Central High School - Cog N Pen Yearbook (Newark, NJ)

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NOTAE ЕЗУ Уге за) Presently the voice of the Rev. John M. Custer broke in on his thoughts. The Reverend was a pow- erful speaker, well able to hold the attention of his listeners. To Skinny, however, he was something of a disappointment. He had expected to hear some very startling disclosures, concerning certain people, doomed to Hell, but he heard nothing of the sort. the Rev. John M. Custer spoke only of the general Instead, types of people who he believed were headed in that direction. He dwelt long upon the horrors and tor- tures inflicted upon those who did not tread the straight and narrow path, and finally finished by stat- ing that there was yet hope for everybody if one would only reform and cast aside his evil ways. Skinny left the church deep in meditation. In- What if the Rev. Custer had been speaking the truth? wardly he was greatly troubled. [hen surely he was already condemned to the everlasting bonfire. He would never get to Heaven with that long list of crashes behind him. Skinny was troubled. Guess Га better lay off, he said to himself. sure would hate to be roasted.” Suddenly he heard the wailing of a fire siren. He saw the fire engine motorman twist his wheel frantically to steer clear of a child standing bewildered in the street and heard the crash as the engine struck a lamp- post. He ran to the engine together with a great crowd of people, to see what damage had been done. He soon saw that the engine was a total loss, but that the firemen had escaped with a few minor injuries. A little way off, he could see the smoke spurting from the windows of a tenement house. He turned and walked in the direction of the fire. As he stood watching the flames, he heard a woman wailing, My boy, my boy. I just remembered, he was in the bed-room when the fire started. I forgot He’s still up there.’ Skinny was interested. all about him. He ran to the woman who was being comforted by several other men and women. What floor did you live on, he inquired. “The fourth floor,” pointed to her rooms. the woman shrieked, and Skinny made a dash through the police lines, and He was Throwing up his arms to pro- tect his face, he retreated before the heat. “I can’t get up that way, he muttered through his clenched teeth. ran to the entrance of the flaming building. met by a sheet of fire. Looking up а! the building, he noticed that the manner in which the bricks were laid offered hand and holds. Without started to climb. fool another moment's delay he A gasp went up from the crowd when they realized his intentions. Several shouted for him to come down because going up meant sure death, but for the most part they stood spell-bound. Once he slipped, and, several people in the crowd shut their Slowly and laboriously, Skinny climbed. eyes in horror. When they opened them, they saw Skinny wave one bleeding hand to the crowd below, and continue his climb. A great cheer went up for him. When he got to the window pointed out by the woman, he climbed in. [he flames had not yet reached the rooms, but the smoke was very thick. Keeping low, Skinny quickly searched all the rooms for the child but did not find him. Wonderingly, he began to search the closets, remembering that fright- ened children sometimes hid in them; but stil! no child. Meanwhile the flames were beginning to show their tiny tongues through the cracks in the floor. [he heat was terrific, but Skinny muttered over and over to himself, I must find the kid, I can't go down with- out him.” Meanwhile, on the street, another scene was being enacted. A little boy was seen pushing his way through the crowd. He held a piece of candy in one hand, and his mouth and face were sticky and dirty from it. He was crying. When the wailing woman saw him, she uttered a shriek of Joy and caught him to her. Willie, where were you? the mother cried, and the child explained. When he had heard his mother running downstairs, he had been frightened to be alone, and had followed her down, but was not able to find her because of the crowd. When the people on the street heard his story, they But Skinny did He was in the innermost room, still shouted for Skinny to come down. not hear them. looking for the child, and the roaring and crackling of the flames drowned their voices. Suddenly one man shouted, “Look out, the wall is caving in. There was a general rush to get out of the way of danger. The wall was seen to waver back and forth, and then, with a sound as of a thou- sand cannons, it fell. Skinny was crashing into Heaven.

