Cleveland High School - Legend Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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-= U5PBUI TRIAL OF A COLOSSUS Katherixe Sawatsky Second Prize Cradled in a hollow of the rocking plains lay Oskeg, Pro ince of Saskatchewan, Canada — a vil- lage one mile square, no more, no less. Surrounded by salt-peter marshes, low brown treeless hills, and jagged ravines, the old town lay basking in the hot summer sun of an early morning in the year 1916. All around — north, south, east, and west — stretched the monotonous billowing prairie, Louis D ' Orvans ' native land, ending in an unchanging horizon of dark earth and blue sky. It was a calm, peaceful scene that D ' Orvan looked upon from the window of his cabin. But a frown furrowed his forehead. He was anticipat- ing a distasteful familiar event. The slight, dark French-Canadian was waiting for MuUy, his huge blond comrade, to deliver an habitual daily ora- tion. The speech was usually monotonous, and therefore, Louis welcomed every variation in his comrade ' s pious reproofs. Soon Mully got up from the table where he had been poring over the contents of the Bible. Louis, mark my words, began Mully with a gruff hem and haw. Ef you don ' t begin to read the Holy book pretty soon, you ' ll ne er see heaven. Instead of readin ' the Bible every mornin ' and evenin ' like I do, you stand and look at them funny bumps of land out there. I ' m a-warnin ' you now. It ' s only religious people as die peaceful and easy like. In answer D ' Orvan beckoned silenth to Mully to follow, and they went out to their daily work at the grain elevator just two blocks from the cabin. All the foregoing procedure had been a part of each day ' s curriculum ever since Mully had suc- cumbed to the wiles of a passing evangelist ten years ago. As they approached the weighing platform of the elevator. Ramus, the foreman, came quickly forward to meet them. D ' Orvan, something ' s wrong with the scoop belt in the lower section of the main bin, third floor. Take Mully with you and repair it in a hurry. We ' re going to run up a new carload of wheat in an hour from now. D ' Or an nodded, picked up some tin, hammer, and nails, and entered the first floor of the elevator with Mully following him closely. Here the at- mosphere was charged with the deafening rattle, chug, and clank of the big twenty-four horsepower steam engine that propelled the long scoop belt up to the third floor and then down again to the basement bins. Mully went to the engine, pulled out a lever, and stopped the scoop belt. Amid the shouts of warning from their fellow workers who were busy with the hoppers and fanning mills, the two ascended the rude ladder to the third floor. Every man in the elevator knew the danger of going to the upper floor grain bin. One slip o er the edge would send the unfortunate one into the deep grain where the continued downpour of wheat would completely ' co er him in ten minutes ' time and suffocate him. L ' pon reaching the top, Louis crossed the narrow plank over the huge bin to the lower section with the agility of a mountain goat. But Mully eyed the plank doubtfulh ' . Come over and hang your watch on that nail so we can tell when to quit, said D ' Orvan from where he stood with one foot on a beam and the other foot on the plank. Mully gingerly shuffled his way across, and after several attempts, put his right foot against the beam to steady himself and hung up the watch. But now, Mully ' s most difficult problem was to get back to normal position. With his usual lack of precision he calculated the distance from his foot to the plank, and stepped wide of the mark. Wildly waving his arms to regain his balance, MuUy clutched at D ' Orvan as a last resort. The sudden impact precipitated both of them into the grainy sea of wheat, and two sickly thuds marked the end of the headlong flight. Fool! What did you do that for? exclaimed D ' Orvan in anger as he wriggled his head and Page 25

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d LERSER. BROTHERS Bl-LLA HORNSTIUN definable. They are minute and miss the other you want one, and (III suddenly change your ' t x ant him. Ids of brothers, the kid brother. The kid brother t w hich grates on your nerves. ing in on big sister ' s company ibed out. He is that little tale- mother know who took you home, ed to school with you, et cetera. I certain part of the chicken, it sud- denly jum into his mind to want the same piece. If you go to the movies, he wants to go along with you. When onl - the two of you arc home at night, and you happen to be timid, he keeps saying, Oh, don ' t you hear the door slam? H you tell him a secret and ask him if he can keep it he an- Brothers are something something ' ou don ' t ne.xt. H you ha ' t when you do get mind {pro tem) aiuj There are tw brother and the ' , is that everlastin He is alw; and has bearer w which bo If VOU WF swers, I ' ll tell the world, and he surely does. The big brother is that one, two or three years older than yourself. He tells you what to do and when to do it, where to go and how to act. He thinks that he is the only one that knows it all — and poor sister is just a girl — dumb like all the rest. But how could we get along without that mis- chievous kid brother? If he were gone a few days we ' d miss him greatly. The house would be as still as a grave yard if he were not ar(jund shout- ing war whoops. After all he is all right when we agree. You can ' t blame him for wanting the same privileges that you have, for don ' t you want everything those older than you get? Big brother is a real prince when he quits bossing and takes you out for a good