Butler High School - Magnet Yearbook (Butler, PA)

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THE SENIOR MAGNET 10 Dr. Burke and Parker stepped from shook his head, the passage way on the right. Swiftly That night one came back to life and the doctor examined Mrs. Foraker and another died. ------b.-h.-s.--------- THE TASK John Dodds Up to that fateful week in July, Henry Burgess had been a mild mannered man. There was no doubt of that. Even his wife admitted as much, and Claire, his daughter, had only to sit on her dad’s knee and stroke his bald head with her soft hand, to obtain the fondest wish of her heart. Claire was just home from college, and could coax very prettily. No, Henry had without a doubt been the meekest man in Tarrytown. His very appearance indicated that. Of medium height, slim, and with a slight stoop, he was remarkably successful at effacing himself in a crowd. By one of the little jokes of life, his wife was of a commanding physique, and in a rush she always went first, with Henry following in her wake. The top of his head was as bald as an ostrich egg; the only foliage which he possessed being a patch of grey above each ear. His friendly blue eyes gazed cheerfully over a pair of old-fashioned iron rimmed nose glasses. He fitted in exactly with his musty law offices, with its rows upon rows of hide-covered books, the old desk in the corner, and the squeaky office chair. Altogether, you would say, a kindly, well meaning gentleman, incapable of harming anyone. And so he was, but remember that this was before the first week in July, when the great Bolshevik Revolution threatened to spring forth full fledged in the United States. The metamorphosis in Henry was sudden—it was first noticed at the breakfast table one morning. The Bur- gesses has been left without a cook the week before, and in spite of every effort to secure another, they had been unable to fill the vacancy, and Mrs. Burgess, although she did her best to serve up palatable dishes, was rather a failure in the kitchen. On this morning Henry, after trying some bacon which had been burnt to a crisp, and despairingly biting into a sodden biscuit, caught up the morning paper, but had hardly started an article headed “Local Leader of Reds Suspected to Be a Woman,” when he threw the paper down and swung into a tirade against the government. “I’d like to know what things are coming to,” he snapped in closing. “When I have to pay the price I did yesterday for that coal in the cellar, I tell you there’s something radically wrong. If the government won’t step in and stop these everlasting prices, there’s always some way out. For instance these Reds,” and he returned to his article. When her husband had left for the office, Mrs. Burgess, trying to clean a burnt pan, said to Claire, “I don’t know what has come over your father lately. Of course he raves about the president, and the high cost of everything, but lately he’s got to acting so strange—he talks in his sleep, and says the most terrible things about bombs and explo sions. Claire, you don’t suppose your father is a Bolshevist, do you ?” “No, no, Mumsey, don’t get worried,” said Claire. “You know dad misses Norah’s cooking badly, and he

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18 THE SENIOR MAGNET The doctor nodded and said, “Perhaps you had better go. Tell her I was explaining her care to you and giving you instructions. I will finish my story in the morning. Good night.” He smiled and extended his hand. Bryce Foraker came over to where I was standing. “I beg your pardon for speaking so rudely to you a few moments ago, Miss Worth. Good night.” My patient spent the next few minutes explaining specifically what I should not do. I continued arranging the room for the night without replying. “You will sleep in your own room, Worth. I wish to be alone at night. I’ll ring if I want you. Understand? You may go.” I was glad to get to my room where I could think out this queer affair. Despite the fact that I had told Mr. Foraker that I didn’t possess nerves, they kept me from going to sleep immediately- Once asleep I slept soundly until seven o’clock . During the forenoon while off duty, the doctor, who had remained all night, told me his plan. That afternoon Bryce Foraker was to be called to the city on business. While there he becomes seriously ill and dies within a few hours. Two days later he is to be brought home to be buried that day. The doctor based his plan on the belief that Mrs. Foraker would not be able to come down stairs. In case she did Dr. Burke, with my assistance would give Foraker an injection of --------. This would make his appear as dead for a few hours. Strictly according to plan, the doctor’s orders were carried out and as we supposed, Mrs. Foraker was unable to leave her room. The body was removed to the tomb. This was a huge stone vault built at the rear of the garden. It was as strange as the fancy of the man who had built it. The passages formed a huge cross. At one side the wall was solid except for the width of a coffin. Into this Captain Foraker’s body was placed. Young Foraker’s coffin was placed on the floor on the side opposite that of his father’s. After I had tried to comfort the sorrowing step-mother and received a sharp command to leave the room, I entered my own chamber. It was almost half-past ten when I entered the room. As the doctor ordered, I went to bed fully dressed. I had little difficulty in keeping awake. At twelve or shortly after I received the expected visit from my patient. Quite satisfied that I was asleep, she left the room and I heard her pass my door. As quickly and quietly as possible, I followed. When we had almost reached the vault Mrs. Foraker glanced hastily in all directions. I was extremely thankful for the many shrubs in the garden. She unlocked the heavily barred gate and pushed back the great iron door. The beams from her searchlight darted back and forth over the walls, casting ghastly lights through the gloomy place. The light rested upon the coffin of her step-son. She hesitated but a second then resolutely stepped into the vault and pushed the door part way shut. Then slowly the lid of the coffin raised and the body sat up. I grasped hold of the iron rods of the door, my knees trembled and I thought that I would faint. Mrs. Foraker uttered one terrible scream, and dropped to the floor.

