Oak Bluffs High School - Beacon Yearbook (Oak Bluffs, MA)

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18 THE BEACON Then old suspicions re-entered my mind-gold had never bee11 found around here a11yway, and then again my gold had been too bright to be real. I had stumbled on a pocket of fools' gold, and I, like many others, had been focled. Fate certainly camped on my trail. And right there and then I resolved, as I trudged my weary way to bed, that never again would I try to change the course marked out for me by fate. MY AIR CASTLE BOMBARDED Barbara Bowman The sun is shining, a soft breeze is blowing, the sky is cloudless. Swim- ming in the surf of a beach in Cali- fornia are two people, an interesting companion and I. After swimming for a while, we come up on the beach and play ball. Becoming quite dry we lie down on the beach to get tanned, and chat about things interesting to both of us. VVhen about two hours of this have gone by very quickly, we part to dress Hlld meet again for a set of ten- nis before lunch. In the afternoon We take a drive through the mountains and have tea at a wayside inn. Returning home we play nine holes of golf before going to the hotel to dress for dinner. My hotel room is very luxurious with a connecting bath. After lying around for a while, I dress, choosing a white evening gown from my great supply. I go down to dinner a11d after dinner my companion and I dance to the peppy music of Cab Calloway's or- chestra. Becoming rather tired of dancing my companion and I go out on the beach. The moon is full tonight, and it is shining on the water, the night is warm, my companion is hand- some, and- Miss Bowman, will you pay attent- ticn! This is the third time I've called on you! VVhat is photosynthesis? Alas, I must leave my day dream- ing and return to the cruel reality of my biology class! I FOUND HER- Helen Rose The years are many, the years are long, but faithful and staunch we stand to those we love best. How true it is. NVhen I was about ten years old, my mother and I went to visit an uncle of mine, that lived in the Mississippi Valley. VVe were there only one short week, but it was a week filled with disaster. It rained constantly. This was a very frequent occurrence at this time of the year. We waited patiently for the rain to let up, but it seemed as if it would never stop. The streets and yards became flooded. People throughout that vicinity became wor- ried. There was a possibility of the Mississippi overflowing its banks. At night, in the distance, we could hear the roar of the swollen waters of the Mississippi. Uncle would sit with a worried expression on his face and never utter a word. Tile next day we received news that the river was about to overflow its banks. That night none of us were able to sleep. We were all on the second floor, was quite wet. Sud- huddled together as the first floor denly there was a roar and a crash against the house that knocked it from

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THE B enable us to see a knightly commun- ity in which each individual holds his place by virtue of his moral ideals and conduct. Much of the moral en- thusiasm of the Middle Ages and later periods has been wrought into the ehar::cters and plots of these stories. The Hldylls of the Kingu portray E ACUN 17 in allegory and symbol the eternal conflict that is going on within the human heart between sense and soul. The Idylls are a long study of failure, but it is failure tempered at tl1e close by the hope aroused by the IIPXV sun which arises, bringing the new year. l, A TRIP IN SEARCH OF GOLD Leo Camara I had lived for the greater part of my life on an island and was about convinced that there was to be no ex- citement in my life. Then I decided that, if excitement would not seek me out, I would seek it. Flushed with my thoughts I decided that to be a millionaire would suit me better than anything else. My thoughts immediately flew to that ever precious metal-gold ! The next morning bright and early I got up. XVith a shovel gleaming in its shiny newness and with a few sand- wiches stuck in my pocket, I set forth. I tramped the woods all day long with little success for my diggings, wl1icl1 rated a couple of tin cans, an old shoe, and a long forgotten whiskey bottle. This day's diggings did not, however, dull my ambition, for the next day, earlier if anything, I again set out. My net diggings up to noo11 consisted of a dog's bone, hidden no doubt in a happier mood than that in which I found it, a leg of a much used pair of overalls, and a million bottles-'IL' so it seemed to me. My interest by now was beginning to wane. However, I kept at it. About four o'clock I de- cided to stop, just one more shovel, and I remember that before turning it over I murmured, Fate sure has it in for me. I pulled up the earth and lo and behold-gold! My eyes nearly popped out of my head, now that I had found it I felt weak and shakey all over. Suddenly I heard a hush snap. Wl1ii'li11g, with my shovel aloft, I prepared to defend my find with my life. Out of the bushes crept a hound dog who looked so lopsided I thought he would trip over his front feet. Ah! I had a name for my claim, The Lopsided Mine. Then it was that my thoughts flew to the skies, I pictured an ocean go- ing yacht with myself standing beside the captain on the bridge, next I was iiying over Chicago in my favorite plane. But through these dreams a thought came to plague me, suppose it was not real gold that I had fou11d. I tried to put this thought behind me, but it persisted, to stick. I decided to find out. I did not have the money to send it away to be tested by a chemist, so I decided to do it myself. I had a slight knowledge of Physics, and I knew that if I found the Specific Grav- ity of my gold it should correspond to the tabulated Specific Gravity of gold. I took a sample of my gold and weighed it. Next I found its volume or its loss of weight in water, by dividing the latter .into the former, I hoped to get the true Specific Gravity. As I divided, my heart slowly began to sink. For a moment I was stunned, my dreams of yachts and planes crashed down around my ears.

