Miller School of Albemarle - Blue Ridge Blast Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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Do we never get caught? We do indeed! Hardly a day but- One more unfortunate Caught in the act, Smiling at boys again- That is a fact. Deal with her tenderly, Don't tell her name, Remember when you were young, You did the same. I have heard that the word smiles is the longest in the English language, because there is a mile between the first and last letters. I think it must also be the most costly, for many a highly-polished spot on the hall floor and many an aching back testify to the fact that one must pay dearly for the smile. But-it ls mighty nice! What a pity so many nice things are naughty! I am not one of the very 'good girls, but then I am not very bad-just A' mejumf' as Josiah Allen's wife would say-and so I have managed to go up a class each year. Qne of our trials is being so constantly attended. Wfe scarcely move with- out a teacher or a matron. Teachers to the right of them, teachers to the left of them, and if they do not actually volley and thunder,H they mark and report, which is practically the same thing. Cf course, I don't think I deserve marks. Does any girl ever think so? Even the goody-goodies U don't think that. It does seem hard to have to stay in and work all Monday afternoon, because instead of singing in Mrs. W.'s class, I wrote a note to a boy, and the boy didn't get the note either-Miss M- got it. And oh, the bells! Poe's bells are nothing to them! But it 's lots of fun after study hall to telegraph down the bell rope. You see the boys and girls are all thirsty-not for knowledge, however-so they flock to the belfry-the boys down- stairs and the girls up-stairs-and by a series of gentle pulls and shakes, a great deal of valuable information may be communicated. But what shall I say more? Time would fail me to tell of the events of each year, though they seemed monotonous enough. Chestnut day was always a red- letter day, looked forward to and enjoyed to the utmost. VVhat fun to run in the woods and search under the leaves for the pretty brown nuts, to come home to a late dinner and spend the evening roasting nuts and telling tales! Visitors always irritated me. They had such a way of seeming to think we were blocks. I 've no doubt some of us were blockheads, but they would come in and look at us and say, N Arn't they cute? just see their dear little blue dresses -V-and they pompadour their hair too! H I always had an insane desire to rise up in the Clllllllg-1'OO1T1 and dance when I saw the visitors crowd around the door, watch- 42 .

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AG1rls Story of Days at Miller School QVV well I remember the day when a lttl 'l 1 e, spoi ed, self-willed but wide- k awa e girl of nine years, I was ushered into the Miller School. M Y mother was with me, and after being interview by the Captainf, we were sent down to the Girls' Primary Building. There we were received and welcon dbfl ' -r - ' -- ' ie 3 tie kind heaited mation and hei gentle assistant. I shall never for- get how my little heart beat and my eyes Hlled with tears when after a sobbing 1 b good-bye to my mother, I was taken to the playroom to get acquainted with the girls. Children ' ll f A ' ' ' are natuia 3 cruel. I do not think they can understand the torture of being questioned and criticized as they do the new girls, and yet they all go l tirough with it. The next trial was to have to lay aside the inexpensive but daint Y little dress my mother had taken so much pains fn making, and don the heavy blue uniform of the School, to have my really pretty suit of hair that mother took such pride in, platted into- a tight braid. I felt as if, presto! change! I was another girl, and unlike the little old woman in Mother Goose's Rymes, I feared even my little dog would not know me. I was afraid to cry before any one, but the little white bed could tell of many a night when the pillow was watered with the tears of the homesick little child. I Childish sorrows do not last, however, and I was soon a Miller School girl, not only in appearance, but in heart, word and deed. Cf course I had to be in- itiated into the manners and customs, etc., but there was no lack of candidates for this honor. Une of the Hrst things I remember, was being told that I must have a boy to smile at. It was sometime before I could get it into my head what that meant, and why it was the thing, but as I did not want to be behind in anything, I chose a little, gentle-looking, fair-haired boy and decided to smile at him. I went to dinner that day full of excitement and could scarcely eat anything. Wlieii the bell tapped and the boys got up, my heart thumped loudly and everything seemed to look hazy, but I got that grinf, It was so broad, so evident, that I felt as if, like the Cheshire Cat in Wonderlaiid, I was all grin and nothing else. But, alas! the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-gley,', and such was my case. The little boy had evidently not been so well drilled in Miller School lore as I, for he gave me no answering smile, only a rather timid look of surprise. The big boys laughed, and I was so mortified that for some time I dared not try again. However, in time I recovered from this blo-w to my vanity, and now there is no girl better versed in the art of smiling than I. ' 41 4

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ing the animals feed I wonder how many h I l . y ours siould have to work off for su l c 1 an eseapade? I am now in the Hrst elassg in a few months I sl ll ' I ia receive my diploma say farewell to tl ' ' ' , ie companions with whom I have lived so long, and go forth into the big, wide world. There has been much in my life here against which I have re- belled and ehafed, and I have many times longed to be free, but now that freedom has come, I shrink from it, and feel very near and dear to my Alma Mater. The world seems so cold, so wide and drear, and I wonder Wfill we ind shelter there secure W7here hearts are waiting, strong and sure, And love is true when tried? Or will we ind a broken reed IVhen strength of heart we so much need To help us brave the tide? Only the future can tell-only He, who holds us in the hollow of I-Ii l d I s ian , can 'know what awaits each one of us, but I know that sweet memories and tender thoughts of our Alma M t ' f 'll ' ' ' g a ei XV1 ever linger in our hearts. Then Here's to Miller School forever! Peerless may she beg Time nor change shall sever Our love and loyalty. M55 gl l fai ' Q i' NSD ,ff AQ ' r f 1 :FX X L fyrshg QA tl, Gerd, Ms, 43 fi ,Tm I, as I. I I , , W fl..-1-:r:fu.1-,:-'Spa--..q.,..,'-' W- W'- ' L I-'Q