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[HE CRASHER [here was no doubt about it, Skinny was bored One look at him proved it. He was sauntering down the street, his hands deep in his ро‹ kets, his shoulders hunched, a cigarette in his mouth, and an expression о! general disgust on his [ace Y ез, Skinny was bored. A group of boys were playing in the street. As Skinny passed, one of them looked up and exclaimed in tones of awe, “Gee, look who's here.” Another boy, evidently new in the neighborhood asked, Who is he?” “Why, dontcha know? I though everybody knew Dat's Skinny de Crasher.” — He's de greatest “с | Say, dat guy is so good, him. gate-c rasher in de моа.’ dat de promoters of de woild series sends him а ticket free, every year, so he won't be settin’ a bad example by havin’ people see him crash. Yeah, said the other boy, admiringly, as he gazed after Skinny. Skinny could not but overhear what the boys had said. Ordinarily, this would have pleased him greatly, but at present he was too despondent. Frankly, he He passed a moving-picture house, Life held nothing new for Skinny. was disgusted. and meditated crashing it, but decided not to because By Leo Fendrich. t was too easy. That was it. Skinny was so pro- ficient in his art, that crashing had lost all its thrill for him. “Sneak- I wish I could find “What’s de use, he muttered to himself. ng into dese dumps Is loo easy. somptin new to crash. Walking along thus, Skinny suddendly found him- elf na crowd. Looking around, he saw he was Above the entrance was the somewhat startling sign, “The Rev. John М. Custer Lecturing Tonight on Who is Who in Hell, and Who Will be Who in Hell. Skinny grunted in disgust and was about to walk standing before a church. on when he saw, printed in smaller letters, “No ad- mittance without ticket.” Here last. Skinny cared nothing about Heaven or Hell, and he was something new at Personally, was only mildly interested in what he might hear. But they were collecting tickets, and to Skinny, this was a challenge. Five minutes later, Skinny was sitting inside the church. First Skinny looked around him interestedly. He could not remember when he had been in a church before. To him the atmosphere was depressing. He wondered what it could be.

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1 an li mre Лу ГНЕ MAN WHO NEVER CAME BACK Bert Murray Fliegelman, author of “Gon a cold, wintry evening. Midnight—of [he wind howled and wailed, creating an un- earthly cadence as of some lost soul. 1 ree-tops swayed and creaked beneath the herce onslaught. Icy fingers reached out from the North and congealed the shone moon, hard and luminous, light. And blanketed by a soft canopy of fleecy snow. countryside. [he down with an eerie Farmville | slept, t about this time a tall, powerful figure was mov- ing rapidly toward the outskirts of the village. His And even in the fitful, in- valid light of the moon, the man’s face appeared ruddy stride was long and sure. and strong. Suddenly he stopped and peered ahead. For a moment only, then he continued the march. As he strode on he ruminated: Oughtn't to worry about Spooks? l here's nothing to it, and it means this at all. l'here's nothing to stop me. Huh, no such. chance to get with the They'll laugh, will they? ГІ fifty simoleons and a even bunch back there. show them! s he widened, and before his expectant gaze there appeared reached a bend in the road, the farm-land the dim and hazy outlines of a great number of graves. and white, glaring tomb-stones. He [he scene was familiar to He shook his head as if to dispel some unwanted thought, and took it all in at a glance. him. Many, many times had he seen it. moved ahead. He moved more quickly, searching for a particular mound. At last he halted, and read the inscription on the tombstone. He heaved a sigh of intense relief. His nervous system was cracking under the strain, and the sooner he was through with this ghastly business, the better. Um; so here you are, he gestured. “Took me long enough to find you. Should know this place by now. Gosh, but this thing makes me feel creepy. Shouldn't have taken that last glass, to-night of all nights. Well, well; better get to work.” Guess it was some of Mac's hard cider. lo Ruin,’ ' Out of the Ether, etc. He knelt at the foot of the grave, and withdrew a small object from his coat-pocket. From the other poc ket of the great-coat he took a large hammer. The man adjusted his position and began to pound upon the small object held in his left hand. Very slowly at first, then faster, the small object sank unto the At last the man seemed satisfied, and replaced the hammer in his ро‹ ket. hard ice and the harder ground beneath. He looked down at what he had done. Well done, was worth the half-century note. he smiled at the tombstone. — Sure Why, | couldn't And what a laugh Ii 'He who have done better anywhere. get at the expense of the bunch back there. laughs last,’ sort of.” And very suddenly he realized that something was wrong. A strange blur had appeared before his eyes and dimmed his sight. Ап eerie moan came from somewhere close by. He attempted to rise, and found it impossible. Something was clutching at his back. A creepy finger trailed an icy touch down his spine. Ihe sweat stood out on his clammy forehead. He was He must act to get out of here. do something But that was holding . . He didn't believe It was ridiculous to think growing panicky. anything . at his back .what was it. clutch- ing... pulling . . . moaning . in ghosts. О course not. that he did. But yet. there was something at his back.. He was afraid (was he afraid to turn his head to take a look? he did not believe in the nonsense of spooks) and he . something horrible . . . terrible . . . awful. Why, he had said over and over again that dared not glance back. But he must . he must . . . he must! Good Oh! God... E3 х х With a quick jerk his head spun round God—it was there—white—leering The wind howled and wailed, creating an un- earthly cadence as of some lost soul in utter despair. Tree-tops swayed and creaked beneath the fierce on-