Pio Nono High School - Pio Nonite Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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19 THE PIO ITE TAILS UP. It had been a bleak and dreary day and the wi11d had swept over the bluits with a wild gusto. Finnegan was watering l11s horse. Finnegan was superb in every de- tail. His regalia iitted hi111 to a T. He was good to look upo11. He was of the he man type, a11d the gray and gold broeaded coat was snug o11 his broad shoulders. His bronze features showed him to be a man ot the open, and he was Slllgllllll' in that his carriage and stride were unique. Finnegan edged his way over to a breach in the rock where he would station himself so as to get a good View olf the road. There was a confidence in his expressio11-selt-confidenee3 his calm, trustwortliy eyes with little i11de11ta- tions at each corner hinting at an other- wise unapparent sense ot humor and his graeetul posture all would have identified llllll as being' one ot' that note-worthy figliting' patrol, the Pennsylvaiiia State Mounted Police. lle had waited for per- haps te11 minutes before another horse- nian eantercd into sight down the road a bit. Finiieuiin rode up to 111eet him and immediately the 0fll0l',S hand went to his holster. and his pony onto its haunehes. l1ord! he said, after he had recognized the gray nnil'orm. You sure surprised me, Captain. Finnegan just laughed- You ean expert us at any time now in almost any eorner ol' the state, and pray tell me your businefs. Sure, l'm hunting panthers. You won 't find their watering holes here. No mine's differentg he drinks 'any- ' lv I Q . I thing with 10 per eent in it. Great snakes, he must be a fire-eater too. No ie, he kee is buriiinff the trails tho' P3 7 he 's on horseback. Iaillllligtlll eyed hi1n intelligently, taking into eonsideration every slightest detail about the otherts person. He was a slouehy, swagferiiig farmer and his ae- tions. speech and manners proved him to be sueh. His eyes were keen and hu- morous and eaeh emitted a twinkle that is rare in this type ot' man. He paeked two automatics, one on each side, a car- tridge belt, and a knife. It was the way that he sat i11 the saddle that made him look reckless. Remunerated by the horse- man's appearance and answers, Finnegan trotted up next to the other's Sorrel. So you're after the Panther, eh? Sure Mike! I'm Bill VVatson, sheriif of L011dOll cou11ty over Potsville way. I'm after the Panther. He made a haul over at the Potsville Farmer 's State Bank yes- terday. Hooked a couple thousand in bonds and about 883,000 ill other negotia- ble securities. iVell, 1,111 here for the same, re- turned Finnegan, Major Brent told me to hook him dead or alive. We heard he was in this neck of the woods. So he got a bit of jack, eh? Yaa, pulled the gat 011 us cool as ice. I happened to be ill tl1e bank attaching an account. Ile jumped us around with the muzzle of a .32 yawning in our face, grabbed the swag, locked us in the vault and tl1C1l hiked off. Nobody with him. Good joke the way he marched eleven of us fools around i11 'front of his guni Can 't look my old nag in the face yet. Finneg'an's eyes glinted. WY 4 Y! , ' ' . at 7 aa, said W atson. Don t know the guy with his mask 011 but I kll0XV plenty about him. That's good, assented Finnigan. HI donlt kll0W much about him, but I'm in- terested. ' ' XVa'al, here's how 'tis-don't know his right name so we'll call him 'Olier'- he's a Frenelimaii l believe. Fifteen years ago he married a mighty sweet girl-as so111e say-and they were happy on his nice little farm up i11 Manitoba. They done pretty well for a couple of years until along come an Easterner, who got pretty well caught up with this Panthe1 S wife. So tinally one day 'Olier' comes home from branding to find that his jane had gone and hiked away with this East- erner. VVa'al, sir, '0lier' tracked them up and down the map till he eornered 'em. For a long time nobody heard ot' the Pan- ther and it seemed he had dropped off the world. YVa'al. he sure didn 't: no sir, 9 .

