Higgins Classical Institute - Scroll Yearbook (Charleston, ME)

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I-I.C.I.SC ROLL 27 ii 4 - that night because of the snow-blocked roads. They had gone twenty miles away that morning to see his sick aunt and planned to return in the. afternoon. She tcld him that he might stay with his friend, Red Dillow, that night if he wished. Even Tommy's faithful collle, Laddy, seemed to realize the terrible predicament they were in. Tommy, though, gave up the idea of stay- ing with his friend because he wanted to win R,ed's approval more than anything else in the world, except to get the jacknife and compass that he wanted for Christmas. It had been Tommy's ambition ever since the secret club, of which Red was president, had been formed, to win Red's approval that he might also become a member. He was still pondering over his ambition when Red came across the yard. Tommy re- lated his small tale to Red who listened very attentively. Red invited him to stay over at his house that night but Tommy re- fused. They talked and had supper. Red told a strange st-:ry about the superstiti-ons of the former owners of the house. The queer old people declared that on stormy nights they saw lights in the woods, heard terrified screams, and saw white-robed figures rise frc-m the earth. Tommy listened in horror- strlcken silence while cold chills ran up and down his back. As Red started to leave, he invited Tommy -over again. When Tommy refused, because he was determined now, more than ever, to prove he was brave, Red reminded him that it was a very stormy night. After Red's departure, a dreadful quiet settled over the house, but he wou1dn't give in and call his friend. He decorated the Christmas tree but even with this diversion he couldn't erase from his mind Red's story. It must have been eleven cfclock when he ascended the stairs with Laddy close behind him. Finally he summoned enough courage to get into bed and turn off the light. A fearful hour had passed when he thought he heard a noise outside the win- dow. It grew louder and louder until it be- came a steady thump, thump, thump! He dared not move! His body grew rigid! His hands became as cold as ice! But what did he do? In desperation he sprang from his bed, dashed tc- the window, and flung open the shutter! There a twig from a tree by the window was being dashed against the house by the storm. He was so relieved that he flopped into bed and fell into a deep slum- ber. 'I'he next mcrning he was aroused by his mother telling him to come downstairs and open his Christmas presents. He uttered a cry of joy as he opened a, package contain- ing a jacknife and a compass. About two hours later, Red came over to find out what he got for Christmas. Tommy was just about the happiest boy in the world as he heard the words, I know the gan will be surprised when they find out that we have a new member in our club. Joan Johnson '47 'THE SCREAM One summer if llved with my aunt and uncle in the country in a large, old colonial building. There was a. rumor that the house had been -used by many, long forgotten people, whose ghosts came back at regular intervals to haunt the place. Now I don't believe there are ghosts and, of course, I thought, all that the people said was foolish. There was one night, however. that I do not like to remember and when I do, cold chills run up and down my spine. This particular night my aunt and uncle had gone to town leaving me alone in the house. I picked up one of those exciting books which make one's flesh crawl. Well, after reading half the book, I kept getting more and more uneasy at every little noise I heard. I looked, this way and that, around me but as I saw nothing and which I fervently hoped I would not, I re- sumed my reading. aI was reading one of the most exciting parts of the story--something like this- The man suddenly raised his arm, slashed down, and stabbed the old woman to death. Just as I finished that sentence I heard the most blood curdling scream that one could imagine. Even in the movies one never hears anything like that. The scream started in a low pitch, quickly ascending the scale until it nearly broke one's eardrurns. When it reached its highest note it broke off as abruptly as it had begun and silence reigned. I sat up straight as a ram rod and held my breath. I was petrified. I could feel the short hairs on the back of my neck suddenly come to attention and I wished I were so-me place else. After that awful scream I read on more but at first tried to whistlekas though that would keep my spirits up. I was a failure at whistling, let me tell you. Every time that I puckered up my lips to whistle, I would hear a noise: and my breath would just wheeze out of my mouth. I turned on the radio hoping that a nice musical program would make me feel bet- ter. Every station to which I turned seemed to have a murder mystery so I shut the radio off. In desperation I finally resolved to hunt

