Bristol High School - Green and White Yearbook (Bristol, RI)

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THE GREEN AND WHITE 11 godsend. He thought that he had, indeed, reached heaven. Choirs of angels seemed chanting wonderful hymns. Neptune nodded and smiled to him and bade him welcome to his kingdom. Marvelous castles—red, blue, green, yellow, gleaming white—towered into the water. Brilliant fishes swam about. The courtiers and ladies of the kingdom were all beautiful and infinitely graceful. They drew him forward and talked and sang soothingly to him. What a paradise! Then something took hold of him, and the nautical kingdom vanished. He fought feebly. Why couldn’t he be left here in this wonderful place? Then he knew no more. When he regained consciousness he was lying in a life-boat. The captain was bending anxiously over him. “Good heavens! We thought you would never come to!” gasped the captain. The sailor closed his eyes wearily. He remembered the beauty of Neptune’s kingdom. “I guess all that stuff was too good for me,” he muttered, and fell asleep. THERESA PETERS, ’23. -----o------ A SAILOR’S DREAM There’s a rusty freighter rollin’ with the spray before her bow, And her dirty funnels smokin’, and I think I see her now; I can feel the waves that pound her as she plies the ocean’s bed, I can hear the wind a-wailin’ in the riggin’ overhead. On we’re headin’ to the Indies and beneath a tropic sun, The plates begin to buckle and the sweat begins to run; But the ship is slowly plowing thru a sun of golden fire, And the sunset’s mighty pretty, and that’s all that I desire. ’Tis winter on the ocean and the waves are heaving high, There’s a storm from out the north'ard, and a black and sullen sky, And flakes of snow are falling on the cold and icy deck, My hands are nearly frozen, but little do I reck. For I’m back upon a ship again, upon the bounding main, I’m swabbin’ down the deck plates, and I’m happy once again; There’s lights across the railin’ and they glitter from the shore. But we’re headin’ out the harbor and I’m on the sea once more. RENE DAGENAIS, ’24. DRAGONS OF THE AIR There was great excitement in Omar, a small village in Africa. Several of the natives had seen large, black things that resembled birds, flying in the air. They had large wings and made a loud, whirring sound. The villagers, gathered in groups, were talking excitedly. The children kept close to their mother’s side, and over the whole village hung fear. Then, the older people of the village told legends which had been told to them by their parents, of how many years ago dragons of the air had swept down and carried off to their lairs in the mountains many of the natives who were never seen again. Formerly, these legends had been thought of as mere stories, but now that the dragons had been seen again, the people began to consider them a little more seriously. The old men then gathered to discuss what should be done to fight these flying monsters; while the young men got together the only means of defense—spears and stone hatchets. A few days passed without any attacks, but the natives were ready to defend themselves if earthly defense were possible. At last the monsters were sighted in the distance. The women, children and old men went to seek shelter in the huts, while the young men went forth bravely to defend the village. Nearer and nearer came the two monsters. Louder and louder grew the whirring sound. Still the young men stood bravely at their post. The dragons circled twice around the village, then swept down and came running along the ground toward the group of men. All awaited the horrible death. Then to their surprise these awful dragons came to a stop and out stepped two men. So overjoyed were the natives that these things were not monsters that they fell down and worshipped the men. Later they laughed when they were told that these were not dragons of the air, but the white man’s new way of traveling. GLADYS M. BEAVIS, ’25. ----o----- APPEARANCES ARE DECEITFUL The Hawks, a club made up of about ten boys, were on their weekly hike. They were fifteen miles from home when they decided to stop. Right beside their stopping place was a lake, commonly called Awicho. Awicho meant “Lake of mystery,” in Indian. Let’s go in,” said Jimmy. In a minute everyone was stripped and ready to jump over. Just as the boys were going over, Tom Smith cried, “O look at the shark. There, on the bottom of the lake was a great, green monster. The fellows threw stones down upon him, but, to their amazement, they seemed to go through the