time. In spite of all I ' m glad I have both a kid ' brother and a big brother. ' N ESSAY Robert Hanson One night in a state of complete mental and physical exhaustion I boarded a street-car to go home. My brain was in a jumble and I had barely enough strength to move my pedal ex- tremities. I put the cash into the conductor ' s hand, staggered into the car, and fell into a seat. Sights that usually interested me held no attraction for me. Finally, I gave up trying to think or do anything, and let my eyes wander where they would. First, they glanced at my fellow-passengers, and then at the advertisements overhead. As I read them, an idea began to formulate itself in the back of my head. Tired as I was, this idea forced itself upon my brain. My whole being protested such an outrage, but to no avail. The idea gained force and I finally gave up and resolved to let it run its course. Surely, it could do no harm. The idea was that I should make some article — no, article is not right, some — some — I groped for a word to describe this— this Thing. Ah! At last! Thing! The very word. That ' s what it was, a Thing! H-m-m-m. Let me see. What qualities would it be necessary to have? If I could only put it over; if I only could. My brain was in a fever of excitement, but it was fully awake and had thrown off the burden of inertia. I vainly tried to con- trol my thoughts and direct them into reasonable channels. I smiled at the folly of it all, but I could not forget it and mental faculties raced in their work to pick out features and qualities. After a few seconds of consideration I finally decided that it would have to have these qualities, at least. The Thing would have to be 99 44 1007o pure, and float ; it would have to have 200 house- hold duties; it would have to be white as snow and everybody ' s friend ; it would bring out the finish of anything on which it was used ; it must not (Continued on Page 60) Pac e 24

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BERBER, arms up througli the t raiii. It ' s a wonder oii had the presence of mind to shut off the helt. He h)()ked across at Mulh ' s face, the onh ' pro truding representative of the hlond ' s emotion. Mul- l5 ' ' s small hlue eyes hlinked rapidly like startled beacons on the background of his chalky face. With full realization the eyes shifted like a cowardly, slinking coyote ' s from this object to that. Silence reigned, for the astounding shock had produced a decided effect upon our blond Colossus ' frame and had silenced his loquacity for the time being. An eternity of w aiting ensued. D ' Orvan thought of the watch and looked at it. Only five minutes left! There was one chance in ten that Ramus would miss them and begin searching. MulU ' fol- lowed Louis ' glance. He passed his parched tongue over his huge blanched lips. With clenched fists he rained a torrent of iolent beatings upon the merciless grain. It held him prisoner. Eloquent curses sailed from his lips straight at their target, D ' Orvan, and rebounded with elasticit . The Frenchman shut his eyes and waited. Do something, ou fool, screamed Mull . Can ' t you see ' m dying! His sobs blended rythmically with the distant chug of the engine two stories below. Can ' t you pray led D ' Orvan impatiently. God helps those who help themselves, Alully. Maybe your Bible will help you now, eh what? Only one minute! A shrill whistle pierced the air. It was the signal to begin running through the new load of wheat. D ' Orvan smiled. He shut his eyes and waited — calm, peaceful. Dust to dust ; ashes to ashes. Over and over again the words ran through his mind like the ceaseless wheels of destiny ' s machine. A sudden shiver marked the momentary peep back into the past, and all was calm again. He felt a merciful, restful oblivion. Could tlii be a foreboding of death. ' Dust to dust; ashes to— Here, get yourselves out of there quick! shouted someone from above. It was Ramus with a welcome rope in his hands. Mully stared upward steadiK as Ramus tied one end of the rope to the beam, and when the foreman swung out the other end, Mully was the first to catch it. In spite of his excess of avoirdupois he had hoisted himself up and over the edge of the bin in quicker time than it takes to tell it. Without a w ord or backward glance, he vanished down the ladder. Soon D ' Or- van was safely on the plank again. As he turned to go he was conscious of a distant rush. He paused, one foot in the first rung of the ladder, and listened intently as the rush changed to a roar. His gaze riveted on two hollow places in the low-er section. The next moment the oncoming wheat rushed with terrific momentum upon two queer indentations, and soon all traces of the recent im- prisonment had vanished. » » » » It was morning again. D ' Orvan stood before the window of the cabin contemplating his own individual insignificance in Dame Nature ' s plan of beautiful scenery. Mully shut his Bible, arose from his chair, and advanced a step. Louis, mark my words, he began. I hope that what happened yesterday will be a lesson to you. You weren ' t prepared because you wouldn ' t read the Bible. I was prepared and — A withering look from the Frenchman checked the speech, and the rest of it was lost in incoherent mutterings. There are times when variations are verv welcome. And now, D ' Orvan smiled with relief. At least, Mully had changed his original speech ! SUNSET HiLDRED Atkinson The setting sun has painted the sky A gorgeous glowing gold. With magic brush that ' s held on high The setting sun has painted the sky Just when night is drawing nigh. Lake armor in days of old The setting sun has painted the sky A gorgeous glowing gold. Page 26