Petersburg High School - Missile Yearbook (Petersburg, VA)

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14 The Missile. ing in it but a stiff-back chair and a very uncomfortable looking couch. After the witch had disappeared and the lock had fallen back into its accustomed place, the princess looked about her in despair. What would she do? How could she get out of this dreadful place? Should she call for help? No. That would only arouse the old witch’s anger, and besides the princess knew she could not be heard by any- body seeking to aid her; so she relapsed into a pout. As she stood looking out of the iron-barred window, she heard a slight rustling noise, and turning about she saw a dazzling fairy dressed in white, smiling at her. The minute she saw the sullen look upon the face of the prin- cess, her face also fell, but only for a moment. “Why, dear princess, I never saw you with such a look upon your beautiful face before. Have you forgotten that your name is Neoma, which means Happiness?” in- quired the good fairy. “Oh ! that word is only a mockery to me. Call me anything else but that,” replied the sullen captive. “Well, my message from the good fairies to you is, my dear, that you smile; it’s the only way you can be set free,” said the fairy. “Farewell, and don’t forget to smile.” After the fairy left, the once happy face of the princess became darker than ever. That evening the witch came to the door and gave Neoma a bowl of broth and a slice of bread and with a slight grumbling, shut the door and went down the long flight of stairs. The next day at the same hour as she had come the day before, the good fairy appeared and told the princess to smile and keep smiling, for ’twas the only way she could gain her freedom.

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The Missile 13 (Htjp fmrting flritirrsfi. I n the days beyond recollection there lived a king who was very rich and handsome. He had a daughter who was called Neoma, which means happiness. One day, Princess Neoma, as she was wondering throught the garden of her father’s palace, heard a light knocking upon the gate at the entrance to the grounds and, disobeying her father’s strict orders, she opened the gates. Before her stood a little old woman dressed in black. “I have come,” she said, “to tell you that your father has been injured and you are to come down the highway with me and I will lead you to him.” Out rushed Neoma and the gates closed behind her. As she hurried down the road, she noticed that they turn- ed many curves, and she was becoming tired and half doubtful; so she stopped and said she didn’t believe that her father was injured and how would it happen that he would be traveling such a round-about road. Just then a large and gruesome ogre jumped out from the hedge. He grabbed the frightened girl and carried her away to a big tower which was situated in the old witch’s garden. The ogre took from off a great nail, which had been driven into the immense structure, a key one yard in length, and when he placed it in the keyhole, the large door swing open on its rusty hinges. The witch then led the princess up a narrow winding stairway and after what seemed to her an endless time, they came to a narrow iron door. The witch opened this and ushered her into a dismal little room with noth-

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The Missile 15 That evening the witch came with a bowl of broth and a slice of bread, and, as on the night before, went away grumbling. On the third day, when the fairy came at the usual hour, the princess asked her if she knew why she had been brought to the dreadful tower. ‘‘The ogre who brought you here,” said the fairy, “was once a friend of your father’s. Once he caught the ogre f whom he thought to be his friend, stealing his cattle, and when the servants of your father brought him to the palace, your father said that if he ever saw the ogre up- on his grounds again he would have him hanged. “The ogre said nothing, but when he had gotten out- side the gates of the palace he swore vengeance upon the king and said that some day he would have his revenge. “So you see, Princess Neoma, he is having his revenge now, while your father lives in agony. But try to keep smiling, my dear, keep smiling.” So saying, the fairy departed. But, just as before, the face of the princess became darker. The next morning the old witch came to bring food to the princess. As she was about to leave the room, the princess turned from the window through which she had been gazing with a pleading expression on her face. “Will you allow me to walk in the garden if I don’t eat any of that food ?” asked the captive. “It is so tire- some to stay up here in this tower room all day long. If you would allow me to wander in the soft green grass, it would seem more like home and it wouldn’t seem so bad to be a captive of the dreadful ogre.” The old woman shook he head, but the pleading look on the poor girl’s face caused her to change her mind