Fryeburg Academy - Academy Bell Yearbook (Fryeburg, ME)

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I2 THE ACADEMY BELL The chimney's rough and rudely made, The doorstep gray and old. The ancient windows there let in The rain and wind and cold. No sign of splcndor's seen within, No walls with paintings hungg But it's suggestiveness of peace Glows like the morning sun. Its Floors are rough and gray and bare. From countless treading feetg But, as to birds their humble nest To me it's a retreat. Beyond the pomp of palace line, Or mansion, stately, tall, Beyond all others, humbler far, It's yet the best of all. :la Far liner than the richest place Or ancient hall of Rome, To me ,it's dearer than the rest i Because it's home-my home! 4 And there aloige I'll happy be, My cares will pass away, And there in joyful blissful peace Await tle end of day. There all the sorrow, grief. and care Witliin me day and night Will fade away like stars at dawn VVhen comes the morning light. RAYMOND COTTON. VALEDICTORY. THE END OF THE TRAIL. The End of the Trail seems to me a big subject when I begin to realize that there are all kinds of trails, but the more l think of it, the more I believe that none of these trails really end. Let us conslder a few of them and see if this is not true. Life is the big trail. the broad highway along which we travel from childhood. The entrances to many smaller trails dot the sides of it and are visible to us as we pass by. lVe have the liberty of ex- ploring any of these, of choosing any one that we like. But we find to our surprise that each one evidently lea back to the main trail with its obstacles to be overcome and its pleasant places to be enjoyed. So we journey until we reach the end of the trail, across which a veil is drawn. There is no escape from the trail at this point. XVe must pierce the veil, beyond which lies Eter- nity. Some of us will do it with fear and trembling. others with confidence. But there is no need of fear, for the end of life is but the beginning of a bigger, broader trail where we shall start anew. All stages of life are the same. Take childhood, for instance. This is a short but beautiful trail. Tall trees border the sides of it: velvety green grass grows beside itg a delicious perfume floats through the balmy air. issuing from the iranv Howers of delicate shades and tints which are sprinkled through the grass on either side: beautiful birds with bright pfumage trill and warble as they flit from branch to branch: above, not a cloud mars the serenity of the blue heavens. Everything is calm, peaceful and lovely. Below, there are no jagged stones in the path for the little feet to stumble against as they toddle along, neither are there any sharp turns around which lurk unknown dangers. True, an occasional storm-cloud looms up on the horizon, but it is not often a very large one nor does it stay very long. The journey down this trail is over all too quickly and the end is soon reached. But wait! Is it the end? No. Upon

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THE ACADEMY BELL ll thcusands of brave men were killed and miilmns of dollars' damage done to the country. Even when we think of the great cost of the war, both in lives anf' money, we cannot help but think of the results. Wlhfn the Civil lVar ended, we ha'l changed from a slave-holding coun- try to a nation in which every man was equal. The quarrel between the North and SouLh xi as over. and, instead of two pe'ty nations always fighting each other. we were still one great republic. On the evening of April ll, 18155, a wave of sorrow swept over the coun- try: for ton that evening while President Lincoln was attend'ng a theatre in Wlash- irglon, a miserable, half crazy actor named Vtlillzes Booth, stepped into the lox and shot the President in the back of the head. The next morning, surrounded by his family and offical friends, Abraham Lincoln died. lliords have no power to tell the worth of Abraham Lincoln. llis name, linked with the immortal W'ashington's, is forever enshrined in the hearts of the American people, for he was the savior of our country as Wash- ington was its founder and father. liarly in the morning of April ti, 1917. a resolution declaring a state of war be- tween the United States and Germany, was passed by Congress. For the first time in over a century we were at war with one of the great foreign powers. As ljresident Wilson said, The great fact that stands outabove all the rest is that this is a peoples, war, a war for freedom and justice, a war to make the world safe for the people who live in it and who have made it their own.', Our presence in the war brought victory for the Allies and Germany was crushed. Thus far I have mentioned dates which are important to every American citizen. My tenth date is important to a certain few who are gathered in this church this afternoon. To us, this day, June 12, 1923, is of vast importance, for it marks the ending of one of the happiest peri- ods of our lives-our four years at Frye- burg Academy. . PERCY BURNELL. THE LAST JOURNEY. No more I care to hasten on Life's highway dull and long, No more I seek the while light's glare Nor tre cold indifferent throng. Our worldly ways no longer charm, hor give tl.e soul delight. What once gave pleasures now are gone Like shadows in the night. Sad longings at my heartstrings pullg To th.nk brings out distress, Back once again l long to go Where peaceful I may rest. Back to that hillside and that home To see the breaking dawn, And from the eastern windows watch The coming of the morn. ,Tis glorious at the dewy eve To watih the sun'ight fade. It's dismal here mid houses drear In smoke and dust and shade. And yet I see that coitage there, The stately tree before, The once white fence, the rose-bush near The ivy by the door. The house is faded, gray, and streak'd, Its roof is old and torn, Its doors are warped and spotted o'er, Tlie walls of trimming shorn.

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THE ACADEMY BELL 13 looking again we find that there is no end to childhood, only the beginning of youth. Thus it goes down through the ages. Next in consideration is a mountain trail. The beginning is just like walk- irg on level ground. for the slope begins very gradually. ln fact. it is so simple tliat you th'nk, My, this is easy! I'll soon be at the topfl llut that is a great mistake. For at first slowly, but finally very quickly, the trail begins to get steeper and rougher. Sharp rocks are strewn over the path and the roots of trees jut out into it at unexpected places to trip you disastrously. The trail be- comes still steeper. You stop to rest frequently, saying to yourself, This is1i't going to be as simple as I thought, but l guess I'll soon be theref' Perse- verance and the determination to reach the top prove to be good incentives for climbing. At last you arrive at the high- est peak. XVhat! you exclaim, star- ing ahead, there no end to this trail? However, after the first glance around, you become oblivious of all else but the glorious panorama spread before your eyes. Azure skies, huge, blue moun- tans with their peaks and ravines, and far away a glimpse of the valley with its farms and villages. Certainly it is a sight well worth the long, hard climb. Before you start back, take another look at the trail. Isn't there really any end to it? Vtlhy, so there isn't! 'It just continues and merges into the trail that leads downward on the other side. Now, I come to the best trail of all- the trail that we as a class have traveled for four years. lt has been a long trail, but we have passed quickly over it. Let us make a short resume of it. We were rather timid as we started because the path was strange and we did not know what new dangers might be awaiting us around the next turn. or what pitfalls might be underneath our feet. But nothing direful happened to us, and as we passed along the way we walked faster in proportion as our confidence increaseld. Obstacles were constantly being thrown in our way, but by dint of hard work we overcame them. XVe became stronger and braver with every step we took. The difhcult places were always broken up by easy pleasant ones before they became irksome. The temp- tations were many, but we passed them by without yielding, As seniors we have continued our triumphant march, sweeping all before us till we have reached this final victory-what seems the end of the trail. llut even as there was no end to the other trails which I have mentioned, so there is no end to this one. Rightly were these exercises named Commencement, for that is what they are, the commencement of new things, the dawn of a new life. Honorable Trustees, it is to you that we owe the privilege of attending Frye- burg Academy-a privilege that we have enjoyed for four years. Before we leave we wish to thank you for the op- portunities you have offered us, for the interest you have manifested in us. Speak- ing for my class, I thank you and bid you farewell. Teachers of Fryeburg Academy, you have labored long and diligently with us, trying to infuse a little knowledge