Higgins Classical Institute - Scroll Yearbook (Charleston, ME)

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30 H. C. I.SCROLL object came hustling toward her. She be- came paralyzed with fear, as it swerved and barely missed her, or, so it seemed to Liz- zie's inexperienced eyes. fOf course, we know it was an automobile, but Lizzie had never seen one before..J Gradually she regained her normal pla- cidity and somewhat subdued bu-t still de- termined she mzved on. She was contentedly observing the portion of the universe visible to her slightly near-sighted eyes when a chugging sound attracted her attention. It grew louder and louder until it was right over her head. She looked up timidly and saw, to her astonishment and fright, a huge silver bird hovering overhead. She had seen birds similar to this one before, but never cne so near or so noisy. COf course, we know it was an airplane and probably this pilot was practicing low-flying or uhedgehoppingub. Lizzie had never been so bewildered and dumbfounded, and thor- oughly frightened in her life. She turned quickly and ran for home as fast as her four legs could carry her, determined to stay the rest of her life in her own small pasture, peacefully chewing her cud. Limie, the cow, had taken her first and last, jolur- ney into the modern, civilized world. ' M. Baker '45 MY PET AVERSIONU The thing that I dislike the most in life is gossip. A person who go-ssips is an idle tat- ler and news-monger. He delights in spreading personal tales and groundless ru- mors. He acts as a familiar friend to every- one but in actuality is one of the most de- structive enemies a, person could have. In every small town there are gossips who make it their business to know and broad- cast that of others. As a rule they are pess- imists and never want to see the bright side -:lf life or see the good. in people. A gossip seldom says anything good about anybody. If he does, it is not because he really wants to, but because he is afraid -of revealing his own true nature to the person with whom he happens to be conversing. He goes about prying into the affairs of -others, gathering small bits of this and that, weaving it into an unpleasant story, and then begins spreading it like wild-fire. Often if, is done because of jealousy, but in many cases it is done without the least provocation. One who gossips only lowers and ruins his own character instead of the -clne's whom he ridi- cules. He will put himself out to be excep- tionally nice to your face but when your back is turned he will stab you in the back. The invention of the telephone is a great disadvantage to a community as far as gos- sip is concerned. If you are on a party line, it is always in use when you want it and when the gossips finally do run down and you have the line to yourself, you have to be careful what you say because there are always interested people listening in. Women have the reputation of being the ones who do all the gossiping, but not en- tirely. For example, if there are any seats in a country store, they are usually -occupied by men. Although they won't admit it men like to talk nearly as well as do Women and they do not always talk about their Work or hunting and fishing experiences. Gossips in a town can cause a great deal of unfriend- liness and unhappiness and can do much to prevent the devel:-pment of a thriving and pleasant community in which to live. God gave man one tongue And twice as many ears In order to repeat But half of what he hears. Marie Scott '45 DAIRY OF DOLLAR BILL Sunday: Today I went to church with Mrs. Grand. She hid me in the bottom of her purse so that when the osllection plate was passed, she would not be able to find me. Then she could put a nickel in with a clean con- science. I was very much disappointed be- caluse Mrs. Grand does not allow me to see much of the world. I guess she likes me pretty Well. Monday: This morning she lost me behind her desk. My, it was dusty! I thought I would sneeze George Washington right off my face! There was a cute little spider down there, dear Diary. Her name is Arabella Spider. She and I are going to correspond. Tuesday: Mrs. Grand found me this morning. It nearly broke my heart to have to leave Arabella. Her last words to me were, Dear Dollar, I will spin a web to you and bring you back. Our love cannot end like this. Gracious, she sure is sweet! By the way, Mrs. Grand seemed glad to see me. Dear me, I do charm the women don't I? Wednesday: This afternoon I went to a bridge party. Golly, how those Women could talk? I could feel George Washington blushing. I was very much injured, though, when Mrs. Grand crammed two pieces of cake and a couple of sandwiches in on top of me. Some- times she is so very rude. Dear Diary, my heart longs for Arabella. I do hope I will see her soon. Thursday: Today she left me on her desk! My heart was thumping and bumping so, that I was afraid she might notice it and m-ovve me. She did not, however. I sent a message to

