Reed College - Griffin Yearbook (Portland, OR)

Page 92 text:

w ' g sigh calgwa GRIPF'I Ob Glruel, Gruel Worlb Matilda Ann was growing up. She was fourteen and constantly surprising the family with some new air or grace. a Mother excused her by saying, HThe child will get a little 1 y sense when shes a bit older; but brother Henry, two years 4 younger, pronounced his erstwhile Hpard as plumb nutty $- , i now.'l Today was one of Matilda's Hoff days? She came ; down to breakfast with Cleopatra walk and Niobe expression. 2' HPshaw! I dont know whatever ails that girl! She gets n; more pernickety every day !H exclaimed Mother at sight of her. 4 u a i But Henry between bites of pancake, merely observed M y laconieally, HGosh, I bet shels goinl to leak over again! . , a Matildals sharp ears caught Henry's unkind words. She i g darted a shriveling glance at him and without a word sat W i down. But she merely tasted the breakfast for the sight of the '5' endless stream of pancakes going down Henryls rapacious :1 V throat disgusted her extremely. ,3. ' As soon as she could, she slipped quietly away to the hay r loft. As she lay prostrate upon a pile of hay, she thought w , : -.?- . t ' -. ugnto-uguuuuunu 0000.1 on.u- u- .0 over her great trouble. 2:; . HOh cruel, cruel world! Sunday I was so blithe, so happy i q. i . 33:31:,sz . and now I am laid so lowlgle-she moaned in the lofty language 'sm. x ijq' R: 5 of the herione in HThe Girl of the Broken Heart. a W , ah I Sunday, fresh as a rose in her white dress and pink sash, y: f t I she had started along the road to the little church. Malcolm 'i ' had caught up with her and offered her a piece of chewing 1n; gum,-Malcolm from the City and all gloriously green in his VI l new Hsnappy suitf' a5 HOh how happy I was then, she sighed. HTo think that m? 2' he should have singled out me for his attentionsf'aancl a big W t , , tear splashed down upon a freckle on her clasped hands. :1 eg. i h rm . 5 To be sure Malcolm had only said, HHey Tildy, have aims: V g chew on me, as he grandly poked a package of Spearmint Rn , - gum at her. But no matter. When she was alone she had hm . : dreamed over the scene many times so that before she went 5 to bed, it was some thing like this :-w 1L i .mmm, Miss Matilda Ann was picking her steps daintily along the 2.: 3. little path on her way to church. Mr. Malcolm Montgomery strode up to her side. 2:; i . Sweet Miss Matildafl said he bending low, Hwould you deign to partake of 3's; l' ' this humble confectionafor my sake? i3, . . Ls . as . r Mlss Matilda had deigned --for his sake and extricated a piece daintily from t: ; 1 the package. Oh blissful moment! but thought would go relentlessly on. Xv: . R 2;: .1 ' 78 h; '4: . .

Page 91 text:

ut, lirl; zi. Spring Splurge for 1920 Perhaps once you sat in a school r oom under the all-seeing eye of a garrulous prof. and it was Spring! Rather, ' your outsides sat thereeyou did not. The patient prof. was moaning along as usual about trigonometry or Aeneas or Sara Teasdale or some such trifle; but you were lifting your Hother lifeiieor at least trying to. Your eaptlve eye was rolling tragically towards the open window. You , out, OUTln Soon you felt that like all young spring things, you would just naturally burst out and scatter buttons! But you swallowed that dangerous erisis just in time, as you would a piece of discovered Chewing gum. The front of the room language about your defeneeless earsh HSpring may come and I may burst But he'll run on foreverf-e you upoetizedH in suppressed misery. Slowly but surely, all the Spring began to ooze out of you; you subsided gently into the depths of your seat. But it is not etiquette visibly to go to sleep in class, so you kept your eyes open in glassy staree for effect. Finally, you did awaken a mild interest in the front of the room. You had made the scientific discovery that his ears moved every time he talked. You dreamily speculated as to which would wear out firstw-his ears or his jaws? Hereupon the teacher noting your happy but somewhat inane expression, may have foolishly attempted to call you back from your Hother life. If gentle, he may have suggested wearily, iil'm not reading this entirely for my own benefit? if ferocious, he probably startled you temporarily into frenzied attention withh- Hls there any mistake so far in this explanationli Then perhaps you cautiously temporized, aulg I didnt hear anyl'iewhereupon the room became very small OF you, and the discussion uncomfortably personal for a time. Soon, however, you relapsed again into that comfortable coma which only the sound of the bell ean dissolve. If the prof. was bald, perhaps you lazily watched With vapid but mildly pleased interest, his battles with a tenacious Hy,ethe only thing in the room that would pay attention to him. But by this time you had drifted into the final stage Of vacuity. Now, you no longer sat and thoughteyou JUSt sataand sat. L. B. C1. Q0550 HBe up to date, said the calendar. o Make light of everything, said the fire. uDo a driving business, said the hammer. Aspire to greater things, said the nutmeg. Forge ahead, said the blacksmith. Stick to itf' said the glue. '77 still poured his ceaseless

