Ipswich High School - Tiger Yearbook (Ipswich, MA)

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ceiling glistening in the light which filtered through the shaded high- arched windows, reflected a pale light from its white marble surface. A dark skinned woman was re- clining on a brocaded couch near the center of the room. A ray of light shone in her smooth ebony- black hair, and great carved jade earrings hung nearly to her should- ers. A loose robe of yellow silk was held at her neck by a gold chain, and her tiny feet were encased in jewelled sandals. But no splendor, however great, could disguise the mingled pain and unhappiness in her dark eyes. At the foot of the couch sat a swarthy Burmese ser- vant, wrapped in a dark brown gar- ment, her black hair smoothed back behind the two gold circlets which hung from her ears. On a sweet- toned native lyre she played softly, endeavoring to dispel her mistress’ sadness. At length the mistress stirred. “Please do not continue playing, Sanhli, for I am tired.” Immedi- ately the flute-like notes were stilled, and the servant bowed to the floor in token of obedience. Then nothing could be heard in the room but the plash of a fountain in the gardens beyond the court- yard and the faint rustle of silk as the mistress tossed feverishly on her pillows. Her head ached most painfully, and sleep seemed impossible. How she hated this land — and everything in it! She hated the old maharajah, her husband, — the gold and jewels that he heaped upon her in wor- ship of her beauty were like coals of fire on her soul. Oh, to be back in her homeland, among her be- loved hills, — with her own people ! In the bitterness of her mind she cursed her beauty, and wished that she had been created with a face so plain that the maharajah would never have been attracted to her, — though she was fearfully aware that there was another thing that 1 wanted — the Mundullah pearl. On the third finger of her right hand gleamed a pearl whose tiny milk- white perfection put to shame the gaudy jewels which surrounded it — like a white rosebud among red poppies. This, at least, she could have as a reminder of her home- land, provided she could keep its famed beauty from the eyes of the maharajah’s spies. This perfect gem had been handed down to the women of her family for more than a hundred years — faithfulness to ancestral tradition had kept it se- cure, while its fame became wide- spread. ;i; IK :i; :i: :i; ;!; The Indian moon, a great silver ball, rose slowly over the horizon and up into a sky of deep blue, sprinkled with the silver dust of many stars. It touched the delicate carved balcony which looked out over the maharajah’s gardens, and turned to liquid silver the tumbling water that rose from the fountain in a glistening spire. A woman ap- peared on the balcony — a woman clothed in golden yellow, upon whose hand the Mundullah pearl gleamed in the moonlight. On her face there was an expression of loathing, fear, and at the same time, determination. Her hands trembled, and in her eyes there was a look of desperation. Slowly, tremblingly, she took from her jew- elled girdle a tiny dagger, its gold- en hilt flashing like the eye of a wild beast. With hands that shook, she removed the pearl ring, and with the aid of the knife, took the gem from its setting. Then — suddenly, she put the pearl into her mouth and swallowed it. A look of tri- umph, of revenge, perhaps, came into her eyes, and with her lips in a firm line and her face turned toward her homeland, she plunged the dagger into her heart. The Indian moon rose higher, and jwhen its beams penetrated the 7

