Oroville Union High School - Nugget Yearbook (Oroville, CA)

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BORN IN VIRGINIA Miss Jane Martha Jenkins, an old maid aunt and guardian of little Billy Saunders, had bought a book for her little nephew entitled. “Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans.” From this book she read aloud to him frequently for his amusement and education. These stories related to the principal events in the lives of great American statesmen. Now Billy was a little lad only seven years old. so this didn’t amuse him very much, but it behooved him to pay attention. So in the course of time he had some incident or expression by which he could identify nearly every character in the book. One day Billy and his aunt had just settled themselves on the porch for a reading, johnny, their next door neighbor and a particular friend and pal of Billy's, was opposite on his own porch, cutting up all kinds of funny capers. “Let me go over to John’s. Aunt Jane.” pleaded Billy. “I’d lot’s rather go over there now and you can read to me to-night. ’Cause, you know, it might make my head ache now.” The prospect of a headache didn't seem to alarm Miss Jane in the least and she responded with an emphatic. No.” Billy resigned himself to his fate and seated himself on the corner of the porch, facing Johnny. Miss Jane began. “There was a little boy born in Virginia, called----” “Born in a manger,” thought the inattentive child to himself. “1 know who that was. he was in the Bible.” This question decided, he gave himself up to the full enjoyment of giving and receiving signals from his chum, making funny faces and strange gestures. “Father. I cannot tell a lie.” read the high pitched voice at Billy’s side. Billy laughed aloud- at that moment Johnny had his 13

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3!n H emortam Still, still with Thee, when purple morning breaketh When the tired waketh. and the shadows flee; Fairer than morning, lovelier than daylight Dawns the sweet consciousness, ‘I am with '1 lice . MINNIE SHARKEY ABRAMS (County Superintendent of Schools) 1864-1914. NETTIE RYDER HUFF. ’01 1884-1915. JEAN OCTAVE BERVEILLER 1846-1914. 12

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sister’s doll waving frantically in the air by one sawdust limb. “William.” said his aunt severely, “it is not polite to laugh when 1 am reading to you.” “When he was nearly seventeen years old. he was commissioned to survey vast tracts of land in Y ir-ginia ” Miss Jane emphasized every word in an effort to impress her unpromising young relative. “The suffering at Y'alley Forge was very intense during that cold, bitter winter.” she continued. Billy made a pretense behind his aunt’s back of throwing a ball and again laughed aloud, when Johnny made the same pretense. Miss Jane looked at him sternly over her glasses “Billy, you naughty boy. don’t you ever want to be a bright, learned man when you grow up?” And without waiting for an answer to this very important question, she read on carefully and deliberately : “He was chosen first President of the United States.” Billy wound his arms around his knees, resting his chin thereon, and made a horrible face at Johnny, who immediately returned the compliment. “He had no children of his own. so was called the Father of his Country.” Miss Jane closed the book with a bang, turned to the little boy at her side and asked: “W ho was this brave, good and noble man. William?” Jesus.” was the ready and solemn answer. “Why! W illiam Lincoln Saunders! I don’t believe you heard one word I read!” Billy was puzzled, for he was sure she had said. “Born in a manger.” and that surely was Jesus. “She didn’t say anything about a ‘log cabin.’ so ’tain’t Ab’a-ham Lincoln: and she didn’t say anything about ‘Give me liberty or give me death, so ’tain’t Patrick Henry. Gee! I wished I’d listened.” thought the naughty child. Jesus!” his aunt was saying in a horrified voice, born in Virginia and Father of our country!” Billy received his cue. “Oh! auntie. I meant George Washington.” he said sweetly. —STELLA SHARKEY. 15. “ BASIL AU REV01 R ” Myself. 1 am an old man. and now that 1 am beginning to get very tired and sleepy in the afternoon—a sure sign of advancing age—it seems to me that I should put on paper the secret 1 have cherished for so many years. It occurs to me that some of these, my neighbor’s children, who love to play in this old garden of mine and who are soon to grow up, may do as I did. in ignorance of that which is given us as a compensation for having existed at all—and I am sure that those two lovers of whose love I shall write were