Farmington High School - Laurel Yearbook (Farmington, ME)

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22 THE LAUREL looked at it. True enough she had no one buried there but it looked so pitiful and it would be so little work to only cut the tall- est weeds down. Tonight Barbara seemed to see this cemetery in her dreams. The old broken-down fence, the cracked monu- ments, almost hidden by weeds, looked as natural as John himself. While her mind's eyes rested on this scene a curious thing happened. A bird flew out of the weeds. It soared gracefully along to the next house, where it peeked at the window, then it turned and flew in the direction of the window in which Barbara was standing. An unexpressable horror came over her. It must not!! It can not come here! she thought and she knew not why. Evidently the bird had no intentions of conforming to her wish for it advanced swiftly and pecked at her window as at the other house and then back it flew to the cemetery. A strange, still sadness seemed to take possession of her then but this was soon forgotten for she awoke and it was morning. It was a delightfully beautiful day. All the world appeared to be happy but Junior was not. He lay in a stupor with Barbara hovering nearby. John had gone for the doctor. To crown this unhappy situation, Mrs. Colby, the next door neighbor, came in overcome with grief, her tiny daughter was dead ! She had burned to death playing with matches! Then for the first time Barbara remem- bered her dream! Now she understood Junior's sudden illness! Junior who had never been sick before! She became re- signed to her fate and even the Doctor's arrival brought little hope. Another disappointment and the bitterest of them all, she thought. She could not believe her ears when she heard the doctor saying that Junior would recover in a few days but her joy when she fully understood was very evident. She was really going to keep junior which was really the most wonderful thing anyone could ask for. lk lk Ik Ill if It Barbara was sitting on her piazza sew- ing. A call from junior drew her attention to a bird's nest he had discovered in the no longer untidy graveyard. V. Mills, '26. -LL A CHECKED TALE OST of us will agree that on Friday night, after a week of hard study, this particular pastime holds little attrac- tion. This state of affairs faced Madge Saun- ders as she lazily peeled an orange, and watched the snowflakes falling thickly by the arc light outside. Why can't I go over to Ruth's? she pouted, as her mother came into the room. It would be foolish to walk over there in this blizzardf' was the reply, Why don't you do a cross word puzzle, you've taken quite a vacation from them? Though Madge did not answer, the sug- gestion was apparently not in vain, for she immediately began to explore the papers. The first she flung down in disgust, remark- ing that a puzzle of two letter words was made for work, not for fun, and the next, pertaining entirely to history, received a similar remark. .Then suddenly inspired, she produced a sheet of square paper and decided to make a satisfactory one herself. This might as well be a good sized one, she thought, as she checked off twenty squares on each side and Filled in a small designg then, placing a dictionary in front of her she set to work. Slowly the spaces were filled and rapidly the pile of books around her grew, chem- istries, astronomies, histories and encyclo- pedias were wonderingly searched for an unheard of word with twelve letters ending in act i' and beginning with zel, or a three letter word with the suffix qb.

