Mansfield High School - Manhigan Yearbook (Mansfield, OH)

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but the passengers were young, (though plenty old enough in their own estimation) and their parents had entrusted them to the train officials. Between the time of the selection of the speech makers and the deliver¬ ing of the results of their efforts, two very elaborate functions were enjoyed by the members of the party. The first was at the expense of the engineer, who all the time had been keeping a steady hand on the throttle. The other was given by the members of the party as it would be the last chance for them to enjoy a social good time. They seemed to have no trouble at all in enjoying themselves to the fullest extent. At last the day of the speech-making arrived. It wasn ' t a very joyful day for the majority of the passengers for it marked the last day they would all be together. During the journey all had made good friends with their fellow passengers and it is hard to give up friendships that may never be renewed. So it was with serious faces that the party assembled to hear the ad¬ dresses so carefully prepared. They were five essays, speaking the careful and thoughtful work expended upon them. A little music was given by a few of the passengers and it vvas such as anything fine is apt to be—An ex¬ quisite sample of unrevealed beauties that might follow. Finally the end came and the passengers descended reluctantly from the train. As they left they were handed a paper, signifying the satisfactory completion of the tedious journey. Good-byes were exchanged with the engineer, the conductor and the trainmen. It is small wonder that the last were given the most lingering handclasps, for, altho they had annoyed and harrassed the passengers more than anyone else, their very watchfulness had instilled reverence and respect into the hearts of the passengers. Every passenger, as he walked away, looked back at the train with a true feeling of affection in his heart, and as he went on and took up the thread of his life in a strange place and among strange people, the experiences of his journey were indelibly fixed in the mind. page twelve

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conductor, always to be relied upon, came on the scene. The disputants calmed when he came in and each hoped for a settlement of the argument according to his own demands. However no conclusion was reached for the conductor did not have the right view of the situation and no one would give anything but a partial version of it. The matter was finally referred to the engineer. He seemed a strange person to go to, yet, when the facts of the case had been laid before him, he presented a solution of the difficulty that made everything seem easily remedied. The talk occasioned by this occurrence was not very remarkable, con¬ sidering that nothing much had happened on the trip. It was discussed pro and con, but in general the sentiment seemed to be in favor of the passenger. The trip was becoming very irksome and many wished that it would end. One or two welcome steps had been made and the passengers recalled them with distinct pleasure. However, when anyone spoke seriously of leaving the train “for good ' a chorus of protest was raised. The usual argument seemed to be that if he had taken three similar long hard trips why shouldn ' t he wait until the fourth was over? At last a stop was made that everyone had been looking forward to for a long time. There was a delay sufficient for a second trainload of people to catch up with the first, and then the crowds united and indulged in a glorious party. A dramatic stunt was very creditably put on by a bunch from the second train, and good things to eat were afterwards passed. After this affair was over a short time was left before resuming the trip, so everyone gave himself a much needed rest. At last a blast from the whistles gave warning that the trains were ready to start. There was a rather “langsam” procession of returning passengers. Spring had come and the little town seemed so inviting that many were tempted to stay. The first train left the second one far behind and passed on swiftly to the end of the journey. The passenger s were less than ever inclined to read the dull dry books, but irritating trainmen compelled them to keep their attention fixed upon the pages. During all this time Sam had gradually become one of the common pas¬ sengers for he had wisely told himself that he would rather keep to his book than to finish the trip in disgrace. The peace of the journey had remained unbroken for a long time. However it was broken one day by a most persistent trainman who began to marshal his forces and suggested to the travelers, as their journey was nearing an end, that several should make farewell addresses to the company. So the party of travelers helped select those who should close the journey with appropriate remarks. It was with a great deal of painstaking labor that the chosen ones pre¬ pared their speeches, constantly changing and rechanging them to suit the taste of the aforesaid trainman. Some were eager to relinquish their task, but the ever busy Conductor paused in the midst of his rush to deliver a lecture to the shirkers. It seemed strange that the trainmen and the con¬ ductor and even the engineer should have so much to say during the journey, page eleven

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“The Derelict” Marguerite Kienle, ' 14 B ERTRAM HADFIELD had pleaded long, and begged earnestly, and at last much against her will, his mother had given her consent to Bertram ' s accompanying his father on his trip to Southern Africa- Mr. Hadfield was captain of the steamer “King George which was soon to start on her trip from London to Cape of Good Hope, and Bertram— the seventeen-year-old son was eagerly longing to go with his father, as this was the first journey of such distance that he would be permitted to make. His mother was very much opposed to this, for Bertram was her only boy, and she felt considerable uneasiness as to his going along on this trip. But his father assuring her again and again that the best of care would be taken of him, and this promise made doubly sure by the First-Lieutenant, Mr. Dunly, a true friend of the Hadfields, she at last consented. Bertram was overjoyed and his school-mate, Paul, was to go with him. The week pre- ceeding the sailing of the steamer, the boys spent in planning the enjoyment that was going to come; and when the day came for the departure, no happier boys could have been found in all London. The first few weeks fulfilled all the fondest expectations of the boys, the weather being clear and warm, the sea calm and the nights delightfully cool, with bright moonlight playing on the deep blue waves, changing the vast waste of waters to a hazy sparkling fairy-land. The sailors were very kind to the boys, telling them all about the stars, by which ships when lost at sea, were often guided back to safety. They told them about the tracks marked out all over the ocean, along which the great steamers make their journeys from land to land. They explained the ocean charts to them; told them storie s of their adventures, and the boys never had one tiresome moment. Then as they reached the southern waters they learned all about the curious fish and other inhabitants of the southern seas. One day after having been on the water for six weeks, it began getting a trifle monotonous, and the boys wishing for something out of the ordinary to happen, were startled by the cry, ‘Ship Ahoy! ' Instantly all glasses were lowered on a tiny speck far in the distance. On coming nearer, it was dis¬ covered that the ship had been wrecked, and not a living being was to be seen anywhere. The captain judged that it had been drifting around for weeks or months. A derelict on the waters, being tossed about by the waves which long since had robbed it of its once active crew, and now a wreck, forsaken and abandoned, a menace to every ship that happened to cross its path. A party was soon commanded to row to the vessel, secure the valuables and ascertain from whence it came. The captain himself who of course had to remain on his own vessel, appointed the First-Lieutenant, his friend Mr. page thirteen