Catholic High School For Girls - Silver Sands Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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I f you're looking for gripping drama or stirring thrills don't read . . . IT WAS snowing and the flakes on Elijah's clothing made him look like a sugared gumdrop-a licorice one, for he was shiny and black and sweet. In the late afternoon light he stood wearily piping, Payfpuhs, buy youah pay'puhs, payfpuhs, payfpuhs, pay-puhs . . . payfpuh, mistah? Now, at last, they were all sold and Elijah started homeward with lagging feet. Usually he hurried be' cause the soles of his shoes were almost as thin as his ragged little jacket, but tonight even the slush seeping through his cracked boots couldn't hasten him along. Spot was gone and Elijah would never feel the same again! Every day the muddy mongrel had stood close to the boy while he sold his papersg every day the pup had shivered with him, run with him-had even gone hungry with him. For Elijah was poor. Although his mammy took in washing and his pappy sometimes suffered spasmodic working spells to visit him, often the stew wouldn't stretch or the bread couldn't be cut thin enough. Now, tonight, the cheery jingling of pennies in his pockets was the only happy sound near Elijah. Of course, he didn't cry. All the tears he had ever held fell fast when he saw the dog catcher put Spot in the wired cage and drive away. He hadn't saved one to shed now. His little throat felt dry and cold from sucking in his breath so much. That was a habit he had when- ever his stomach was empty or his heart full. To' night, though, his tummy would feel warm and happy 'cause it was pay night for Mammy. Pay night meant bean soup-not thin, watery soup, but rich, heavy broth with brisket and a bone for-No! Spot wouldn't have a bone tonight, nor any other night. Now Elijah was running fast so those dry, hard sobs couldn't catch up with him. He stood for a long time before the rickety clapboard house with his little chin quivering and his brown eyes lusterless. Finally, he gave the paintless door a shove and shuffled into his home. It was a bare dwelling, but spotlessly clean and glowing under the leaping light of an open fire. The combined living room and kitchen held a sweet, soupy smell and was filled with the rhymthmic beat of Aunt Dilcey's contralto. 'Lo, gulped Elijah to the portly figure of his aunt rocking to and fro in a sagging cane chair. Hel-lo, 'Lijah honey, cadenced his aunt, did yo' papuhs all go slow today? Yo' is mighty late. Yo' mammy am sortin' de wash an' yo' pappy choppin' up some mo' pine sticks fo' de hah. 24 ELIJAH,

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LOGUS Love peace after pam Love quzet after stram Love clouds dnftmg by Love stars m the sky Love fragrant deltcate and rare Love a mazd with a rose rn her hazr EMILY Lxrruz CB6'eAU'T'Y Beauty owers m all thezr splendor Beauty musrc sweet song bwds render Beauty meadows zs mountams hrgh Beauty the moon m a starry s Beauty the ocean deep and blue HANNAH Locus 38 SILVER SANDS HOCPE Hope sunshme after mght Hope daybreaks glowmg lzght Hope as Apnl s breezes warm Hope as somethmg that can brmg From out the frost a breath of sprmg JAN BT SWEENEY SFWUSIC Musac the smgmg breeze Musrc the swaymg trees Muswc a dream soothmg possessmg Musrc the ram cool and re reshmg Muszc love m search o a word And only by love us :ts real meamng heard MAME MCNULTY 38 'YOUTH 'Youth as spun rn franlest weave 'Youth as wise and yet natve 'Youth as ree as bzrds as sea T1s eloquent szmplzmty Thxs one bnef hour of fantasy O unaualgened ecstasy Mfuunj CAVANAUGH 38 23 is ' , is ' ' , is ' ' , is ' , is . ' . . is . . . . I , '38. is fl ' ' , is ' f ' . is I. . . , is ' ky. 'S ' is , 'S ' Beauty is a dream come Hue' Hope as shelter from the storm, , n 1 ' . . . Q , 40 . is , . J . is . J ' is , ' , ' . ' is '. , f ' : ' is ' f , 1 S I f ' - Q ' 1

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LITTLE B0 for he was shiny and black and sweet. SILVER SANDS This explained the permeating piny scent in the house. Although it was over a month since Christ' mas, people were still discarding mistletoe and ever' green and Pappy Brown was always around to proit by their riddance. Aunt Dilcey heaved herself out of the chair and went over to a pot steaming above the fire. While she was pouring the soup Elijah ventured, Did yo' all make it, Aunt Dilcey? He knew if she had, the soup would be somehow sweeter and spicier, for Aunt Dilcey worked uptown as cook for the Dwights. She lived there, too, but Wednesday was her free night and then she came to the Browns'. Sho' nuff, honey, she chuckled, Han' you'd bettah eat it all up, if'n yo' do, I've got a s'prise fo' yo'. Get long theah now. Only a few minutes ago Elijah had felt as if he never wanted to eat again, but as he was only a very ordif nary little boy with a little boy's appetite, the soup slid down easily. While sopping the last ounce of liquid with a piece of bread, Elijah meditated on the nature of the surprise. Maybe it was cake. There was a bakery at the corner that sold stale delicacies for a few pennies-and it was pay night. Sometimes the Dwight children gave Aunt Dilcey clothes and, al- though they were a few sizes too large for Elijah, they did keep him warm and dry. In the meantime, Elijah's pappy had come in, his arms laden with dry wood, and was grinning happily at his little ebony replica. There was something sheep' ish in that grin. Elijah catalogued it with the one Pappy used on Mammy when he had a new job to tell her about. When his mammy came padding out of the bath' room, her arms soapy to the elbows, Elijah knew defif nitely that something untoward was afoot, for Mammy never let her wash soak in the big tin tub once she had worked the suds up. There they stood all three in a row looking as if they deserved a spanking. Elijah wondered idly how Grandmammy had ever surrounded Aunt Dilcey's breadth to administer much-needed thrashings. By now, Aunt Dilcey had walked to the bedroom door at the end of the kitchen and opened it slowly. After she had made several clucking noises with her tongue to no avail, she squeezed her poundage through the doorway and went into the room. In a few seconds she reappeared carrying a fuzzy object under her arm. When she had successfully rnaneuvered her girth into the kitchen again, she put her burden down on the floor with a flourish. 25