called up her mother. I won't be home till late , she said. Again looking like her sweet little self, she left the booth, walked a few blocks along Fulton Street, and suddenly darted into a prosperous-looking jewelry store.Tl , Well, now, how can I finish this tale? This is an assignment in English, due next Monday. I thought l would write out the plot and ask you to help me. l've racked my brain until it is blank. Please help me? just sit down like a dear and jot down a hair-raising ending for my narrative and l'll remember you in my will. How arejyou getting along, Polly? Did your brother johnny recover from the measles? Have you seen Edna since she had her hair cut? I personally think she looks a wreck with the windblown . Would you like to take a season locker somewhere with Pat, Peg and me this summer? Lovingly, Dominga All Saints Commercial Lunch Hour-12:15 p. m. Page 37