Lincoln Middle School - Lincolnian Yearbook (Portland, ME)

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Fourzeen THE LiNcoLNmN THE FLYING DUTCHMAN The sun was shining on the small white capped waves that the off-shore breeze was kicking up. The Old Sailor sat on an overturned trawl tub mending a net. I had just arrived from the city to spend the summer at the little Hshing village. Nothing had changed since the year before, not even the Old Sailor. Will you tell me another true story about the sea? I asked. Why, sure, my lad, I'll be glad to, he replied. So I sat down on an empty lobster trap and waited while the Old Sailor took two or three stitches in the net. Well, it was like this, he began. When I was about eighteen, I signed up as cabin boy on a bark by the name of Star of the Sea. We sailed out of New York to Liverpool and when we reached Liverpool we took on a cargo for Australia. In those days we had to sail down the Coast of Africa, and it was the stormy season at that. When we were about halfway down the coast we ran into thick weather. It was rough and the barque sprang a leak. We had to pump day and night. It was thick fog all the time and the crew began to grumble. 'It's about time we saw the Flying Dutchman and that will settle us,' said one of them. 'What's thatf' I asked. Remember. I was only eighteen and hadn't been around much. Well, I soon found out, for before the fellow could answer me, we heard a shrill whistling noise such as no one in this world ever made. It made your blood freeze in your veins and your hair stand on end. There she was-a full-rigged ship beating to windward of us. She was covered with barnacles and seaweed and her sails were in rags. but she went by so fast that it seemed as though our own ship was standing still, Away she went in the fog. 'XVe'll either be in Davy Jones's Locker by morning unless the wind shifts,' the crew told me. 'Pray. boy, as you never did before.' And believe me, I did. About midnight it cleared up and we got a fair wind abeam. By morning we were scudding down the coast like thc Dutchman himself. 'Chips,' the carpenter aboard the ship. had gotten the leak plugged somehow and things were a lot better every way. I kept at the boys in the crew about the Ghost Ship till they told me about it, although I could see that they dicln't want to. It seems a Dutch captain bound home from the Indies met bad weather off Cape I-Iorn but refused to put back and swore a profane oath that he would beat around the Cape if it took till the Day of Judgment. He was taken at his word and is doomed to beat against the wind all his days. His sails are threadbare and the sides of his ship white with age, but still he has to sail on and on. X 'F if lk is il Here the Old Sailor stopped to light his pipe. I.andlubbers

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TPIIE I.lNCOI.NlAN Thirteen Probably the three thousand people who stood up had the same feeling of sadness. As she sat down we noticed that her guide kept her Fingers moving on her arm. This was the guide's way of conveying to Helen Keller what the master of ceremonies was saying by way of introduction. As she did her part that night every man and woman sat almost spellbound. Not a murmur or a whisper lest one miss even zt small part of it. This is what Helen Keller said: 'I was touched when educa- tors asked me to say a word to them and I must first say it was Anne Sullivan who gave me this privilege by imagining herself in my place and gave to me life and spirit which are so necessary to a happy heart. It is a revelation to me to know how students and teachers advance together full of hope for the future. To do this I know students must investigate life. Teachers today are doing so much to unify complex knowledge and to do this there must be kindness, cooperation. respect for fellow men, and lastly, they must remember to make every effort to grow in Gods image and likeness' This was the extent of her talk but, of course. these words came very slowly and very hard and not so clearly. but we sat at attention. 'If you were to have one wish granted. what would it be?' and h answer was, 'I would wish only for world peace and brotherhood From the nottbook of Mrs Roland E Stevens Brviiui STI vi N9 Dlx A 8 SPRING How I like the sweet spring air How glad I am that spring is here The little birds in their nests cry While larger birds around them ily The gardens are planted row by row, The farmer's no longer afraid of snow: The grass grows up all tall and green, And flower blossoms can be seen. The cows and sheep are having fun: They're out-of-doors and on the run. I-low happy is the month of May, For spring is here and here to stay. Qi Her guide asked her several questions and the last one was: ' .. .st X 'ttf RAYMOND NADEAU. Div, N-7. er

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THE LINCOLNIAN Fifteen don't believe these stories, he said, but I saw this with my own eyes, and though it may have been a real ship, I d0n't think so. What do you think? And somehow I believe like the Old Sailor that there are things on the sea that people on land never would believe. Nm-ALIE MCMANUS, Div. C-8 WHY SOME GIRLS ARE POPULAR 'Cause they're Winsome and they're charming And their wiles are quite disarming. Don't you think? 'Cause they look so like a fairy And they are so very merry. Don't you think? 'Cause their eyes are always smiling And their manner so beguiling. Don't you think? 'Cause they're witty and they're chatty And they drive a fellow batty, Don't you think? JOSEPH DALE, Div, A-8 THE LEGEND OF THE WATER LILY Once upon a time the forests were filled with happy Indians. There were no wars among them and all the wild animals in the world were tame. There was no winter, just one long summer and everyone was happy. One night the Indians noticed a star which seemed to come nearer and nearer the earth. Night after night they watched it. At last a brave warrior had a dream. He dreamed that a silver maiden stood by his side and said, I want to live in your beautiful world. A council fire was made and the wise men decided to let the star live with them. Let her choose what form she will. they said. First the maiden chose her home in the heart of a rose. but way up in the mountains where she grew. no children visited her and she became unhappy. So she moved and lived in a flower on the prairie. Great herds of buffalo tramped over her. so again she sought a resting place. As she wandered about. a soft breeze bore her over to the lake and she saw her own reflection in the quiet water. She was pleased and cried to her sister stars to come down to the quiet water to live. The next morning the Indians found hundreds of beautiful white water lilies floating on the surface of the lake. The stars have come to live with us. cried the Indian children. Let us try to make them happy here on the earth so that they will always stay. BETTY GRIGSON. Div. E-8