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

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10 THE OiREEN AND WHITE THE MONKEY’S PAW The blinds were drawn, the fire burned bright; Without .the wind howled, twas a cold, rainy night. Father and son were playing at chess, Mother sat tatting some lace to her dress. The father was inattentive, the reason was plain. For in spite of his care, he was losing the game. There came a tramping of feet, a knock on the sill, Who could it be, not a man with a bill? The guest who came in was a tall burly man. He looked none the worse for the perils he ran; Sergeant-Major Morris, he said, was his name. And not, if you ask me, without his measure of fame. At White’s invitation, he sat down to rest And he whil'd away the time with story and jest. Many the story, he told, of far away lands— Of India, especially; he gestured much with his hands. They never grew tired, but kept asking for more, He talked most about an old monkey’s paw. This paw. he said, did bring bad luck. Contaminating it as though 'twere covered with muck. Three wishes, of it’s owner, would come true. But. in his words, a sinister meaning showed through. The Sergeant was persuaded to part with his prize. Not without telling, what to them seemed but lies About previous owners all being dead And others, who’d seen it, taking to bed. He ended by saying that he’d give them a last chance Before being killed, as though by a lance. The next morning early, from the bed where he lay White wished for money his mortgage to pay. As two hundred pounds was all he did want. He thought he would be unmolested by even a haunt. He was to learn in a horrible way That one can't gain without having to pay. That very afternoon, the son was at his work. Mrs. White saw that outside a stranger did lurk. While she watched, he entered the house. In as timid a manner as would a mouse. As he whispered his message, her dishes she spilled, For that very noon her Herbert was killed. But at the next words, from his chair White bounds, For the sum that is given them is two hundred pounds. One week later, as she sat up in bed. White’s wife spoke of the thought in her head, “If the first wish came true, why not the second?” she said. We can raise our poor Herbert up from the dead. The old man rose and said, taking the paw, “I wish our son brought back once more.” He relaxed in his chair and tried to laugh some, But, deep in his heart, he hoped no answer would come. A half-hour later they were sitting up in bed. The old man, still trembling, was ceasing to dread; The mother was sitting with the hope gone from her face. Absently fingering some pieces of old lace. When suddenly there came a knock on the door, Immediately followed by a fusillade more. The old woman rushed to the head of the stairs, From her was slipping all worries and cares; She opened the door, from the cupboard a dish Fell down as her husband made his last wish. A wail of misery and grief from his wife Brought the trembling old man back to life. He ran down stairs, his word I’ll not repeat, For stretching straight before him was a still deserted street. H. DeWOLF, '29. LAUOH WITH ME! Let’s laugh 1 Ha 1 Ha 1 Life is so droll and amusing. What of it if things are forever going wrong? Laugh it off, I say! Life is a joke, let's laugh and forget. Today is here, tomorrow's not come yet. When one goes to a zoo, one feeds peanuts to the monkeys, watches their antics—and laughs. So let it be with life. All things are passing, nothing is lasting. That D I got last month in Math? What of it? Am I not now betting B- How I worried, how I fret—but it passed over, and now I'm laughing—ha! ha! “I faw down and go boom.” Yes, and I cried. It was a trifle embarrassing too. I hurt myself. My companion laughed, although she sympathized with me. She said I looked so funny! At the time I was highly indignant at that laughter. But now 1 laugh at the meaning of it. “Laugh and the world laughs with you; weep and you weep alone.” For. laughter is Nature’s greatest panacea for all our ills. KATHLEEN F. KELLY, '29. - COMPLIMENTS OF CALLAN CONSTRUCTION CO.

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SENIOR LITERARY CLUB

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THE SOPHOMORE LITERARY CLUB