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

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Page 2? THE MIRROR to waste no time in getting there. I can find somebody with an automobile to make the run in an hour, he said to Varney. Why don't you come along? Have luncheon at my house, inspect the busy little burg, and jump on the train when it comes. My folks will be delighted. Thanks It would be stupid waiting all day at this jumping ofi' place. Good enough. You go fetch our bags, and I will hustle the transportation, and telephone home that we are on our way. Sedgwick dashed to the highway and commandeered a farmer who was driving past in a noisy, mud-covered relic of an earlier age of gasoline. There was no haggling over terms, and the enterprising sophomore galloped back to the train, meeting Varney, who said: Better bid the big Williams child goodbye. Lone- some for him, but perhaps he can amuse himself by eating all day. I'1l ask him to join us, if you don't mind, suggested the warm-hearted Sedgwick. It does seem unkind to de- sert him. I may have to buy the farmer a new set of springs for his car, but what's the odds ? Are you sure your family can feed him? was Verney's gloomy comment. Saw him devour three boiled eggs this morning, and he was merely warming up. Sedgwick assumed the risk and ran in to get Sleepy , who, at seeing his Westmore friends preparing to desert him, wore, for once, a disconsolate air. With glad- ness he accepted the invitation, and soon they were bump- ing over a frozen country road that was no more than thin- ly covered with snow. It was the holiday season, and their spirits were gay. Williams rolled out song in what was meant to be a sonorous bass voice. his mighty shoulders heaving with innocent mirth whenever Sedgwick inter- rupted him with a story. These two were in the mood for mischief. and the opportunity offered itself as the car rat- tled safely into the trim little city of Wentworth and sought a long street of uncommonly attractive homes. A girl was about to cross in front of them, but waited when the farmer tooted his warning horn. Now a girl in Vurs on :1 wintry day, with a fine color, bright eyes. and a slim, straight figure is not likely to pass unperceived by young men of impressionable years and temperament. A pippin, believe me! softly murmured Williams.

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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

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me MIRROR Page Q5 My cousin, shouted' Sedgwick, waving his hat. Stop the machine! Hello, Kitty! Here, fellows, we'll get out and walk. It's only another block. I wish it were another mile, for walking looks good to me, observed the admiring freshman. They tumbled out forthwith and sur1'ounded the fas- cinating cousin, who seemed not in the least dismayed. Bob presented his friends, indicating them with a careless sweep of the hand so that it was puzzling to guess which one was which. Miss Lombard, this is none other than Mr. Fred Varney, captain of the Westmore varsity eleven, and here is a meek and lowly freshman officially designated as John Clarence Williams. They are sojourning in our midst for only a few hoursg therefore we must hasten to give them a good time. Miss Kitty surveyed the brace of strangers and in- stantly concluded that the rosy giant must, of course, be the famous athlete. She was a thorough-going western girl to whom the colleges of the Atlantic seaboard were re- mote and uninteresting, barring the fact that Bob Sedg- wick and his elder brother Joe had chosen to go to West- more. Her own home was in Iowa, and she visited the Sedgwicks once or twice a year. Newspaper portraits of Fred Varney had failed to engage her memory. Her mis- take was not an unreasonable one. Approvingly she eyed the magnificent proportions of John Clarence Williams and swiftly pictured him to her- self as sweeping through the Keatsville .and Pierceton teams. No more than a casual glance did she bestow on Bob's other friends, the thin stooping young man with the pale face and melancholy expression. She knew the type, the intellectual student who habitually studied too hard, and despised athletics and aspired to be a valedictorian even if it wrecked his health. You are to be here only a few hours, Mr. Varney? I am so sorry. That doesn't sound as if Bob were very hos- pitable. He really must persuade you to stay for the dance tonight and- Williams was about to profess his identity, but Sedgwick trod on his toe and Varney glowered at him. making pantomimic gestures unseen by the girl. The same inspiration-to let Miss Kitty think Williams the captain- occurred to both these young men, the one moved by the suggestion of a lark, the other intiuenced by his timidity in