Hamilton High School - Hamiltonian Yearbook (South Hamilton, MA)

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Janet watched him until his broad back disappeared down the lane. The next morning Janet heard that he had left town. She bore bravely the slurring re- marks about him and wondered if she had stirred a little spark of patriotism in the heart of t he man she loved. Dick himself wondered why he didn’t want to enlist, but he seemed to have a deadly, sickening fear come over him every time he thought of himself all mangled or crippled. Janet had often told him how big and strong he was. How she would hate him, he thought, if he came back a helpless invalid. After he had left the little village he went straight to the Metropolis. Walk- ing along the street one day he saw one of Pershing’s veterans who had lost an arm and leg. The soldier still wore the uniform that had been through two hard battles. Crowds worshipped the hero. Women praised him and children saluted him. “Would Janet feel like that,’’ he asked himself, “if he came back maimed ' ?’’ He felt, as he thought it over, that her love for him would be stronger. Suddenly a feeling of shame crept over him — a strong, robust young man. He felt as if he had been asleep. His countiy needed him, and he responded to its call. For six long months Janet waited for a letter, but in vain. No one in that little New England village knew how she long- ed for the sight of Dick, and how she jirayed for his return. At la.st she could .stand it no longer. She had once been an operator, so she enlisted with a telegraph unit. On a bright sunny morning she left home, friends and all that she held dear to cro.ss the sea and help her country. She was ready — if need be — to make the supreme .sacrifice, for it would be a glori- ous death — dying for her country. Three miles behind the trenches Avhere some of the fiercest fighting had been go- ing on, a small hut stood like a solitary sentinel keeping guard. The guns could be heard rumbling, and, once in a while, flashes from giant shells illuminated the sky. The ruins of a little French village could be seen in the distance. Inside the hut a wireless outfit was set up, and only one operator was in sight. That was Janet. Her eyes were sunken and dark, and her face had not a vestige of color left in it. She had been on duty all day and night, and the dawn of an- other day was breaking. The great red sun crept up slowly and the bright rays it shed made Janet think how small her work in life was. She stood at the window gazing wearily out. The roar of the guns grew louder and louder. Her head throbbed, and she felt herself growing weaker. Suddenly a peculiar sound came to her ears. It was quite faint, but as she listened it grew louder. She ran to the door. A motor- cycle was coming up the field at break- neck speed. The rider slowed doAvn, and stopped a few yards from the hut. She ran to meet him just as he alighted and staggered towards her. He was a pitiful looking sight. A blood-soaked bandage was around his head — covering- one eye. His face was stained with earth, mingled with blood. Part of the sleeve of his uniform was shot away, and he was hatless. In one hand he held a paper. “Rush this to General B — ’’, he cried. His voice was hoarse and weak, and the last word was scarcely above a whisper. She ran to her apparatus, and the dis- patch-bearer .staggered to the door after her and fell face downward on the rough eai ' th floor. After she had sent the message, which was an order for reinfoi-cements, she turned her attention to the messengei-. Blood was flowing from the wound in his arm despite the handkerchief that Avas 4

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NOVEMBER The day is cold, and dark, and dreary ; It rains, and the wind is never weary ; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall. And the day is dark and dreary. My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary ; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast. And the days are dark and dreary. Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all. Into each life some rain must fall. Some days must be dark and dreary. “The Rainy Day’’ A poem from Longfellow representing the month will appear in each month’s issue of our paper. ROLL OF HONOR Boys formerly of the Hamilton Public Schools. Adams, Randell Durkee, Lester Libby, Furber Anderson, William Davis, Stoughton jMcGinley, Daniel Brumby, Leo Elder, William Merry, Harold Burns, John Frazer, Peter MacDonald, Finley Burton, Percival Frazer, Malcolm McGlaughlin, Charles Chittick, Robert Feener, Lester McGlaughlin, Bly Cross, Stephen Gibney, Clarence McGregor, Harry Cook, Horace Gibney, Norman Poole, James Cox, John Grant, Charles Porter, Harold Day, Alva Grant, Wari-en Peatfield, Irving Day, Ernest Green, Walter Ramsdell, Frank Daley, Victor Hughes, James Small, Richard Daley, Harold Kin.silla, James Stone, Charles Daley, Frederick Kinsilla, John Toner, Reginald Dodge, Ijouis Keloski, Peter Taylor, William Dui ' an, Petoi- Lowe, Burton V arnum, Roy Duran, Hugh Lowe, Gai ' dner Wallace, William Dufton, Roland Landers, William Williams, William THE SLACKER. “No, I cannot marry you, Richard. The man I marry must not be a coward.’’ These harsh words came from the lips of Janet Taylor, who had been engaged to Richard Moffit for two years. Now it was all over. Janet gave him back his ring sadly, but her- heart was determined and she would not swerve from her duty. “Good-bye, Janet. Think of me as well as you can.’’ He walked down the steps and went out the little white gate. 3

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bound on it. Tlie khaki of his uniform Avas now a dingy dirty gray. She turned him over. A look of recognition and of joy came into her face. The look changed to horror. Was he dead? She knelt beside him and put her ear to his heart. It was beating! Ilis eyelids fluttered and then opened. “Janet,” he whispered in a scarcely audible Avhisper, and what her reply was only Dick knows. LYNDALL MILLER, ’20. AMERICA TO FRANCE Nearly twenty years had passed since the great world Avar. This long period had been a very trying one for all, in the huge attempt to bring civilization once more to a normal state. At last hoAvever it seemed that the sacrifice had not been in vain. Prosperity Avas reigning once more, and people Avere beginning to for- get that there ever had been suffering. This feeling penetrated to the little tOAvn of B in south Avestern France until the remarkable discovery of Madam La Pie aroused the people once more to give greater honor to these soldiers Avho helped to crush autocracy, and to those nurses who gave their lives that the sol- diers might live. This discovery Avas in the form of a letter, Avritten by a French soldier, inclos- ed in a dark leather Avallet. It had recent- ly been uneaidhed by ploughing, Avhich accounted for the late date of discovery. Helen Layne and her brother Charles, enlisted for overseas duty Avhen America fii-st entered the Avar. Because of the necessary training Avhich the unexperienc- ed soldiers required before actual service, Helen reached France first. Among her first patients Avas a French soldier of very high rank. His Avounds AA ' ere so serious that for days his life had been disjAaired of, but Helen’s unceasing- care had finally brought him back to life. The loyal friend.ship which usually re- sulted in such cases Avas not lacking in this one. Helen and Jean became the best of friends, ahvays talking and jok- ing, and sometimes Jean confided some secrets that he possessed, for he kneAV her to be a stanch patriot. Soon after Jean left the hospital Helen, Avorn out from her long months of nurs- ing, broke doAvn completely and Avas sent to a private sanitarium for care. In the delirium Avhieh folloAved she gave away many of the secrets which Jean had told, not that they Avere particularly interesting but because she had heard them so re- cently. Days passed by, and one day came the astonishing neAvs that a famous telegraph station had been discovered by the enemy, and already many of their important mes- sages had been received. The paper said that the most astonish- ing thing Avas that the ti-aitor had been traced to Colonel Jean Val Lach, aa’Iio Avas the only person outside of the tele- graph operators to knoAv of this important post. At jAresent the Colonel could not be found. Helen Avas hoi-ror .sti-ickcn Avhen she read this teri-ible neAvs. She kneAv that Jean had never told, but hoAV had it ever leaked out? The more she thought about it, the terrible truth forced itself upon her. She Avent immediately to head(iuarters and gave herself up as a traitor, for she kneAv that this Avas the only thing to save Jean. In the trial that folloAved she refused 5