Berwick High School - Blue and White Yearbook (Berwick, PA)

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R333-Q0 THE MIRROR that his teeth clicked and he bit his tongue. While he picked himself up from the turf, the mountainous freshman moved away in a leisurely manner, nor glanced behind him. Amazed anger hampered the active captain, who knew not quite how to retaliate. He might tackle the of- fender by the knees and pull him down before punching him, or hastily climb within reach of the youngster's jaw, but either procedure would be undignified in full sight of the campus. For once the melancholy Varney grinned, ac- cepted the joke as on him, and concluded to become better acquainted with this singular freshman. John Clarence's parents had taken pains to Ht him out with a name worthy of the family station, but his class- mates promptly discarded it, and not as John Clarence was he known, but as Sleepy Wlilliams. He accepted the taunts inspired by his total lack of athletic spirit. In other respects he was no laggard. His mind was both keen and rctentive. although he seldom seemed to employ it in study. It made the hardworking students indignant, when, at the end of the term, Sleepy Williams received a higher rating and was considered a safe bet for the intellectual comrade- ship of the Phi Beta Kappa. The Christmas vacation depopulated the campus, and among those westward bound were Captain Varney and the left guard of his eleven, Bob Sedgwick. Varney was silent and gloomy as usual, but conversation was never expected of him, and Sedgwick, a sociable person, sought other di- version. Strolling into another car, he discovered the rosy giant who had scorned his duty to the gridiron. Sleepy sat alone and filled a seat, beaming, placid, no more than half awake. As a sophomore, Sedgwick was supposed to disdain the company of this somnolent Williams, but the barrier of college caste was brushed aside for the sake of sociability. Hello, little one! was Bob's greeting. How far does this railroad take you, and what is the tariff per ton a mile ? I live in Denver, genially replied the freshman. getting the better of a yawn. I lost six pounds this fall. Don't I look it? You have wasted away, I see, after examining you closely. What did it? Fred Varney is in the next car, added Sedgwick, with a chuckle. Why not have dinner with us? You have met him, I'm sure.

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THE MIRROR Page 19 .Hterary Ncsleepyf' Cf.Q2illz'am5 Qlorolfvy Stout .24 He weighed two hundred and thirty pounds and his shoulders scraped an ordinary doorway when he passed through. He regarded a six-footer as more or less of a runt. A tremendous youth was John Clarence Williams, and at first glimpse of him crossing the Westmore campus the football captain forgot an important engagement and sprinted in pursuit of the prize. The interview was brief and unsatisfactory. Captain Fred Varney, a morose person of very few words, grasped the arm of the boyish colossus and exclaimed: Freshman squad reported yesterday. - Where were you? Th1'ee o'clock this afternoon. Be there sure. What Prep school? Did you play? John Clarence Williams gazed down good-naturedly at the gaunt, almost insignificant figure of the greatest of end rushers, and answered, in a lazy booming voice: The masters made me play at school. I didn't like it, and I guess I can get along without any football in col- lege, thank you. Football doesn't propose to get along without you, growled Varney. You look less clumsy than most of these great big over-grown infants. Aren't you ashamed of yourself ? Not a bit of it, grinned the freshman. There is some distinction in it when a man of my size refuses to be all bunged up on a football field. This extraordinary sentiment so annoyed Varney, flfwliose temper was by no means pacific, that he retorted: Your class will rlisown you. I thought you were a man, you useless carload of blubberf' You are keeping me from a recitation, said John Clarence Williams, still with the same vast amiability. As he spoke he put out a hand. It no more than touched Varney on the chest and he sat down so abruptly

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THE MIRROR Page 21 Yes, but he has no use for me, replied the fresh- man, his face a vivid red. I wouldn't know what to say to him. That makes no difference. He is the original hu- man clam. You needn't feel obliged to waste language on him. He isn't hostile, even if you did tip him off his pins with a gentle tap. How nice of him! smiled Sleepy . I was aw- fully sorry. He doesn't weigh vcry much and looks all shot to pieces. It's a mystery to me how he can be such a terror in football clothes. Of course I shall feel flattered to dine with him. Bob Sedgwick strolled into the rear car and broke the news to Varney, who was regarding the landscape with glum indifference. He grunted and was gracious enough to remark: Not such a bad kid, although he ought to be booted all the way out to Westmore field and back again. They tell me there are no cobwebs in his attic. His professors think him a wonder. We can get on together unless he playfully pushes me through a dining-car window, glass and all . There was no discord at the table and Varney even thawed a trifle. The mighty freshman appealed to his sar- donic sense of humor. He was so essentially a jovial boy, filled with tremendous enthusiasm in spite of his lazy de- meanor, laughing at his own jokes, ludicrously in awe of Varney's opinion as coming from the greatest man in col- lege. He was patterned after Bob Sedgwick's own heart, and these two were famously congenial. The evening passed without boredom, and it was agreed to meet for breakfast. It was during this latter meal that the train made a long halt at an unimportant station and the passengers be- came curious to know what had caused this delay to the Golden Gate Limited. The conductor was heard to say something about a washout and a damaged bridge. Sedg- wick and Va1'ney went out to interview the station agent, leaving the freshmen to his own devices. It was presently announced that the train could not proceed until afternoon. A sudden flood had dangerously weakened a span of the steel bridge near Wentworth, and traffic was blockaded while crews made temporary repairs. There was a deal of ill-natured sputtering among the trav- ers. but young Sedgwick was undismayed. Wentworth, only twenty miles beyond, was his home town, and he proposed