Page 93 text:

l M L lmem- clll'liiL Lid as ? 4 Off days? . LMLQ ils that gm 3'; Mlllllelat :13ka i ilealover ; Limit ld withwtl i ilastlmli' lwn Hints iuietlyawayl ,, MMMl wassollili winthelpl: 'okenllwl, litedrCSS ll? :little CW1 therapll in glorioull . When she retired that night, how tenderly she had stuck the gum onto the bed POSt, 50 that ShOUld she feel the need of love and romance during the long watches Of the night, there it WOUld be a ready token. All she need do was to stretch forth one white arm, diSIOdge the wad 0f gum and feed her soul on romance to her hearts content. The essence of Spearmint, like some potent perfume of Old, WOUld bring back to her all the glory Of that one wonderful Sunday in her gray existence and transport her far above all petty things, But UOWaher tears began to flow anew. She had come to the tragedy Of it all. The next day while she was in the kitchen washing the dishes, cruel Henry had invaded her room, discovered the gum and sampled itladifiling it forever! He had run through the kitchen yelling back at her, llSay Tildy, you do know how to chaw gum. This ainlt half chawed yitfi In just rage she had dropped her tea towel and lit outl' after his retreatin overalls. But oh unlucky Fate! Malcolm was out in the yard talking to her father. just as she caught up with the culprit and raised an avenging hand above him, the horrid boy in fright and gulped down the precious gum and broken into a lit of coughingaand Malcolm had seen it allaand laughed. Oh, she could never face him again! Death would be sweet in the face of such bitter ingominy. She must end it alla-but how? Her wildly roving eyes lit upon the hay rope the men had left hanging down. In feverish haste she tied her braids around her neck and the ends to the ropeaand all was ready. uCourage, she whispered softly, H ,tis but for a moment,H-and swung one leg out of the window. HTildy, you come right down from there and do them ClisheslH rang out her Mothers harsh voice. She jumped. Dishes at a time like this! Couldn t she even die in peace? On why hadnlt she boldly jumped right out and then her mother would have seen her too late, too late, she thought as she sullenlv .. Climbed back and meekly went down to Tido upH the dishes. Never mind, she consoled her striken heart, she could wait until evening and thenm That evening myriad stars twinkled so brightly in the heavens and the black 3 ., trees silhouetted against the sky looked so beautiful. But it was a cruel, cruel 'v ? worl C1 to her and she went bravely on again down to the little stream. - . . il shall unbind mV flowing tresses and lie down to sleep forever 1n th1s quiet. 13001,: she said softly, wand perhaps Malcolm will find me here and maybe weep a ear. She unbraided her stiff yellow pig tails and took a step nearer. There was a Startled grunt and a bulky black form lumbered up in front of her. Matilda screamed and drew back. Oh, it must be only old Bess the cow, but how wall-eyed ., and big she looked! lMatilda and the cow gave each other one long startled look; en Matilda turned and fled, all suicidal thoughts oozing fast away as she ran .faSteF and faster up the path. When she reached home, thankfully she slipped Into bed, firm in the thought that she must be fated to livaaperhaps for a greater lfe,xwho knows? aLucy B. Gamble. 79