Eastern High School - Echo Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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8 THE EASTERN ECI-IO from the road and happened to find your gyp- sy camp. Oh, he replied meekly. She flung back her hair and started away from the camp. I am sorry that I must thrust my company on you-I am sure I do not wish to-but we must obey higher authorities and you know yourself that you threatened to run away. You may have had the chance had you not declared your intentions so freely. HI suppose there is no help for it, Marny sighed, and I simply must get these cramps out of my legs. ls there no other way to travel be- side riding in the wagon? If you care to you could ride beside me on horseback. I could get you a very gentle pony. Oh, you needn't bother about the gentleness of the pony. I have ridden before. As she said it she smiled-she was thinking of the many silver loving cups she had won for steepl-e-chase riding and hurdling. The young man looked at her from the cor- ner of his eye. A pleasing sight she made, too. I-Ie was not finding it so difficult to be her guard. I-Iave you seen Bomby? ' she broke in. Bomby? you mean the dog? Oh, yes, he's around here somewhere, probably getting fed with the other dogs. I-Ie will be well taken care of, he assured her. They walked on for some time then Marny declared that she was ready to return. As they approached the camp they heard yelps that seemed to come from an animal in pam. That sounds like Bomby, Marny said, ex- citedly. She started to run and the young fellow ran by her side. As they came up to the camp Marny screamed when she saw the sight before her, and her companion ran on ahead of her. - A large, burly, ugly man was furiously lash- ing Bomby with a huge whip. I-Ie was holding the dog by the collar so that he could not get away. The dog was whimpering and yelping. The men and women did not seem to notice the dog being whipped but when the youth came up to the scene he knocked the whip from the brute's hand. The man was so surprised that he let go the dog's collar and Bomby ran away. I-le was caught up and petted by lVIarny. The youth thrust out his strong fist and struck the man under the chin. The man staggered back and fell. This caused the attention of everyone to be centered on the two men. A short strug- gle ensued and the ugly-looking brute was soon lying insensible on the ground. Marny had watched the fight with admira- tion in her eyes for Bomby's champion. When the Fight was over the youth went away, amid cheers from the crowd, to a wagon at the other end of the camp. The offender was carried away. Everything was soon packed up again and the tribe was ready to resume its winding way down the dusty road. lVIarny's guard brought two saddled horses to her wagon and told her to mount the black one. She did so and they started off. For a time they rode on in silence then Marny looked up very meekly and said: I'wish to thank you for what you did for Bomby today. It was awfully noble of you. To this there was no answer. I think you might let me thank you, Mar- ny said with an injured air. Oh, he said, of course you may thank me if you wish-although it was nothing--I have had many quarrels with Francois and I am always glad to have an excuse to deal him a blow. But Marny knew that he did not mean what he had said, and she liked him for making up the excuse. I-Ier feeling of anger toward him was gradually decreasing and she was begin- ning to feel admiration and respect for him. Would you mind telling me your name? she asked. What's in a name, he laconically replied. I would just like to know who Bomby's champian is, she replied. I-Ie grudgingly gave her his name. Ramon Lascelle was Bomby's champion and lVlarny's guard. VII For the greater part of the afternoon they rode on in silence. Occasionally Marny would cry out in delight over a beautiful flower or scene but she very rarely received any re- sponses from her companion. She finally stopped talking altogether, although a million questions arose to her mind. She wondered first about the people at home and then she thought of Ramon. That night as she lay in her bed the ques- tions repeated themselves again and again. She was beginning to worry about her position and her parents. She awoke on hearing a tap on the door. It was just daylight. The gypsy band were hav- ing their morning meal. A gypsy maid entered. We're traveling through a small town, 'bout noon, she said, you got to put on these clothes. Those is too tony to look like me. You Continued on page 45

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I0 THE EASTERN ECHO The Love Story of Virginia Oliver First Prize Helen Nichols '26 'Nt 9 3 I-IE sun shone radiantly on that Easter Day when I walked through the ivy-covered gates: of Green- mount Cemetery. I had intended to visit a certain sun-lit spot, where before, a friend of my childhood had been laid to rest. As I wandered along, musing, glancing from side to side at the in- scriptions, my attention was arrested by a tall marble shaft glimmering in the bright sun. On one side was the single word: O'liver. At once there flashed through my mind they mem.- ory of a day when l was looking through an old trunk in search of family treasures. I had picked up a piece of foolscap paper cov- ered with dainty, regular handwriting. It was a composition which had been written by my dear great Aunt lane. This is what l read- it comes back to me almost word for word: The sun resembled a huge red ball, as it slowly dropped behind the crest of the hill upon which stood the Oliver Mansion. The Very earth seemed to reflect the brilliant hues when the bright shades of lavender, orange, blue, and colors which no human could de- scribe, spread over and beyond the space where the sun had only a minute ago hung like a ball of fire. The mansion was a three-story structure of gray stone, and was almost completely covered by ivy. A wide veranda with white marble columns stretched partly across the front of the house and the huge oak door stood open in the hospitable Maryland way. The grounds were terraced on all sides with an: occasional fountain or bench here and there. The usual delightful garden was missing as were the daintily artistic touches of a woman. Although calm and quiet reigned without and the whole world seemed at peace, a strange conversation might have been heard within the walls of the mansion. One that seemed decidedly out of place. Remember, said Mr. Robert Oliver, that I positively forbid your having anything to do with that Charles Carter. ln reply, Virginia turned on her heel and left the room, slamming the door behind her. It was plain to see that lVIr. Oliver was thor- oughly enraged. l-lis face was white and drawn, as he paced the floor of his study. This QRS J gb f f A, Im: -,.J. . f .. X. is-'ff a few days study was a handsome room. It was large, had a high ceiling, paneilled walls on which were hung beautiful hunting scenes in oilg mas- sive oak furniture and in addition to these at- tractions, there was a cheerful fire blazing on the hearth. But none of these things did Rob- ert Oliver see. l-le was deep in thought and if his looks betrayed his thoughts they were not pleasant ones. Finally the plan apparently formulated itself satisfactorily and he left the room as if bent on some mission of great im- portance. Virginia had gone immediately to her room and there she sat, bright spots of anger burn- ing on each cheek. She was not one wont to give way to a tempest of tears, but instead, thought things over and laid her plans care- fully. As she sat in a chair by the window, with her chin resting on the palm of her hand, she gazed out with unseeing eyes and let her mind wander to things of the past. She con- sidered things one by one beginning as far back as she could remember. First, the terrible shock and grief at the death of her mother. l-ler mother was the only one she had loved in all the world and somehow she blamed her death upon her father. Then followed a blighted girlhood, during which she was al- lowed to run wild and obeyed no wish save her own. Mr. Oliver had always been too ab- sorbed in Richard, her brother. Now she was eighteeng moreover, Charles has come into her life., Why, why, was the incessant question which rang through her brain, was her father so bitterly opposed to him? l-Ieretofore, he had left everything to her own judgment and now the one thing which every woman should decide, the man of her choice, he opposed. She remembered her mother once saying, when speaking to a friend, that every woman must decide that question herself, no one but she, alone, knew the true feelings of her heart. But Virginia had forgotten the key note of her moth- er's statement, which was this one must be wise enough and old enough to know one's own mind, before deciding so important a question. l-ler father had even threatened to forbid Charles to enter the grounds. Surely her father-here Virginia's reverie was inter- rupted by a light tap on the door and Jane en- tered, bearing a letter.