East High School - Quill Yearbook (Des Moines, IA)

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up A Q A X fgg I'll give you some hooks and a ten cent fish line for it. Will you trade P Nope, Tell you what I will do though. If you'll gimme that mud turtle you caught, I'll trade with you. Now. That's too much. Say though, I'll give you that mud turtle for her, if you'1l shoot her off for me tonight. Bill, bewildered by an offer that let him have all of the fun out of the Hrecracker and still get a mud turtle for it, rather blindly assented to this proposition. All right. Be sure and shoot her oi? at ten minutes after nine to- night, down back of Sis's summer house. Be sure now. Will you P 'Course Why P , So help ye. V So help me. After these thoroughly binding words had been pronounced, jimmy went into the barn again and appeared a moment later with a wriggling mud turtle in his hand. This he gave to Bill. Bill took it, still in a daze at the unheard-ofbargain and started for the house. Each then disappeared into his own strongholdg-Bill into the house and Jimmy into the barn. jimmy again climbed through the mysterious but useless passages, emerged from the barn, and went immediately to the house, where he buried himself in his room again. As we mentioned before, Mr. Childings was Bess's next best boy- friend. Her best one, a Mr. john Tillons, was under the disfavor ofthe head of the house because of a certain escapade in college. Bess had received a note from him the day before via the small boy route. with these words inscribed on it, I shall be in the summer house at nine o'clock tonight. 'Nutt said, john. In some unaccountable way that note had disappeared from Bess's apron pocket. Bess managed to free herself from the care of the party at about one minute to nine that night and was on her way to the summer house. Sure enough, John was there waiting for her. They went swiftly over the preliminary formalities of a meeting like this, then sat down in a chair that would hold comfortably about one and a third small people. They enjoyed this rather close but entirely satisfactory position for about ten minutes,-ten minutes in which both were very well satisfied with the world in general. Bess had just remarked that this was such a nice, quiet place to meet, and john was just in the act of agreeing with her, when, like lightning out of a clear sky, there was a loud explosion behind them. To say the least, they were very much startled. For that matter, everyone in the house was. The guests came running out of the house wondering whether there was a Zeppelin attack in progress or merely a shooting affray. No one was able to settle the question, how- ever, as it was pitch dark, and Bess and john had more common sense than to make a noise by trying to escape. For a second or two, the guests were completely mystiiied as to what was happening. Then a great light dawned on' them. It dawned on them in the shape of a brilliant shaft of light streaming from a searchlight in jimmy's window and directed exactly on the summer house. Asound greatly resembling uproarious laughter came from the people in the yard. Bess and John were wedged in the chair, each endeavoring Ease Siefefcff

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e B1 Revenge is Sweet Undoubtedly he had been seriously wronged. He had merely climbed up on the roof of the summer-house to hear what would be said down be- low. lt was not his fault that the straw-thatched roof had broken in' and he had fallen through, disturbing an otherwise very pleasant meeting between Bess and her next best boy friend. To be sure, he did land on Mr. Childings' foot rather hard, but that was no excuse for Bess's insist- ing that his father should paddle him, and then make him stay in bed all the next morning. Bess said he had just spoiled everythingg she and Mr. Childlings were talking along nicely, when Jimmy came down through the roof so noisily and abruptly that Mr. Childings supposed for a second that the sky had fallen in. 'Course she would say that, because he came through just when action was at its highest. But he'd get even with her somehow or other, all he needed was time. The disaster did not have such a bad effect on Bess that she forgot to have a good time in the next few days. Oh, no! Bess was lively and kept things going wherever she was. In two days, everyone in the family but Jimmy had forgotten the incident. They were all too busy to .remember anything now. Bess was to have a lawn party that night, and everything had to be ready in time. Jimmy, somehow, could not be found that morning. The door to his room, however. which overlooked the side yard, was locked and queer noises were issuing from within. The general surmise was that Jimmy was monkeying with that use- less old ,searchlight of his again. VVell, let him 'amuse himself with it. He would only be in the way if he came downstairs. About noon Jimmy appeared. He ate his dinner in silence and then disappeared in the general direction of town. In half an hour he was back again. This time he wandered around the summer house and in a little while became very much interested in the chairs there. He was not bothered, for everyone was busy with Bessis affairsr He stayed in the summer house for about half an hour and then disappeared in the barn. E Wlieii jimmy went into the barn, he did not. as might be supposed, wish to get anything from the store of treasures in the loft, he went in for business. After crawling through devious dark passages and under- neath old boxes, so constructed as to form a tunnel, he arrived at the other side of the barn which was next to the neighbor's yard. Here he lifted back a board in the wall, and by. much puffing and twisting, man- aged to squeeze through and come out in the neighboring yard. He gave the gang whistle, and in a moment or two was joined by a red-haired, freckle-faced boy, whose real name was Bill, but who was Willia.111 Stuart Romney, according to his mother. V Hullo, Bill? Hullo. A Say, you still got that cannon cracker you' saved from the Fourth of july ? ' ' Sure Wl1at'll you take for it ?,' Nothin'. I wantto keep her. A 4 Page Fifteen

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- T-2 a to rise but apparently unable to do so. They were held back by some un- seen force. They remained in this predicament for fully a minute, the most agonizing minute that either one had ever gone through. Then a fuse was kind enough to blow out in Ji1nmy's Searchlight, and a merciful darkness surrounded them again. V ' When the first person reached the summer house, he found -no one. Sharp eyes might have' detected a white dress disappearing around the house, but the only visible sign of anyone's ever having been found in the summer house was a medium-sized chair in the middle of the iloor and a generous portion of Bess's party dress sticking in the bottom of the chair beside the greater part of Mr. Tillon's spotless white trousers. - The next day, as Bess, now in temporary disgrace with the. family, was making up jimmy's room, she made two discoveries. The iirst was a note that fell out of Iimmy's coat when she hung it -up. The note had a strangely familiar look to her, so she opened it. Inside were written -the words, I shall be inthe summer house at nine o'clock tonightr, , 'Nuff said. John. ' ' ' ' ' ' b I ' ' The other discovery was a large bottle that had been full of mucilage a day or two ago, in Jimmy's wastebasket-empty. 4 CAROLINE DUNCAN, 30. These Hands What could I do without these hands? . Not a thing. Couldn't shoot marbles, couldn't make plans, Or anything. ' Couldn't ride a bike or catch a ball, Or hold a book, or anything at all. Without any hands life would be a pall - Over everything. What could I say without these hands? Not a thing. Couldn't shake hands, couldn't dance To anything. I Couldn't hold a gun or get a meal, Or rake the leaves up in the field, Oh, to get my hands it would take a deal Of everything. ' ' . . What .could I do without these hands? ' Not a thing. Couldn't make castles in the sands, I Or anything. ' Couldn't hide the tear when I was blue, Or hold the hand of my lady true.- Without these hands, what could I do? Not one. thing. . FELIX WILLIAMS, '30. Page Sevebztedn