Butler High School - Magnet Yearbook (Butler, PA)

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6 THE MAGNET The Diplomacy of Love. HEN J ohn Russel Beach graduated from Boston Tech with his degree of A. M. in Design, he decided to spend a few weeks at the home of a chum from his home-town, now located in Washington, and learn to fly, which was a hobby of his chum. He was very much in love with Ruth Decker, the daughter of an attache of the British legation in Washington, and also a chum of his sister Helen. Ruth and Helen were co-eds in Boston Tech, in their Junior year, and room-mates. During his last year at school Russel had been much in the company of the two girls, if he could not persuade his sister to remain behind and give him Ruth to himself, which was very infrequent, to his way of thinking. While she evidently liked him, neither she nor her father would allow it to become more than a platonic friendship, notwithstanding the expostulations and entreaties of Russel. The Decker home was situated eighteen miles from Washington, on a tract of about eighty acres, ‘mostly wooded, and was a large, old-fashioned house of twelve rooms, two stories high, with the roof almost flat, and a balustrade around the edge. Here the family, which was composed only of Ruth, her father and the house-keeper, as her mother had died when she was very young, spent the summer, Mr. Decker moving into Washington in the winter when Ruth was in school. He had been attached to the legation for five years, and this was hi; last one, as he intended to return to his home in England and devote his time to his affairs in that country. However, it became known to a few interested parties that he had in his possession and was working on some papers and plans, which would be very useful to one of the minor nations of Europe. On two occasions attempts to secure them had been made by guests at dinners given at the house, but so far no one was successful, and they were kept safely concealed. The summer following the graduation of Russel, Ruth had invited Helen to stay a couple of weeks with her at her home, an invitation which was gladly accepted by Helen, as it would give her an opportunity to meet a great many friends and former classmates, and she would also have a splendid time before returning to her small home town for the summer. It was also noticed that Russel spent a good portion of the same time in and about Washington. He was there for the ostensible purpose of visiting his friend the aviator, who was now in the government service in the state department, but, as it may be supposed, the friend did not see a great deal of Russel. Nevertheless he knew him well enough not to be offended at anything he might do, for when he once got his mind settled on a thing, he was very liable to do it, and he seemed to have his mind set cn being with or near Ruth until she either accepted him or threw him flat. She finally agreed to marry him if he could get her father’s consent, but he soon discovered that this was not so easy as it might seem. He succeeded in getting his sister to see his side of the question, and she agreed to do her part in a plan which he decided to undertake. He had discovered, through a few words which had been dropped by one of the agents, who were after the papers and plans, that an attempt was to be made to secure them on a certain evening on which several foreign diplomats

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THE MAGNET 5 the rest of us. We all became quiet and listened in amazement to the sweet strains of music in the distance. It rose and fell in soft tones, and then glided off into minor strains, which soared and swelled far above the door of the player’s tiny hut, into the evening air, expressing the passionate workings of the manly heart. A slight obligato strain was heard and then the music stopped. Silence reigned. I tried to think where I had heard that same piece before, when one of the company inquired of the hotel keeper who it might be who played such beautiful music. In reply, the rough old mountaineer said, “Oh, that’s old Abe playin’ his evenin’ prayer.” But how can an old man out here play anything as beautiful as that?” I was forced to ask. “Well, now, if you want ter know, I’ll tell you. As near as I kin recollect, it was in the fall of ’97 when Abe was courtin’ a gal from Clarion. They was drivin’ along the Horn, out here about ten miles, when his hoss scared at a rollin’ stone, and run down over the mountain. That, of course, throwed him and the gal out. When he come to hisself, it was almost dark, an’ as he looked around, he saw her—dead. Well, to make a long story short. Abe went to the city a good while ago to get a job. He was mighty good lookin’, bright as a whip, and is as handy with the fiddle as anyone you ever seen. He thought he would forget the girl, but mind you, one night when he was goin’ down the street in the city, as he quietly told me one day, he seen where some fellow with a high-soundin’ name was to play the violin at one of them there theatres, and he was so lonesome for music that he went in. You know he was alius savin’ of his money, and more so since that gal died, and then he was so quiet, and it made him mad for folks to ask him why he didn’t talk more. But, as I was sayin’, he went to hear this fellow play, an’ I guess it was too much for him, for he come out home here after that evenin’, and every night he plays that there piece. “Somebody asked him one day why he alius played the same piece, and he said that the fellow in the city had played that, and it seemed as though he could jist hear the snortin’ of the hoss as they drove on and then went tearin’ down the mountain, he and his gal. An’ then the rest reminded him of a funeral hymn. He said everything was made to seem so real. An’ then he said he was goin’ to play that piece every evening till he died, and he hoped he’d die playin’ it. “He’s purty old now, and don’t look nothin’ like he used to, so maybe he’ll get his wish. I guess that’s about all, and I’ll have to go in now and go to bed, for I have a hard day’s work for tomorrow. So, good night to ye.” All was quiet for awhile. The story put me to thinking. I could not but express my thoughts in words, and so I said: “I know that’s the man I saw some time ago, who attracted my attention both on the street and in the theatre, for I watched him so closely and heard him say that he would play the piece until he died. And I am glad to learn he is able to fulfill his wish, and finally see his loved one, after playing those ‘few bars in the key of G.’ ”

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THE MAGNET 7 were to be entertained at the Decker home. He thought that by keeping the information to himself, he could use it to his advantage By means of his sister he persuaded Ruth to help him out, and on the evening of the dinner he flew out from Washington in his friend’s machine and alighted carefully on the roof of the house. As he did so, the trap in the roof was opened and Ruth came out. He succeeded in overcoming her objections to the plan, so she went below and returned with the plans, secured from the safe in her father’s room. He then started the engine and glided quietly from the roof, rising rapidly into the air and starting toward Washington, which he reached without any mishap, and his friend placed the papers in the department vault. Needless to say that although the attempt to secure the plans was made by one of the agents of the conspirators, nothing could be found. Mr. Decker had completed the papers that day, and, after the guests had departed, he decided to look them over to see that they were in shape, as he was sending them by one of his agents to England the next day. Upon opening the safe he discovered that they were not in their usual place, and, thinking that he might have placed them somewhere else, he searched thoroughly, but without avail. He was mucl disturbed and immediately telephoned to the detectives attached to the legation and notified them of the loss. He did not tell Ruth, as he did not wish it to become know, but as several days passed and he could find no clue to their whereabouts, he finally told Ruth about the loss, and she decided that it was time for them to try their plan. She, accordingly, told Russel, when he called that evening over the phone, as he had done every day since the papers were taken to come out that evening. He came and told Mr. Decker that he, by a little detective work of his own, had discovered where the plans were. He could also guarantee that they had not been examined and would produce them on condition that Mr. Decker would agree to the marriage of his daughter to him. Mr. Decker could not do otherwise than give his consent, saying, as he did so, that he admired Russel’s persistence and ingenuity and believed that he would get along very well with him as a son-in-law. M. VERNE REED-