Richmond Hill High School - Archway / Dome Yearbook (Richmond Hill, NY)

Page 11 text:

THE DOME Page 9 The Fall of Peter Pan Z IVI. Barrie, the last one of them being that fantastic episode known the world over HAVE just finished reading numerous plays and novels written by Sir James as Peter Pan. I wonder what kind of man Sir James could be that he wouldn't allow Peter to grow up. Just imagine never growing up!-always being just a child for ever and ever, and never really having the sensation of being truly alive, an emotion that sooner or later comes to every grown-up person. Peter could never feel that delicious sensation, for we are told that he lived in Never-Never Land, where there is noth- ing but happiness and pleasure from morning till night, and that in this land grown-ups fear to tread. It seems to me that Peter was asked to pay a rather prodigious price for his happiness, because he never really knew sorrow and the security of faith in realizing that there is a rainbow that is Waiting to shine through after the rain. But I think the greatest loss that he suffered was his inability to enjoy the compan- ionship offered between the sexes in a grown- up world. You remember how Peter loathed all grown-ups. Now, I honestly believe that it wasn't his fault at all, but rather Sir James's ideals of women. If you have ever read any of his books that concern women in any way, you will know that he has some very strict ideals on females which aren't exactly modern, and which I do not wholly agree with. Peter was brought up on such ideals, and I certainly can't blame him for refusing to grow up under some of these conditions. All these reflections came to me while sitting in a comfortable armchair, and suddenly I had a desire to convince Sir James that he was just a little wrong about women. Undoubtedly some fairy dust had somehow found its way to my chair, for very soon Peter Pan himself appeared before me. There the little fellow stood, as if to chal- lenge my pity for him! What an elfin creature he was, with his cocky little hat and his big childish eyes that sparkled as he stood brazenly at my chair. Very soon he grinned at me, and I had a view of those famous baby-teeth. Then he began to talk in a boyish tenor. G Come with me,'7 he said. M I'll take you to Sir Jamesis house. I-Ie's alone tonight, and sit- ting before the fireplace dreaming dreamsf, I-Iow could I refuse the darling little boy, for hadn't he said that Sir James was dreaming dreams before the fireplace? An ideal way in which to find a man, I thought, for many times it's the environment that convinces him more than the argument. So away I went with Peter, -not, however, before receiving my share of fairy dust. When we arrived, I found Sir James exactly as Peter said I would. He was entirely unaware of us until Peter dug a little list into his arm in a not too gentle manner. H Wake upl Wake up! N he cried. H live got a visitor for youf' Peter introduced me, and I was offered a host, who waited to hear It appeared that I hadnit my tongue refused to talk. chair opposite my what I had to say. anything to say, as Peter saved the day, however, and explained that I didnit think that the old bean, meaning Sir James, was so hot when it came to women. You see, Peter, like all other little boys, disre- garded the feelings of everybody but himself and his dog. Having been started by Peter, I told Sir James that women weren't exactly as he pictured them to be, and that Peter refused to grow up be- cause he had been deceived about them. Here Peter made a wry face, and said that

Page 10 text:

Page 8 THE DOME it, and in another instant he was again seated in his steamer chair conversing freely with the lady at his side, whose name, incidentally, he found to be Dolores. During the course of their idle prattle, Cadwell, wishing to be considered one of the haul monde, dwelt on his taking the trip merely to relieve the humdrum existence of a wealthy New Yorker. Having just re- turned from a fishing trip in the Maine woods tit seemsj, he was just in time to catch the .-Iquimnia for a leisurely sojourn in M dear old London? He soon discovered that Dolores was traveling on a pre-arranged itinerary which called for a week's stay in London at the Hotel Cecil, located on the famed Strand. Then he reminisced that his firm allowed him a stay of eight days which were to be spent investigating various bids from exporters, then making his hnal purchase in View of the most reasonable. He was registered at the Biltmore, just across the way from the Cecil. The voyage just flashed by, so it seemed to Cadwell, who was in the company of Dolores throughout the trip,- promenading around the deck, playing the usual deck games, dancing in the evenings, dining with her at meal-times, and indulging in the thousand and one activities which encourage friendship on an ocean voyage. When the ship docked at Southampton, and the pair were en route to London, Cadwell rejoiced with the prospect of a weekis sightseeing in London with Dolores. And, in fact, Cadwell wasngt mistaken in his deduction, for he spent most of his time the next few days in showing Dolores around the town, with which he was already quite familiar. The days he should have been transacting bus- iness for his firm were spent in exploring all the interesting nooks of England's metropolis: the National Gallery, Hyde Park, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, Trafalgar Square, Tower of London, British Museum, Buckingham Palace, and many other spots. The evenings fiew fast along gay Fleet Street and the Strand, with their theatres, cabarets, night-clubs, hotel dances and social functions. In fact, for seven days the pair had been constantly in the seemingly end- less whirl which nearly every traveler abroad experiences. Dolores's week in London, therefore, sped by rapidly, and soon she bade good-by to Cadwell and departed for Paris with her party. No sooner had she left, however, when Cadwell returned from his Visit to Utopia to grim reality and remembered his mission for the Caledonia lVIen's Outfitters. The last day he rushed over to the leading London exporter for his bid on a stock of full- grained men's shoes. The dealer, sensing his haste, expressly boosted the price. Cadwell, who was glad of any offer whatsoever, accepted with mental anguish, and began packing his grips in preparation for his departure the following day. Upon his return to New York, Cadwell ex- plained the inflated to the present wave cost of the invoice as due of high prices throughout Europe, and nothing further was said about the matter. A few days after his return, however, Cad- well, summoned to the president's office, was sole audience to the following: 6' Mr. Cadwell, I regret very much to say so, but I believe you could serve the Company better in the position of assistant bookkeeper, which assignment you are to take over imme- diatelyf' Cadwell, much taken back, pleaded that he would wish to know why he should be demoted thus. 'L Of course there has been nothing wrong with which to Hnd fault- To this the president dryly interrupted with a bored gesture, and replied, 'G Don't bother to explain, Cadwell, for I un- derstand perfectly. Today I have received a letter from my daughter Dolores, who is now in Paris? Edgar H. Beyer.

