Oakfield Alabama High School - Oracle Yearbook (Oakfield, NY)

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0 Houses What do houses harbor? A heartache,-a lover? No one knows As he walks along What things lie behind those walls. Maybe an artist, A teacher, A dancer, Or even a student, Writer, Or worker, All with their joys, Heartaches, - And troubles. I But the gay-colored houses as I pass along Show it not Nor add a sound To the midnight- air. Helen Haxton, Eng. II. l Soiuntlliiceirml Adventure NE glaring, hot dusty afternoon, a small, rickety Louisiana train pulled up to a tiny platform, and, although exhausted after its journey, whistled shrilly in two rather short puffs and jerked to a stand-still, awakening the only person visible. A young man, obviously a gentleman by his dress, stepped from the one passenger car, carrying two brief-cases, and a small satchel. Then the train puffed on again leaving the two men looking curiously at one another. My name is Delton, could you tell me how to get to the nearest store? inquired the stranger, a tall, young looking man with stooping shoulders and an academic, city-worn air. I want to get some camping equipment and provi- sions. The native yawned, stretched, and having supplied the necessary informa- tion, immediately proceeded to fall asleep again. Seeing that it was uselessto obtain further help, the stranger started down the dusty road. which he had been shown. If I can only find that orchid the name of Professor Delton will find its place in scientific circles. ' On the same afternoon, another person was traveling along a road. A light wagon, drawn by an ancient looking horse, moved slowly in the hot sun. Piled in the back were various bundles one of which like af tent, rolled up. In the wagon was seated a tired, discouraged but looking gentleman. This gentleman was no less a Blythe, known the country round for his enormous in fact, the motive for the Colonel's journey. His the point where it was a case of either paying his debt fun' down plantation which the Blythes had owned for was unthinkable, some miraculous means ml1S be former, and the Colonel thought he had found. 'Diventy-eiglgt, X

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O Adloupit Yourself IEQVE a friend named Bill. Of course, it is not unusual to have a friend by is common name but Bill is a remarkable fellow. E h U I n . thingsvigrsigfri he was knee hlgh to a Grasshopper , people predicted great had Eggexgogifdgggfilllitigifvith the highest honors in his class, we all thought he But somehow he hasn't landed. Bill says it is because he hasn't had the breaks. But perhaps if you followed him around for a day you would have a differ- ent theory. Bill has ideas about the way things should be done. They're clever ideas, far more clever than the average chap's. There's no doubt that if Bill had been God he would have been a humdinger. But Bill isn't God. Nor are his ideas the only ideas in the world. They are in constant competition with an enormous mass of other ideas, most of which are rather careless and sloppy. For carelessness and sloppyness William has no use. He won't tolerate it-he won't compromise with it. He wants things done in his excellent way or not at all. As a consequence they're not done at all. No one man, however brilliant, can monopolize the whole arena or direct the Whole show. Bill's career, like that of many other people, is being frustrated because he hasn't learned that fundamental law of adaptability. Adaptability is the secret of physical as well as mental evolution. Life on this planet has undergone terrific changes and upheavals. Ages and intense heat and intense cold, continual wetness, perpetual drought. Animals survived those changes not by their great strength but by their ability and willingness to adapt themselves to change. The infinitely remote animal ancestor from which man probably came was a tiny mammal hardly bigger than a rat. It survived the terrific ice age by growing hair which would repel the cold, and by modifying its habits. The great reptiles, who had lorded it over the world before the ice cap came down, did not survive. They had both brains and brawn, but they couldn't change their ways. So Evolution went on and left them behind. No matter how important you are, you are only a small cog in the enormous mechanism of life. You will get nothing out of that mechanism for yourself unless you adapt yourself to the other cogs. Whether you like it or no , you of other beings. ' I l 1 Their necessity is your necessity-their opportunity is your opportunity. James Sinclair. t r fate is enmeshed with the lives of millions Twenty-seven --lun, .

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ng. V H .ysvf G .-.. Family tradition told of great wealth hidden in a Louisiana - . . t th time of the Civil War.. -The precise location of this treasure was iiiitlisoivn aes e map Ocatmg its hldmg place had disappeared Just before the war Several attempts had been made to find the treasure but none had succeeded. Dire necessity now demanded another search. -Next day found Professor Delton very busy in a shady clearing of a swamp, setting up a tent and establishing his camp. In fact, he was so very busy and intent on his work that he did not hear the soft thud of falling packages some distance away and was not aware of the presence of Colonel Blythe in this very swamp where he expected to work unmolested. u But someone else heard them and that someone scowled darkly and his slight, bent negro form shook with apprehension. Who could have broken the solitude of his hiding place? Whoever it was wouldn't get him, torture him and make him a slave againg he would kill them first. As night fell over the great swamp two campfires burned cheerfully but so dense were the trees and bushes that the two campers were totally unaware of the presence of the other, while the place where a third fire should have burned was ominously dark and still. The hours passed ong supressed excitement and witchery prevailed the swamp. Not a star twinkled in all the sky, the trees rustled high up but not a breeze reached the earth. Neither the Colonel nor Professor slept but passed the night in wishing for the daylight so that each could start his search. I Finally the shadows lifted and the welcoming chirp of many birds was heard, and the verdant woods immerging from its sleep sparkled with the fresh dew. The Colonel and Professor set out after an early breakfast, one to search for gold, the other for a precious flower. ' Neither was successful, and, returning home in the late afternoon, unex- pectedly came upon each other. So jealous was each one of his quest and his great belief in it that he immediately concluded that the other was after the same treasure. Had not the northern newspapers been full of the Professor's search and had not all the south heard of the famous Blythe gold? So certain was each that the other's presence meant evil that only hostile glances were exchanged. Professor Delton was so tired after the events of that first day that he de- cided to spend the following day in camp, but the Colonel set out even more eagerly than on the day before. . h to a little clearing where va small hut stood. Al- th uAliJoaiii1a2Zdn heedgxznrilnined to enter and find who lived, there and to get ,a O g t Hdwever he found no one in the hut and, never doubting but that bite to ea . - . - e the owner present, determined to look around him- heigvmgdesiz v:.eifg1,gll3 iiizrhe decided to examine its contents first. To his dis- se ' . te nf it held ngthing but a scrap of paper. He was about to thrust it. appom me 11' e es caught the word Blythe . Who, upon seeing his own name, back When ls y circumstance, could resist examining further? especially in such a strange Twenty-nine