Petaluma High School - Trojans Yearbook (Petaluma, CA)

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P. H. S. E N T E R P RI S E ’09 down ' cum- nally it he writ- jes’ —she don’t onth. gster was silly some und, state, jould f the and were Le re- man- ights The lark, sered )illar rried wore old issed. was lugli- th° ears. Mrs. ace? ;urn- inal- feel- ould lady her ach- and Lway nuch thru into the rooms of the lower floor. All was quiet about them. Suddenly, in a lull be¬ tween whispers, one of the girls started, and gave a low cry. It so startled the rest that no one made a sound or moved. Then from overhead a low murmur floated down the wide stair-case—a snatch of a song. Jeane, who was in the center, stiffened, and by the light of the one feeble candle they saw her face pale and her eyes widen. “That hymn! ” she whispered. “She al¬ ways sang that as she wrote at her desk. Why I must be mad!” In the dead silence that followed one of the girls gave an hysterical giggle and a boy muttered something under his breath. Jeane paid no attention. Then, with no warning, and as if she were in a trance, she started for the stairway. For a moment the rest hesitated. Then as if impelled by some mysterious power, they followed the girl up the stairs. Silently they trooped through the hallway until they came to the door ot the library. It was closed and underneath a shaft of light glimmered. Jeane, looking neither to right nor left walked unhesitatingly to the door and open¬ ed it. The rest crowded to the doorway aril looked over her shoulder. In a silver candle stick a candle flickered, and bending over the desk was the figure of an old woman, clad in a black wrapper. Her back was toward the door and she crooned a song under her breath. As they watched, scarcely breathing, she fumbled with a small knob and a drawer shot out from apparently the smooth top o f the dusty desk. From the drawer she took a paper, glanced at it and returned it to its place. Then she shut the drawe? and started to turn. At that mom¬ ent Jeane came from her trance and with a terrible shriek, fell back into the arms of her companions. Instantly the light went out and screaming and tumbling, the terri¬ fied crowd hurried down the stair-case, drag¬ ging the half unconscious girl with them. How they got out they never knew. The whole country side was startled in the face of such evidence and a few days afterwards, in broad daylight, some of the most credulous ones searched the old desk, found the hitherto unnoticed knob and there in the drawer which opened out, was the lost will. In it, it stated that because of her love for the sweet girl, who had been so kind to a lonely old lady, the great fortune should go to Jeane. All were glad for her and soon the village forgot the ghost, for no more lights were seen or strange noises heard, and they all felt that the old lady, having done her duty, now rested in peace. ISABEL GILBERT. 27

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HOW A GHOST HELPED VERYONE expected that when old Mrs. Rutledge died she would leave her vast wealth to Jeane Murray. Jeane was the sweetest and most lovable girl in the whole village, and pitying the lonely old wo¬ man, who, as far as t ' hey knew, had no kith or kin, she had gone often to see her and had spent days at a time in the great man¬ sion on the hill. No thought of the riches, which someone must eventually fall heir to, entered her mind. She continued her visits until the old lady died. Then, for the first time the village gossips instilled the idea in her mind, but she gave no sign of it. After the funeral everyone awaited eagerly the reading of the will—but—no will could be found. The mansion was searched from dome to cellar, but there was no sign of the document. After many days of careful search the great house was boarded up and the town settled down once more. The hope of going to Europe and cultivating her lovely voice, which Jeane had cherished in secret, faded away and she took up her old work on the farm as cheerfully as ever. No heirs were found, in spite of the care¬ ful search of lawyers, and for almost a year no one went near the house. Then one eve¬ ning a little negro boy passing by, saw some ripe apples in the yard and climbed the tree, which grew close to the house. Prom the highest branches he could look into the room which had been Mrs. Rutledge’s library. It was almost dark, and a boy, driv¬ ing home his cows, heard a terrifying shriek, coming, it seemed, from the roof of the man¬ sion. He stood still and waited in the shad¬ ow of the wall. Presently he heard the scamper cf bare feet and the negro boy dashed around the corner at full speed, his tattered coat flying in the breeze, and his eyes nearly popping out of his head. Shaking with terror he gasped—“I seed her, I tell you I did!—Sittin’ there writin’ at her •old desk. Oh Lawdy! Jim, I sure am scar¬ ed! I seed her as plain as day. Oh Lawdy! Lawdy!” i] q The frightened boy danced up and down 1 as pale as he could be under the circum- 8 stances. Jim listened excitedly and finally u gathered that the negro imagined that he ° had seen Mrs. Rutledge seated at her writ- Y ing desk. v “En then she got up and nosed ’round, jes’ like she was lookin’ for sumpin’, then—she weren’t there at all. Oh Lawdy—ef I don’t say mah prayers ever’ night fer a month. 1 sure am scared stiff,” and the youngster scampered home to his mother. No one believed the tale when it was spread and everyone laughed at the silly child. In .just a few months, unless some heir turned up or the will could be found, the great wealth would revert to the state. Everyone thought it a pity that Jeane could not have the benefit of at least some of the money, but the will could not be found and no one came, so nothing could be done. After a time the negro and his story were forgotten, but in less than a month vague re- g ports came from the residents near the man¬ sion—reports of strange noises and lights gleaming at midnight in the house. The timid refused to go by the house after dark, j while the less timid ones laughed and jeered at the idea of a ghost. One night a pillar of the church, passing that way, hurried home to his wife and shaking visibly, swore (?) that he had seen a light in the old library a,nd soon afterwards a light passed from room to room and a soft wailing was heard in the still evening. His wife laugh¬ ed at him, but was careful to spread th news. The reports finally reached Jeane’s ears. She laughed heartily and said: “Poor Mrs. Rutledge! Can’t they let her rest in peace? She was lonely enough in life without return¬ ing to that cold, empty house” Still the alarming reports came in. Final¬ ly one night a party of young people, feel¬ ing unusually brave, decided they would prove whether the ghost of the old lady really was there. Jeane, much against her will, was hurried along with them. Reach¬ ing the mansion, which was very dark, and perfectly still one of the boys broke aw r ay the boards from a window and with much whispering and giggling they trooped thru 26