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H. C. I. SC' ROLL 29 4 I Having partaken of a meal of corn pone and greens, I asked, Have you a spare bed where I might sleep tonight? There is an old cot in the attic, he gruffly replied. Then, taking his lantern he led me through a trap door in the ceiling to the attic. Oh, you seem to have another visitor, I said, as I noticed someone in a cot by the trap-door. Yes, but he is dead. He died of pneu- m-:fnia last night. Here is your cot over here. With this he left the attic and closed the trapdoor behind him. In the eerie glow of my candle, I stosped over and examined the dead man. To my great horror I discovered that he had been murdered, for there was a large lump on his head. The cold sweat stood out on my forehead as I sat and th-ought what might happen to me, if I should go to sleep. Then I noticed a small window in the other end cf the attic and without waste of time I crawled through this window to the roof. After dropping to the ground, I hurried t-3' the shed where Sally was patiently waiting. She seemed to sense the danger we were in and proceeded to carry me away at breakneck speed. When we were a safe distance frcm the cabin, I suddenly realized that I had just had the worst scare of my life. 'Ihe old mountaineer apparently discovered my es- cape, fo-r, when I returned the next morn- ing with the sheriff, he was gone and I have never seen him since. Harold Hanson '45 A HORRIBLE NIGHT My friend and I were passing the night in an old, deserted mansion out in the country because our car had two punctured tires and we had no way of contacting a garage in the city. While we were preparing for the first night, stamping feet were heard in the attic. Being greatly alarmed by these noises, we were afraid to do much ex- ploring. After we had listened to this dis- turbance a while, we decided to Hip a coin to see whc- would lead the way to the attic. As luck would have it, I lost. As I was about to climb the stairway, fl knife struck the floor a yard away from me. There was a note attached which read: I am warning you. Do not step through the attic do:r. Having no means of travel ex- cept by Shank's mare , we had to stay that night. I could not sleep much, want to. I lay awake and ways to catch the ghosts , were, but doing is better than saying, I in fact, I didn't thought of mmv or whatever they thought. Finally morning arrived. We started for the brook a mile away to catch s:me trout for breakfast. I was so upset that I thought there were creatures behind every tree and rock. An hour afterwards, when we had caught our limit, we started back to the house. Af- ter getting lost several times, we reached the house late in the afternoon. We knew we would have to spend the night there again. We ate supper and soon went to bed only to be awakened by a tremendous racket which brought us out of bed. This is the last straw, I said, listening to a board being sawed and ripped from place. We had decided to get rid of whoever it was or at least make an attempt. Again we flipped the coin and again ,I lost. Reaching f-:-r a brokeng piece of stair- railing, I bounded up the stairs. Mustering my every ounce of courage, I threw open the door, found the room empty, a window open, and a ladder -outside. Charles Priest '45 LIZZIE'S TRIP Lizzie was going to take a trip. In all her b:rned days Lizzie had never been c-ut of her own yard. Now she was going to see what was beyond that clump of trees and who resided over the top of the hill. 1'm sure that everyone experiences at one tgme or another, that same feeling of unrest which urges us to explore and to satisfy that intense longing for a change of scene. 'Ihat is what Lizzie felt and she was plan- ing a trip. Then she would be satisfied to return h-:-me and to stay there forever more. Finally she was ready and pulling up her stakes, Lizzie started out. As she slowly ambled past the shed and barn, through the fence to the road shc curiously looked all around her. Suddenly she heard a dog barking. Look- ing behind her she saw the neighbor's hound running after her. Instantly she began to run, but that was difficult for one so large. and the dog was s-:ion nipping at her heels in a very uncomfortable manner. Lizzie was becoming very panicky when the dog abruptly stopped annoying her, having tired of the sport. She sighed and continued on her way. Lizzie soon found that beyond the trees flowed a rippling brook and beyond that a dark wr:-od Was to be seen. She explored contentedly for some time. Then she decided to see what was beyond the hill in the other direction. CPoor Lizzie, if she had -only re- frained frc-m venturing further.l As she went up the road a great black