Page 12 text:

Page 10 THE DOME he couldnit be bothered with anybody who lived just to get married and wash dishes for ever after. I agreed with Peter, and said that such a person was hardly worth his while, and that I didn't blame him for not wanting to grow up to such an exciting time with women. At that, Peter perched himself on the arm of Sir Iames's chair, as if to say, H Well, now that youire here, you're like the rest,- too dumb to be interestingf' I saw that Peter was as far from the truth as ever, and so I ventured to ask him why he hated women so heartily. He said that they were grown-ups, and that they didnit know how to play, and hadn't Wendy told him that Mrs. Darling always left the children at home when she went out with her husband? M You see, he said, N women just can? play. If they aren't washing dishes theyire buying 'em, and if they aren't doing one of 'these things they're of no use to the worldfi c'Peter, said I, women have learned to play as well as any little boy, and they hate dishes now even more than you do. Peter said that I was a little off, and that if women had given up dishes and had learned how to play he would have grown up a long time ago, because there was nothing he liked better than to play with Wendy. She had al- ways been so fair, and such a good sport. I told Peter that almost all the girls were Wendies now, and that they had modern ideas in their heads and hardly ever gave dishes a thought, also that they now threw their dishes out of the window when they finished eating fbut I didn't tell him that these dishes were made of cardboardl. Peter asked me what a modern girl was. I told him that a modern girl was one who could play with him. H The modern girl can play almost every game, Peter,H I said. 'L She can play tennis as well as most men, and as for swimming,- Peterl 'I Peter looked askance at Sir James and saw that he had fallen asleep, and then he slipped from the chair and perched himself on the arm of mine. I could see that he was beginning to fall. He looked at me rather doubtfully, and asked me if I were telling the truth. Naturally, I said that I was. i'Well,'7 said Peter, H where does Sir James get his ideas from? 7, - 4' Peter, I said, U you must not blame him, i't's his irlealsfi H His ideals! exclaimed Peter. What kind of sickness is that? W Itis not a sicknessf' I explained. C' An ideal is some thing or some person which in an individualis mind is to him his standard for perfectionf, nYVhat's that got to do with women and dishes? i' asked Peter rather distrustfully. 'CA lot, Peter, I answered,-- H because Sir ,lamesis mother happened to be his standard for perfection in Women, and he thought that all women should be like his mother, devoted to her men and householdf' M Oh! N said Peter. 4' Then women have be- come like my Wendy, and know how to play? 4'Yes, they can play now. Peter, won't you grow up and enjoy 'them like all the other men, and show them that you want to go on playing and being companion to men? M They won't want to wash dishes any more, will they? The little fellow still had his doubts, you see! 'c Not if you say that you want them to keep on playingfi I told him. U Well, I think I'll grow up, thenf' he de- cided. You know, he added, since Wendy went away things have been terribly dull. I be- lieve that Wendy can play better than any boy I know. And, so the modern girl brought about the fall of Peter Pan. He grew up very soon after that, and I have a slight suspicion that because of his growing so suddenly men have been more or less like boys since Peter's fall. Surely they aren't as serious as they used to be! Ida K. Pfeufer.