Oklahoma Presbyterian College - Ithanna Yearbook (Durant, OK)

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the youth. The heart of the maiden sang no longer, Tired of waiting and fearing that he should never return, she closed her eyes to sleep. Five years soon passed. October had come again. The youth returned and found the Indian maiden waiting for him. The red and gold leaves were fast covering the great rock 'neath which she slept. In time seven great Bois d,Arcs grew around that rock. Seems as if they are keeping watch over the maiden. You have heard there was gold buried there by outlaws? No, many believe it, and have dug but the great tangled roots have prevented very much search. Some say that there is a ghost which protects the treasure, that it was often seen near the great rock in the center of the trees. Perhaps there is a ghost, a spirit, which haunts the place. I like to believe that, child. Need I tell you thatI was the youth and the maiden was waiting for me? That's why I built my cabin here, so I could be near her. That's why I never returned to the east, why I forgot the ways of the white man and his language and lived here alone. There isn't much longer to wait now. To nightl saw her as she was the night I told her I must go, and prom- ised to return again. She entreated me to come very soon- Child, you wont mind if I go to her soon. Ilm so tired, but I must wait. The pipe fell from the old man's hand and he leaned back on the shadow, his head upon his breast. LongI sat looking at the gnarled branches and twisted trunks of the Seven Bois d'Arcs, standing sentinel, outlined against the clear October sky. I hesitated long to intrude upon his sa- cred silence, but at last turned to him and lo! realized that the Old Man had gone to keep his promise. -WINNIE LEWIS, '14. 101

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THE LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE. CPRIZE STORYD I. N C E upon a time there was a child who had strange thoughts. Some- times his questions would make his mother smile, but often they would bring tears to her eyes, for the child was not always childish. One evening when the child was being tucked in bed he said: Mother, where is the Land of Heart's Desire? It is everywhere and nowhere, song but what do you know of it ? I was just wondering. If it is everywhere and nowhere, mother, how do people find it? Many people never find it at all. Sometimes they think they have found it when they have not. When they are so happy that they can think of nothing that would make them happier, they say they are in the Land of Heart's Desire. The child put his arm around her neck and held her close. Then this is the Land of Heart's Desire, Mother, he Whispered. His mother kissed him. Wait, son, and see.', II In a year or two the child went off to school. Here many new things came into his life, and his mother was no longer everything to him. His childhood passed quickly, and a handsome youth soon stood upon the com- mencement platform of a great college. He was the youngest in his class, with the highest honors. The president had special Words of praise for him, as he gave him his diploma, and the youth said to himself, as he looked proudly around at the glad faces of his friends and classmates: Surely, this is the Land of Heart's Desire! but the gray-haired president had caught the words, and he smiled sadly as he said: Wait and see, my boy, waitand see! III There followed years of Work. Many failures and discouragementS met his most earnest efforts, but through all this the youth was becoming a man. Success came at last. The world which had neglected and scorned him had at last discovered his worth, and bowed at his feet. And the man, looking from the heights of fame and power, said: So this is the Land of Heart's Desire! 98

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THE SEVEN BOIS D'ARCS. I HE Old Man sat on the low stone steps of his rude log cabin. Holding his pipe in his hand, he leaned forward to look more closely at the clump of trees outlined against the sky. For a long time I watched him, wondering why he sat here every night looking at the twisted trunks and the gnarled, tangled branches of the Seven Bois d'Arcs. And why did he often wander down to the trees and stand near the great rock in the center of the clump? Child, said the old man, half turning to me, Child they've told you I'm a queer old man. They don't under- stand. Listen I knew a youth once, strong and brave. He lived here when the country was new, and the white man had not come. On such a night as this the youth met, loved and wooed an Indian maiden. Then it was October, just as now. The Missionaries persuaded the youth to go to the East to school. He promised to return to the maiden when the leaves turned red and gold and came iluttering to the ground. The next October the maiden watched and waited for the youth's return. Theleaves began to fall. Soon they covered the ground. The wind stirred them as it swept over them, or piled them high near the brooks. Winter came and the snow fell, covering the dead leaves. Still the youth had not returned. Soon the leaves began to grow. The world was green again. The heart of the Indian maiden sang as she thought of the time when the leaves would turn to red and gold and fall to the ground. The falling of the leaves did not bring 100