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10 THE GREEN AND WHITE family were all planning to take their automobile and go for a trip over the holiday to visit Mrs. Harris’ mother who lived quite a distance away. At last the third of July arrived and all plans were completed. While the family was eating dinner, the messenger boy from the “Western Union was seen bicycling up the path. Jane excused herself, and hurried to the door. She took the telegram and hastily tore open the envelope. Consternation was plainly written on her face when she read: “Miss Jane Harris, Millville, Delaware. Will arrive at Millville on third at 2 o’clock. Cousin Dolly.” “Now, what do you know about that,” said Bess. “Just as we have everything planned for the Fourth.” “Well, you can all go on the trip, and I will stay at home and entertain Cousin Dolly,” said Jane, and so it was finally decided. Jane was disappointed, but decided to make the best of it, and immediately began plans for Dolly, who was to arrive at 2 o'clock. While resting after her long and tiresome journey, Dolly sat on the veranda, talking to Jane and some girl friends who had called. Then Dolly learned that the family were to go away the next day. She immediately surmised that Jane would also be with them if it were not for her. She spoke of this to Jane who assured her that she did not mind in the least, but was very glad that her cousin had the opportunity to visit her. Fourth of July arrived, hot and bright. The Harris family and its guest were up at four o’clock, and the motorists left at 5.30, leaving Jane and Dolly to amuse themselves, with the long day before them. Probably bv this time you have been wondering when the ghost appears. Later in the day, as Dolly went into the kitchen, she heard a terrible noise, seemingly from the cellar. She hurriedly went down, but a thorough search of the cellar failed to disclose anyone or anything. She went back upstairs, and told Jane about the noise, but Jane thought nothing of it, saying it was probably something that had fallen down. Dolly thought she heard {he noise again and descended to the cellar to make another investigation which also proved fruitless. Jane, when she heard of this second disturbance, just laughed, declaring it all foolishness. Determined to forget the episode, the girls packed a lunch, and went off to the near-by woods to spend the afternoon. At six o’clock they returned to the house. As Dolly opened the door, something brushed past her and disappeared. She jumped back, exclaiming, Oh, Jane, there's something in the house.” Thinking all this while that Dolly was in a very imaginative and nervous state of mind, Jane conducted a search herself which threw no light upon the subject. While they were sitting in the living room after tea, Jane, thoughtlessly told Dolly of the man who had lived in the house before, who, after being “forced to the wall in the market, had hanged himself in the cellar. By the time Jane had finished her story, Dolly was extremely nervous and jumped up suddenly at the sound of a noise from the cellar. Rushing frantically out of the room, Dolly hurried to the cellar. There something dark, hairy, with sparkling, mischievous eyes, rubbed against her, and. gathering all the courage she could muster, she quickly reached out and caught it. It proved to be not a ghost but a pet monkey. Not knowing how .it came there, or to whom it belonged, the two girls, feeling very much relieved, carried it up to the living room where they had a great deal of fun watching its antics. When the family returned. Mr. Harris informed them that Mr. Jacobs, a sea-faring man who lived next door, had picked the monkey up during one of his trips. The monkey was returned that evening and the story of the noise in the cellar caused much merriment wherever told. GLADYS BRELSFORD, '24. -----o------ AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE A furious storm was raging on the Great Lakes. The schooner “Nancy O'Doone was in dire straits. There were ten men in the crew besides the captain and two mates. There was a brief lull in the storm—the proverbial calm before a tempest—then a fierce squall bore down upon the ship. She wallowed in the trough of the great waves. Her rudder was broken. There was no hope, for they were very close to a bed of cruel rocks, and without a rudder they were helpless. “Launch the life-boats!” was the command. They quickly sprang into them and endeavored to row to the mainland. One of the boats was swamped and sunk by a huge wave. There were five men in it. One of these men was a lad of about eighteen years. He was a fine swimmer, but none could have lived in that raging sea. He went down. At first he tried vainly, doggedly, to save himself. However, Neptune had destined him for his own. He was so tired from the buffeting of the waves that the heavenly calm below seemed a

