Milford High School - Oak Lily and Ivy Yearbook (Milford, MA)

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IO OAK, LILY AND IVY. Suddenly summoning up courage he hurled himself at the unearthly object. A struggle followed in which the sergeant was victor. As he sat astride the van¬ quis hed, he yelled, “I’ve got him, hoys, I’ve, got the ghost.” “You have like fun,” grunted the form beneath him, “I’m the night linesman on this line. Get off me, you’ve got my raincoat all mud.” “If you’re a night linesman, explain why you sent in those calls,” said Hogan. “Me pull in the-” He got no further, for at that moment a loud buzz came from the box and yet not a person was within ten feet of it. The men looked at each other in amaze¬ ment ; surely the box was haunted. For a moment the linesman looked perplexed, then slappmg his knee, began to laugh so heartily that he could hardly stand. This was a second surprise for the men and they hardly knew whether to jump on him or whether the wierdness of the thing had unbalanced his mind. When the linesman had somewhat subsided his merriment, he gasped, “I know where the g host is.” “Where?” asked the startled group. Walking to a nearby man-hole lie turned and pointed to it. “This,” he an¬ nounced, “is the ghost of that box. Tonight as I came by, I was looking for a large leak in an electric cable. Perhaps as you know, a piece of steel charged with electricity becomes a powerful magnet. “Thus as the man-hole attracted the electricity it became magnetized.” “But how does that explain the ghost of this Box 13?” “As the man-hole became mag¬ netized, the steel lever in your box was attracted and pulled down; the cable being a night cable, hence the midnight calls, and thus the solution of the mystery of Box 13, gentlemen.” George Caldicott, T4. How Bobbie Found Santa Claus. Bobbie was tired, and he wished Daddy would come, and he just knew that Rose was looking for him. Early that morning he had rushed ahead of Rose, his pretty nurse-maid, and right into Daddy’s arms. And Daddy had held him tight, so tight that he had hurt, and then Bobbie thoughtfully rubbed his little side to see if there wasn’t at least one sore spot left, so he could show big brother, Jack, whom he had never seen; but he mournfully shook his head as he found none. He wondered what Jack was like, and if he would play horse with him. He had asked Rose if all the little boys would have a big brother come just the same as he was going to, and in the next hreath, he wondered what Jack had in his bundle for him. Daddy had said that Jack was on the sea, and he knew what that was ’cause he had seen it last summer. Suddenly he had thought that .Santa Claus would not know that Jack was coming, and he wouldn’t get any Christmas presents. He thought he would ask mother about it, ’cause he guessed she would know, for she- knew ’most anything. So Rose had taken him downstairs, but first she had called down and said that they were coming. He wondered why she had done that, for when they came downstairs, no one was about, until Daddy had come out of the nursery, with his coat off, and looking all mussed up. Bobhie had asked mother, but Daddy said she was busy, and that Bobbie could go out in the playhouse, Bobbie didn’t want to, but he let Rose bundle him up and then she carried him through the snow to the little house at the end of the lane. But everybody was acting queerly today, and now when he wanted somebody to play with most of all,