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H. C. I.SCROLL 31 Arabella and, let me tell you, it did not take her long to come to me. Our ,joy was incon- ceivable. I don't think I could ever bear to be away from her again. She had to go home in a shcrt time but she pro-mised to ccme back in the morning. I certainly do h:pe Mrs. Grand will leave me alone. I'm saving her extra change for an engagement ring. Bet you can't guess who it is! Friday: My, how this week has flown! Arabella was here this morning. She had on a lovely pink dimity dress. She is very beautiful. We pledged our tro-th. It's going to be very s-con. I guess Mrs. Grand is going to leave me here. Dear me, I hope so! Arabella Bill. W:n't that be wonderful? Saturday: I can hardly hold my pen to write this last epistle. I have aged a hundred years these past few hours. I hardly think I can put it in words, Dear, Diary, but I will try. Arabella, my own dear Arabella, was mur- dered this morning. Mrs. Grand saw her coming to see me and, right before my eyes, she killed her. I want future generations to know that once ,I lived and loved. N-sfw, all is ended. I am going to commit suicide. I am going to my true love. Please do not think me a coward, Dear Diary, and please do not be too unhappy. Good-by, fc-rever and ever. Lovingly, Dollar Bill Joyce Baker '46 NOT A FANTASY In the year nineteen hundred and forty- four A. D. in the month of May, one of the most startling of Nature's phenomen-ons occurred. This is a first-hand description as I saw it. While walking down Main Street in Ban- gor, I was pleased to see a very dear friend whom I had not seen in several years. I stopped her and greeted her cordially. I no- ticed that she seemed rather quiet, but as I had a great deal to talk about I attributed her silence to my offensiveness. We crossed the street, entered the Atlantic Restaurant and ordered lunch. As I continued to talk, I noticed more and more my compa.nion's si- lence. I began to wonder if she really was the person I believed her to be. I asked her if she had heard from a mutual friend lately. She replied, No, in a listless way. I asked her how her husband and children were and she looked at me oddly, replying that she didn't exactly know. I jumped in alarm and surprise. What had happened? Was I dreaming or was she suddenly men- tally deficient? Finally we separated and silently I promised myself to make discreet inquiries from her relatives, but I never did. V I continued on my way for I only had a few hours to finish my shopping before the bus left which was to take me back to Charleston. I went into F'reese's to buy a. scarf and inquired of the salesgirl for a particular type that I wanted. She was ex- tremely vague and rather helpless. I became angry at her and stormed away without making my purchase at all. This scene 'occurred several times in F'reese's. It cm- tinued in all the stores of Bangor. The peo- ple seemed rather vague and sleepy. In fact the Bangor populace became a sleepy mob of people aimlessly walking up and down streets, in and out doors and up and down aisles with no purpose at all. Automobiles, busses and street cars moved slowly and sometimes stopped completely where they were. Newsboys barely whispered the glar- ing headlines of their papers. A tremendous inertia had the city in its awful grasp. I became frightened and ran fearfully this way and that, not knowing what to expect next. There was no one to turn to in my di- lemma. You can imagine my terror and horrified unbelief when I began to- see people lying down where they had a moment before been standing, and falling into a deep drugged sleep. Cars went out of control, smashing into each other. Gradually all sound ceased and a dreadful, oppressive stillness settled over the now sleeping city of Bangor. I was panic stricken. I thought I would lose my mind. I began to scream, but my screams only echoed and reechoed in the still city. I began to run and continued until, breath- less, I arrived safelv here in Charleston, Where all was normal and as usual. No one believed my story and they still don'tg but I am passing it on to you. prove'it, lI can offer the fact that there were no morning papers the next day. Even the presses had been still all the night before. The only clue to my mystery is a clipping from the evening papers disclosing the discovery of an impurity in the city water. Fantastic! Unbelievable! You may think so, but to my dying day I shall never enter Bangor without remembering and reliving the horrible scenes I saw that day in May in the year nineteen hundred and forty- four. 'IWC' M. Baker '45 SOCIETY LADIES CAN It is a busy rendezvous with the tumult -of a number of garrulous women and the clang of tin cans. Then out of the hurly-burly we can dis- tinguish: Where is the candy thermometer? Who took my cup? When can these brownies