Eastern High School - Echo Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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I6 THE EASTERN ECHO him with There it is, Mr. l..aziness', she turned and stalked to the door as stiffly as she had entered. Once arrived on the threshold however, she turned and delivered this part- ing shot, l must say you get sick at convenient times, Mr. Smarty! He didn't deign to reply to this thrust but as soon as the door closed behind the retreating figure of his beloved sister, Tom's ailments suddenly left him and he made a mad rush for the bureau. Once there, however, he collapsed weakly against the wall. On the tray was a single soft-boiled egg and a solitary piece of dry toast! He was consumed with anger at what he considered an outrage, but he said nothing and after ravenously devouring his meager repast he meekly retired to his bed. After all, being sick wasn't such a joke as he had imagined it was! If tonight's supper were a sample of the meals' that were to fol- low, he was convinced that he'd starve in a few days. About 8:30 a crowd of laughing boys and girls passed the house and he longed to join them, out-of-towner or no out-of-towner. His breakfast the next morning was a re- plica of his supper of the night before and to add to the pangs of his already ravenous ap- petite, Maisie informed him that the family were having hot cakes for breakfast! About nine-thirty he decided that the folks must have started on the picnic and forthwith he arose and arrayed himself for the street. l-le had reckoned without his mother, however. Just as he was preparing to descend the stair- case his mother appeared and sternly ordered him to bed. Verily he feared that Maisie had taken her mother into her confidence! At dinner time Maisie presented him with a tray containing a bowl of beef tea and six soda crackers. He received the same for supper and by that time he was desperate enough to conceive the idea of a raid on the pantry. Therefore, promptly at half-past eight after having ascertained the whereabouts of his family, he warily descended the back stairs and entered the kitchen. But a search of the icebox revealed the fact that the sole contents were one small dish of Waldorf Salad, some celery, two lemons and a bottle of grape juice. Evidently his mother had anticipated this move on the part of the patient! Tom 'retired to his room as hungry as he had left it and with a resolve that he would do something desperate. If he didn't get something to eat soon, he'd starve to death. The next morning Tom received an unex- pected visit from his sister. At first she re- mained silent and Tom was on the verge of asking her to remove herself from his sight when she vouchsafed the following informa- tion: You know l was downtown with Isobel this morning and you'd never guess whom I saw. It was a girl and she was the prettiest thing you ever saw. She has golden hair, all curly, and big blue eyes and she had on. a fluffy white dress and a big floppy hat. She was coming out of the drug store with that Billy Gibbons, and say! Qld Bill was so dazed he didn't even see us. He was looking at that girl so hard you might 'a thought she was the only girl in the world! Twenty minutes later Maisie and lsobel had the satisfaction of seeing Tommy creeping ser- reptiously over the back fence. Then they rejoiced greatly over the way they had suc- ceeded in putting one over on him. As a matter of fact, the girl whom they had seen had been much as Tom had imagined her. But that was nothing in their young lives, and poor Tommy couldn't know that they were Hstringing him. Therefore, he swung serenely up the street in the direction of Sam's domicile sublimely un- conscious of the joke his sister had played him. But lo and behold there was an even greater surprise in store for Maisie and lsobel. It is true that one of the visiting girls was the one they had seen at the drugstore but there was another one and she was very much like the imaginary girl that Maisie had described to Tom that morning. Sam duly introduced Tom to both of the visitors and Tom immediately joined the group around Miss Davis, where after some casual small talk, he carried her off to partake of a sundae. Imagine the amazement and consternation of the plotters when they saw their enemy ap- proaching, accompanied by a girl whom they had thought existed in their imaginations only! They were still discussing the amazing situa- tion some ten minutes later. Meanwhile, Tom in a delightful state of be- wilderment was enjoying a chocolate soda and talking to the girl whom at that particular mo- mentl he deemed the most wonderful girl in the world. For this time, at least, Tom had overcome his enemies and emerged the victor.

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Tl-IE EASTERN ECHO I5 An Unusual Subterfu ge Third Prize Harriet Bentley '25 'ND P HOMAS, JUNIOR, aged seventeen, was thinking. This, in itself, was an unusual occurrence and a great occasion Cat least so thought Maisie, who was Thomas' young sisterl. He was sitting on the back steps and Mary for Maisie as she insisted on calling her- selfj was perched in an apple tree above his head entirely hidden by the thick foliage. She was intent on his occasional mutterings and from time to time caught such expressions as dumb-bell, just like that Sam Fletcher, but I'll get even with him some of these days. Ideal poking the out-of-towner off on me! She'll be a peach, too, I'll betchaf' At this point in his reflections Maisie nearly gave her- self away, for Thomas suddenly changed his position. I-Ie moved his feet about until his toes touched and his heels were some eight inches apart. Then he pulled down his face until you could see the whites of his eyes and said in a mincing voice, No thank you Mr. Jones, I don't dance. Oh, no, thank you, sodas are so bad for the complexion. Walk? Oh, no. Mother never allows me to walk in the hot sun. l'm much too delicate. .5 fs Trifw Then again his expression changed, and, placing his elbows on his knees he buried his chin in his palms and gave himself up to dark despair. He told himself sternly --and inci- dentally aloucl-that he must put his brains to work. This was the last straw as far as Maisie was concerned. A loud peal of laugh- ter shattered the stillness. Tom, at first, was numbed with the s-uddenness, then an even louder yell fthis time of anger, arose from the steps. Motherl Mother! If you don't make that child behave. I never saw anything like it in my life. A person can't even think without that child sitting right on your coat tails and listening to you do it! Gosh darn! If this ain't the awfullest house! A loud bang of the door followed this ti- rade and later another bang announced that Tom had reached his bedroom. A moment later Maisie climbed the back fence on her way to impart this latest bit of news to her bosom friend, who lived next door. Meanwhile Torn had had an ideal Suppose he were taken suddenly ill! He revelled in the possibilities of the situation. To begin with he would rid himself of the duty of escortng the obnoxious visitor to the picnic and to end with he'd get no end of good things to eat. He remembered all the good things his mother had sent Sam when he had had the measles and he could almost taste some of them al- ready. Oh, Boy! There was some joy in life after all. With this thought he removed his coat and, throwing himself on the bed he endeavored to look ill. He lay there patiently until dinner time and by then he had reached the stage where he declared that he could say he felt funny without too much acting. At the first call for dinner he had much ado to keep from springing up and taking the steps two at a time. After about five minutes he heard his mother calling his name and to make his ill- ness more realistic he only answered by a faint groan. Then he heard his mother start upstairs and a moment later heard her voice beside the bed, saying, anxiously. What's the matter, Tommy, are'nt you feeling well? At first there was only silence, then he an- swered in a voice as faint as he could make it. No'm, I feel iust awful. But what's the matter? Can't you tell me where you feel badly? Oh, yes'm! lt's my stomach. Then to himself he added, That's no joke either. I think its grown to my backbone. 'Tm awfully sorry, Tommy. Do you think I'd better send for the doctor? Oh, no, please don't! I'll feel better after a bit. As his mother left the room, Tommy won- dered whether si.ck people Went downstairs for their meals. But this hope was nipped in the bud for his mother called back that Mary would bring his supper to him later. The worst was yet to come, however. He had thought of Maisie all along as the chief enemy to his plan and when she appeared with his tray, he knew that his worst fears were real- ized. She walked stiffly into the room, deposited his tray on the bureau and after addressing

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