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

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THE BUPTONIAN THE MURDER OF DUNCAN By Ruth Starks 33 At last my great chance has come Outs1de the world 1S bathed ln utter darkness I see the moon hanglng low oer the mountalns 1n the dlstance I hear the screech of an owl The great oak trees swaylng nn the n1ght breeze lbrush the1r brawny branches against the wlndows maklng Welrd sounds All IS s1lent w1th1n the castle I hear no sound except my wxfe walkxng restlessly to and fro 1n our bedroom She wh1spers encouragxng messages to me yet half afrald herself I c eep along the dark passage wxth a fllckerlng candle m one hand whale I keep the other on the bloodthlrsty dagger at my walst At every llttle nolse I Jump The HlCk8I'lIlg shadows seem to shalpe themselves 1nto ghost lxke bemgs Oh' why d1d I come on th1s murderous venture? I must retrace my steps I stumlble toward our room No I must not go back I cannot The lady would be angry wlth me I am a man not a coward Again I start toward the death chamber Thank God' At last I am here I open the door nolselessly slxp 1nto the room and crouch there xn the shadows trylng to muster enough courage to go on I hear the fitful lbreathmng of the guards Surely my entrance w1ll not arouse the1r drlnk sodden m1nds I step llghtly 0 er the1r sleeplng bod1es At last' I stand poxsed over Duncan the dread :ful dagger ID my hand I try to encourage myself Steady steady old fellow He lxes there sleepmg peacefully as a babe 1n 1ts cradle Somethmg snaps ln my head I Jalb the dagger deep 1nto hxs 'breast Hls breath comes ln short gasps and then dnes out I pull my dagger out of hxs now s1lent 'breast I crlnge at the slght of tmcklmg blood upon the bed and at the slght of my blood stalned dagger Oh' what have I done I grow pan1cky wxth fear Cold chllls chase each other up and down my back I must cover my murderous deed Wlth swlft fleet movements I smear the guards Ibodles wlth the nauseatmg blood Then I hurrledly take my leave Stumblmg and grop1ng my way through the dark passage I at last reach my room exhausted My mfe glorles ln thxs treacherous deed At last' We are Kxng and Queen DUSK By Jessxe Bolster 34 Frogs a smgmg A soft blown breeze Ruffllng the grasses Tlltmg the leaves Stars a twmkllng In a fadmg sky Llttle llghts f1lCk8I'll'1g As lbugs go 'by Water a gurglmg In a brook nearby A sllm half moon Wlnkmg an eye 18 e 1 1 . . I . , , . . , . . . . A 1 - 1 1 , X . . . . , . . V . . . , . L ., . - W - 1 . , . . - 1 - 1 1 1 1 . ' 1 . 1 ' , , . . . - . . , . . , . , . . ' 1 1 ' , 1 . . , . . , , , . . , , . Y. . . . . - 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' 1

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THE BURTONIAN ONE TOUCH OF NATUa E By Norman Thompson J' The cheery whlstle of a qua1l recalls to most New England people a vxsxon of breezy upland pastures and a mottled brown bxrd oalllng melodl ously from the topmost slantmg rail of an old sheep fence Farmers say he foretells the weather calling 'More wet muon more wet' People say he only proclalms hrs name Bob Wh1te I m Bob Whlte' But whether he prognostxcates or mtroduces hxmself h1s volce lS always a welcome one Those who know the call lxsten wxth pleasure and speedlly come to love the blrd that makes xt Bob Whxte has another call more beautiful than ms boy 1sh WhlSt16 wlnch comparatlvely few have heard It IS a soft llquld yodellng whlch the male bud uses to call the scattered flock together One who walks ln the woods at sunset sometlmes hears xt from a tangle of grapevlne and :bull vbrxer If he has the patlence to push h1s way carefully through the underbrush he may see the beautxful Bob on a rock or stump utterlng the softest and most muslcal of whlstles He is telllng hls flock that here IS a. nxce place he has found where they can spend the nxght and :be safe from owls and prowlmg foxes If the vlsxtor be very patxent and he stxll he wxll presently hear the pat terlng of tiny feet on the leaves and see the brown lblrds come runnlng 1n from every d1rectxon Once ln a l1.fet1me perhaps he may see them gather go to sleep for the nlght Thelr soft WhlSt1lI1g'S and chxrpwgs at such tlmes form the most dellghtful sound one ever hears ln the woods Thls call of the male blrd IS not dlflicult to mutate Hunters who know the bxrds fw11l occaslonally use lt to call a scattered covey together or to locate the male bxrds whxch generally answer the leaders call I have fre quently called a. flock of the eb1rds 1nto a thxcket at sunset and caught run nmg gllmpses of them as they hurrled about loolfmg for the bugler who called taps All thxs occurred to me late one afternoon ln the great Zoologlcal Gardens at Antwenp I was watchxng a yard of fblrds-three or four hundred repre sentatxves of the pheasant famlly from all over the earth that were runnmg about among the rocks and artlflclal copses Some were almost as wlld as lf m thelr natnve woods especlally the smaller bxrds ln the trees others had grown tame from bemg constantly fed by V1Slt0lS It was rather confusxng to a lbxrd lover The hons were belng fed not far away A fr ghtful uproar came from the cages The coughlng roar of a male l1on made the alr shlver Cocka toos screamed Noxsy parrots squalwked hldeously Chlldren were playmg and shouting neanby Clty gardens beasts strangers all vanished ln an mstant I was a boy in the tields agam The rough New England hxllsnde grew tender and beau tlful m sunset light the hollows were rxch ln autumn glory The pasture brook sang on its way to the rlver A robin called from a crimson maple And all round was the dear low thrllllng whlstle and the patter of welcome feet on leaves as Bob Whxte came runnmg agaxn to meet hxs countryman 4 ' 17 YI 1 in a. close circle--tails together, heads out, like the spoks of a wheel, and so

