Birmingham High School - Piper Yearbook (Birmingham, MI)

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e r Auf . , . 1 l O 'MW' l vias, . 1 - g 0 K , , ui Q .- 1, '--K - sf s , 19. ff.-:':I?5I'. S A Q ' aye el.-:,':,r cv -. X E 'ss :'- 'A'. far N N - 209' Y .,11 2. - V , Q Y Ebe Cibil ren wp Arthur Peters '34 They loved the old man dearly because he was so kind, so gentle, and so in- dulgent to their foolish little desires. Almost every afternoon the two child- ren called on him for tea, and then he would put aside his work and talk gally with them in the beautiful child-country language which they understood. There were many lovely things at the old man's cottage to delight their hearts----colored picture books, pens and pencils and ink, long neat rolls of scribbled manuscript to unfold and delve intog and on the walls beautiful,heavy- frame pictures of inexhaustable fancy and wonder. To the children these great, dark paintings were holy and magic things--fragile as the day1ight,yet solid and durable as the moon--to be admired with reverential hush and awe. Here was where the old man would prove how sweetly he spoke the child-country language fwhioh ls, indeed, often wordlessl. In silence he and his two young friends would gaze at the wonderful landscapes--the dark green curves of the undulating hills---the flushes of golden sunset which flooded valleys and tinted castle towers with lu- cid rose--the distant, drowsy cattle--and all the quiet, lovely people. As they gazed together at these exquisite dreams, waves of thrilling pleasure would pass through them, all unbroken by words, and smooth like the gentle flow of one of those stately streams. But not all the visits to his cottage were pure delight, for at times the old man filled the children with strange awe. He wrote, wrote such interminable pages over that small desk !--while often during the long afternoon hours he would forget their presence as he sat at his work. The fire would grow cold,and they--weary of looking at pictures or colored books--grew nervous and pale and silent, yet fearful to break the terrible stillness which had settled down over the room. Unutterably horrible things would gather around the old man's quiet head at such timesg but, frozen with fear, the children would not move. In some corner of the darkening room they would crouch on the floor,shuddering,but still as mice, till the old man finally arose from his work and broke the silence with his cheery voice. Then Alice concealed her tears fthis she could always do, as the poor old man was so nearly blind without his spectaclesl and Rupert forgot his bitter misery, and they were all happy once more as they chatted before a fresh fire and sipped their tea. These fearful things did not frequently occurg yet sometimes at night,after their mother had turned down the night-lamp, despite Alice's tearful pleading, they could not help seeing ghastly things in the darkness of their bedroom. Then 3