College Preparatory School - Milestone Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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History of the Primaries LliJ Ll! .. + - Na Discovery and Exploration NE morning, very early, when the September sun was shining its brightest and the September birds were singing a last good- bye before they left for the Southlands, a little band of ex- plorers gathered together on the edge of a green wood. No doubt, some, who saw them there, did not know what an important expedition was going to take place; for these explorers were very different from the ordinary kind. They were not soldiers or sailors; in fact, they were not big strong men at all, but were tiny, diminu- tive people, so tiny indeed that one would hardly have believed them to be brave adventurers. The wood Which lay before them had a name. It was called the Forest of Learning. Each year, at about the same time, a party of tiny folk entered the wood. The country which they U41 left was called Homeland. Before the adven- turers left Homeland, they received the best of care. They never had to work, and they never had to decide questions for themselves, for they were always surrounded by guards, who were members of the ttrelative regiments? But in the ttForest of Learning? they found that every- thing was different. In the hrst place, each ex- plorer had to enter the wood alone; that is, none of the members of the relative regiment could be there. There was no one to tell which of the many paths to take, and so the adventurers, them- selves, had to choose and then go on until they discovered what was waiting for them at the end. Sometimes rivers had to be crossed, and often they were very broad. The first of these was called the River of Strangenessf It was after this stream had been crossed that the ad- venturers became really well acquainted. Up to that time they did not talk to one another very much, as many of them had never seen each other before they left the uHomeland.

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Sometimes the roads were so bad that the discoverers became very much discouraged. Then it was, that the two guides, Who had lived in the forest for a long time, helped them. The explorers loved the guides very much, and were happier When led, by them, a little way on the journey. And after a time, the adventurers learned to choose the best paths to take. And then they began to love the wood and to think that it was just as pleasant as the Homeland. And this is what happened each year. So when the signal was given on that Sepv tember morning in 1913, another band of di- minutive explorers entered the Forest of Learn- ingf They have not hnished their j ourney yet, but already the members of the relative regi- ment are anxiously waiting on the verge of the wood for their return. And, as they wait, they hope that the ways may not be too hard, and that the guides may lead the brave little folk safely over the rocky paths, and bring the tiny band of explorers, happy, and safe, and sound, through the ttForest of Learning. MARY BRADFORD LANDIS, 1914. H51