Potter School - Shield Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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THE POTTER SHIELD and comfort her Hurry Tommy? We must get there quickly!! he Said' as he . f - 2 . . . f l l l l i bo 's hand more tightly and tried to urge iiiiii Oii aster' n ft 1 1 7 . C u iiicliddr' pzissed, in which time he and the boy covered about four of the miles between town and his little cabin in the hills. There were still ten to go, which would mean three hours of hard, steady walking. . . - ' ' ' 1 h a s a d bl d Lennard never thought of his condition. His c ot es were in r g , n oo was still dripping from some of his wounds, but his fast pace never slackened. Another hour passed in silence, and then both father and son noticed a cold wind springing up. Being in the dead of winter Lennard knew what this meant, and he tried to walk even faster. But it was no use. Inside of half an hour the snow began falling and the wind came on in earnest. It howled through the trees, ' nt branches bowed in mute submission to its power Father and son whose gia ' I braced themselves, and with bent heads forced their way through the barrier of i V snow and wind. For a quarter of an hour they staggered on, but the little boy's strength had slowly given out, and he dropped to the ground, his hand still clutched in his father's. Lennard stopped, got down on his knees and swung the little fellow on his back. ' The storm was now raging, and the blinding snow had completely covered up all indications of a trail, but Lennard knew where he was going, and he was going to get there, if it was the last thing in the world that he ever did. As he staggered on he silently prayed to God that he might spare his life long enough to let him say his last farewell to his dying wife. , . FF PIC Pk 14 Pk Pk ik DIC Pk Pk Let us look into his little home for a minute and survey the pitiful condition there. In one corner of the room was a bed, on which lay a pale and suffering woman. Now and then she would open her eyes, and clasping her hands together would moan, in an almost death-like voice, Bob, my Bob! where are you? Oh! where are you? . At the foot of the bed sat her ten-year-old daughter, a pretty little child, but completely worn out and exhausted from the faithful watching of her mother. Her eyes were full of tears, and now and then a great sob shook her poor little worn-out body. Tomlgllcdlfidgfsgii The moiiiei' Said Sfiitiy, run, dear, and see if you can see daddy and Oh, Willie is iiyhgfsiiijjdeafi I C311 hardly see you. I seem to be slipping away. The iiitie girl dragged herself across the room, opened the door and peered out Sh th ' ' ' - . e was Oiih 9 P01139 Of Ci0S111g It again, as the wind and snow were beginning to come in, w en she heard a peculiar noise of some object dragging itself 3611055 the SHOW' HOW and tiieii groaning EIS if from awful pain. It frightened her at first, and th - ' . . . en could it be her father? It sounded like him, and the little girl filled with the hope that it was, dashed out into the darkness and storm On ai h. h roac in s e saw it was her father, draggin h' lf ' pp ' , g lime brother clinging to his bagzkiimse across the snow-covered ground, With her When within a hundred yards of his house Lenna df t ang lliicollapsed. After a little time he managed to draQhiI?1SiiiEg'il1 had ggyei 0130, an ees, and on seei h' d H 3 Ong on is an S She-alivew ng is aughter he gasped, Gladys, my Child, is She.-is Thfdrty-sigy H55 d us ninth i i01'f Leullf uffhgnli G mari ' andfeffiiii 'lllei' 3 ,mimi fi lIl03iimg' IWW God! her? 1 At the wlli5Iii-'iiiif Now I dill brougllf YU Qrhausied c We lie 'S Lennill' rails Heil you will fm cursediumli oh, God! I 1 Y01180idw allyou bd 'llie lit! fifzivesw died yuumi Olliwthkg iiffre you now. Her wi ilaih. Wwe iiihlloig

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'V in Ne - Llllni 'N LL E Lmklliilll Him mi ,.- lf - i XX itil f,i,.klQSnN 0 I r k . N il . .'I if1i'-iii ggi!!! ll :ill pguldbe !1..,.!l :H one time diy miiilli mm In - :les Illll had shrunk v l,l1jWu on f. !'N llllu Ihghande :iii wil' ul-Qu ff. yifiiff E nz.-ii. but in hig -'sm-ii miiiif- running .21 izml lwirll liIlOCllPil 0 ,J azz.-im tall. weighing . of iziiizli. and dared N --E'-in.-lwrl fists were gi- - . 1,1-iuizml ii'35I1'I - :mil iiit amltoreit Y. ,gn .ipippiug from lilf :zz iz w-. l imui his li0fl5'- T an ri' girl iiurlc-il it ai illf 3. .H glass and Tllfl 5 piziiiiiy be heifdll zz- his Clllld' hishiiii iiiffl You Outsldeitle -' , fi li' luinrili but ed ' C lunf' ' ii.. ...ff-1i'1lP 'i ' o : luffhmf tim' lmml-f C ,. . 019. 'UU golng to --,UPF 'i l Hr' flutfhedf , . U mefui. :JJ . ' . OY0 i fvvfgjt A THE POTTER SHIELD The child broke down, and resting his head against his father's torn and bleeding shoulder, he poured forth all the stored-up misery and suffering in his heart. In an instant all the wild beast left Lennard as quickly as it had come, and he tried to soothe and comfort the poor little child whose very heart seemed to be breaking. There, Tommy, boy, tell daddy what is the matter. The little fellow swallowed an awful lump in his throat and looking his father square in the eyes he said, f'Daddy, I have come to take you to mama, she is dying. Lennard stared wildly at the child. His wife was dying. At first he couldn't get it through him. But what did his wife mean to him? She was the mother of his children, the person that took care of his house, and even of him. But did he care for her? When he asked himself this question, his mind went back twelve years to the time when he met his Alice in the little town back in Massachusetts where they both lived. He loved her and she loved him, and they lived happily together for five years, until Lennard got the craze for gold