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26 H. C'. I.SC'ROLL THE DISASTER. OF WI-II'1'E'S BRIDGE At Sebago Lake, Wh1te's Bridge extends across the stretch of water which connects Jordan Bay with the Basin. The bridge is an enormous, aluminum-colored, steel struc- ture which serves as a meeting place for all the young people in the community. Some of the most daring and adventurous of the crowd dive from the top of the bridge into the fast-moving waters forty feet below. It was a hot summer afternoon and a crowd of us were diving off the bridge and swimming in the lake. Some of us were try- ing new dives while others were showing off their skills. Amidst the gayety and laughter a cry for help was heard. Not much attention was paid to the plea because that is a practical joke among the lake crowd. The joke ceased to be funny as we saw Jim Churchile, our pal, sink below the surface of the water. Clayton Churchile, Jim's brother dove in after him and pulled him to the surface. O. K. brother, please stop fooling and swim ashore. After Clayton had swum ashore he looked back and Jim had disappeared. Everyone screamed for help as three of us volunteered to dive for him. I was nervous as I heard the panic-stricken crowd, but I plunged in- to the inky black waters. As I kept going downward I could feel the mc-tion of the water swaying my body back and forth. Then I saw his body standing upright on the 1:-:ittom of the lake, his eyes, like 9, crazy person's in a trance. I reached for his out- nung arm but to my despair I was about three feet above him. My lungs needed air desperately and I raced to the surface leav- ing his bo-dy behind me. As I reached the surface and gasped for air I shouted Down here! Another diver disappeared below the surface. Half an hour passed before Clayton fi- nally succeeded in bringing his brother to the surface. Jim's unconscious form was laid on a blanket on the beach and artificial respira- tion was immediately begun. Jim's discolored form, his twisted face and sunken sto-mach was a scene unbearable to the eye, and es- pecially to his intimate friends. After they had worked on him continu- ously for two hours without success, Jim's limp body was carried away, never to re- turn to his friends nor to the lake he loved so well. Go-lleen .Snow '45 UCK IS WHERE YOU FIND IT The four of us, Bud, Shine, Stanley and myself were seated around the fire telling of the different fish that we had caught dur- ing the day. The sky was clear, and it seemed as though we were a million miles from civilization. Off to the right of us we could hear the rush of the water as it made its way up over the rocks that lay in its path. In another h-our the moon would be up and then the trees would be clearly il- luminated by its rays. Suddenly a red squirrel began to chirp its warning cry off danger. And then with a rustle of leaves, a man stepped into the ring of light given off by our fire. He was dressed in the garb of a woodsman. His high leather bc-3-ts were hand made and on his head was a battered old felt hat. Hanging on his hip was a 45-colt revolver. Walking over to our fire, he asked if he could sit and talk with us until the moon came up so he could continue upon his way. We invited him to have some supper, but he said that he had eaten earlier in the evening. But as he t-ook his pack from his back, he took a piece of bread and a huge slice of meat, and began to eat them. Suddenly he began to talk, and as he spoke, we sensed a feeling of fear and un- easiness creeping over us. I-le told us that he had often spent nights in the woods, and that he had traveled from one range of lakes to ano-ther, sometimes going for months without seeing a single person. His eyes, I noticed them for the first time, had a wild, restless look, and he would often gaze at one of us and then look in back of him, as if he thought sc-mec-ne were behind him. Suddenly he picked up his pack, and without a word, vanished into the thick woods. When we had finished our fishing trip, wc packed our things and made our way out to the village where we had left our car. Walking into the general store to buy some tc-bacco for my pipe, I happened to mention our meeting with the strange man. The storekeeper looked up and said, The man that you young fellows saw was Old Man Mose. He has been wandering around in these woods for close to twenty years. May- be you didn't know it, but you boys got off darned lucky, for the last man who saw him is just around the corner of the church. Getting into the car, we passed by the church on our way back home and just around the corner was a small, but ade- quate, graveyard. , R. Watson '45 ALONE It was a bleak, stormy winter day, the day before Christmas, as To-mmy Matthews, a bo-y of ten, looked wistfully out of the window. He had just received a telephone call from his mother who told him that she and his dad would not be able to get home

