Central High School - Mirror Yearbook (Birmingham, AL)

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When I Was a Very Little Boy (Bathing.) I used to hate to take a bath, and whenever a Wednesday or a Saturday rolled around 1 made divers plans to avoid one. Once 1 nearly succeeded in doing so. My mother had prepared the tub, and was about to prepare me. when the ‘phone rang. Whilst she was in the hall, answering it, 1 conceived the grand idea of—hiding in a small clothes closet, where my toys were kept. This T proceeded to do. and when Mother returned no Billy was to he found. In the yard, in the cellar, up in the playroom—Billy had disappeared. A frantic search followed, all over the neighborhood. then my Mama ’phoned for Dad. Why. my dear. came over the ’phone, “are you sure you’ve looked well—in the clothes closets, for instance? Then, click, click, click.” high heels sounded on the floor. On they came, right up to the door behind which I cowered—then—well, you know. I don't like to talk about it. (Baptism.) One Sunday my mother took me to a Baptist Church to witness the baptismal ceremony of a young friend of hers. Without the divine grace of baptism, the soul cannot enter heaven. said the minister. Those few words were all I remembered of his sermon, but they impressed me greatly. So on the way home. T was very inquisitive. Had T been baptised? Had Mama? Tapa? Yes. Were we going to heaven? She hoped we would. 1 became very thoughtful. T remembered my dog and cat. They hadn’t been in water, and if T was going to heaven T wanted them there, too. An idea’ Several hours later T captured my live stock and carried it to a rain barrel near the house. What was it the man said when he put Gladys under the water? Well, a Golden Text would do for a plain dog and a cat. So— into the half-filled barrel went Pussy and Rover: down came the top. and T. with eves tightly closed and hands devoutly clasped, muttered. For God so love th’ worl' that he giv His on’y Son. that whos’ever bleved on Him shan’t die. Amen. I opened the barrel. Out of it and into the house dashed two wet. angry pets. “Shucks. I said, disappointedly, they never waited ’till I said the last A-men. (F.lcctric Globes.) Electric light globes are nice things to “bust. They make an awful 13

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for time we found it necessary to make a forced march at night. We left Casas Grandes at 6 o'clock in the morning and at sundown we had covered twenty-five miles. After stopping long enough for mess we mounted our horses for the night ride, through the wildest country in the whole of Myico. All went well till midnight, when, without warning, a horse dropped from under one of our party, killed by an unseen foe. 1 his sally caused us to increase our speed. W hen we were within a mile of the Rio dc Muertc a bullet slipped by my ear with a hiss. W hen we reached the center of the bridge we were met by a band of Mexicans who attacked us with determination. The Rio dc Muertc well desrves the name of the River of Death. for we left it with thirty men upon its bridge, ten of whom were members of our own band. The whole affair was sickening to me, but my hardened companions rode on without being noticeably affected. At sunrise we heard the noise of battle, and pushed on with greater speed. In a short time we reached the top of a ridge, and front it 1 looked down upon a sight I shall never forget. On one side in the shadow of the ridge our troops were stationed and opposite them on the side of a mountain cut off front all means of escape were the Myicos I hey were fighting their last fight, and they knew it. Those murderers seemed to quail at the grasp of the hand of Death and fought like mad. On our side the men were dropping in great numbers. Over the wild scene there settled a cloud of smoke like a shroud. It seemed that we were indeed staring down into the mouth of Inferno.” for such was its name: “El Paso de Inferno. Hut we could not stand there and wonder at the horrible scene; we had a duty to perform. General Kunsion was found in a few moments .it one side of the battle line giving orders in the calm, distant way that was his custom. At your service. General. 1 reported. Hoys. he said. 1 am going to give you the honor of doing the thing for which this war was intended. On that peak to the left of the forest are the supposed headquarters of ilia. He is no doubt practically alone, directing the battle by telephone. You and Marse take five men and bring him back to me, dead or alive! The five men were picked and we proceeded upon the command, not knowing how we would return, dead or alive. e circled the entire valley, and at three in the afternoon were cautiously ascending the mountain under the cover of a clump of trees. The supposition was true. Villa's tent was on top of a ledge surrounded on three sides by a natural barrier. We crawled slowly upon and dropped silently down upon the floor of the clearing. There at one end of the flat stood the powerful man who had caused so much bloodshed. looking out upon the field of battle where the setting sun was spending its last rays. We moved closer, each man carried a repeater in his hand. I leveled mine at the bandit, and called out. “Surrender.” He did not turn about, hut stepped forward a couple of paces to the edge of the precipice and cried. Viva la Rcpublica. and dropped downward from our sight, captured, not live, but dead! RAY C. BURRUS, T7. 12

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loud “bang,” you know. One time when I was little I had a great big one which 1 was saving until 1 could bring myself to enjoy the brief pleasure of popping it. One day I took it out onto the stone steps in front of the house, and waited until Mama should go to the back, when I intended to throw it down from the porch to the sidewalk below. This she did just as Aunt Liza, our washerwoman, waddled up to the gate with an immense bundle of clothes on her head. She was in a deep reverie, and paid no attention to me. high up on the porch. Neither did I notice her. for I was occupied in making a fare well examination of my globe. I heard Mother returning, and without further ado, I slung the bulb with all my might onto the pavement. It struck just behind Aunt Liza and exploded with a tremendous “bang!” Down came the clothes from the old aunty's head, and down she flopped n top of them. “You. Billy! I sec’d you thow dat thing at me. I’se gwine tell Miss May. I is. Jcs’ you see f T don’t. And she did, worse luck to me. (Aeroplanes.) Have you ever read the story of Daedalus and Icarus? If you haven’t, read it, but don’t let it have the affect on you that it did on me. The more I thought about Daedalus’ plan of conquering the upper regions, the more feasible it seemed, so I decided to try it myself. Feathers and wax I had none. But necessity begets invention, and I thought of the chickens. Glue would do as well as wax, and was much stickier. Therefore, watching my chance. I drove the poultry into the barn and locked the door. Whew! you don’t know just how hard a chicken can peck ’till you try to pick him before lie’s dead: But I got lots and lots of feathers before they all got away. And glue? Dad had some in his tool chest, and I knew where the key was kept. So 1 began in the aeroplane business. Off came my second-best coat, and soon it was thickly covered with nice, runny.” sticky glue and heaps of feathers. 1 put it on. and was about to climb to the loft to try it, when--- “William Gant King! What have you done to these poor chickens? Not a feather on them, and a forecast of frost tonight!” Then she spied me. That night a very small boy ate supper off the mantel, and some very queer, unnatural-looking chickens hovered around the kitchen stove to keep from freezing to death. WILLIAM KING, ’Ifl. 14