Butler High School - Magnet Yearbook (Butler, PA)

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IO THE MAGNET thing to eat. The boy consented, and the two went out upon the crowded streets of lower New York, a pair anion; thousands, to whom life had apparently given so little. Presently they came to a great crowd in one of the many small parks of the city. Curiosity, a predominant characteristic of all mankind, made them stop. A speaker was standing upon a platform, besides a newly unveiled statue of the martyr Lincoln. His words caught the ear of the man and boy, and they pressed nearer, drawn more because it was something to pass the time than by an appreciation of the great president. But soon the man was attracted by something else. To the boy it was the adventurous tale of a world’s hero; but to the man—it was more. This was no silver-tongued orator; this was no black-garbed saint; this was but a man, telling the homely tale of one whom he seemed to understand and love. lie told of his brave battle with the forces of life; he told of his matchless sympathy and help to his fellowman and, too, he told of his love and pride in his own small sons. Something intangible in the strong, simple life caught and held the soul of the man whom prison walls and stem courts could not shake. As the speaker ended, he turned away with a groan that was half sob. People said it was a great speech, but to Patsy Dolan and his father it was greater. Although no words were spok en, the boy knew by that inexplicable telepathy between the minds of men, and the strange fire in his father’s eyes, that the future, although not passed in marble halls, would be brighter. And so, as the two climbed up, up, up those same long stairs, the boy whistled his gayest Irish jig, and the man put a tender hand on the shoulder which had before known nothing but knocks. The heart of the boy leaped, but, a was his custom, he was silent. THE CHORISTER’S EXPERIENCE. (By Belle McCandless) I PRAY thee, listen to my story. I have been wandering about for thousands of years and can not die until I have found a man who will believe my tale. Don’t be in so great a hurry !” “But, I must hurry; it is half past ten and I am to sing at church this morn-ing.” The first speaker still clung to the chorister with his bony brown hands. “I was born about five thousand years ago in Lalloka; my name is Ranocpaso-lado. I have a wondrous power of speech; no language is unknown to me.” “But I must go; there is the first bell. See, the preacher and his family are go- ing in.” A look of horror crept into his face as he gazed at the eyes that stared out from the emaciated face of the old man, and he could not budge an inch. “One day I was wandering along the coast; the sun was beating straight down and I was hunting a shady spot. I found a cocoanut tree and, being hungry, I climbed the tree to find a good cocoanut. At the very top was a very fine specimen. As I was extremely light, I thought I could get it without much danger. Just as I had it within my grasp I lost my hold and commenced to fall. There was a strong wind blowing and, instead of falling straight down, the wind blew me into the sea. As I

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THE M A G N E T 9 ( arson merely picked himself out of the twisted water and air pipes and re marked that he had hit the earth. “O, all right. I answered from the nose of the craft. “Say, you—say something else, can’t you ?” Carson grew so excited that he lost IT false teeth and wept The next thing I knew we were surrounded by a band of little green men, each of whom was set with an emerald in place of a body. They were of all sizes; some as big as a band. They introduced themselves as our sins. One little green man introduced my sins of ingratitude to me—and how many there were! I noticed we were standing in a cave with the “space anni-hilator about ten feet away, while the little green man introduced the bands of sins to us. As each new hand appeared, I grew more and more scared. Then in the distance I saw a little red man approaching, headed by the Devil, and I asked who they were. The little green man answered: “That is the Devil with your lost chances to do good deeds.” Carson wanted to stay and see—but I never faced a Devil before, and I hurried away from there. About ten seconds after, Carson must have changed his mind, too, for soon we were speeding through the earth. We landed in China and from there we went home. Two weeks before we had gone out care-free and happy—now we returned, old and grey. If you don’t believe me, then use your worst judgment and ask Carson there. He’ll tell you it’s true. A HOME-COMING. (By Susan Jenkins) ATSY Dolan climbed up, up, up— up many flights of dirty, broken, foul-smelling stairs in a New York tenement. 'The dirt, the disorder, the filth—even the distance were as nothing to him. All his thirteen years had been spent in such surroundings — he knew no better; and knowing no better, he was satisfied with what he had. But today he was thoughtful—today no cheery whistle sounded a gay Irish jig, for this was no common day. Today the father of this waif of the streets was to return home—if that little dingy, dirty room could rightly be called “home.” For two years he had been kept in that great building down the river, which is the only terror of so many of his class. For two years the hoy had lived in his upper room, better off than ever before in his life. Errands and papers had furnished him food and lodging—things which had often in that dim, ghost-filled past been sadly lacking. So now, as he climbed up the last flight he wondered sadly what the future would contain. Would it be the same as that gruesome past ? He reached the top step, turned to the left, and opened the door. Yes—he was there already, seated on the only chair in the room, his forehead knotted in a puzzled frown. He was paled and thinner than formerly, but otherwise was unchanged. As the boy came in. the man merely nodded ; ceremony was an unknown thing in homes such as this. Almost immediately the proposed going out for some-

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THE MAGNET was floundering around, a large fish caught me in his mouth and carried me along with him. We traveled four days and nights and finally I found myself on the shores of a strange land.” “Listen! The congregation is singing; I must go.” “No, no; listen to me! There were very strange people in this land. They were black, about ten feet high, slender, had large goggle eyes, large mouth, spike teeth, and were bald-headed. They seemed to think that I was some kind of a sea animal. Not knowing what 11 else to do with me, they decided to oiler me as a sacrifice to their god. “They put me on an altar and started a fire. Hut fortune was on my side. A heavy storm came up and the rain put out the fire before it reached me. I escaped from the altar, dived into the sea and swam until I reached a small island and—” Just then the people came out of the church and, at the same moment, the warden of the insane asylum came up and led the escaped cocaine fiend away.