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THE LAUREL 21 Maurice and Louise were small .children and Mrs. Cote had worked hard to support her family. His best friend, Bob Garrett, had gone with him. For a while glad reports came from the boys and always money ac- companied the letters. Then the letters ceased to come and no word was received from Maurice. Two years went by and Bob returned only to tell them that Maurice had disappeared. As Lou sat there by the radio she fell to musing, that violin solo had sounded so much like her brother's playing. She could almost see him as he had stood in the little kitchen, the light falling on his strong features as he played 4' Salut D'Amour. Soon Bob returnedg the same thought had occurred to him. Then for the first time since his return he told Lou what he knew about Maurice. He said that Maurice had had a fine position when he had failed. One night after the theatre when he and Maurice were riding home in a taxi an ac- cident occurred injuring the driver. Leav- ing the man in hands of the police Maurice and Bob went quickly away to avoid publicity. The next morning when Bob went to Maurice's room he found that Maurice had gone and although Bob had hunted for him everywhere he could never find him. An idea came to Lou but she said nothing. Before going to bed she wrote to the broadcasting station asking who the violin player was and why he was in prison. Sometime after, Lou got a letter telling her that the convict was Maurice Cote who had been convicted of killing a taxi driver and had been sentenced for life. Lou took Bob into her conndence and the two began to plan. Bob went to the city and took up the case with a competent lawyer. It was found that the injuries to the head of the taxi driver had made him insane. He had known Maurice's name and had told the officials that Maurice had attacked him making him lose control of the car which caused the accident. The man had died soon afterward. Maurice had been tricked by dishonest lawyers and was sentenced for life. Bob brought up enough old evidence and secured a pardon from the governor and soon Maurice was set free. Some evenings later the same group sat in the humble kitchen only now all the faces were happy for in their midst stood a stalwart young man playing on the violin and charming his listeners by the strains of Salut D'Amour. M. McLea1'y, '25. ll HAPPINESS AT LAST RS. WILLIAMS sighed as she sat hemming pillow cases, in her tiny living room. She was thinking of her past life which she pictured as a weary dream from which she sometimes awoke only to find herself sliding back to the same old routine. As a child she belonged to a large family, which consisted mainly of boys, so she had always been obliged to do a great deal of drudging housework. Later she had be- come a grade teacherg life had seemed quite wonderful then, and she began to en- joy the carefreeness which all youth loves, for the first time in her life. She was married after a very short courtship as it was a case of love at first sight. john was a lawyer on the island where they had settled. His hopes were highg he was bound to succeed, but suc- cess seemed to be slow in coming, and he was learning as everyone does sooner or later that Rome was not built in a day.'7 Barbara arose to see if John and their son, Junior, were in sight yeta The sight of the flaming sunset somewhat revived her spirit as she watched it slowly fade away. The family soon arrived and after the evening meal all three went to bed, there being nothing else to do. lk lk ik Ill il lk In plain view of her bedroom window there was an old neglected cemetery, which seemed to reproach Barbara whenever she

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THE LAUREL 23 At ten o'clock it was completed and re- ceived due praise from the family. Saturday was the kind of a day that always follows a heavy storm, bright and sunshiny. About nine thirty Madge was awakened by three of her friends, who were pulling her out of bed to go snow- shoeing with themg none of them were in any hurry so Madge took her time to dress, chattered and laughed while the others over school events and studies. I went to bed at eight just imagine! last night, Ruth remarked, I can't re- member when I've done such a rash thing before. This reminded Madge of her evening's work, searching through the waste basket she soon extracted a crumpled paper, which she tossed carelessly to her friends, while explaining many of the amusing words. Looks of astonishment came over all their faces when they beheld this work of art. Eagerly they plied her with such ques- tions as Where did you ever find that crazy word? and Please define Xylobal- samun, I'd like to spring it in English class. Then as they handed it back, she again put it in the waste paper basket, and pronounced herself ready for the hike. The air was very sharp and frosty, so after tramping through the woods for two hours, they all returned with good appetites. As Madge entered the house her mother called, Didn't you have a four letter word that meant beautiful, last night? Yes, I'll go and look it up, was the reply, but sorting the contents of the waste basket revealed no puzzle. This seemed strange for she knew positively that she had put it there, and no one had been into the room since she left. I can't find the puzzle but I think the word was 'fine,' Madge called down the stairs. -or :of as ak ak ak Four busy weeks followed at school, and one evening Madge had just started up- stairs with her books, preparatory to study- ing, when she heard the mail box click, so she stopped to pick up the mail. There seemed to be only her father's newspaper, until upon shaking it, a letter fell out, a long business envelope with her own name typewritten upon it. Hastily opening it, she read the following: You will find enclosed twenty-five dollars, which is the first prize given by this magazine for the best cross-word puzzle submitted. Your puzzle will appear in our next issue. She carefully examined the envelope again, yes, that was certainly her own name and address, but how did the puzzle reach them? Her parents were as much surprised as she, and they had no idea who could have sent it in. For the next few minutes the telephone received steady use, but Madge had al- ready decided that Ruth was the guilty one, and finally she confessed. This money is yours, declared Madge, I should have thrown that puzzle into the stove and never looked at it again. I should say not, was the emphatic reply, I put it in a stamped envelope and addressed it, marked effort and intelligence on my part. Well to settle it we'll divy, was the conclusion, and this was just what they did. E. Taylor, '26. -LA THE MASQUERADE AND ITS OUTCOME F all the important weeks that Fair- dale High School had ever experi- enced, this was the most memorable one in the eyes of some, that had ever existed. For not only was the big yearly Masquer- ade to be held on Friday night, but there was also to be the annual Junior-Senior debate on the following evening. Up to this time, the rivalry between the two classes had been purely friendly and very sportsmanlike, but for some reason, there was rather a secret feeling of bitter- ness this year, such as had never existed before.