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28 H,C.I.SC'ROLL up this inhuman creature which could make such a scream. I hated, however, to leave that room. Should I wait in the rc-om until my aunt and uncle returned. No, I resolved. I won't be a sissy be- cause of the wind or a cat or -. I finally crept to the door, opened it and turned on the lights in my uncle's den. I went to a corner and selected one of his numerous rifles. I quickly loaded the gun with some bullets I found on a shelf and bravely started out to iind the source of the noise. I searched the rooms that I thought the noise did not come from, at first. This gave me more courage to explore the last room which was directly over the one in which I had been reading. I walked down the hall and stopped be- fore the door to the room. I started to open it but a sudden thought came to me. What if it is a ghost, I reasoned, one of the former owners? Of course, as I said before, I dion't believe in ghosts, but to be on the safe side I walked back down the hall. At last I got up from where I was sitting cn the stairs, and walked back to the door. I put my hand on the knob two -:-r three times but it didn't do any good to do that. So finally, musterlng every ounce of courage, I threw open the door-and found the room-empty! A. Ainero '46 MURDER, IN TI-IE NIGHT . It is midnight-a little foggy, perhaps, at a haunted mansion on a deserted island, far out in a bay. In this mansion there are three sets of winding stairs that creak, and floors that sink because of rotted timbers. There is also a small set of stairs leading to the tower. Down to the cellar we go. In this cellar there are two dark, damp rooms. The floor is of mud except for a block of cement in the middle of the room with the stairs leading up to the first floor. What was hid- den beneath this block of cement no one had been able to discc-ver. Out of this secret vault our heroine emerges. Unlike most heroines, she is not streamlined but somewhat plump. From the cellar she goes directly to the stairs leading to the first floor. She goes very cautiously as thcugh fearing to cause a disturbance, as she would in a deserted mansion. When she reaches the Hrst floor, she starts through the kitchen, then evidently changing her mind, she starts up the rickety stairs to the sec:nd floor. For no reason at all, she goes through all the rooms as though looking for someone or something. At last she decides to go to the third iioor where she stops be- cause there is no place else to go, except to the tower. She starts on this last flight of stairs. In the meantime the villain appears on the scene. He approaches through a win- dzfw. He is small with long arms and legs. He enters the cellar and not iinding what he is looking for, starts searching through the mansion as our heroine did. First, he gces through all the rooms on the first floor and the same on the second and third floors. Then he comes to the small set of stairs leading to the tower. There he hesi- tates, undecided whether to go up or not. He seems to be looking for the first visitor whom we left in the tower, but finally he goes up to the top and into the tower rc-om. There i.s a slight swishing noise, then silence. The spider has killed the ily. Dorothy Higgins '48 THE SCARE OF MY LIFE It was in the mountains of Kentucky that I got the worst scare of my life. I was traveling as a shoe salesman in mid-Sep- tember, which is the rainy season, and the roads were so muddy I had to travel by horseback. I stopped at a small inn about five o'clock one afternoon and had a light supper. After feeding and watering Sally, my black mare, I set out for Hadyville, a small town ten miles from the inn. When I had been travel- ing for a half hour, darkness set in and a terrific thunder-shower came up. The thunder crashed and banged and the lightning streaked through the pitch black- ness on both sides cf the trail. A large tree came crashing across the trail about six feet in front -cf us and it was then that I began to get a little shaky. I suddenly realized that we had wandered off the nar- row trail into the deep Woods. Knowing that Sally had a better sense of our whereabouts than I, I dropped the reins and let her travel where she pleased. A clearing soon came into view and Sally trotted towards a. set of old tumble-down buildings. I was leading Sally to the shed when a hunch-backed, snake-eyed moun- taineer came c-ut, carrying a lantern and a double-barreled shotgun, which he kept aimed at me until I explained, I am very wet and cold. Do you suppose there is any possible way for you to put my horse and me up for the night? He grunted and motioned for me to fol- low him. The inside of the cabin was just asdirty as the outside. The windows looked as though they had not been washed since the cabin was built. Even under these con- ditisns, I was content to stay overnight, for the lightning was still Dashing and the rain beat against the windows with terrific force.