Berea High School - Prima Luce Yearbook (Berea, NC)

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rt ?rs;r sssr 1 M fast as he c °” u ,o the ' »™ » «■ ° f •» ' « oossihie fniM-h f ° Ur w arrive , d at Hastings mansion, they left as quickly as nit!! t0 arch for Bandy Legs Griffin, who had been given this was cKTriffin h tf 0 fi rind far from straight underpinnings. His real name Band v T pvq’ t - 16 ' V£ c h um s had been on several camping trips together. Bandy Legs aunt was an old maid. She owned a large amount of property, ?hr i:n,r e day ’ 0 be le , f , t t ,° Bandy Le s whom she thought very much of. witli her v 300 SaVe +i° r +- n ° d h arke y Black Bob he was called, who had stayed Black Bob w?s 16 f mC uT h u n cranberries were gathered from the swamps, the mud of T; = )Cr , W + , h rheumatlsm - He had very often been caught in mud of the swamps but being accustomed to it, knew how to save himself. chums bimneH 0 ! 7 !! £ the ,? 0yS r f ached the Griffin ranch. Max and his three breaking speed ° ° mac ime tbat ey came over the road in with record- H’f? Griffin and Black Bob were waiting at the gate said b A M L SS ? ri T n ’ Bandy L ’ l mein Clarence’s-aunt,” Max Steve Dowdv ' „ J 77.7 3l astin ? s and these are my three chums, Steve Dowdy Toby Juckhn and Owen 1 HP O f mnv clinnl ' 1 A 11 , .. . z new r rhe old lady shook her white head sadly as she replied: ri 9r J™ news my hoy; we have heard nothing or seen nothing from our poor Hone is h! n‘ he 77 us .yesterday, meaning to be gone only an hour or two. Hope is beginning to turn into despair. Oh ! I do wish you could find him.” will trv nnr S l P Wh f t i y ° U kn ° w , about k - P lea se, Miss Griffin,” said Max, “and we will try our level best to find Clarence.” oreimed wfTn 7 B i° h !° ld them what the y knew, then Miss Griffin ’’.lack Bob gave Max that would 0 be n!lwi tW ° !r 5 ’ each i° aded with provisions and other things that would be needed op the trip, such as ropes, guns, matches and the like. After discussing certain plans and ways of how he could have been lost they were to separate two in each hmt cuii couiu nave Deen iu l, distance of each othen 1 they WCre not to S et ou t of hearing Several times Steve was taken by sudden ittnf ' l c occasion, before «he boats separaf d, and then dropped to the botton o th boat H jq Sp 7 ng to lds feet as he said this, tonished the others. c ls ace ia d a blank look that as- “Why, hello, what ails Steve?” remarked Max. [ Page 56 ]

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f ’ rr-v- “ , PRIM A LUCE had no desire to reveal my pecuniary affairs. I had been quite successful for the two previous years and had laid up some money, I had this money all in gold which I carried on my person, in a case sewed in my shirt around the waist, two twenty dollar gold pieces side by side. I washed these shirts myself and kept them concealed. On the second Saturday night in August I was tired and worried, feeling unlike watching the melons. “I guess they will get them all tonight,” I sighed. As it was getting dusty I went down to my boat. The mosquitoes being- ferocious, I replaced the cabin door with the wire one and did not strike a light. While I was sitting on the bunk listening to the mosquitoes buzz on the wire door, I heard the creaking sounds of a buggy. “Someone is coming down after water,” I said to myself. A few moments later I heard footsteps on the plank which led to the wharf. Presently there came the sound of a smothered cough. I grabbed my rifle and threw a caitridge in the barrel. 1 he click of the action was more distinct than I had evei known it to be befoie. I heard someone speak in an emphatic fierce, low tone, as if scolding a dog. Hours and hours I sat on the stool watching the door and listening, but all was silent. I was afraid to rise up out of the cabin as this would expose ’me to a bullet. I knew someone was watching the boat. Thousands of thoughts went through my mind. I wondered if Mason had discovered the way I carried my money. Did the waylaying person imagine that I was up at the melon patch and would come down later? Late in the night, about 1 :30, I heard an abrupt, roaring noise. A buggy went across a short bridge in the main road at a rapid rate of speed. As it was getting light the next morning I noticed in the cart path the track of a buggy. The vehicle wheeled around a time or two in front of Mr. Swendell’s residence, and a quarter of a mile beyond, tu rned in at Mason’s. I drew the conclusion. — Mattie Lee Newton. Lost in the Great Dismal Swamp “Hello! Is that you Steve?” Just who it is, Max. Say, I could tell your voice over the wire among a thousand. What’s doing?” “A whole lot. Owen is here at my elbow, and getting ready with a rush for a quick trip. I’m going to call up Toby Jucklin as soon as I switch off from your number and have him get around here in double quick time.” “What in the wide world — ” “I have just received a telegram from Bandy Leg’s rich aunt out in the country. She says Bandy Legs has been lost in the Dismal Swamp, where he went fishing yesterday. He hasn’t returned, and she fears that he has been lost, or

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“W-w-when he h-h-heard us t-t-talking of water, he yelled b-b-bath ! and j-j-just got a s-s-shock!” declared Toby Jucklin. Toby stuttered very badly, for this reason he hardly ever spoke.” “What’s wrong, Steve?” asked Max pleasantly. They soon found out enough to know that he had forgotten whether he left the water turned off at home or not. “Hang the luck, I believe I did shut it off !” Steve declared. “Just to think of what a mess there’ll be if I stay away a few days, and it keeps on running that way. No one was at home either, for my people are away on a visit. Per- haps the neighbors will find it and stop the trouble, but how will 1 know, until I go back? But there’s no use talking, boys, I’m not going to turn back now whether that Dowdy mansion floats away or not. Our chum has got to be found, and I’m in the hunt for keeps.” When Steve was straight again, the boys separated. Max and Steve paddled out into the middle of the stream and soon reached another arm of the channel that ran off in the same direction as that one which the other boys had started through. “We’ll turn in here,” Max remarked. “This isn’t such bad goings,” said Steve, after they had been moving smoothly along for some time. “Suppose you give a toot, Steve, and see if the others can hear you,” Max remarked. After three or four hallooes were sent out, an answer came from a stream not very far away. Silence reigned for a few minutes but Steve’s thoughts were busy. He was thinking of something that he saw while on their way to Miss Griffin’s home. In the little town of Carson which was the home of the four boys, there were three boys whom everyone disliked. They did every thing possible to cause Max and his chums to have trouble. Just before arriving at Miss Griffin’s ranch, Steve saw Amiel Toots, one of their rivals, peeping out at them from behind a barn. Steve thought the other two boys must be close around. The leader of them was Ted Shatter. Why was this boy acting like that ? was the question that Steve asked him- self again and again. He wondered why they were here at the same time that Bandy Legs was missing unless they were in the trouble. Unconsciously Steve was muttering some of his thoughts aloud. “What’s that you’re saying Steve?” demanded Max. At this question, Steve related his thoughts to Max. “Then dollars to cents Ted Shafter’s in this accident.” The boys, were entering a large channel, into which the other boat was gradually making its way. Owen and Toby were told of Steve’s thoughts. Things soon began to seem suspicious on the part of Ted Shafter and his partners. But they had no shred of evidence to hang upon yet. They continued moving as they talked, and had been moving in this way only a short while [ Page 57 ]