Fairhaven High School - Huttlestonian Yearbook (Fairhaven, MA)

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THE HUTTLESTONI AN 19 It was there that I saw him. He was twenty-nine and appeared at least sixty. He may be dead at the time that this is written, or he may live to be ninety; but always he will be confined as a leper. His face was still clear of the tubercles, but his skin was scaly and his nasal organs were clogged with a blackish pus which rendered what little speaking he did indistinct. Though he still retained a measure of his in¬ domitable cheerfulness, his eyes, blue ringed with red, were those of a child, who is bewildered by events which have passed too rapidly for his immature intellect to grasp. As I left, I forgetfully extended my naked hand, and he, shaking his head sadly, fastened his eyes on the setting sun which threw into relief his hideousness. It is this story which I offer as basis for my assertion that life is a very strange and unpredicatable affair. To take this as a manifestation of all of the queer quirks in Life, would be an injustice to that which perfects a variational series of events for each individual to follow. If there are those who doubt my general conviction, let them look about for a brief in¬ terval in their evidently crowded, unthinking existences, and then let them say, with any degree of earnestness, that man lives through a humdrum chain of recurrent incidents. Thoughts Norma Banks God took the sweetest, sweetest rose. The freshest, greenest grass. The honey of a million bees. And made an English lass. God took the strongest of all things. The tend’rest thing he had. Most passionate, most lovable. And made an English lad. God took two sweetest things in life. Put them heart to heart. Tied them with the tenderest love. So they would never part.

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18 THE HUTTLESTONI AN the river, and made himself a bed in a secluded bunch of bushes. He waited until the cool of evening had commenced to temper the heat of the vanquished day, and then started on his way. The first village he came to was run by traders who, understanding whence and why he came, clothed and fed him. But when they had heard his story about the stay in a leper colony, the warmth of their hospitality rapidly diminished. Two weeks later, Jean set out for Cayenne with a trading party. It had been Jean’s plan to get on a boat out of Cayenne bound for Rio de Janerio. Every moment he tarried on French soil he was in danger of being taken into custody by the police. If this happened, it would mean his life. But work was scarce around the docks, and, if expert hands were not required, credentials were; Jean defaulted in both requisitions. In order to live, he became a waiter and strong-arm man in one of the dives down near the docks. One night a drunken sailor whom he was ejecting, thrust a corkscrew deep into the palm of his hand. There was no sensation whatsoever. Jean tried to convince himself that he did not feel the pain that a normal person would have felt, because he had practised im¬ munity to it, like the Indian fakirs. But he knew that he lied. On the He Royale when he was inflicted with pain a message was telegraphed to his brain, which told him to keep still quicker even than his primitive instinct to cry out asserted itself. This time there had been no necessity to brace his body through his mind to accept the hurt silently. And the fact that he was unaware of any corporal discomfit signified but one thing; he had leprosy. The stay on the He Lawrence had been fatal! He lost his job at the dive and was ousted from his rooming house as soon as the unmistakable stench of his disease became noticeable. It was inevitable that the authorities should hear of him. They found him one day burning with fever on the outskirts of the city. He was removed to the home for lepers, or hansonians as they prefer to be called, on Mt. Canthus.

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20 THE HUTTLESTONI AN The Moving Pictures Ruby Helford I am a great lover of the movies. In them I find much edu¬ cational value besides real entertainment. This is espec¬ ially true of the pictures that appeal so strongly to the high school girl and boy. Let me name a few of them. Little Women” was superbly acted and left an impres¬ sion that will never be forgotten. Katherine Hepburn, who played the leading role of Jo”, was truly wonderful in her part. This story will certainly live on forever. David Copperfield”, played by Freddie Bartholomew, was another movie of great value to all who saw it. It pictured in a dramatic way the old story. As a matter of fact, I saw it several times and I never grew tired of doing so. A Tale of Two Cities” is another motion picture that had school value. The star, Ronald Coleman, gave a splendid performance as Sydney Carton, the immortal character of Charles Dickens. The Last of the Mohicans” was a vivid movie of Indian life, and proved the heroism of both the pioneers and the redmen. Midsummer’s Nights Dream” was an unusual picture, most fascinating, with beautiful camera scenes and with musical strains that left you breathless. The picture Les Miserables”, like the novel, was excel¬ lent. A wonderful actor, Frederic March, seemed to live the part of Jean Valjean. I could continue for sometime naming other moving pictures just as interesting and valuable as those already briefly described. To my mind, they are of great benefit not only as healthy amusement, but also because of their great educational value. I hope that the picture producers will con¬ tinue to give us movies of that fine type—and if they do, every high school pupil will patronize them, for there is no finer supplement to education.