Freeport High School - Clarion Yearbook (Freeport, ME)

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LITERARY the man with the yellow madness. After Amos had carefully recounted the gold nuggets, more precious to him than life, he hid them in the toe of a darned stocking which he concealed under a cobble st-one of the hearth. Then Amos casually walked over to a tiny cot in the chimney corner where a small head covered with golden ringlets pecped above the crazy quilt. This golden head belonged to Polly Slatts, Amos' only daughter, to whom he commonly referred as it , The mother had died when Polly was two years oldg and so for the past three years she had lived under the unsym- pathetic protection of her gold-craving father in a tiny log cabin situated in the southern part of the Sacramento Valley. Having had no children to play with, Polly scarcely knew that there were such beings as herself. Her only playmate was a large collie, named Bruno. Although Amos, father had been a vcry religious man, Amos never had had any leanings in that direction, and therefore he had been turned out of the family to shift for himself. After roaming here and there for six years, he landed at Sacramento, but the gold craze crushed him as it did all the other seekers, and like King Midas, nothing but gold, gold, gold could bring content. Yet in spite of his irritation and Wrath, little Polly seemed to sense that it wasnit her father's true self that made him whip and beat her. Although she had never known him otherwise, she loved him dearly. Tonight as Amos leaned over the cot, he whispered to the sleeping Polly, Ah ! Little one 1 After I send ye ter the home, I'll certainly miss givin' yer yer daily lickin's-but then, it on- ly takes up time, I s'pose, when I might be gittin, some blast- in' did with Felix and Jim clown the ole mine l The next morning Amos and Polly were up at five thirty. After the customary scanty and quiet breakfast Polly timidly asked, Daddy gonna let Bruno an' Polly go ter mine wid him I9

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15235. l ,f lap 4 ' Y XX Z 119 5 ff? he lsr f , N fx -s X M 2 . J if l xx lm' K 7 mf .,-.sy 'z l l D fl -rglsx literary Ube lpcllow llbabness Now let me see-fifty-one, fifty-two, fifty-tliree, tifty-four! --Ah! Just-er-ei'-four, tive, six-Oho! I have it now! -exactly six more precious nuggets and I can ship it to Ariz- ona-yes! to the home in M:'1.yton l-Six more-an' Ioughtu git 'em tomorrow l Then the world and the gold around hero will be mine! Mine! lfVith no ynppin' kid under foot ter bother ine l This cursing monologue burst forth, half shouted and half Whispered, from a gruff man of six feet, heavily bezwded, poor- ly clad and grimy, who wus known to every one as Amos Slatts, I8

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THE OLARI ON 'is I1lO1'DlD,? Polly lonesome yes'day, Daddy-please--ain't yer gonna let us go Daddy ? Shut up! Stop yer whinin'l Ain't I thinkin' on th' sub- ject? W al, if it'll sats'fy yer any, and seein' yer ainlt been down fer two weeks, Pll let yer go-if you and Bruno will keep from under hoof l Understand ? Yes, Daddyf, said Polly, her face beaming with pleasure, I'll promise to be real awful-the goodest l kin be, if ye'll let Polly go ln Grit on yer duds then, an' make it snappy. I'm late as it is this mornin', an' if I find yer loiterin' behind, Pll give yer th' Willer switch and send ye home I U nderstand? Whereupon they set out for the mine. Inside of a half hour Amos was at his work with his partners, Felix and Jim. Polly 77 and Bruno scampered over the piles of discarded ore, ran through the shafts and tunnels in order to keep from under hoof? I judge we'd better git busy an' blast the inner vein this rnornin', said Amos to Felix and Jim. I will be our last ehanee of gitting anythin' outa this cursed mineg so might as well git it did up quick, eh ? They all agreed and soon the holes were bored for blasting, and the tapers were lighted. The three men ran back at a sen- sible distance from the mine-then BANG- l-up went dirt and rock into the air-and with a terrible crash came down to earth I Wal, if there ainit any gold in that there middle vein now -I'll eat my Sl1lI't-UllKlCl'StfLllil ? laughed Amos hysterically. He was the 'lirst one to reach the middle vein, and there his eyes feasted upon the glittering nuggets which studded the sul- len walls. Ah l Here it is l I l1ave found it li' he shouted to his partners. ILM was certainly here,-yes, there with him-not in the Walls, but at his feet-there it lay, his only daughter, Polly, her golden hair mingled with the yellow nuggets on which her 20