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holes, it utterly wiped out the beat- en path. P or six clays the old man and his boy wandered about the desert, hopelessly lost. Relief came only at nightfall and then often- times there was little or no water to cool their parched mouths. “And then came August. As you all know, August is the worst month of the year. It bring that fatal intolerable heat which dries up all the water, and strikes a man down with its intenseness. The faint breeze serves only to increase the heat, and it seems as if the very rocks and sand would burst into dame. This was what these two lost people had to face. But human nature cannot endure all things and slowly but steadily they weakened. Each morning the poor father urged his son to leave him and each time the young man refused to save him- self, and he stayed with the old prospector. “But at last the inevitable day came when, his strength spent, the old man sank in the sand, too ex- hausted to keep on. ' Go on, ' he said, ‘climb the dune and see if you can find any landmark. ' The boy did as he was bid. Hopelessly crawling to the top of the hill, he scanned the horizon with eyes blinded by the heat. Suddenly he caught his breath with a gasp. There, only a few miles away, stretched out on the edge of the desert, was the mystic oasis, with its cool green palms rising loftily above the glorious peace of a rip- pling brook. “ ‘We ' re safe, safe, ' cried the boy as, trembling with gratitude he rushed back to his father. But the old man was safe beyond all earthly comfort. He was safe in the arms of the divine Protector; he had passed through the gate of human sufferings, straight to the oasis of heaven. “Maddened by grief and suffer- ing the boy kept shouting the words, ‘we ' re safe, safe. ' In vain did he try to raise his father; in vain did he struggle with him, and shake him. At last he staggered back into the fatal desert whence he had come. When the sun sank into the purple sands, a lone, bent figure, silent with bowed head, stood clearly outlined against the crimson horizon; and far in the dis- tance echoed the words ‘safe, safe, safe. ' “And even to this day, the sands beyond the magic oasis send back the long, quivering call, ‘safe, safe, safe, safe. ' The low vice ceased, and once more silence fell upon the little band of travellers. A low, murmur- ing wind rustled the leaves on the trees, and the gurgling brook slip- ped restlessly around the pebbles. Darkness had fallen, but over in the west, hanging low over the dusky sands, a single star quivered and glittered-the torch of the guar- dian angel. Barbara Damon, ' 29 CELESTIAL RADIANCE The moon rises slowly from the eastern mist; Silently she glides through the gray-blue vapor. Where rosy clouds glowed in splen- dor. And where now they blow in bil- lows under the Zephyrs, ' dainty finger tips. Quietly she slips over hill and dale ; And sheds soft radiance into every window ; Thus, while she trips lightly. The waters of the mighty ocean rage, or grow calm. Barbara Damon, ' 29 THE MUNDULLAH PEARL The room was large and bare, and the pink marble walls were beautifully inlaid with jade, car- nelian, and beaten gold. The high 6

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depths of the carved balcony, there lay what appeared to be a little heap of yellow silk, stained with red. Dorothy Dunn, ’29 SPRING EVENING The warmth of spring is in the eve- ning air, A drowsy bird chirps from his leafy nest ; The world is peaceful, and all things at rest. Gray shadows, creeping o’er the meadows fair. Chase the last sunset colors from the hillsides bare; And, shining high up in the pale blue evening sky. The first star of evening, like a tiny winking eye Twinkles softly, and invokes a si- lent prayer. Thus as night comes on, and time for sleep Draws near, the air is cooler, and breezes softly blow. Ah ! to lie and watch the trees and stars till slumber deep Steals from the land of dreams to the earth below ! And so, at last, the earthly balm of sleep Comes with the night wind and the moonlight’s glow. D. Dunn, ’29 Graduation Essays AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS Stanley Machaj When George Washington was elected to the presidency of the United States for his second term, he was asked by the French govern- ment to help France in the war in which she was then engaged against England, Prussia, and Aus- tria. Washington, foreseeing the troubles that would befall his coun- try if he entered this war, issued a famous Proclamation of Neutrality. In this proclamation he stated that it was the policy of the United States to keep out of the complicat- ed hostilities of Europe. From this proclamation we con- clude that our first president wish- ed that our country would not in any way mingle with the affairs of foreign nations. But, could a na- tion as growing and prosperous as the United States keep out of the affairs of foreign countries? This policy of neutrality was all right so far as Washington was concerned, and we find that he kept his country out of troubles through- out the remainder of his second term. Our relations with England were then slightly strained as a natural outcome of the Revolution, but every argument was settled peaceably. This policy does not hold true however with other presidents and we find that our country was some- times forced into mingling with the affairs of other nations. In 1812, when Madison was president, the United States were forced to en- gage in a war with England, Mon- roe, our next president, issued the famous Monroe Doctrine. He was forced to issue this document as a result of a silent threat that the Holy Alliance in Europe was mak- ing to subjugate the rebellious Spanish republics in South Ameri- ca and to colonize the western hem- isphere. This move, he thought, would not only endanger the peace of America, but also hurt our for- eign trade and commerce. The Mon- roe Doctrine is sometimes called “the cornerstone of American for- 8