Hunter College High School - Argus Yearbook (New York, NY)

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THE ARGUS A Mhnat Stung All three of us felt mischievous, Delia, Mange, and I. Some- quite exciting enough for do something really thrill- agree upon what we'd do. how, that summer, lthinigs we-.ren't our lively spirits, so we dfe'cided to ing. It didn't take us very long to lt was something we had always talked of, ever since our fam- ilies had begun to make a habit of spending the summers at Stony Creek. And this was our plan. Stony Creek, you see, is a village on Uhe Sound, and there are dozens and dozens of small islands all around, and it was one of these upon which we centered our attention. This particular island was said to be haunted, and it was indeed a hair-raising tale which the natives had to tell of this place. I don't recall the details of the story, exactly, but I do remember that a man who once lived there, killed his wife, and threw her body into the Sound, and then, when his crime was detected, had kille.d himself, and ever since then, anyone who s-tayed in that house over night, would see his ghost roaming through the dese.rted rooms, hear sighs and imoans, and then the report of a pistol !-but no one had ever stayed to hear more than that. Well, we three, Delia, Marge and. I decided to spend a night in that haunted house, and we made our plans accord- ingly. We would go that very niglht-lest our courage fail us 'before another day had passed. We parted soon after to gain consent of our parents, and gieit together a few 'blankets and some food. The latter articles were procured easily enough, but to get the consent of our parents was harder than we had thought. After a good solid hour of coaxing in each home, we had succeeded in making no headway, except to receive the answer- You 'may go, if De1ia's mother lets her go and you may go, if Marge's mother lets her go and so on. But we were not to be daunted, so finally, the thnele of us together, after another hour of combined coaxinig and plead- ing, persuaded 'my mother to say yes and the other two reluctant consents came soon after. Our joy and excitement knew no bounds, and we felt no less triumphant than three Napoleons, after 3 great victory. Our brothers teased, of course, and everyone who heard of our plan looked doubtful - 36

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THE ARGUS the runaway horses half an instant before they reach the group of happy children, when I was the football hero who makes the agonizingly necessary touchdown, when I was the strong. silent secret service agent, a terror when roused,-I usually had a mob, and plaudits. I was always interested in science. I had a deep-seated craving to review the ranks of sailors on board some ship, and to stick a pin in the chest of each sailor as I passed him, to see if it would explode. ' Reading produced an important effect on my mind. Con- sider such phrases as these: Colonel Hetherington, do you realize that you are attempting to bribe a bonded representative of the express company? They enflamed me with the ambition to be, some day, a bonded representative of the express com- pany. And if I only had Colonel Hetherington around, I'd show him! And also, Squire Hetherington, think again 'ere you strike this fearful blow. Remember, I am the sole support of my widowed mother. Harm me, and you kill her. And again, Colonel Hetherington, you have done awful deeds in your life, but I forgive you, and I hope you will be a better man. This beautiful speech of forgiveness ennobled my soul. But one cannot always be a trusted representative of the express company. Sometimes smuggled-in literature gave me an intimate knowledge of the fascinating mazes of crime. Then did I revel in such phrases as, 'Bang, bang,' spoke his trusty Colt, and another redskin bit the dust. I proceeded in im- agination to emulate the exploits of the train-robber hero, to exceed them even, to become, in a word, that past master of crime, that glorious wretch, Bloody Blake the Blucoats' Blight. How thrilling it was to hiss in my safe-cracker apprentice's ear, If that bull squeals, plug him full o' holes. Oh unutter- able joy! an -k ar :r The rain has ceased, the picture gone. But what is this! 1 see myself stepping out before a curtain, my arms full of roses, to take my 'steenth bow, and to tell my dear audience that I really can't 'give any more performances of Queen Elizabeth, because I must hurry up and go to Europe to tell seven dukes and the Prince of Wales that I want not marriage, but a Career-and I wonder if I am not still a child! CHARLOTTE H. HOCHMAN. 35

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THE ARGUS and usually said something like, when it begins to get dark, you'll think better of it, but that only made us all the more determined and we all felt as Delia did, when she said defiantly, we'll just show them that we mean what we say. So, with suppressed excitement we waited for the, five o'clock whistle, and at length it blew. We didn't waste much time after that, but hurriedly bade our anxious parents good-bye, and before many minutes more, we were pushing our boat off tihe shone, and starting toward the haunted isle. We took turns at rowing, and in about fifteen minutes we had reached our destination. The island was small and bleak. It had no grass or trees growing upon it, only the thre.e-storied, weather- beaten, gray, desolate old house. We found a little sandy spot, and pulling our boat up on the sand, scrambled over the rocks as well 35 we could with our arms laden as they were with blankets and food. VVe had visited this island again and again, and had investi- gated every nook and corner of it, although we had never ventured inside the house. But we knew that it was all boarded up, save one little window near the ground, and it was through this that we now climbed, and found ourselves in a rather small room. It was completely furnished, and we could plainly see that the last occupants had made no prepar- ations for departure, for many things lay carelessly about the room, just as thougih- there were someone living in it at that moment. Only, the spiders and dust had taken full possession of the place, for the.re wasn't an inch of surface anywhere, that was not covered 'with about two inches of dust, nor was thene any corner or piece of furniture, which had no web to boast of. Consequently, it was not long before all three of us were similarly covered from head to foot. After investigating everything carefully, and finding no foot-prints or linger-prints, as we had lhoped, we pushed the door open, and found ourselves in a hall. There were two other doors on that Hoor, one of which was locked, while the other led into a small kitchen, where some dishes stood on the table. Everything suggested a.hasty departure. Come, said Marge let's go up-stairs. No sooner said than done.-We took each other's hands, not because we were afraid, oh no! but just to feel that we were close together- 37