Burr and Burton Academy - Burtonian Yearbook (Manchester, VT)

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TIIE BIJP'FOIWIAlJ did not surprise me but I could not reslst offering a .few g ntle hints to draw some information from her I was successful You know my husband works ln the mill sald Mrs Jarvis No I did not know that was my none too truthful response He has worked there for eight years she continued He asked hls boss if he might be transferred to Greenfield We expect to go there in about a month 1 And these peoples lives are uneventful' Ill never know the Joy this woman has experienced from such antlcipatlonl I went from the house m a daze All this emotion for such a commonplace event I thought I hoped that the reality would Justlfy the exzpectatxons This dull creature after years of passiveness was aroused Her happmess shone like a ray of light I laughed but felt quite sober Laugh you fool' I told myself cynlcally But I was not laughing at her The next time I was due to visit the Jarvlses I did not go After that it was quite necessary for me to return I peered anxiously from the window until I got to the door Mrs Jarvis welcomed me QI say welcomed as a .mat ter of coursel I do not know whether I expected what I saw or not Every thing was as it had been before the miraculous change The children looked at me tlmldly from behind their mother tThey had never been that way beforel The mother had her old stolld look that lbetrayed no emotion After la short interval of comments pertaining to other things I said May I come 1117 I m sure she was surprised but she remained EXPTCSSIODICSS It was some time before she would tell me anything My question as to her plans of moving was answered with a short My husband lsn t gonna 'be moved I started to depart I turned at the door to look at her She was gazing out of the window mournfully It was the first time I had seen her look other than happily or absently Not going to be moved' I repeated tonelessly It was the first tragedy I had ever witnessed SEASONS By J essle Bolster What is better than a day in Spring When the birds first come And build their nests as they slng And teach things to thexr young? What is better than a Summer day When the balby birds first leave their nest And the bees are droning their busy lay And butterflies ln the grasses rest? What is better than a day in Fall When the leaves are bright and gay And shocks of corn stand straight and tall And empty nests pitlfully sway? Sk ll lr I don t like the Winter 16 . to see if the children still retained their good appearance. I saw none of them ' l , '34

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THE BURTONIAN TRIVIAL INCIDENT By Marjorle Batchelder 32 Among my casual acquamtances rs a. certaxn Mrs James Jarvis 4Mmd I sald casual as one would of a stranger met on the street cornerl To Mrs Jarvxs I may be a very negllglble character She was too until a short tlme ago when I began to see famt glxmmerlngs of expressxon ln her dull gray eyes and faded face My work takes me to Mrs Jarvxss door at lntervals We exchange few words I speak wxth her chrldren of whom there are four more than to her The youngest Jarvlses are two and a half years and six months therefore I exchange few words with them The other two four and slx respectxvely are always very curlous as to my home the clty U1 from whence I come and varlous other umnterestmg thmgs It takes both tact and wlsdom to satxsfy them so they get a poorly pamted plcture of the materxal xnlluences whxch surround me The cluldren when I come there are always dirty stockxngless and un combed Mrs Jarvxs may have been very pretty at one txme Her appear ance IS always slovenly the result of hard lalbor and poor management Her mmd lxke that of her chlldren does not see far outslde the small vxllage lcon sxstmg of about sxx housesl 1n whxch she lives She mlght have been the msplratlon for the l1ne ln Markham s poem lThe Man with the I-Ioel Whose breath blew out the llght Wlthlll his bra1n She had lived I gathered from the few lucld statements that she made ln a town nearby She had been marrxed exght years and her umaglnatlon had made her former home a c1ty m her mmd For some time I dxd not see Mrs Jarvxs as someone else took over my work When I returned I found the children playing out ln front of the house They had achleved that state next to Godliness a near as It was possible for them They proudly showed me thexr shoes scrubbed to a nbrllllant luster Thelr dresses were clean and had been neatly pressed form erly thelr hands showed slgns of havxng been scrubbed earlier in the day and much to my sunprlse they wore socks lTh1s last addxtion was aston lshlng It was the first tlme I had seen anything other than dlrt on thexr feetl I was however due for a bigger surprise although after surveymg the chlldren I was prepared for anythlng strange ln this household At the door Mrs Jarvxs met me with an expresslon of Joy whlclh I could not 'belxeve any one could wear for any length of txme She seemed to be burstlng Her appearance had been greatly altered She looked neat and clean The house showed slgns of greater care than had been evldent before After gettmg over my second surpnse I remarked 'There IS somethmg pleasxng you lsn t there Yes she replxed there IS I wa1ted for her to say more :but she was not eloquent and the idea of tellmg her new happiness to one almost a complete stranger dxd not appeal to her I agam appeared at thls home so altered by anticxpatlon of some joyous event The chlldren stlll were well cared for and the face of Mrs Jarvis stlll showed that happy expresslon that had astounded me before Thus tlme It 15 . . , 1 . ' . , , . . . . , , 1 ' ' . , . 1 ' , ' 1 1 . , , . ' 1 ' ' ' 1 1 , . , 1 , 1 I 1 ' 1 ' . 1 , . 1 1 ' ' . . . . . , u 1 1 . . . . . ,, X I I ' 1 1 , . 1 . . . . . W . . ' , - 1 . S W . . - 1 . I ' . . . . . I 1 1 1 1 ' 1 I ' 1 1 1 I . 1 . , ' l . 1 ' ' . . . 4 . . 1 1 - - 1 11 , 1 , 14 11 ' u ' 11 1 1 - ' 1 ' 1

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