Benjamin School for Girls - Tusitala Yearbook (New York, NY)

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TUSITALA FOR l928 PRIZE SHORT STORY FROM ENGLISH IV S7lI'lU7'fJ'6 RUTH BACK Out of the night, made horrible by a penetrating cold and a lack of moon and stars, came a knock, which was heard in the warm, well-heated, living room in which Mr. Sotain sat. Mr. Sotain was not the type of person to be frightened by a mere knock at his door at an unexpected hour. But, somehow as he sat in his cozy armchair, reading his daily paper, a shudder went through him. Some people might have attributed this feeling to the natural reaction under such circumstances, and others, old maids and grouchy, worldy-wise doctors, would insist that a cold in the head was the cause. Nevertheless, I firmly state that neither guess is correct, for even Lord, the big police dog, let forth a penetrating whine at the sound of the knock, and hastily ran to the door. 'KHere, Lord, said Mr. Sotain in his low voice, which somehow lacked its usual richness of tone. But Lord kept on whining. At last Mr. Sotain rose from his chair, walked out of the living room, into the foyer, and opened the door. A messenger greeted him and handed a yellow envelope to him. Mr. Sotain tipped the messenger and hastily opened the envelope. I V Although Mr. Sotain was a business man, he was not accustomed to receive tele- grams, for his business of writing newspaper articles made the former type of corre- spondence unnecessary. Hence, he opened th letter hastily, I might even venture to say that his face portrayed a bit of mental anxiety. Come home at once-Dad. These were the only words which greeted his search- ing eyes. The letters pierced him. No reason given, just those cold words. He meditated: Six long years since he had heard any news from his father, his only should-be friend and confidant. Perhaps his father had forgiven him for the decisiveness of hi's youth. Perhaps he shouldn't have decided to leave his father and live by himself in a city, where he had neither frier1ds'or relatives. Quarrels, it has often been said, frequently occur between fathers and sons. But, time was supposed to help to bring about a reconciliation. Secretly, sudden longings to again visit the place of his childhood, where he had known the pleasant caresses of a mother, until he was ten years old, often seized him. Only that last quarrel with Dad over a future career had seemed to sever all ties of love. The father had wished that his son would some day become a prominent physician, but the sonqafter receiving his diploma iseemingly showed ingratitude by expressing a hnal opinion on the subject. I I would rather write newspaper articles for a small town paper with only fourteen dollars a week than ,to be one of the best known doctors in the United States,f' he had said. This statement had ended the father's cherished hopes, and the matter ended with a severe quarrel. The younger Mr. Sotain, then only twenty-eight, left home, and finally procured the position of assistant reporter for a Chicago newspaper. Due to his ability for this type of work, he gradually earned higher positions. But, after all, the work T T Page Tzrfezzffy-Sez'e12

