Polytechnic High School - Caerulea Yearbook (Long Beach, CA)

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LITERARY 5 lllllllllllIlllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIIIllllIIIIIIIIIIHIIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllIIlIIIIIIIIIIIIlIllllIIIlIIIIIIIllIIlllIIIIIIIIIIllIIllllIIllllllllllllllllllllllllll Naturally enough, Jim continued, the death of his wife so- bered Abe up a little. But not fer long. The kids were still bein' used bad. Howsomever, old Hawkins' time was soon to come. About two months after the old woman's burial, the house caught fire. The place burned clear to the ground. The kids wasn't 1101116 when it happened, but old Abe was burned to death in bed. Well, apparently that was the end of the Hawkinses. The kids was sent to an orphanage over in Barford and the hotel was built on the spot where the house had been. 'gThis all happened over thirty years ago and all the doin's would have been forgotten buti'-and Jim -looked impressively at the young salesman- that hotel has been haunted ever since!,' - The young man started perceptibly, but no one seemed to notice his uneasiness. Yes, sir, Jim continued, there,s been strange noises and strange lights and ghost hands and spooks aplayin' in that hotel ever since it was built. VVhy hardly a night goes by but what some one reports seein' 01' hearin' Abe Hawkins iight with his wife or else seein, strange lights flittin' around the rooms. Jim spoke strongly and the weirdness of his tale was enhanced by the roll of the thunder and the flashing of the lightning outside. The storm was at its height. Several men shifted uneasily on their seats. That,s about all of the story, finished Jim. By the way, young man, if you stay at the hotel to-night, you'll probably 1'un across Abe Hawkins. If you do, give him my regards. I-well, you see, began the drummer, I just happened to think that I can catch the evening express to the city if I hurry. They might need 1116 at the firm. I guess I'll have to ride all night. I'm sorry but I'm afraid that I won't be able to meet Able. Several moments late1', after a few hasty and perfunctory acknowledgments and farewells, the young salesman took his leave. VVhen the door had closed, Lem Tucker turned to Jim and .said, Jim Crawford, youlrc an awful liar. You know darned well there ain't

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4 CAERULEA '22 IIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIlllIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIllllIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVIIIlllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllIIllIIIIIlllIIIIllllllllIIIIIIIIllllllllIIIIlllllllllllllllllllll I don't suppose, began Jim, .settling himself as comfortably as he could on a soap box, that the most of you boys will be interested in this story. You all heard it many times afore, but this is for the benefit of the young chap heref' And he tendered the others a sly wink. About thirty years ago, when Bullfrog wasn't more'n a tadpole, a man trekked into this place with his family. He appeared to be a mighty nice sort of a fellow, but before long the sheriff got hep that he had a bad record in the East. O' course we didn't want any bad men around Bullfrog but he minded his own business and we let him stay. Well that feller done a lot o' cuttin' up afore he died, but I still maintains that he done a lot o, good too. Well, Abe Hawkins, that was the gent's name, he built himself a house right where the hotel stands now. 0, course there was nothin, strange in that. A good many men has built houses in Bullfrog in past years. Abbe lived real kinda peaceable like for a couple o' years but finally he fell back in the rut and went bad again. It wasnit awful sudden but kinda gradual like. The little tots began to get mis- trated. The poor kids were around whimpering pretty nigh all the time. But that Wasn't the worst of it, fer old Hawkins began to beat hi.s wife. People didn't know about this right away, but one day lNIis' Hawkins came out with a half-broken head and black eye. She tried to say she fell down cellar, but people got wise and their tongues began to wag . Abe's cruelty to his wife wasn't no secret. Well that sort of thing kept up until one day they found the old woman in bed with an empty pizen bottle by her side. It looked like an orniery case o' suicide an' I ain't sayin' it wasn't, but there its some who still persists in sayin' that Hawkins seemed to know a good deal more about the modus operandi of his wife's death than he made out tof' While J im had been narrating, the 1'3.lI1 had begun to fall out- side. The di.stant rumbling of thunder and occasional flashes of lightning bespoke the coming of a severe electrical storm.

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9 6 CAERULEA 22 nothin' like you said ever happened in Bullfrog. That whole story was a lie. A Jim smiled. HO' course the whole thing was a lie. But by tellin' that lie I proved to you just what I was sayin' before that young feller came in. That lie done a lot oi good. The good it done was threefold. First, I had the satisfaction oi tellin, a whale of a good yarn. Second, I gave that feller the impression that Bullfrog ain't .so backward and that it has got a family ghost. And lastly, T scared that smart Aleck outa town. I didn't like him the minute he began to talk. He was too stuck-up and he made fun o' Bullfrog. And James Crawford, story-teller de luxe, raised his gaunt frame from the b1'oken soap box and ambled triumphantly towards the door. THE YOUNG YANKEE STUDENT QWith Apologies To Rudyard Kiplingj Wolcott Noble ,23 When the 'arf made freshie goes out to the school, 'E acts like a babe an' looks like a fool, An, 'e wonders because 'e is frequent hauled up Ere 'e's Ht to serve as a student, Serve, serve, serve as a student, Serve, serve, serve as a student, Serve, serve, serve as a student, Student hof the school! Now all you frosh Whatis enrolled today You shut up your rag-box an' ,ark to my lay, An' I'l1 sing you a student as far as I may, A student what's fit for a student, Fit, fit, fit for a student,-