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12 THE GREEN AND WHITE monster's body. Then one of the fellows cut a very sharp, pointed stick with which he tried to stab the strange fish. Taking a good aim, he threw the stick. To the surprise of all, it passed through the green body of the monster and immediately disappeared. After trying a half an hour to kill the monster, the boys gave up in despair. Apparently, the sea-serpent could not he killed. “Say, fellows, I’m going to dive down and see what that thing is,” announced Jimmy. As no one raised any objection, he jumped in. As he went down the green monster appeared to open up and devour him. The boys were horrified. They crowded nearer to the edge-awed yet fascinated—not knowing what to do. The awful fish was still in the same place, but Jimmy had disappeared. What would they do? Little Tommy Brown was crying when suddenly, Jimmy popped up behind t(icm. The fellows were so astonished that they were speechless. Hadn’t they all seen Jimmy disappear? Surely this was his ghost! But no, he was really tliere and very much alive. Jimmy laughed when they asked him how he escaped the monster. “Well, you see,” he explained, “that green thing down there doesn’t happen to be a fish. It is the reflection of a cave opening under water. The light enters through a large hole about twenty yards from here. After I was swallowed by that terrible monster, as you thought, I swam under water and reached the cave. It’s high and drv inside, and there are many little strange objects there. As I knew, you would be worried about me, I hurried back through that opening over there—and here I am— but let’s go examine the cave—it may be a smuggler’s camp.” L. BARON, ’25. ------o----- CLEVER BOBBY Bobby Brenton, who was only five years old, was always betting. The worst of it was, Bobby never lost a bet, somehow or other, he never failed to be the winner. His father feared that as Bobby grew older he would become a gambler, as he was so lucky now. It was about this time that Bobby’s Aunt Ethel came for her two weeks’ visit. Mr. Brenton immediately went to the aunt for aid in breaking Bobby of the terrible habit. She promised to do all she could. One night Mr. and Mrs. Brenton went out visiting and Bobby was left in his Aunt’s care. All at once he closed the fairy tale book he was looking at, and said to his aunt, “Aunty, I’ll bet you a quarter you’ve got corns.” Why Bobby, I haven’t any at all,” replied his aunt. “If you don’t want to lose a bet and the quarter too, you’d better prove it. So the aunt took off her shoes and stockings and proved to Bobby she had no corns. After Bobby was convinced he went to his bank and willingly handed over the quarter. That night when Bobby was in bed and his father and mother had returned, Aunt Ethel said, “Well, I think I’ve broken Bobby of his habit, for he lost his first bet tonight.” Then she related what had happened. “Well, well,” said Mr. Brenton, laughing, “I didn’t know I had such a bright son. It was only yesterday he bet me five dollars he would see your feet before the week was up.” GRACE MURPHY, '25. -----o------ JEAN’S TRIP TO NEW YORK Jean Turner, aged twelve, was waiting in the station for the train which was to take her to New York. Beside her was a young man and girl who seemed to be very much interested in their own conversation. Just as the train was nearing, Jean heard the young man say: “I will take an automobile now, and meet you later at New London, then we, together, will take a train to New York.” As he said this, Jean noticed that he passed a small package to the girl which she stealthily put into her bag. Jean thought that this remark was very queer, and still more so, the fact that he was going to take a machine and meet her. Why should he do that? Surely, there must be a reason. And the package—what did it signify? It looked as if he were doing something wrong. Jean, who besides being very young and romantic, was also curious, decided to keep an eye on these strangers. So Jean entered the train after the young girl and took a seat behind her. For a while Jean sat looking out of the window at the scenery and then turned her attention to the young girl in front of her. She was looking at something in the package that the young man had given her. They were pearls! Although quite small, they were adorable. The young girl held them in her hands for some time, admiring them intently. Suddenly looking up, she saw Jean looking at the pearls. She immediately put them away and looked out of the window. Jean smiled at the stranger and then began to think hard, wondering whether she were a thief or just a young girl recently engaged. She looked innocent enough, but then, why should she be so careful with the