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

Page 16 text:

14 THE HERMIAD I-n fifteen minutes the game started again. The score went up and up, and the supporters of Jockiord went almost wild, for they had really not expected jocklord to win. The game ended with a score of 52-36. VVhen the boys were in the dressing-room, they looked at Stephen as though he ought to tell them the secret, and at last one of them said, Don't you think that we deserve to be told what is wrong, Stephen ? . 'K Yes, answered Stephen, But not till we're going Yhome. . Upon again being urged to tell it when they were going home, he started off with: When we Enished practicing and started down stairs, I stopped a second at the front door. Suddenly some one caught me from behind, picked me up, as though I were a child, and carried me out-of-doors. As it happened, no one saw the trick except old Mr. Cassey, and I guess he thought it was a joke. I was angry at being handled so roughly and demanded an explanation, but all I ieceived was the grurf reply, 'Shut up.' Another fellow had joined .the big one, and they started dragging me off between theme. They talked together all the way, but this is all I could understand : ' How Andrew will laugh when we tell him how easy it was.' A . 'Ye5, you bet.' Meanwhile I was wondering why one captain should be so anxious to get rid of another, and finally I gained this much from fragments of the conversation which I caught. They ran something like this: ' It seems that Andrew and this fellow have never been friends since they played foot-ball together a couple of years ago. Andrew says this fellow here, Iockford's captain, played a mean trick on him and he promised himself that he'd get even. He thinks this is his chance. Besides, he has bet a couple of friends that he'll beat Jockford's team and he's afraid now, at the last minute, of losing the game.' s ' Where are we going to take him ?' V ' Oh, to that small shed that's down on this road a way.' Soon we arrived there. My captors put me in and locked the door, although I did kick and wiggle, and there they left me while they went ' to get their money,' as I heard them say. I didn't know what to do. It was cold out there even though I had my sweater on, so I started moving around. I found an old table, a chair, and some boxes. I put the boxes one on top of the other, on the table, stepped upon the chair, and from there climbed onto the boxes. The roof was near

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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.

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THE I-IERMIAD ' 15 me, and, as I hoped, it wasold. just then, as fate seemed to- be with me, the boxes tipped and 1 fell. I stacked them up' again and in my efforts to find them all, I stumbled against something hard and long. Reaching down, I found that it was a kind of iron bar. I mounted on top of the boxes again, taking the bar in one hand and holding onto a beam with the other, and I hit the roof. Again and again I repeated this act until finally I had a hole in the roof large enough for me to crawl through. I did that little thing, and dropped about twelve feet to the ground, whereupon I made good use of my heels with the result that you just witnessed. Thank goolness it wasn't our captain that played that trick, said one ofthe boys. ' Well, what are we going to do about it ? asked another, Stephen, what do you say? asked the coach. As long as I escaped from prison and we won the game, I think it would be best if the people don't know of this, re- plied Stephen, But I do think something should be done to Andrew. Right, said the coach, Let's get the two teams 'to- gether and decide what to do. That would be best. A day or two after, Stephen again told the story, but this time to both teams and to two coaches. Andrew was so sur- prized and frightened that he admitted he had played the trick. Stephen and the Iockford boyssaid that they preferred the affair to be unknown to the people. The other team, after talking with their coach awhile, decided to punish their cap- tain, Andrew, by taking away the captaincy. So, by this game, Iockford won fifty dollars, two cups, an entertainment and supper, but better still, kept its school name spotless, while East Kitemaug learned a good lesson in fair play. THE MAN WHO DID THINGS TWICE - GERTRUDE E. ROBINSON OF commanding figure and soldierly bearing, with deep-set grey eyes, hollow cheeks, and hair of intense black, ,his appearance alone was enough to attract attention 3 but, cou- pled with his singular habits and pointing him out as a re- markable individual, was the fact that he lived in duplicate. That is-if he arose on Monday, breakfasted on coffee, toast and eggs, retired to his room, took lunch, and Went for a ram- ble in the city, going up and down particular streets, and finally home to supper and to bed-on Tuesday he would go through precisely the same action.