Farmington High School - Laurel Yearbook (Farmington, ME)

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14 THE LAUREL eyelids showed signs of life. Douglas made a jump for the telephone. Chief of Police? Yes. Douglas Brent at the Van Dyke residence. Anthony Van Dyke was attacked and nearly killed, thirteen minutes past two. All right, good-bye. It was the following morning at the Van Dyke home in a sunny bedroom. Anthony lay unconscious in bed. His face challenged the pillow for whiteness, and the covers did not sufiiciently cover his neck to hide the bluish black marks on it. Over him hovered a doctor, while in the background stood Brent. The doctor finally spoke, say- ing, His assailant has superhuman strength and claws like hands. They were more than claws, they were talons, said Brent, but their owner was no human. As the day drew to a close Anthony re- gained consciousness but not his full senses. He still seemed to be under some magnetic force which tended to make him slightly hysterical. At eight o'clock, however, to all appear- ances he was normal. When Brent ques- tioned him concerning his experiences he shivered visibly and almost moaning sank deeper into his chair while his face turned a sickly yellow. This might be disgusting to ordinary eyes, but it only served to soften Brent's heart towards the big, good- natured athlete and aroused his pity to such an extent that he refrained from asking further questions. This for him was an exceptionally hard task, for he knew that no other fellow of his acquaintance had greater natural courage than Anthony. Then, as though by mutual consent, they both dozed off to sleep. Four hours later they were awakened by the sound of a banging window blind. Glancing at the window from which the sound came, they saw a face surmounted by a soft felt hat, the crown of which fitted like a skull cap. The soft roll brim, turned up away from the face, revealed a black mask of the same material as the shirt and cape which covered the shoulders. As if reading their thoughts, there was a slight movement and a similar black arm rose, from which extended a white hand in strong contrast to the black, and a long foretinger crossed the mask at the point where the lips were hidden, and the figure slowly immerged into the shadows. As Douglas turned to Anthony he saw a different Anthony. This time his jaw muscles were set and there was the fire of determination in his eyes as he said softly, That fellow got my goat at first, and now I will be on the lookout for him and give him a run for his money. I don't hold the intercollegiate boxing championship for nothing. After that for a strained half hour neither of them said anything. Anthony at last broke the silence by ringing for a servant and ordering coffee to keep them awake. Brent, however, realized it was for the purpose of quieting their nerves. Another half hour passed, and the silence was again broken by the striking of a large clock proclaiming the end of the first hour of a new day. After that things were not so quiet. Anthony, watching Brent, saw him stiffen and grip the arms of his chair. Then Brent asked, Did any of the servants have the night off, Tony? A No, answered Tony. Why? Because I felt a draft on the back of my neck, and I don't know who would be coming in at this time of night. Neither do I, Doug. Let 's find out who it was. - They both arose and entered a darkened room from which the stairs ascended to the floor above. Suddenly Douglas felt his arm gripped and heard Anthony whisper, Listen. Thus they stood and listened for a sound. A faint creaking reached their ears, and Brent muttered, They are going up- stairs. ' Standing there they saw the curtains of a

