Peabody High School - Peabody Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

Page 21 text:

' In Q THE PEABODY 19 be easy to beat Elk to the coveted treasure of gold and whiskey. Added to this, he had a thorough knowledge of the undertaking and knew how to cope with its perils. Elk knew all this too. He therefore conceived the idea of shadowing Mack to a convenient barren, and then shooting him from behind, taking the sled and going to the fort with the skins. He did not stop to consider the fact that he was undertaking the very thing he bet U, S. couldn't be done. That was like Joe. It was a matter of a few moments for him to put his dogs in the traces of a small flyer. A can of provisions was stowed away and inside of five minutes two tracks in the snow crust might be seen where one had been before. U, S. drove at a hard pace, never slackening but never increasing. It was a pace that would go on for sometime, finish up with a slightly greater speed and then U, S. would need new dogs. He knew this but dogs were a smaller matter in this moment of hate and greed. A lone wolf howled dismally at a little distance but no other sound broke the stillness save the flying feet of the dogs and the swish of the sled runners on the snow. On and on through the night ceaselessly raced Makinson while a mile or so behind pursued Joe Elk. Twice during the first day he stopped to rest his dogs but Joe kept on intent on making up the distance that night. He did not need to save his dogs because he would use Makinson's after he had killed him. That saw the northern star low in its course before Elk came in sight of U. S. A revolver cracked and re-echoed over the waste as the nearly spent dogs ate up the remaining space. U. S., stooping to adjust a robe saved his life. Like a Flash he drew and fired full into the oncoming sled. Elk crumpled up and the dogs came to a stand. U. S. stopped also and possess- ed himself of everything of value including the supplies. By dawn the streaking drifts had made Joe Elk's last bed invisible forever. On pushed U, S. as if nothing had happened. Hate was dead but greed still lived and urged him on. Morning of the third day saw him entering the narrow pass which brought him out less than a mile from his destination. But his dangers were not yet over. He 'had withstood the strain and had saved his dogs, he had held to the trail but he was yet to pass between two great ice moun- tains alive with sliding snows and falling icicles. Carefully the sled pro- ceeded until the opening of the pass was in sight. Then Fate snapped a trace strap. With an oath U, S. rolled out to repair the damage. A crash- ing roar as though a hundred cannon suddenly filled the air. Makinson whirled to see a mountain of snow and ice rushing down upon him so swiftly that scarcely had his cry been uttered than it was buried with him under forty feet of death. Pk at wk wk an The men at the post said little but were much relieved. Many stories arise as to the fate of the two men but none know the truth that the snows of many years cover.

Page 20 text:

4' ', 18 THE PEABODY But there was always a time when wolf and grey wolf meet. If Elk was the lord of the trading post, U, Sf, Mack, as he was called for short, was master of the trading. That is, he was powerful to make or break Skag- ginac trading post, It depended on him alone whether or not the weekly supply of pelts poured into the rude wooden building controlled by Joe Elk. If Joe held power of life and death over the men of the post, U, S.'s word was law to the half-breeds and natives on whom the post depended for skins. U, S. Mack was a gigantic brute who had left the United States for reasons of his own. Hence came the name by which he was known. There were few as bad and none worse than he in Alaska, He and Elk were friendsg the kind of friends men are when it is indispensible to the other for a livelihood. But under the skin there smouldered a firce hate which threatened to burst out continually. Tonight Joe and U, S, had been discussing the business projects of the coming month during which Mackin- son would be up North. Elk remarked U, S. could have made a sale at Fort Silver if only he had gone on before. Several buyers from the States were to be there for three or four more days. The sum he mentioned that these buyers paid interested U, S. he said he'd go. .Elk laughed and bet him a sack of dust he couldn't make it. U, S. took the bet in a rage and Elk sneered. The hate between them burst out in a moment and it was then Mackinson's voice had first attracted attention, Outside with his men UU. S. brieHy stated his enterprise. It was char- acteristic of his discipline that no one thought of remarking on it. A light sled was swiftly hitched to the six strongest dogs and a sack of skins was strapped on it. The question of provisions arose. U, S, was out of food, He would have to ask Elk for more supplies or risk the trip on what he couldgather from his men. Mackinson grinned and then swore. He would not ask Elk for provisions, curse him. He'd show him! Hastily some scant supplies were gotten together and then U, S, clad in fur from top to toe stepped onto the sled and was off with a crack of the whip, He was well under way before Elk got up from the table and sauntered out of the saloon. His nonchalance fooled no one. They all knew. Dirty work without a doubt! Elk entered his private office and came out a moment later loading a revolver, He was dressed for sledding. A group of men through the saloon door saw him pass out into the night. What's up? said one, If yer askin' me grinned another evilly, I'll say Mack's up to dirty work and Elk's plannin' ter go him one better. Them two sure do hate hard. All I hope's they'll kill each other some day. The speaker was right. Mackinson knew Elk had sent men on with skins anyhow. He'd never told him about it if he hadn't. By doing so saved Elk the discount otherwise due U, S. He also knew the sled were heavy and loaded well. Moreover, his own dogs were superior to any man's at the post and he felt it would

Page 22 text:

20 THE PEABODY 1919 Chalmers Siviter The New Year bells ring out, Heralding an Unknown Lightg Singing a story of blood and the dead And a triumphant, victorious fiight. Yes, the war is over, Peace will soon be signed, Many of the troops are turning home, Their loved ones here to find. Nineteen hundred and nineteen. Ah! significant the year shall be For the boys are coming back to us From the struggle across the sea. Shall darkness hide our vision? Shall we not see the light? Shall we grope blindly round about And fail to reach the Height? Reeking Mars has left the earth Crushed into his graveg But the Stars of Opportunity Shine o'er the Free and the Brave. 1.1T0 .. ' THE JOY OF WRITING A SHORT STORYU Fannie Aaron I ' Imagine the horror of coming into your classroom one bright sunny morning-in a perfectly good humor, remember-well prepared for a gram- mar examination in all the one thousand and one rules of VVoolley, and then having your teacher inform you that he is in a beastly humor. What visions of a stiff test! Then he calmly remarks that he is experiencing a headache, the first in five years, and intends to work it off on his innocent, peace-loving class. It is a terrible situation, I admit, but try to picture it. Well, he has received a fresh supply of theme-paper from the supply-A room. The sight of it lying on his desk worries him, irritates him. in fact it seems to torment him. He has no room for it in the book-case. Imagine the rest, remembering all the while the headache, the paper, and the fact: that there is a conspicuous lack of stories in his protege, The Peabody.