Hartland Academy - Ripple Yearbook (Hartland, ME)

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they started to search him, his fists :began to fiy. Tain't fair! one cried out. No sir!, shouted another, He's supposed to let us shoot him down. The leader, a red-headed youth pounded his fist on the desk. 0rder! he shouted, Rat, we're going to do something worse than shoot you. We're going to starve you and then hang you. So there! Johnny looked at the old clock on the shelf. Jeepers, five o'clock! Maw'll kill me if I ain't home for supper on time. I'll see you guys after school tomorrow and we'll play war again. -Ruth Pearson, '46 A TEST BLACKOUT Oh! I must hurry with these dishes, thought poor Mr. Peabody, whose wife is in the WACS, Or I will be late for the Black- out. Today was Friday the thirteenth, and Mr. Peabody, who was very superstitious had dreaded the day. Not only had he cut his fin- ger but he had also burned the meat to a crisp. While he was drying the last dish, the Blackout signals blew. He was an air raid warden, and he always responded immediately to the call. He began shaking and trotting around like a hen scurrying after her chicks. Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Where did I leave my wraps? he whimpered. Everything went well until he had gone three blocks up the street. There he saw a house aglow with lights. He started up the walk bolldly when he heard a sudden barking and roaring. Instantly he wheeled and ran like mad. When he reached the security of a distant street corner, he stopped, and thought, I must put those lights off: it is mv dutv. Back he went, and sneaked along and out be- -hind the house, when something struck him sharply over the eye. It was a clothesline post. Giving the task up as an impossible iob, he went back to the street and shouted. Put out those lights! He stood there and saw them extinguislmeld. With this mission accomplish- ed, he commenced running away because a horrid monster in the shape of a tiny bulldog was chasing him. He continued his work with a few mishaps, and then saw more lights. He rushed up to the house and shouted for the inmates to put out the lights. With no results he crept up the walk watching carefully for a dog. He rapped on the door, but got no answer. At last he wrote down the number in disgust, and walked away, swearing at ineiiicient people. over, he went to After the Blackout was headquarters to make his report. He claim- eld loudly that the persons living at 237 Elm Street should be lectured severely as to the rules of a Blackout. Anyone who takes no interest in a Blackout or forgets and goes away leaving the lights on, should be penal- ized. When he had finished, the chief turned to him, and said, Abner, don't you live at 237 Elm Street? -Jack Neal, '46 CALL-ING ALL STUDENTS Calling all students! Calling all students! Wanted! Rosco Roughneck, for violently disturbing the peace in the auditorium and elsewhere. Last seen walloping Cuthbert Meek as he plowed down the aisle. License number not available, but culprit arrested previously on charges of speeding down cor- fridors, sideswiping one and all by the water fountain, destroying pwblic property, and suspected of upsetting the American flag! Wanted: Miss Demeanor, for defacing school property, chewing gum in assembly, coming hair in public. Last seen wearing a soiled skirt and shrunken sweater. Wanted: Blewey Bluff of Chatter Corner for trving to take over Miss Biank's study ball. Guiltv of: mumbling stupidly, rattling papers, whispering devotedly, dropping anv- thing at hand. sharpening pencils needlessly. adjusting windows and curtains at three min- ute intervalsl, and whistling through teeth. Last seen throwing chalk at Mr. Bookworm. Wanted: Flosisie Flirt, for making passes at innocent Freshmen boys. using excessive make-up, speaking in a loud voice to attract the attention of all, interested or uninterest- ed, writing mushy notes in class. Last seen wearing a collection of boys' club pins, class rings, and army insignia. Wanteld: Willie! De Wolfe. for stealing other guys' girls, whistling openly on all nc- casions at girls, giving the dated damsel a line breaking up high school romances. Last seen wearing a light blue tweed jacket and fiourishing a gilded cigarette lighter. Under suspicion of monopolizing sophomore girls. Wanted: fdead or alive, preferably the -I 20 1-