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THE LAUREL 13 Monarch who wrathfully sentenced him to be cast into the pit. He was taken outside of the city to a seemingly bottomless cavity in the earth, on the sides of which were jagged projecting rocks. He was not in the least disturbed by his intended fate for he well knew that he had the power to save himself. His manacles were released and he was cast down. As he fell he released the pull of gravitation on him. Accidentally striking his head on a rock as he fell he was sup- plied with the necessary impetus to arise. Another period of unconsciousness was brought on by this blow but not before he had a chance to see the terrified expression on the faces of his guards as they beheld him rising like a charmed spirit into the air. VVhen he next came to consciousness he was over the Mediterranean, fiying simi- larly as did Icarus of old. After this he returned home, surprised to find that his absence occupied a term of many years. The opportunity of reaping the rewards from his invention was never given to him, as I was the only one to whom he confided the above story. The night that he related this weird tale to me he informed me of his intention of immedi- ately selling his wonderful device to the Imperial German Government. I could see, however, that his mind was not so much upon this as it was upon the adven- tures he had had. And perhaps this is the reason that a few days later he seemed to have gone somewhat mad and because of this so-called madness people say on August 24, 1914, exactly ten years after his first disappearance, he drove his car over a cliff, causing his death. Whether this is so or not, remains to be discovered as his body is yet to be found. 1 '25. 8.8 THE MYSTERIOUS SPIDER T was in Los Angeles, that beautiful city of Southern California, in one of the main streets during the latter part of June. The rays of the pale moon seemed to make the even rows of palm trees stand out like waiting ghouls shrouded in misty grey, waiting, waiting for their expected victim. From one row of those waiting ghouls a black shape, which looked like a huge spider, glided forth. Nearing the side of a spacious white mansion it climbed spider- like up the inlaid wall and entered a dark- ened window. Douglas Brent awoke from a troubled sleep and looking at his wrist watch saw it was thirteen minutes past two. He shud- dered as he remembered an incident in a story he had been reading about a man tied in the bottom of a pit, and a great swinging sectometer drawing nearer and nearer. Even though Douglas was twenty-one years of age, he shuddered again for few people in this world are immune from the gruesome works of that great writer, Edgar Allen Poe. He suddenly shook himself and called himself an idiotic fool. He neverthe- less slowly opened the door and started to enter the corridor, when some strange power forced him to turn his eyes across the hall to the door of his host. I-Ie stood there spellbound at the horrible spectacle he beheld through the open door shadowed on the panels in the room opposite him. One shadow he recognized as that of An- thony Van Dyke, his host, because of his wonderful build. The other greatly resem- bled a four-legged spider which slowly rose on its hind feet and clapped the neck of young Van Dyke with its forefeet in a hor- rible embrace. There reached Brent's ears a gurgling gasp for breath which awoke him to his senses. Rushing to his room he seized a pistol which hung on the wall and jumping to the door discharged it at the devilish shadow. But when he reached the room of his friend he saw nothing but the body of Anthony stretched his full six feet on the floor. Then glancing to the window he saw a shadowy flash and the horrible specter was gone. It was a full half hour before Anthony with a gasp for breath and a fluttering of

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THE LAUREL 15 window blow inward, and a shadowy form enter and lower the window. Anthony, edging along the wall to the light switch, bumped into a chair. Although the noise was hardly audible, just as the lights came on Brent saw the form swiftly climb the stairs and enter a room. Looking' at the window, he saw caught beneath it a tiny piece of black cloth and said to Anthony, It 's the same as the man wore we saw at the window. just as Anthony bent to look at it, the lights went out. They have pulled the main switch, he cried and ran for the door just as the Thing , as they had named the huge spider, emerged. Anthony, knowing that he could not stop in time to avoid a colli- sion, almost cried out as he remembered those horrible clutches. Suddenly a black clad arm grasped him around his waist. He felt himself raised in the air and placed on the stairs. Then the shadowy form dis- appeared. Looking. he saw the Thing approach- ing Brent who was back to it and cried, Look out, Doug, it 's behind you. With a bound Doug cleared the library table and was beside Anthony. All right, he cried, let 's go, and started up the stairs three at a time. Gaining the ,top they looked down and saw the Thing laboriously climbing after them. Without second thought they raced along the long hall and descended the back stairs, which led to the kitchen, continued through it, waking old Tom, the colored servant, and opened the door to the dining room where they were astonished to see the large light flicker and gain its full power. Brent started to speak when Anthony grasped his arm and pointed to the switch which they had left behind them. As they advanced into the room, he saw a black cold arm grasp around the edge of the door, find the switch and turn off the light. In. the darkness they sensed that the arm was being followed by a body and that a long arm was beckoning them to follow. As though in a trance they obeyed. The unknown mounted the stairs and continued along the corridor to the room of Anthony and opened the door. The light streaming forth into their faces blinded them for a short time and forced them to turn their eyes away. When they again looked into the room they both shud- dered. For lying on the floor was the form of a man and bending over him was a short, thick-set man clad in a dark grey uniform of a strange type, whose iron-grey beard and hair were matted and clotted with dried blood. While they watched, they saw this strange person slowly drop to his hands and knees and with teeth bared like some fero- cious animal advance.to the still form on the floor. A door slammed, both Douglas and Anthony jumped, while the strange in- truder slowly turned and fastened strong, gleaming green eyes on them, and slowly approached them with a peculiar, spider- like motion. Anthony and Douglas stood rooted to the Hoor, having neither the strength or will power to move. They stood there, growing sleepy and their vision hazy, while that strange monster drew slowly nearer and nearer them. When but a few feet away, he rose to his feet and stretched long, talon-like hands to within a foot of their throats, teetered back and forth, and was just gathering himself to spring at them, when a black clad arm was thrust between their heads. This arm was headed by a short-nosed, ugly looking automatic pistol which was discharged point blank into that horrible face. Douglas and Anthony, thus aroused from the stupor into which they had fallen, turned only to be confronted by the same black clad, ghost-like person, when a hand slowly ascended and snatched the mask from the face of the black clad man.