Oshkosh High School - Index Yearbook (Oshkosh, WI)

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JI AY IN D E X FOB NINETEEN HUNDRED SEVENTEEN Grandpa ' s Specs CLAYTON STANNARD Now Gradnpa dear sat down to read His book beside the door; His spectacles he could not find, And blamed his nephews four. You Tom and Joe and Dick and Ned, Come right in here, I say. And tell me which of you young scamps Has hid my specs today. Now these boys loved to tease Grandpa, So they looked very meek. And said, We thought you ' d like to have A game of hide and seek. You ' ve hidden them yourself Grandpa, As we know very well; He shook his fist and frowned at them. Then started in to tell. I laid them here beside me, boys, When I put my book down; 1 s ' pose I must have dozed a bit, And now they can ' t be found. I ' ve searched the room in every spot. So now I want to know. Which one of you have hidden them : Don ' t stand there grinning, Joe. I tell you this has got to stop I won ' t allow such fun. And if the culprit won ' t confess I ' ll punish everyone. Then, Grandpa, dear, good-natured man. Looks round with angry stare; To have his glasses hidden away Is more than he can bear. With shameful looks the youngsters stand. Not one the charge denies; When all at once a shout from Ned, Draws Grandpa ' s wrathful eyes. guess there ' s one spot, Grandpa, dear. You have not searched, he said, Ycur spectacles are safe and sound — You ' ve got them on your head.

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MAY INDEX ETEEN HUNDRED SEVENTEEN A Mallard EARL WOLVERTON I WAS born a year ago this Spring among the weeds and rushes of a shallow creek, which flows into a good-sized lake. Our cozy nest, which was lined with feathers, was set among the tall green rushes just above the water ' s edge. I well remember that first day I scrambled to the edge of the nest and looked into the clear, limpid water below. There I saw another little duck- ling, just like myself, looking back at me. I called my five brothers and six sisters to see it. They finally waddled to the edge of the nest and be- hold there was another duckling directly below each one of us. Mother, who was in the nest, explained to us that it was only our reflection. Then she waddled into the water and swam about coaxing us to get into the water and come to her. We were frightened at first but finally ventured to at- tempt it. We floundered about at first but soon learned to use our little webbed feet to good advantage. Each day thereafter we took to the water without being coaxed. Here we played and swam about in the sunlight to our heart ' s content. These happy days lasted long into the summer. Then one day our parents called us together and told us that we were now old enough to take care of our- selves. Our parents, who had taken care of us all our lives, bid us Good- bye and then flew to a far distant marsh. There was nothing else for us to do but take care of ourselves. So we separated, I and one of my sisters flying away to a different part of the marsh together. Before our parents left us they warned us to beware of all men. We had seen men with boats but never heard nor saw a gun. One day in Sep- tember, just about sunrise, we were awakened by several loud reports, and my first thought was The hunters. We were thankful that we were hidden a long distance back from open water in the thick rushes. All day that fearful noise kept up. How I longed to go out into the open and swim about, yet dared not. As night came on the shooting ceased and all grew still as the darkened shadows came creeping into the marsh. We became brave and flew out into the open, joined some other ducks that had escaped, and swam about in search of food. As the days went by, we became wary enough to evade the hunters. But, one day, as we were sitting quietly among the weeds, we heard the swish, swish of a paddle coming nearer to where we sat. What were we to do? While debating how to get away without being seen, the boats ' nose came poking through the grass right upon us. Quick as a flash we rose with a whir, but almost as quickly two deafening reports rang out. My sis- ter fell with a thud and I felt faint and dizzy. Another report and a shower of fine stuff flew by me. I fell to the water and when I attempted to rise Paga twenty-two !