Gardiner Area High School - Quill Yearbook (Gardiner, ME)

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16 THE QUILL I see, after all, there is something of interest to be said about even so small, yet useful, objects as we are. Well, so much for my history. I was born in the Brooklyn Pin Factory. I can't remember a great deal about my early life, but I do rememberithat I didn't have much individuality because there were so many more like me. I was pushed into a piece of folded paper with many of my brothers and sisters and sent to a dime store. When we arrived, we were placed on a counter and there we stayed for about two weeks. All around us customers were purchasing many of us. We were bought by a kind- looking lady. When we arrived at our des- tination, we were taken out of the shopping bag and put away in a c'rawer. I was about the tenth one of us to be used. A boy about twelve years of age took me and put me in the front of his shirt where a button was missing. I guess he was in too much of a hurry to have his mother sew one on be- cause he hurriedly put on a thick sweater and grabbed some shoes that had silver blades on them. After that I don't remem- ber exactly what happened until I heard the boy talking gruffly to himself. In a few minutes I was taken from the shirt, bent, and put into a shoestring which I found the boy had broken. For a while my pride was crushed, but I soon got used to it. When we got back to the house, I was straightened out again. Having been cramped up for so long I nearly broke in two. The next day, which I found to be Monday, I was taken to a building that is called a school. As the boy I was carried by was in a mischievous mood, he used me in school much to the annoyance of the girl in front of him and also of the teacher. At last, as the teacher approached the boy, I was dropped to the floor and given a kick. I landed in a crack of the floor, and here I have remained for a long time. Many a janitor's broom has swept over my head, nearly taking me with it, but I suppose I shall stay here until I rust into oblivion. -Margaret I-Iayford, '40 RIDING A HORSE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN RIDDEN Have you ever ridden a horse that has never been ridden before? Well, if you haven't, your education has been sadly neglected. I was walking in my grand- mother's pasture one day when I saw an old white horse in the next field. My freak ideas usually come upon me very quickly, and I discovered myself climbing the fence with a strong desire to ride that horse. Knowing to whom he belonged, I knew he had never been ridden, and I thought it was high time he should have the experi- ence. The old horse wasn't cross and I wasn't afraid, but, thank goodness, nobody was around. You should have seen the expression on the poor horse's face when I tangled my hand in his mane and proceeded to climb on. Being a work horse, he was very high, and I was very short. With a great leap I was on, only to fall off the other side. Well, one side was as good as another to me, perhaps not for the horse, but any- how it worked. One hand in the tail and another in the mane was the combination I was sure. A pull and I was up, only to fall off over the tail. The fence! Why hadn't I thought of that before. However, the fence was barbed-wire and I was bare- footed, so that didn't work. If I could only get that horse under the limb and make

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THE QUILL 15 three men I finally succeeded in reaching the saddle. There I sat, my feet glued to the horse's stomach, looking longingly at my friends on terra firma, who looked like the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels. I felt as Humpty-Dumpty must have felt on the wall. Now for a pleasant hour in the ring. Following about five others, my horse be- gan to walk. We were coming along fine, when that dreaded command of trot rang in my ears. An instructor told me to kick the horse in the ribs as I observed the others doing. So I did, and the horse started up. The stirrups slipped away from my feet, and I was practically lying on the horse's back, which felt as if it were going to sink right down when it would suddenly spring up. That terrible feeling went on until that lifesaving command of walk and halt was given by the instructor. I more or less fell off the horse and limped back to my cabin where I belonged. A horse was certainly no place for me. -Natalie Goodspeed, '40 TODAY'S THE DAY Today is the day to begin. Stop wander- ing aimlessly through the days waiting for tomorrow to come. If you have an ambi- tion to fulfill, begin by working gradually and get some success behind you. For ex- ample, take any famous person. Those who could be sincerely considered as worth while all had to begin at the beginning- even as you and I. They had to climb the ladder of success, step by step. Some may have tottered halfway up, neverthe- less, they reached the top. In comparison, name a few who gained success, overnight, as it were. Tomorrow, they find themselves where they started because they had built no stable foundation to their mansion that towered into the sky. Then there is another class. These remind me of a small child, who, when just learning how to read, will repeat the first few, dirty, thumbed pages over and over, proud of the fact he has mas- tered these few words and lacking the desire to proceed into farther realms because he is unacquainted with them. I fully realize that I'm not capable of ex- pressing it as would a more experienced per- son. Irving said, when all the contempo- rary authors made contributions in honor of Shakespeare, that he wanted to add his share. Likewise, I have made a poor at- tempt, but for a different reason. One thing, at least, everyone can comprehend from my witches' cauldron of words, and that is: start today -tomorrow will be too late! -Ellen Pomerleau, '40 THE STORY OF A CCDMMON PIN First, I shall tell you a little of my history. My early ancestors came from England to America. My great-great grandfather was born in America in 1812. Not many of us were brought into the world until 1836, when the Howe Company was organized. Many superstitions prevail about us, the origin of which is unknown. See a pin and pick it upg all the day you'll have good luck. I-Ie that would steal a pin would steal a greater thing. See a pin and let it lie, then in want you'll come to die. You

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THE Q UILL 17 him stay! So I took his very long, accom- modating mane and tied a wire to it and tied that to the tree. It worked! I was on to stay, I hoped. My poor horse was flabbergasted. For five minutes he stood trembling. At the end of that time he came to his senses and did some fancy stepping. I was a good rider and calmly patted him, but it did no good. Soon he took a notion to jump the fence. Remember, I had no saddle or halter. We made it, and he headed for the woods with me still on. Back in the field a very much baffled man was looking for his very much baffled horse. The horse was giving me a fine ride. Soon he stopped from sheer exhaustion, and I got off for a minute and started to lead him back. Finding the walking hard, I got on and we rode very easily and also took the fence nicely. You should have seen the poor man's face when he thanked me for finding his horse and bringing him back. The horse was broken and so was I. -Mary Goud, '41