Columbus School for Girls - Topknot Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

Page 33 text:

TOP-KNOT Columbus School for Girls The Yellow Streak EY, Baba, come out on the front porch a minute. I've got some- thing to show you. At the sound of her brother's voice, Babbie looked up from her dishpan, and dashed through the house, dry- ing her hands on her apron as she went. , On the porch she saw her father -tall and handsome, with kind, twizikly brown eyes, her brother, Jack, about nineteen, very dark, with broad shoulders and his father's eyes, and last, but not least, she saw a covered chip basket near the head of the steps. She looked inquiringly at it, and as she watched, to her great consternation, the covering on top shook convulsively once or twice, and with a little shuffling movement, the basket fell bumpily down the steps, accompanied by yelps of terror from its interior. With a look of mingled surprise, inquiry, and delight, at her father and brother, who seemed much amused, Babbie took the five steps at one leap and possessed herself of the basket. Lend me your knife a minute, Jack. -That yelp had the earmarks of a puppy. Go on, what're you givin' me ? said her brother, tossing his knife down to her. No dog ever sounded like that. There's a, Ka-poo-poo bird in that basket. Dad captured it in its native jungle. Be careful, there. It's ferocious. But Babs didn't hear a word Jack was saying, for through the hole she had made popped the head of a small brown and white puppy, wiith big, frightened yellow eyes. Babs, with an ecstatic gurgle, had extricated him from the basket and was cuddling him in her arms and whispering baby talk into one ear. Well, ums was a sweet 'ittle pupsy-dog, yes, ums was. Does ums love Babsy? she inquired, holding him up in front of her. The puppy was so bewildered by the strange surroundings and all this sudden atten- tion, that he refused to answer, and only looked exceedingly bored. Great hat, Babbie, Jack interposed at this point, let up on the fond raptures and give us a look at the pup. Rather soiled, isn't he ? Indignantly Babbie rose from the path where she had been sitting and drew herself up to as haughty a position as her seventeen years would allow and retorted, Well, I guess if you had wanted a puppy as long as I E291

Page 32 text:

TOP-KNOT Columbus School for Gzfrls Z l,l E lUlle Me Poem I sits me down before me desk, And takes in hand me quill. We 'ave been told to write a poem: So write a poem I will. Sez I to meself, Why IS a poem? And, Why must we compose 'em? Then I glances down at me empty page, Me mind might well be frozen. U I sits, and then I 'eaves a sigh, I tries me best to think. An idea 'its me -- I takes me quill And dips it in me ink. And so I writes a hectic poem, And then I reads it through, Once is enough- I tears it up, And sits there - feelin' blue. The next day comes. Me poem-non est, Nothin' could be worse. So all I hands in is a sheet of paper, And calls it just blank verse. REBECCA E. CUMMINS, 1923 l 28 l

Page 34 text:

?I'0P-KNOT Columbus School for Girls have, you'd be glad to see him, too. He's the sweetest thing in the world. Just look at his eyes. Did you ever see such a pitiful expression in your life? That fall scared him most to death. She walked sedately up the steps and deposited the puppy on the doormat, where he stood, rather wobbly as to legs, and looked about him with a very serious expression. He was a Pointer, white by nature, with the exception of two big tawny spots - one all around his left eye and the other on his back.. The one on his eye made his face look crooked, and he had a way of cocking one ear and wrinkling up his forehead that gave him an expression of deep thought and contemplation. Now then, that being that, observed Jack, tell us where you got him, Dad. Mr. Ord had two of them up at his place, and he sent this one down to us. He's a thoroughbred, but he certainly doesn't look it just now. Suppose you trot him around back and give him a bath before Mother gets home from her marketing, and we'1l surprise her- I forgot to tell you, he called after them, that his name is Michael Caermarther- Micky for short. I have his pedigree upstairs. Micky very quickly won his way to the hearts of the Witcher family, much to the disgruntlement of Tounce, the big, black collie who had, up until this time, been the sole canine occupant of the place, and who con- sidered it his sacred duty to guard it.. Micky considered this his duty, too, until he and Tounce had come to blows about it several times, and then he was willing to retire from the competition. He was an affection- ate-minded puppy, and early got the habbit of climbing up into the laps of his friends to be petted. The family, with the exception of Babs, objected to this so strenuously that after a time it dawned upon Micky that his com- pany in that capacity was not desired, and so, after that, he contented himself by retiring to a corner of the porch, where he would sigh longingly and look at them very wistfully. His greatest trial, however, was not being allowed to go with Tounce to bring in the cows every evening. He would stand on the porch, eagerly watching the performance, and some- times become so excited that he would dash up and down with little whines and yelps. Occasionally he would go near Mr. Witcher, put his head on his knee, and use all the canine eloquence he possessed in begging permis- sion to go just once, but it was never granted. - l30l