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THE BURTONIAN A MOONLIGHT TRIP T0 FAIRY LAND By Ol1ve Grlfflth 34 and Cmderella umarmed the Prmce and llved happlly ever afterward 'Ihe book dropped to the floor wlth a thud I dont see vxhy they couldnt have marrled each other I thought drowslly Clnderella should have marrled let me see lxttle Jack Horner Ol somebody l1ke that instead of It always belng a Prlnce A small voxce that seemed to come from a great d1st mce spoke The ound came nearer and I heard the words Would you llke to come w1th me and see the homes of these people and the way they l1ve'7 Not marrled to falry prlnces but to people of thclr own k1nd Before I had tlme to answer there appeared 1n the shaft of llght from the moon a snow whlte axrplane whose wlngs strangely appeared to be feathered and whose propellor resembled the head of a goose but neverthe less the strange creature was an a1rp1ane Out of the cockplt on to my wmdow s11l stepped a spry lxttle old woman who greeted me wlth a cheery laugh and a questlon Don t you remember me? After a moment s thought I reallzed that of course thls must be Mother Goose modernlzed For although her haxr was snowy whlte lt was dressed 1n the latest fashxon and her cloth s spelled Par1s 1n cap1tal letters Can you be Mother Goosev I 1nqu1red st1ll qulte spellbound That happens to be my name she answered gally My purpose on thls readlng about l1ve The llttle v1llage IS qulte near here Youve probably passed xt a good many tlmes on your way to the Clty Now Jump 1nt0 my llttle alrplane here lb6S1d6 me and we ll soon be there I acted lmmedlately urged on by the gay laughter and chatter of the l1ttle old lady Somehow I had always lmaglned Mother Goose as belng rather a drab old woman w1th a poor sens of humor But how dlfferent she really was NVe were soon off and after a very short Journey through the warm nlght alr we landed on a falry llke a1rport but strangely enough the sun was shmmg brlghtly on the llttle town nearby and daytlme actlvltles seemed to vbe takmv place What a lovely town I murmured as we walked down the clean streets past lmmaculate shops of all klnds and tmy cottages Suddenly I notxced a small slgn hangmg over a door at my left 'Baker Plum PICS a Specxalty 1t re d John Horner Proprletor Why that must be Llttle Jack Horner I exclalmed Yes answered my gu1de thats no other than Llttle Jack Horner Don t you remember thls rhyme Llttle Jack Horner Sat 1n a corner Eatmg a plece of ple He stuck IH hls thumb And pulled out a plum And sald What a good boy am I And IS he marr1ed I mquxred , . . , . U- . .... ,, , . ., . , . - ,. , i Q . 3 . Q . 1 . . , .,, IF ll' Sk if FF Pk ' , ' L , . S I : ' l ' , . - , , ' I ' W Y - U. ' U V YI , . A , l 44 H ' ' ' ' H 4 H ' H ' trip is to show you the town where all the characters that you have lbeen . . . . . . , . . . , ,, . . y K ' ' e . ' y . O . X . Y . - . . , , . , a O . .. - ' B W , C I ' L . . . cr -. . M . . , w - . H - 9 .l . ,. .. . ., - , , - .. ,, . ,. , - , , - U ' l ' l I YV , . u - I ' u ' -