Cumnock School - Chronicle Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

Page 93 text:

L I T E R A T U R E 4' bert turned green. We had seen Lionel standing at the door, he must have overheard the conversation. This would be the end. Lionel, wal-king into the room, looked at Lydia, she smiled. This was, of course, unpardonable. He looked at Herbert, Herbert looked at his shoes. Lionel turned to the fireplace and paced up and down for a moment in deep thought, attempting to reach a judgment. Herbert looked sheepishly at Lydia. We'd better sit down, Lydia, he suggested in a tremulous voice. What for? she inquired innocently. Let's sit down, Lydia, he repeated, a trifle more insistantly. Somewhat bewildered, she obeyed. He fell into a chair beside her, and grasped her hand. Then Lionel turned. He looked at them carefully, seeming to weigh and study them. Clearing his throat in a judicial manner, he gazed steadily at Herbert. Then he shook his head. Herbert quickly withdrew his hand from Lydia's. The die had been cast. Even Lydia began to sense something. It almost seemed as if she had been judged and found wanting. But Lydia had heard of the court of appeals. You act so strangely, Herbert. Are you ill? The appeal was not granted, for the judge shook his head gravely. And that dog. He acts so queerly. ls he mad? Herbert shrank from her. You act strangely, too. Are you crazy, Herbert? You've been work- ing too hard. And that dog . . . you must get rid of that dog. Do you hear me, Herbert? You must get rid of that dog. Herbert gulped a couple of times, You don't know what you're saying Lydia, he managed to gasp. You seemed to like him a few moments ago. I refuse to stay in the same house with him, she flared. Lionel looked at Herbert, and then significantly at the door. The mar' tried to protest, but it was useless. You must choose, Lydia played her trump card confidently, between that beast and me. I will not have him acting as though he owns the place. I will not tolerate him any longer. Herbert, you must choose between that dog and your wife. The melodrama bored Lionel. He had spent a strenuous day of con- templation and was in need of rest. He fixed Herbert with a steady eye. Sl

Page 92 text:

L I T E R A T U R E Herbert didn't see the danger, but Lionel did. There was only one thing left to do. It wasn't so hard as before. The down hill grade is easy. Lionel sneezed again. He did it again. He sneezed. It was Lionel I Herbert was almost hys- terical. But-- Yes, he did. He's catching cold in that rumble seat. It's all my fault. I shouldn't let him ride there. Oh, Lydia! What shall I do? I suppose, she said with a smooth sarcasm, that you want that dog here and want me to sit in the rumble. Would you? Missing the irony, he wrung her hand gratefully. Oh, Lydia! Lionel will be so thankful. There would have been one of those awful reverberating silences, had not Herbert reached for the emergency brake to bring the great red roadster to an abrupt stop. Lionel was silently holding his breath and waiting for an explosion. Lydia was seething with a quiet white heat. Herbert was merely oblivious. Lionel and Lydia changed seats without a word. As the car started a gentle breeze fanned her. ln a voice too low to be audible, Lydia swore. The gentle wind wafted her words back to her face, and ever so slowly the rouge began to peel. ll There are times when our guardian angels have problems of their own and cannot be disturbed by mundane matters. During these times we may find ourselves in unaccountably great amounts of trouble, for the fates have deserted us while they go on little fliers of their own. Lionel had decided to spend a week in the mountains. Matters more weighty than human relations were occupying LioneI's mind, philosophical and intellectual they were: but his only relaxation came in concentrated study, and he spent his vacations in deep reflection. How- ever, from the purely practical viewpoint, it would have been better if Lionel had forgone his intellectual pleasures for the benefit of Herbert. When Lionel returned he was somewhat ta-ken aback to find Herbert married to Lydia. Stoical resignation, Lionel realized, is all very well in its placeg he firmly believed, however, that its place is merely the hiatus between action and reaction. He decided to make the best of it for the time being. Herbert, of course, was completely out of control, being ruled by an- 78

Page 94 text:

I' L I T E R A T U R E Very well, Lydia, Herbert groaned pitifully. The light of triumph in her face faded, when, for reasons that she could never know, Lionel and Herbert walked together out of the room. THE DOOR OPENS . By VERNA HERBST Seated in a circle at her feet, their eyes on jessica's gentle face, the girls listened eagerly. jessica in a perky voice rambled on in a thrilling meter . . , The way Aunt Grace fusses up the country place at Christmas time! But it is nice to dash in after a sleigh ride and see all that holly and to sit down on the hearth. She always has a big fire in the grate. Inspecting again the letter that had been lying in her lap, jessica, fired by her own enthusiasm, let her eyes dash through a few more lines, then without raising her eyes she sputtered breathlessly: That darling Horton boy is coming! Oh, Auntie is so sweet! She knew he would add just the right touch to my new blue dress. She is so thought- ful. She knows just the type of boy that becomes me the most. The girls of Fair View School would almost rather hear about jessica's Christmas plans than make their own. While she painted the picture of her large country home, the girls didn't move--they scarcely breathed. But it was always like that. jessica Hamilton was the most popular girl in school, she was the best conversationalist, she was the on-ly girl in school who had her own car, she could have anything in the world she wanted, and now she wanted the entire room to hear about her Christmas. There were no objec- tions, for on this Monday afternoon as on all Mondays the girls had assem- bled in the cozy little sitting room for no other purpose than to listen to her. It was of no little annoyance to her when the door flung open, pulling after it Nancy Roberts. Worried by jessica's look of disapproval yet feeling the importance and excitement of what she had to say, Nancy tried to disregard that look-a very brave thing for her to do, she felt. Not many girls went around disregarding jessica's disapproving looks. A little frightened, yet de- termined that they should hear her, Nancy squealed out between healthy young giggles: The most funniest girl, I . . . I mean the funniest looking girl I have ever seenl Her head sorta leads her body around after it. Looks like it's 82