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

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Oak Lily and Ivy. 9 saw their bodies side by side in a thicket; he could only surmise that they had partaken of some po isonous plant and died immediately. Here was deliverance! Darkness was approaching and he had four days to escape, for he felt sure he could reach the hill and gain the world beyond without detection. At dark he started. The night was cloudy but he managed to keep his way and in an hour or so he had once more attained the height where poor Air- ah had met his fate so long before. But he had paid dearly for it. Two years wasted! Two years utterly losfiand he had aged twenty years in that time. He stumbled on through the darkness always with that thought goading him. And Gretchen—would she have been faithful ? Surely God would not have let her be otherwise. He was raving thus when the group of white men found him. He had travelled miles in those three days and without food; but the party, when they heard his story, hastened to put a greater distance between themselves and the “ White Temple.” Hans had not told them of the jewels and they humored him in what they termed a sick man’s fancy in allowing him to keep the shoes, rotting to pieces, always with him. And he still had the shoes eight weeks later when he sailed for home and happiness. For Gretchen had been true to his memory. N---T6. 20—17, “They talk of joy in fighting Mid whistling shot and shell They rime of bliss in love’s sweet kiss A bliss which none can tell. For ages they’ve been lilting The praise of ruby wine,— All joys most rare but none compare with tacklin’ ’hind the line.” Lazy” FitzHugh sauntered toward the rear of the cottage, tossing a rather dilapidated head-guard on the porch as he passed. His ponderous voice chanted the well-known football war song in rythmic beat to the tap of his leather cleats on the board walk. His voice bore the hearty ringing cadence of well-fed, well- exercised and carefree youth,-unfatigued by the harrowing preliminary practice of the gridiron. Give me the football battle, The captain’s signal call. The rush that fills the heart with thrills The line that’s like a wall. Give me- the hard-fought scrimmage—” i

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8 Oak, Lily and Ivy. In an hour Airah was dead. With the utmost coolness Hans left his mur¬ dered servant and boldly entered the immense temple. His entrance was her¬ alded by the sound of his footsteps on the marble floor. But if the waiting assailants heard his approach he, too, could hear theirs. There was a scurry of footsteps, shrill yells, and they were nearly upon him. A refuge ? Ah! the idol—he could stand between its arms. They would not dare kill him as he stood there for fear of the god’s anger. He acted more quickly thad he thought. With a bound he had gained the dais on which the god rest¬ ed. He had gained his refuge. But his besiegers did not seem anhoyed by this move, for they immediately squatted at his feet like so many hounds aurround- ing their quarry. A cold sweat broke out on Hans. Starvation faced him, even if he could stave off these human beasts of prey. After a while when he could take his gaze from the swarthy, staring faces before him, he turned to examine his refuge. It was a hideous, grinning devil with three eyes and each eye was a lustrous milk-white pearl, the beauty of which made Hans forget his very fears. A fortune lay within his grasp—and he lay within the reach of Death. Some of the priests had left, perhaps for their morning meal, and Hans be¬ gan to realize he was hungry. Then, as when one is in peril the most obscure things haunt the memory, he thought of the donkey. Poor beast! But perhaps it could break loose. Ah well, the animal was growing old, anyway. Suddenly an inspiration struck Hans. His talent! Might it not aid him? Standing up abruptly he gazed at the nearest priest. Simultaneously a voice sounded across the high vault, now further away, now nearer. The priests looked at him with fear. Perhaps he was a god incarnated. Always that voice was sounding in a strange gutteral tongue, now singing, now wailing— yet the lips of their white prisoner did not move. Trembling with fear they brought him food, but Hans saw that although his life was safe, he could not hope to escape for many days. For two years Hans dwelt among the fanatic priests, his very life depend¬ ing upon his ventriloquistic powers. Always when the worshippers came he was sent to the grove with two priests to guard him and so he concluded that the priests had not spoken of his presence. Hans had not been idle these two years. In the heels of the shabby old shoes kept always by his side reposed six pearls, a clear sparkling diamond, eight rubies, and three emeralds. He wanted the big emerald but he dared not take that; the priests would surely suspect him. So he had to content himself with the smaller stones. Once again he was making his semi-annual visit to the grove. But to-day he felt elated, for he felt intuitively Fortune would favor him. The cavalcade arrived late in the morning; they would begin their worship that evening, and for four days their rites would occupy them. He stretched himself out under a tree and soon was fast asleep. When he awoke, it was long after noon and he wondered why his guards had not come to summon him to their midday meal. He arose and looked about him. He

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10 Oak , Lily and Ivy. “Lazy” stopped in sheer amazement: a sweet girlish voice on the opposite side of the garden wall had taken up the refrain. Recovering his voice and turn¬ ing aside toward the wall, he resumed (in perfect accompaniment with the sweet¬ voiced unknown)- “The joy almost divine, When like a rock we stand the shock And tackle ’hind the line.” Both singers stopped and Lazy mounted the barrier with an agile leap,-to meet the mischievous and friendly gaze of his new neighbor,-an extremely pret¬ ty maiden of eighteen years or so. The boy’s hand involuntarily stole to his head to remove the cap which was not there, and to call forth a hearty peal of laughter from his beautiful observer. The formality of an introduction was precluded by the young lady herself. Mr. FitzHugh?” Lazy acknowledged with a bow, vaguely wondering how this “dream” had recognized him so readily. “I’m Miss O’Leary, Marie O’Leary,” volunteered the girl. “Awfully glad to make,-” began Lazy but was halted in his formal ac¬ knowledgement by an avalanche of questions and information. “Are you the Mr. Fitzhugh who played on the Weldon High team last year? Wasn’t it too bad you didn’t win the Mid-County League pennant? I’m a sopho¬ more; I’m going to enter Weldon High tomorrow. I came from Springton. I like football best of all the sports. Do they allow anyone to watch the practice?” Lazy, at last recovering his composure, nodded in the affirmative. There ensued a conversation carried on almost entirely by the girl with an occasional comment by the youth. Lazy departed on very good terms with the world in general and thorough¬ ly enchanted by his new neighbor. Practice on Tuesday was ragged and Coach Harley severely criticised the team especially the giant half-back who, abstract¬ ed by a vision in crimson and white who gesticulated wildly from the sidelines, failed miserably in his half-hearted attempts to break through the “scrub” line. Wednesday the practice was less encouraging. Thursday, the coach was in despair, for on Saturday the first game with Westerly was scheduled and rumors came thick and fast that the neighboring school had a strong line and a clever back-field. Coach Harley withdrew Lazy FitzHugh from the game and escorting him to a far corner of the field, told him exactly what he thought of him. Con¬ sidering the fact that Harley had confidently massed the most plays so that Lazy, his best and most reliable backfield man, should bear the brunt of the enemies’ attack it was not strange that such terms as quitter,” yellow” and lying down” should figure largely in the conversation. But the speech was supposed to be strictly confidential and neither man noticed the diminutive freshman who, sneaking around to hear what was being said, took in the entire call-down, and who, after practice went down town and proceeded to inform everyone he knew and some people he did not know, that FitzHugh was a quitter”-and even the coach had called him yellow” in practice.