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19C-'THE PIO NONITE 25 HENRY WTZA .... ............... t Tlassieal Debating Society, liJ1'El1llHtlK'CllllJ, Blessed Virgin Sodality, Class Play '25, Baseball '25, liloeution '25, Senior Club. Hank, a veritable beauty, Hitting to and from classes, reminds one of a chap iuunortal- ized in a, drama written by a famous man called Shakespeare, quite a time ago. I guess the name of the show was Romeo and Juliet. Sitting at his desk, constantly perusing his Greek volumes and pondering over the un- surpassed philosophy of Xenophon, he un- doubtedly imagines himself to be a Grecian god in a modern setting. EDMUND E. LONERGAN ......... Classical Holy Name Society, BlessedVirgin Sodality, Debating Society, Glee Club, Class Play '25, Senior Club. NVhose little body lodged a mighty mind. Homer. Ed, one olf our smallest, but by no means the least olf our graduating class, made his much desired presence distinctly felt by his constant cheerful spirit. Ever active and in with the gang, we shall be sorry to have to part with him. During his three years at Pio Nono Ed has always maintained a high scholastic average. .llCROlllI'l C. lJliliASAYlTZ ........ Classical Football' 2-l, Debating Society, Blessed Vir- gin Sodality, ltloly Name Society, Basketball '23, '23, Varsity '25, Senior Club, Class Play '25, tllee Club. A man l know who lived upon a smile. and well it fed himg he looked plump and fair. Yes, t'Jerry is the convivial bumpkin ot' the class. Nothing worried him and his con- genial nature made for him many friends. Thou hadst small Latin and less Greek, your l'1 0l1d4lliD gained, no other need I seek. Eternally true to all his friends. His advice was always beneficial. His optimistic views were a boon to the class.

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19 'IIHE PIO NONITE 25 and when this Eastern gink moved down to his place in Connecticut, if the Pan- ther didn't pop. up an' come ridin' along. l most reckon he cornered this gink alone, cause he marched him into a gully an' gave l1i1n one of his guns, keeping the other for himself. They fought a duel? snapped Fin- nigan. Ya'a, an' that Eastern dude didn't deserve that consideration. Finnigan snuffed. It was plain to see that this was ettecting him. tt 'Olier' killed llilll. The other gink got it in the heart and the Panther was scraped in the rifrht arm above the elbow. D lteekon he's got a mark to show yet. And then? muttered Finnigan. You know the rest, answered lVat- son. 1-Ie's got all Connecticut, Pennsyl- vania and the whole works around here shot up and seared out. Even you guys ean't get him. You're eating out 0' his hand. He'll probably get the lead some day an' I'm hopin' he will. If I catch him 1 won 't take him back 'less he wants too. He's sure a menace to the whole dis- trict 'round Pennsy, ain't he? Didn't they ever get close to him? You bet! In the cemetery where he buried his mother. The place is alive with flowers. He crippled a couple of deputies there once. Next time he warned 'em. Said he'd bore every gosh-danged one of 'em if they didn 't stay away. He 's as bad as they make 'em, but he gives a guv a chance. He stole the money, making an big haul, that's why l'm at'ter,him, not fer anythin' personal. Twixt you land me. I'm danged sorry fer him ! As XVatson completed his story he felt the round end ot' a gun digging deeper ind deeper into his stomach. You move, and I'll fill you full of powder and lead, admonished the Penn- sylvania Mounted. You've shot your gab too ol'ten this time, Sir '0lier'. Watson turned white, white with anger. lle saw that Finnigan was in earnest and he raised his hands slowly. Finnigan removed the other's guns und backed away. You don't give me credit for having any brains at all. How d 'ye know the Panther's past like a book? The1p's a bulge in your saddle-bag-looks like a satchel--an' the kale in it at tl'xatll! I only heard the story from some other bozos out o' that territory and the saddle-bags--- Shut up! You've get convincing an' taking ways and the story ot yourself hit the core, but l could prove your identity by rolling up your right sleeve. I coulda shot ya' from the rock but I wanted to hear your story. l'm too familiar with your picture at lleadquarters that yaren't the 'Panther'. Ye're bright Olier' and ye're square! You coulda played safe and pulled a gun on me while we were ridin' along. Our bunch believes in sportsmanship. I'1l toss a coin. Heads up, I'll let you go, money and all. Tails up, you'1l come along with me. You ain't get the faintest chance of making a get- away tho' even if it does land heads up. There 's too many grey-coats in this coun- try now. Suddenly everything was silent. Fin- negan drew out a silver coin from the in- nermost regions of his person. He held it for a. minute gazing on it intently. Then he flipped it--where VVatson eouldn't see it. He glanced at the result a second. You win! Turn your nag around and get out. But-- Close your mouth and get out or I'll shoot. The other faltered, but seenting that Finnigan meant business, turned his horse and trotted away. Finnigan watched him till he was out ot' sight. Then he burst into long and merry laughter Before he started away he took another look at the glittering coin in the dust and it lay TATLS UP. He hopped to the saddle and as he rode away thought of the hole in his arm and the nunibngss of it, where one day. so long ago a bullet had lodged, placed there by the hand of an Easterner. Francis R.,'Soike 10