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20 THE SENIOR MAGNET hasn’t been feeling well lately. He'll be all right. Just wait. Say, what do you think Sam told me last night?----” For the next few days Henry was a morose man. Wherever he went a kind of threatening gloom surrounded him. His hours of returning home from the office became irregular, and at night he devoured the most radical literature. At this time the Red movement was gathering momentum, and it was supposed that a date had been set for the outbreak. And the Burgesses were still without a cook. On that fateful morning Henry came down to breakfast with a preoccupied air. The meek, mild-mannered Mr. Burgess seemed like another individual. He was ready to snap at his wife on the slightest excuse. After another wretched meal, he grabbed his hat from the rack and with his hand on the door knob turned, to Claire. “See here, young woman, I want you to tell that young Bob Wilson to keep away from the house after this.” Claire looked at her father as if she could hardly believe him. “Why daddy, you always said—.“ “Don’t try to make excuses. When a young fellow sits out on the front porch till hours of the night, every night in the week, and plays that infernal mandolin of his, it’s time I took a hand. Let him stay away after this.” And Henry slammed the door behind, leaving inside a startled woman and a girl with brimming eyes. He paused a moment on the sidewalk to light a cigar. The morning was clear and cool, and the sun, still low in the heavens, made a glittering gem of each shining dewdrop. Be-tore him stretched the gleaming Hudson, winding its way down thru the palisades, and the government munition works across the river loomed up against the skyline. The day shift was just going on, and the men thronging the gates looked like an army of ants. It was a day to make one exult in the pure joy of living. But Henry ambled off to the street car with a preoccupied air, never raising his head. Today was the appointed time for the Red Revolution. As he edged his way to the law office, in the crowd at Wood Avenue and Fifth Street, a roughly dressed workman slid up to him and furtively slipped him a dirty piece of paper. Henry gave a hurried glance at the writing, and went on. At the office Henry fooled around all day with an excitement which he tried in vain to conceal. Well along in the afternoon he seized his hat with half suppressed eagerness, and made his way swiftly through the downtown portion of the city. Huge buildings and skyscrapers gave way to squatty, dirty brick, stores and tenements. A coating of soot, black and greasy, covered everything. At last the crosstown car stopped at West 126th street. Henry stepped off and pushed his way down a side street until he stood in front of a small but neat-looking tobacco store. In the window was a sign Rooms to Rent Upstairs.” Henry carefully compared the number with that on a dirty scrap of paper which he had, and casting a cautious glance about him, ascended the staircase and rapped three times at the door at the head of the stairs. It opened silently, and Henry slipped through. 'I'lie door closed behind him. Perhaps five minutes later the door opened again and Henry reappeared, accompanied by a heavily veiled woman dressed in black. She carried only a small black bag, of which she took the greatest care. She held it in front of her all the time, and seemed to be extremely fearful lest it should bump anything. Together they entered a