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r . .- T ' TUSITALA wir 1939 he would even consider buying. Unexpectedly, the terminus of two great railroads was established there. Abe Phillips, however, was not to enjoy any alleviation of his cares. A smooth-tongued swindler, under the assumed name of Clarence jones, caused Abe to invest not only his own money but the money of a number of rather poor families in some worthless stock. This tragedy darkened j'erry's eyes to everything but his intense horror of life, and an overpowering lust for the blood of the foul perpetrator of the disaster. Jerry knew that the swindler, who called himself Clarence Jones, lived in New York. Jerry had such a clear picture of the man, engraved in his mind, that he could never mistake him. Besides, jones had a scar in the form of a cross on his right temple. jerry, obsessed with the desire for vengeance, soon found himself in New York. He took a position as a taxi driver because he felt that he would thus be enabled to come in contact with many people. Guess 1,11 shoot through Tenth Avenue to avoid the rush. Maybe Illl be able to pick up some of the after-theatre crowd,' said jerry to himself. Subconsciously, only one fervent idea predominated his mind: Where is that day when Clarence jones, blood will pay the debt he owes me? It was two o'clock in the morning before jerry was ready to set out for the garage. He never knew how it happened. While rounding a curve at a moderate rate of speed, a wretched drunkard reeled in front of the cab. jerry could not stop his car before the wheels ran the man over. Jerry hastened to extricate the emaciated mass from under the car. The blood trickled over his hands. Good God, save this man, was jerry's impassioned plea. He was carrying the man into the taxi to rush him to a hospital, when, by the light of the street lamp, jerry descried a ,cross-shaped scar on the unconscious man's right temple. Then, he recognized Clarence jones. The fiend, who had blighted the life of the only two people jerry had ever loved, was at his mercy. The man, whom he had spent his life to kill, was delivered, dying, into his hands. His agonized, pent-up feelings burst forth. jerry realized how easily he could murder him. Murder? Murder that drunken wreck! Was it for this moment he had pawned his precious life? He had consecrated his life to assassinate a fellow creature. How could he, with the inferior wisdom of a mortal, attempt to adjust the balance of Life? Some kind Heaven gave Jerry Phillips the strength to refuse to let that depraved man ruin his life also. Five minutes later, jerry deposited the inebriated, bleeding creature in a hospital. jerry put his whole heart into a fervid prayer, Please, Good Lord, don't let that- poor devil die. However, Jim Stolking, alias Clarence jones, never regained consciousness. jerry was easily absolved from all blame. Nevertheless, the fact that he had killed a man while motoring, unnerved jerry to such a high degree that he resolved never to drive again. ' Now jerry, as we all know by now, always possessed perseverance, this, added to his newly found clearsightedness is helping him to reconstruct the broken vestiges of his life. Those stories deserving honorablesmention are: V The El Tram ........................,................................. ....,..,... H ELEN GELLER Hefzmzrhe .................. ....... ...., 1 . HADELE HARRISON What Could If Be? ..... ....... A DELAIDE SALOMON idgfrwaffiylsfx if A PCT if TNT

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-. ,-.- . ,?4 A TUSITALA rox 1929 meant happiness to him, and as he had reviewed his past, a determined look' sprang into his eyes. He made a decision to go to New York immediately. He packed a few necessary articles for his journey, and within two hours, Mr. Sotain was on a train bound for New York. With the thought of death, he hurriedly stepped from the train at Grand Central Station and ran to the nearest taxi shouting Seven-thirty-five Riverside Drive at the driver and seated himself on the edge of the seat clinching his lists the while. He did not notice the change in the neighborhood but kept urging the chauffeur to drive more quickly. h f When the taxi arrived in front ofa tall imposing apartment house, Mr. Sotain gave the driver five dollars and then ,without waiting for any changexran into the apartment elevator. Mr. Sotain's apartment, he said in a hasty mumble. Apartment six-E, said the calm, black-faced elevator man, to your right, sir. Mr. Sotain's heart began to throb. He mechanically went to the right and rang the door bell. It seemed hours before the door opened. Finally, it opened half-way, and a chorus of very cheerful and excited voices called l'Surprise! It was too much. The man could bear up no longer. As an answer, he fell bodily into the doorway. The next day, the newspapers printed the following account:-p Yesterday Mrs. Charles F. Lanvilleiiprepared a surprise party for the notable Mr. Charles F. Lanville. 'When the hour for the surprise arrived, the door bell rang, followed by a cry of Surprisel by the guests. Instead of the honored guests arrival, the body of a dead man fell into the doorway. The only mark of identification which the man possessed, was a tele- gram reading 'Come home at onceli-signed 'Dad' A The body has been placed in a city morgue where Mr. Sotain of apart- ment 6-B of the same address claimed it as that of his son. The gentleman mumbled some half understood words about a reconciliation. The death has been attributed to a sudden heart attack. u Those girls deserving honorable mention from English IV are: LUCILLE MENSCHEL LILLIAN GRUBER EVELYN JAFFE MURIEL FLEISCHMAN t '--'- X fri., ,-.-,.. ... . Page Twenty-Eiglal 'X