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dy yet, he thought, Gee, it's wonderful to be home. Home! Maybe he hadn't learned the meaning of that word during the past two years of fighting. How quiet it seemed. Why, even the noise of the elevated and the remem- bered roar of the sulbway seemed quiet be- sides the guns' roar that he was accustomeid to now. It's nice to be able to walk securely and not have to keep looking behind, always expecting' one of those slant eyed .laps to pop you off. What's the use of reliving that hell? Nights were still full of nightmares. He wondered how long it would be before he could fully realize that he was home, and safe! Funny, people are so understanding about the leg. They don't pry about with questions of how it happeneld, and did it hurt, and all that stuff. But then, that's the American peo- ple, the people that he gave the leg for. Any- way, it's a help to avoid' all those questions because it's hard adjusting to being home. Ann is swell about it too. In fact, she and Mom are most swell of all. S'pose the people who love you would naturally be. Here's the corner. Remember the fun with the boys playing marbles here? Golly! How we did hate to go on to school after the noon hour here. It was a perfect corner to play marbles on. The hole for the pot was gone, but memory puts it back completely, right where it belonged. Well, almost home now. Mom and Ann will be waiting and anxious. Mom said not to hurry, but she'll want him there for dinner. Mom's dinners-another thing worth fighting for, and boy, were they good? -Beverley Wood '44 MY FIRST AIRPLANE RIDE Never, if I live to be a thousanld, shall I forget my first airplane ride. It held excite- ment and more sensations than anything I 'had ever experienced. Did you ever ache to do something that you were scared to death to do? And did your skin ever get all goose pimples and your teeth clatter on the hottest day of the year? If you've been through that, you'll know exactly how I felt. I made my first ascent in Bangor. The plane was, a large one, capable of carrying seventeen or eighteen passengers. Anyway, I seemed to be all rigiht until I saw two or three people come down. They said they wouldn't advise anyone to go up just then, so I didn't feel so gay. At that moment of indecision, the man who opened the door -I don't know what you'd call him-pointed his finger at me and shouted, Nez-rt! I hoped that the ground would open up and swallow me on the spot. The ground 'did tremble a little, or was it my kneesm? Encouraged by the shaking. I stood a moment waiting to be swallowed up. No such luck, however, and in another mo- ment I was actually inside the thing, holding hands very tightly with myself. I silently -thought I would like to swap places with the lowest creature on earth. I' gave one long last look at the surrounding landmarks. and thought of all the good times I had had there. Then we were starting skyward. I distinctly remembered eating breakfast that morning. so I can't account for the hollow feeling in the bottom of my stomach. To my intense relief, it was great fun after the first few moments of anguish. Neverthe- less, throughout the trip I didn't trust myself to let go of my own hands! When we came down, it was too soon for me. An airplane ride is like an oliveg you have to learn to like it -Ivan Crocker, '44 WAR Johnny crept as quickly as he could, without taking the chance of being seen, behind' a vacant shack. He hoped his enemies hadn't seen him, for it would surely mean destruc- tion of him.. It was he against a battery of perhaps fifteen. What chance had he? He sat down on the damp ground and breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't seen him! He sat there motionless for five minutes, his gun ready to shoot if he heard the slight- est movement. I gotta go on, he thought. He had run only a few yards farther when the bullets whizze-d around him. One struck his leg, and he sank to the ground. He threw his gun a few feet from him as several soldiers gathered about. They ordered him to march toward a small hut in the dis- tance. He limped ahead of them. They shoved him through the door. The masked chief made his voice ve1'y gruff when he spoke. Search him for hidden wea- pons, and then to Johnny, Have you any- thing to say before you are courtmartialed? Nothing, he answered meeklyg but when -E 19 1-

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formerj Kidd Quizzer, not known to be vio- lent, but sly and crafty. Accused of luring teacher off the subject, asking nonsense questions, copying another's assignment, ad- libbing bright remarks. for time benefit of all, expressing at great length his uninterest- ing opinions on trivial subjects. Last seen mis- leading a sub-freshman. Do YOU fall into any of these catagories? If so, get on the ball, fellow students, and strike for a more competent and happy stu- dent body. ' -Elwood Gray '45 DEATH IN THE PACIFIC This is a true story of one of Hartland Academy's graduates, Clifford Merrill, of St. Albans. After his training in this country, he was sihipped overseas' with his company on De- cember 23, 1943. Almost at once, Clifford volunteered for re- connaissance duty. Roi Island was the objec- tive. Clifford was put ashore in the night. At once he went forward anld hid. At dawn he .started scouting the land for roads on which to drive the tanks. It was here that the real excitement began. Ahead, back, and all around were Japanese, ready to shoot at any- thing moving. Clifford kept on. Finally he spotted three Japs in a shellhole. He threw a grenade, and as the smoke cleared away, he saw that two were dead and that the other had jumped from the hole and was running toward another. Clifford pulled up his rifie and shot. The Jap fell, turned over, and lay still. Clifford ran to him and seized his sword, the elaborate sword of a Japanese major. When Clifford got back to camp, there was a pressman to Whom he told his story. He was immediately offered one thousand dol- lars for the sworid by one of his ofiicers. However, Clifford did not sell it, instead it was forwarded to the Associated Press in Portland, Maine. Of course the publication of the story .caused great excitement in St. Albans. Wlhen at last a letter from Clifford reached home, he had written only, You probably have heard the news. I killed three Japs and got a sword. I am sending it home. On March 21, 1944, it arrived. The sword is of stainless steel, and sharp as a razor. Its handle is for two hands and is finely woven in the design of string. The scabbard is of heavy leather decorated with gold. The sword may be seen in a short time at the First National Bank, Pittsfield, Maine. -Allan 'Ilhorne, '47 FOR MY NIECES AND NEPHEWS: MRS. MINK'S HOLLOW LOG NURSERY If you were just a little mink, it's probable that you would think a h-ollow log a home as grand as any in the land. This was exactly the kind of home that Billy Mink had found. It was a very fine shel- ter and very cunningingly hidden. It was so .concealed that you and I might have passed it a hundred times without knowing there was anything there. It was no trouble at all for Billy and Mrs. Mink to keep it a secret. Some of the curious neighbors may have suspected that the Minks had a home, but none of them had the least ildea where it was. They didn't know whether it was up Laughing Brook or down the stream, and they couldn't get a hint from watching Billy or Mrs. Mink. It really was up the Laughing Brook, way up almost to the pond of Tommy the Beaver. Just below where the Laughing Brook made a splashing little waterfall was a small pool where trout lived. Just a few steps back from this pool was the bushy top of a fallen tree where a lot of rulbbish, such as leaves and sticks brought down by Laughing Brook in the spring, had collected. It was open at -one end, and it was warm and dry. There was plenty of room inside for a 'cozy comfortable residence. ' Billy Mink had not thought of it as a home when he showed it to Mrs. Minkg but Mrs. Mink's sharp eyes shone when she saw it. She had been up and down the river for a long distance, but she knew this was to be their home. So she set albout making it live- able. She made a good bed in the farther end. She spent most of her time there when she wasn't out hunting or fishing, or maybe en- joying an outing with Billy. Then one morning when Billy poked his head in to see why she didn't come out fislh- ing with him, he found a surprise. Mrs. Mink was not alone, there were five tiny babies, their eyes not even open. The old hollow log had become a nursery. Mrs. Mink allowed him to see the babies, anld then .she sent him about his business. However, he didn't. go far. He was so proud he couldn't bear to leave the hollow log. -I 21 1-