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THE BEACON 19 its foundation. We knew that the ter- rible catastrophe we had been trying to avoid for a week was a reality. lVe were all thrown against the wall and at the same time I was wrenched away from my mother. There was a terrible commotif n, lights went out, people were screaming, and i11 the darkness I tried to find my mother. Then I knew that it was hopeless, for we were trav- elling downstream at a great rate. Wzitcar was rushing in through the empty window frames. By now there was very little left of the house. An- other rush of water carried me along with it until it deposited me on what was once the roof of a hencoop. I held on till daylight, and I was then picked up by a row boat passing, which was filled with people. From that morning on, I lived a life far apart from my old one. I had trav- elled many miles that night and was in a new region. None of the occu- pants seemed to know me or pay any attention to me. The angry waters had subsided and we rowed up to the en- trance of a large brick building, that seemed to be unharmed. Here I found many more youngsters such as myself. Within the next few days they had all been claimed, except myself and another girl about my own age. A month or so later we were removed to a real children's home. Here life proved very unsatisfac- tory to both of us. I couldn't under- stand why my mother didn it come f xr me. Didn't she care enough for me to do so? I had been in the home abo it a year when I was adopted by a very wealthy young woman. I was taken from the home immediately, and I went to live i11 the most beautiful house I had ever seen. I grew up to be one of those pam- pered, typical daughters of the rich. I was in society and had everything my heart could wish for. Yet I was not so very happy. As I grew older, I realized that my mother had been killed in the flood or was yet alive somewhere. I resolved to try a11d find out about her when I came into my own money. Nothing seemed to come of my great hopes and desires. It was- n't lo11g after my resolution that I Went with some of my friends to an old mansion which had been closed for ages. About a month before, very prominent people had moved into it. They had entered into the social life of the town immediately and had asked us to take part in a tennis tour- nament they were putting on. As I passed through the grounds, I marveled at the beauty of them. Noth- i11g was cultivated. It was a typical old fashioned garden. Some way or other, I had parted from the rest of the boys and girls. I then decided that I would explore the grounds. As I rounded a corner, I stopped in amaze- me11t, for there under a spreading oak tree was tl1e realization a11d hopes of all my dreams. I knew her instantly, for she had changed very little with the passing years. Yet there was a look about her I had not remembere-1 seeing before. Her face had a wistful, patient look. Her eyes moved con- stantly as if she were seeking for someone that she never hoped to find. At her feet lay a large collie dog. She had been reading a book, but it. now lay idle in her lap. Rays of sun- light fell on her streaked hair, that had once been a beautiful golden hue. She really looked like some creature from fairyland. Around her were many old fashioned flowers, such as holly- hocks and lilies of the valley. That is where I found her, in the midst of an old fashioned garden with her two companions, one her thoughts and the other her collie dog.