Plainfield High School - Hermiad Yearbook (Central Village, CT)

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12 THE HERMIAD SQUAW ROCKS STEWART WILLIAMS Located near the northern boundary of the town of Plain- field, about three and a half miles from Moosup, is a ridge of rocks known as Squaw Rocks or Seven Wonders. The Nip- muc Indians, who once occupied this territory, were continu- ally at war with others in this vicinity, and it is said that the rocks were used at such times as hiding places for the squaws and children. In winter, the caves were used as places of shelter from the snow and Storms. ' Squaw Rocks extend north and south about twenty rods. The ridge, at its highest. point, measures one hundred feet, and here is found that formation of rocks known as the Devil's Coffin, about twenty feet deep, eight feet wide and twenty feet long. Below it is a large cave called The Old Lady's Kitchen, in which is found The Old Lady's Chair, together with her stove. Close at hand, is a flat rock called the Dancing Floor, directly in the center of which is the Well, extending twenty feet into the rock, then turning and coming out fifty feet be- low. A little farther on is the Fiddler's Stand, sometimes called Pulpit Rock, a very large boulder, delicately balanced. At a point farther north, reached by the Sheep'S Path and beyond the Toboggan Slide, is a cave with two passages lead- ing to a fair-sized room, from which another passage pene- trates to an unknown distance into the rocks. Several parties have explored it until the lights which they carried went out, a warning not to go farther. Indian arrow-heads in quite large numbers have been found in and about the rocks. THE RESULT OF A PRISONER'S ESCAPE ELEANOR MAIN Jockford High School's basket-ball team was a member of the Tasenam League, which every year offered a prize of fifty dollars to the winning team. At the beginning of the season, jockford had won against every opponent, for she had three veteran players who really made her team. But near the close of the season, one of these men became very ill and was unable to return to school, and soon after, a second moved out of town. This left Stephen, the best of the three to be sure, and the captain, alone, with all the other players depending on him He made his men practice at every possible chance be- cause the most important game of the season was soon to be ,Y , fha, Y, Y 7

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THE HERMIAD 11 He arose, and hauling the body out and laying it stretched out on the floor, said, 'fWell, I know there 15 more of you somewhere up there, so you might as well come down. He waited a few minutes and sure enough, down came the head. I knew you would come when you were readyf' he said, as he picked up the head and tried to fit it on the neck, but it 'didn't fit just right. All the same he left it lying there, looked at it a few moments, and went back to his reading. A little later he heard another noise. Lowering his paperand looking up, he saw a man's leg fall in the ashes as the body had done before. ' I ' Well, he said, rising, here is a leg, where is the rest of your body? ' He waited, but he heard no noise, so he went back, but as he resumed his reading, down came the body with the arms, one leg hanging to it, followed by the head. V U Well, wellf' said the man. Is ithere any more up there? Come along down if there is, I'm ready for you ! ii The owner of the house was up in the chimney dropping down these bodies which he had prepared for the occasion, and he had heard all that the man had had to say. Then he .thought he would come down himself, wrapped in a sheet. .He fastened himself to a rope, and let himself down slowly, but when he was about three fourths of the way down he slipped and fell down in the same manner as he had dropped the bodies. As soon as he landed, he picked himself up. V I Oho E said the man. I guess this is the real thing. ' By this time, the owner had come out of the fireplace and 'taken hold of the man to frighten him. To the owner's sur. prise, the man knocked him Hat on the floor and gave him a genuine beating. When this ended, the owner of the house lay perfectly quiet. When he became conscious again, he did not dare to move, afraid that if he did the man would kill him outright. He lay as quiet as possible until morning. -Then he slowly opened his eyes and said, If you will let me OE easy, I won't ever try any more tricks on you. Oh I It's.you, is it ? said the man unwrapping the sheet. He could scarcely believe his own eyes, for it was the owner of the house. VVell., said the man, fi If you are ready to lead an hon- est life, I will let you go, but don't ever try to scare anyone else. After this, the man finished paying for the house and lived there quietly, happily and undisturbed for many years.

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THE HERMIAD 13 played, the game which would decide whether jockford or her worst enemy, East Kitemaug, should win the prize. A great fuss was to be made over the winners.: a supper would be served for them by the losing school, and an entertainment was to be given for their enjoyment. Besides this, there were two loving cups from different people to be presented to them, The game was scheduled for three fifteen, in a town half way between East Kitemaug and Jocklord. As soon as one entered the hall, one could tell that the contest was to be a close one, for cheering and noise filled the place an hour be- fore it was time for the playing to start. Excitement ran high. At two-thirty, the jockford boys got into their suits and came upon the floor for practice. Soon the East Kitemaug fellows arrived. After practicing a while, the Jockford boys let the East Kitemaug team have the floor while they retired to their dressing rooms. It was then noticed that Stephen was absent 5 no one knew where he was or when he went. The coach said he thought the boy ought to know enough to stay with the team, because he might miss some important information or instructions. Two minutes before the game started, Stephen had not appeared, though boys had searched the hall for him and had gone to all the houses nearby. When the boys came up from the dressing-rooms to play, the coach, not knowing what had happened, was nearly wild. However, he had a substitute ready to put in Stephen's place and was on the point of ordering him into the game, when suddenly Stephen walked in through the front door. There was a bright red spot on either cheek and his eyes snapped angrily. He went to his coach, who looked at him questioningly and gave him a few orders. Then he turned and joined his men. We've got to lick them, and lick them good, he said. Go at 'em. This last he said just as the signal blew and the boys went to their places. The game started. Stephen was really angry. He went at 'em like chain lightning. He seemed to be everywhere at once. No matter where he shot from, he alwavs made a basket. The score soared higher and higher. The rest of Iockford's team. as they watched their captain, knew that something was vitally wrong. Never before had they seen Stephen angry. They remembered his words and went at ern. Up, up, went the score and the East Kiternaug fellows became more and more excited and repeatedly fumbled the ball. The first half ended 15-2 in favor of Jockford High. During the intermission, Stephen said nothing concerning his absence and the boys asked no questions.