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GOLIATH- STUNG NDAY calm settled up¬ on the house, Sunday wickedness upon the twins, Sunday despair upon Aunt Sue. That lady concluded the story of Joseph and his wicked brethren, of painfully personal in¬ terest, for had not Sidney that very morning cajoled the unsuspecting Sissy into the cis¬ tern and left her there in her anguish and despair? Then she began to read of the valiant David, who slew Goliath with his sling-shot and the twins painfully settled themselves with a sigh of resignation apiece. This duly finished. Aunt Sue gladly dismiss¬ ed Sid and Sissy with copious instructions as to what they should not do and the oft- repeated “if you must play, it should be something suited to the day.” Once out of the house the twins under¬ went a great transformation. Their pious demeanor changed to—something very dif¬ ferent. They were evidently bent upon mis¬ chief, but, dutifully followed their aunt’s instructions; chose something, as they thought, “suited to the day.” Sidney, per¬ sonating David, made short work of the cat and all the chickens in the neighborhood with ' his slingshot. Now the time had arrived for the ad¬ vent of Aunt Sue’s weekly caller. This per¬ son, known by all as “The Colonel” and very important in his own estimation, greatly bored Aunt Sue by his continuous visits al¬ though that gentle lady would not for the world let him know it. From t ' he extreme newness of his attire, the radience of his boots and visage, and the nervousness of his manner it was evident ito the twins, (who had sprung into quick attenlion behind, the hedge when they heard the tap of his cane on the walk,) that some¬ thing unusual was doing. As ' he neared the veranda Aunt Sue rose smiling to meet him. He advanced rapidly and, after greeting her, cleared his throat with a violence that betokened that some terrible effort was about to be made. “ Madam,” he began, “Long, long have I thought—er—cogitated with what feeling of joy you—I should con¬ template the—the moment—that is—what happiness would be mine when the—the— oh, well, what I mean is that I have decided that I cannot live—” “Bet you can’t” said Sid, as a pebble hit the colonel, with a considerable force, in the ear, (for Sid, otherwise David, had at once recognized in the massive form of “the “Colonel” his enemy Goliath.) The ejaculation of that gentleman is pur¬ posely omitted. Aunt Sue with a gasp of shocked surprise sank back in her chair. The Colonel, howling with rage and pain, clapped his hand over the injured eye, shrieking, ‘ What the—the dickens was that?” Turning to her for sympathy he saw her, with a handkerchief before her eyes, trembling with the intensity of her emotion. As he approached her reassuringly a mistalc- able giggle from behind the handkerchief caused him to straighten up with a snort of anger and with one withering glance he left her never to return, and she joyfully dried her eyes. Vhen the re-pentent hero of the occasion came before her with hanging head and dis¬ mal mein he was met with much unmerited kindness, for which he could never guess the reason, and could only thank the Fates that he had escaped a well-deserved, licking. 28 EMMA SALINE.