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OAK, LILY AND IVY. 9 Ghost of 13, Just as patrolman Moore sent in the midnight call at Box 13, a shot rang out in the darkness. Moore dropped with scarcely a struggle, the bullet entering his hack and finding lodgment in his heart while his hand slipped from the hook with which he had just sent in the “all right” signal. The locality was a tough one and as Moore had arrested more than one law¬ breaker, each in turn had promised vengeance when his term was over. The thing predicted now occurred. Two hours later the roundsman found him laying in a pool of his own blood. An alarm was sent in to headquarters and soon the patrol with reserves arrived on the scene. A search of the surroundings offered no clue to the murderer and after a little, the case was given up. Soon another man was put on Moore’s beat, and the calls were sent in, the same as usual. One morning Larson, the new man, was called upon to explain why he had not sent in the call from Box 13 that night. “I did send in the call,” answered Larson in reply to the accusation. “If you did the recorder failed to note it,” said the sergeant grimly. “Why I sent in that call just as sure as I’m standing here,” replied the man, the sincerity in his voice almost convincing the sergeant. “Oh, come now, cut that! You know you didn’t send in that call. I guess you were afraid of Moore’s ghost,” rejoined the sergeant as he walked out of the room. Later, Larson was able to prove that the call had been sent in, therefore the box was overhauled. The patrolman spurred on by the sergeant’s taunt about Moore’s ghost gave evidence of the superstition in all mankind and fought shy of going on that beat. One night about three weeks after the murder of Moore a call came from the “hoodoo” box; the call was one of alarm and soon all the officers were being driven in the patrol team to the scene of action. As the vehicle dashed up to the box, not a person was in sight. The sergeant, very angry, looked about for the patrolman, but found that at the time the call had been sent in, Larson must have been blocks away. As time passed on, the calls from Box 13 became more and more frequent and each false. In a short time this sort of unaccountable alarm calling, began to wear on the nerves of the men. The calls came mostly at night and yet nobody was ever seen to pull a call. At last the sergeant became desperate and had a man stationed nearby to watch the box. No one came near, but in the morning he found two calls registered. The sergeant could stand it no longer; not a patrolman would go on that beat. That next night he stationed a group of policemen around the cursed box. The night was one of the worst of the year. A heavy rain was falling, driven by the howling wind as it shrieked mournfully through the tossing trees. The men hid themselves as best they could, some behind rocks, others in the shelter of tree trunks. The first part of the night passed uneventfully, the solitude broken only by the moaning of the wind or the creak of one branch rubbing against another. It was about midnight; Hogan, cold, stiff, and weary, crouching behind his bolder, suddenly saw a large white figure approaching through the swirling darkness. The form was advancing when a buzz which denoted an alarm call, came from the box. A shiver passed through Hogan’s body. He could swear that the object was not within fifteen feet of the box, yet the call had been sent in. As the appari¬ tion came nearer he crouched low behind his protection. Once again the buzz, from the haunted box!

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OAK, LILY AND IVY. n Rose had gone into the house again, and left him alone, for the first time in his whole life. Anyhow, he guessed when a fellow’s big brother was coming, no one cared for little boys. So he decided that, to get even with them, for Bobbie was a little cross now, he would go to the village to see Santa Claus, and tell him not to forget Jack. Rose had said that Santa was coming to her house, and he knew he could find that, just as easy as anything, for hadn’t he been there with Rose two whole times? But now he had walked forever, he guessed, and all he had seen was snow, and he was cold, and tired, and hungry, and he thought he was going to cry, and he did want Daddy and mother so. So he sank down in a little pile of snow, and little by little his head drooped, and soon he was fast asleep. It was just at dusk, and from over the snow-covered fields, the sound of jingle- ing sleigh bells rang out. Nearer and nearer they came, until, speeding through the snow, a light sleigh drove around a turn in the woods. From it, the sound of a young man’s hearty laugh sounded, as if in answer to the conversation of his companion. But suddenly it ceased, and with a half-suppressed exclamation, he sprang out of the sleigh, and hurried toward a dark object, lying in the snow, it was little Bobbie, now unconscious with the cold. He was carried to the sleigh, and off they went, toward the big house where Bobbie lived. When he opened his eyes he was lying in his mother’s lap, and Daddy was on his knees before him, tenderly rubbing his hands, while on the other side stood a tall, young man. For a minute he tried to think who they were,then with a crv, he sat up. “Oh, mother, it’s Jack, it’s Jack, and Santa doesn’t know lie’s here.” And then he told them why he had run away. But after a while Bobbie pondered, then he rushed into the nursery to get his gun, that Daddy had given him just a while ago, so Jack wouldn’t be disappointed, but at the threshhold he stopped short, for just inside the door, laughing at his astonished face, stood Santa Claus, and be¬ hind him, was a Christmas tree, reaching clear to the ceiling in a blaze of lighted candles. H.M.E. ’13. The Oak, Lily and Ivy wishes everyone a sincere, though belated, Happy New Year. Unfortunately, it is impossible for happiness to come through mere wish¬ ing. Otherwise, by our wish the supremest happiness would be found here. It can be attained only by persistent striving on the part of each one. ()ur New Year wish for you, heartfelt though it is, can have little value to you, except as a token of our desire for your happiness, unless you will work for happiness for your¬ selves. You realize, all of you, the many possibilities in a new year; you know it to be the time when you hold up a mirror and look face to face with yoursell . ou