and had gone out West with his Wife and little family. I Here wife and family were soon forgotten, and Lennard had sunk slowly in the scale of life until he found himself nearly at the bottom. But she was dying now, and all at once he realized what he was going to lose, and what he had care- lessly disregarded for the past five years. Tommy, he moaned, is it true? The little lad was too overcome to speak, but simply shook his head affirmatively. Lennard took his hand and set off as fast as his exhausted condition would permit, to the only doctor in the town. I-Ie finally got the doctor out and told him what he wanted. The physician looked at him narrowly and said coldly, I will require fifty dollars paid in advance to go out to such a place as you live. , Money, money-Lennard had none. I-Ie had lost his last cent only a few minutes before. But, doctor, he said, 'ffor God's sakecome. My wife is sick, and if you don't come to help her she will die. Surely you won't stand by and see a woman die without helping her. His pleading tone and manner would have melted a rock, but the doctor remarked icily, I am sorry, but I cannot and will not go out without fifty dollars in advance. Again the wild beast sprang into Lennard's breast and, hissing a horrible curse, he drew back his clenched fist to strike the doctor, but then something seemed-to tell him not to do it. His Alice wouldn't want him to be around town shooting and striking at people. He realized that he was a gentleman, or had been, and tossing his head back in the old manner that he had not used for five years he said, Good nightf' and strode off with his hand in his boy's. Tommy, boy, tell daddy how sick mama is. I I At the mention of this the little lad burst into tears again and said, Oh, very sick, daddy! She just lies on her bed moaning and crying for you. I couldnlt stand to hear it any more,. daddy, so I told mama I was going to get you, and I didf' Lennard's conscience cut him clear to the heart, as he realized that for the past five days he had been in town, drinking and gambling, while his poor wife, at home, had taken sick and was on the point of death, without him to take care of I Thilrty-five

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ff2l:Zv'!l'A ! her at li g. I flll- :ttf . 9 MNH- nf H llllllltl. ll lt! gn' wbb ll x tt, ..h4 K' ' u Cl Fur Y A .:...:t11tl1,1M ' Ul1! kr1tttl. A M' ti we-tr 'v .. -' tlllimttti. , 4 'mall llll hour t ...l Zflhttlglt the la rr- 3.7. .:t-gil lik. t,MrierE Qu. f'Nlj'.'S :sit t-ttxtrlmetliug, 'f tau- little lellortg I X I X . . Q --mgvtt-tt-ly t-Qt-gym, 'Q nits. :mtl ite- was gm r -ii-l. .231 spam his lifelong jc t?.-t- pitiful condiit: .tjr Lt pall' :tml sullen! .-: 'ima iwr liztnds togttlez .3 . 1 tv E..-rv are you? ll!! wrtty little chill!!! ttgtfflallll U! her mom' t slxqjlk .-' -4. .tx 1,-:ut 526 clztddl' .. , Q, . ,W ,-.tu tr. lv' fllllllmgf J' . Oll. .' 4l '!'- lm!! 't n'nnHUll .flntv Weir? l-as 'Felt WOT' ' af-.ggiml 1 N- ' ,I ,ul ned milf 0 fQt,E,'. ,gig vu H v. if-,hm - tm illlproi C t fm. ll ggitlllll' ,Y n,Vr,.,'i gfullfli . tt , a1Y6l1ll . -1! !!'q1h had Uhlzllillll . ..t.1,ng0D 3 lj!!!-rl! .- ii Ehff . l rl - . ty-, Ulf' ' I lc 1. I THE POTTER SHIELD His daughter fell down on her knees and clutching her father around the neck, answered, Yes, daddy, she is still alive. But hurry 5 I don't think she will be with us much longer. And oh! she does want to see you so badly 5 she keeps calling your name and praying for you. Lennard took a deep breath, and with a mighty effort struggled to his feet. Thank God I am in time, he muttered, and taking his daughter's hand, he managed with a superhuman effort to force his way through the blinding snow and terrible wind. They reached the house in safety and entered the room in which Mrs. Len- nard lay at the point of death. Her hands were clasped as in prayer, and she was moaning, 'fBob, oh, my Bob! where are you? Lennard stood still a moment 3 then, staggering toward the bed, Alice! Oh, God! here I am, dear, here I am. At these words the dying woman raised her head as much as she could, and whispered, Bob, Bob, my husband! I knew you would come. Oh! how happy I am! Now I can die in peace, dear, for Almighty God has answered my prayer and brought you to me. Her dimmed eyes could not see the painful, ragged and exhausted condition in which Lennard was, and a faint smile showed on her thin pale lips, as she knew her Bob was near. Lennard was speechless with grief. He put his arm under his wife's head, and gently kissing her cheek said, Dear little Alice, I hope, dear, that before you go you will forgive me for the way I have treated you. Since we came out to this cursed country I have changed from a loving husband to a poor savage brute, and oh, God! I realize what I have lost, lost forever. Alice, forgive me for it, and as you go, dear, think of the happy days back in the East when all I had was you and all you had was me. The little woman looked up and tried to smile and said softly, Dear Bob, I forgive you for it all. I knew you still loved me, and I prayed God that before I died you might come to me and say it yourself, dear, as you used to before we came out to this awful country. And when I'm gone, Bob, take good care of the children. They're yours and mine, dear, and you must be both father and mother to them now. Her voice was dying away and Lennard saw that the end was coming fast. Alice, he said, I solemnly swear never to desert the children, and to take the best of care of them as long as they need it, in loving memory of you. Good-bye, little Alice 5 farewell forever. A Lennard looked down at his poor little wife and saw that her soul had taken flight to its Maker, with a little smile on her lips, and his arm under her head. BALDWIN MCGAW, '19, Thirty-seven