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

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prima luce to h und sL a ething en CXclamation ’ and ivin them h-b-j, Ob hang it all, say it for me somebody.” he said 3 J2 dtf ,he “ b ' - .m,d Th« y L;rx„ r f d , ,r ; cks , of i a° tots «« m « » p-m missing chum, (or Max knew his shoe print ' coS Werc , ll,ose m ? de . by the n 5 ftCT U maldng lieir 0t boat ' ' V l 10m y’bjdicfcTtck h Ted and Ms iends 3 the party of ' four heo-nn t f ' u 6 ’ an f gathering what provisions they needed, from going- anv further T1° ° ° W t, be tracks tmtil darkness prevented them St0 ? ped t( ? rest and eat enough to keep them from Each b v mde l u ? bre ?l° t0 keep the wild animals away from them, self Owen and Tohv $ t Up ° n which he rested him- Steve herrLtrang?sm,nft S ° Und ’, but ax and Steve didn’t sleep so well. Legs; but Max knew it wasn’Udm thou ht P erha P s it was Bandy longe to s arcli S f or Th dle ,J °ys aroused themselves, unable to wait any Z JS. 1 thC,r bSt Chum - They ate a few more of their provisions their camp ' ° n ° Ur Way at last ’” remarked impatient Steve, as they left fellows vhY ever w ' lf .r ° °° tbe move - He was one of these kind of unless they are making I bfg noise. aCCOmplishin S anything worth while, tramps h tried y to C 1eL P r ? ramps , who were camping in the swamps. The To use to Lh t 1 ovs ?,° y bu f faikd in their They saw there was the trees n ° gUns ’ therefore they began retreating to the rear” d ermfned li t f searcb - Both Max and Steve kept watch of on the part of the tramps °° ' S3W anythln S that would indicate pursuit - -- a Sd “ y would their losf chum and his pursue s lVeywe ri Vt h S h f Ught W6re “‘‘Sr i ! ti e ent sl hat I - 6 SaVC , a ydl at the op of his f °voi ry S0 ° n SteV£ be ' Oh, Steve, Steve!” came back as an answer ' Steve gave another yell. 4T ! , ? St T ! I m S ° glad you ’ ve come at last.” found him,’ boys !” W ° Uld k ' n ° W was me sh °«ting ?” asked Steve. “We’ve “T-t-then s-s-show him to us, S-S-Steve,” demanded Toby Tucklin. Cry after cry came from some nearby place Thp i i they could tell that it was near them. 7 1 16 V ° ice WaS very weak ’ but l 9 [ Page 58 |

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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 ]

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I A faint smile crept over Max’s face as what appeared to be the truth was dawning upon his mind. He moved ahead of the others and went to an old stump that was higher than his head. There were scars on the tree where some one had climbed up to the top of it several times. He had now discovered Bandy Leg’s prison. The hoys began to work, and soon discovered a plan, which proved to he successful in freeing Bandy Legs. No sooner had Bandy Legs reached ' the ground than he began eating at an enormous rate. He was very hungry. Between bites he answered their many questions. This was his story: “While I was fishing Ted Shatter and his partners came upon me unexpectedly. They threatened to kill me unless I did as they told me to. They drove me to this place, and then laughed at me. Each day I had to eat cold bread. They promised to come back this morning and bring a rope to free myself from the stump if they didn’t forget it.” “Well boys, we will stay around here and give these boys a lesson that they’ve been needing a long time,” said Max. In a few minutes the boys came to the stump where they supposed Bandy Legs to be. On reaching the stump they began calling and teasing Bandy Legs. No answer came. “I guess he has fainted, boys. One of you will have to go afetr him. The fun’s all bursted, the fat’s in the fire !” “You bet it is !” shouted a boy from the rear, and as Ted Shatter started to whirl around, something came against his back with such tremendous force that it sent him head-long to the ground. This was Steve, then the others rushed from their places of concealment. “Let ’em have it boys; remember what they did to me!” shrieked Bandy Legs. All the boys were punished so they would remember it quite a while. The five chums reutrned to their boats and hurried to Miss Griffin’s to tell their story. They left for Carson that evening and when they reached there Steve found his home as he had left it. Of course he came to the conclusion that he must have stopped the water before he left. The following day found the five lads again at Miss Griffin’s home where they spent a few days of enjoyment. Whether Ted Shafter would ever secure his revenge or not, only the future can tell; but the good people of Carson were becoming very weary of his antics, and it was understood that with his very next exploit he must be severely pun- ished. If he were not held in check, he must be sent away to a military school: either that, or the reform school was to be the fate of Ted Shafter. — William Guthrie Williford. [ Page 59 ]