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

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THE DOME Page 13 DRAMATIC GROUP - SPANISH CLUB In the hall outside she argued with herself. H I7m not selfish. I Want him to get well for his own sake, not mine. But, dear God, good- looking men come here so seldom! If someone has to die, make it a fat man with a bald spot, and let this boy get well. God, please-'i The little girl, who looked Fifteen and was actually twenty, stood tearfully in silence until a whispered command from the sick-room called her inside. ulVIiss Clay,', said the doctor, HI want you to do something for me. You see the boy's de- lirious, and he keeps calling for a woman named Gail. I-Ieis in a frenzy, and unless we can quiet him he hasnit a chance. I canit use a sedative for the purpose, because his heart has had too much of a shock to stand it. I want you to pretend you are this Gail. I know the Woman he means,- her last name is Petersen. You may have seen her name in the papers. She isn't worth the paper it was printed on,-- mixed up in all kinds of scandals, divorce suits, and breaches of promise. At present sheis traveling abroad with a man she didnit bother to marry. Her pet hobby is breaking conventions and tear- ing down ideals. Young Eaton knew her when he was in Annapolis. She was a cute little flap- per then, but she.has changed drastically. If he thinks you are Gail as he remembers her, he may quiet down. You've got to try it, anyway. Ann Clay, with many misgivings, knelt by the side of the bed and said softly, G Bill, I've

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Page 12 THE DOME 7 THE SPANISH CLUB With a sudden gasp of terror, as his foot skidded from the narrow rung of the mast, Bill fell headlong and crashed to the deck with all the force of his 175 pounds. He groaned, and Wearily lay still in a crumpled tangle of legs and arms. Clancy and Hen, forced brutally out of their sleep, dashed up the ladder and lifted the unconscious hoy into the cabin. Meanwhile the storm had increased, and the hoat rolled drunkenly. Hen set off all the S.O.S. flares they had, hut in that drenching rain and driving gale it seemed ridiculous to expect any- one to see them. Bill hadn't regained consciousness, and the hoys were panic-stricken for fear he'd die he- fore they could get help. A piercing crack just then shook the boat and turned it over at a perilous angle. When Clancy came in, the two men lifted Bill into the life- boat and shoved off as the schooner shipped water and sank. This was much worse, but it was beginning to get light, and through the noise they could hear the motor of some boat coming towards them. A man yelled from the approaching yacht, and two sailors came down the ladder and carried Bill Eaton into the boat. 'L Will he live? Don't let him die! Oh, make him --i' The sentence died on the girl's lips as the look in the doctor's eyes forbade conver- sation. She turned and slipped quietly from the room.

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Page 14 THE DOME come. Youire going to get well, dear. Don't you remember Gail? Bill, I love you so. Go to sleep now, honey. Iill stay right heref' Bill looked at her through his glazed, unsee- ing eyes, and apparently was content. Presently he went to sleep, and the doctor became more hopeful. Downstairs Dr. Henstore looked at Ann spec- ulatively. They were in a tiny house in Char- ney, the little village in New York where Bill had been brought. The Clays-Ann and her mother-had volunteered to take care of him. He looked at her speculatively because he was wondering just why she was content to go through life without any effort to make herself distinctive,- satisfied with being a plain little mouse. He looked at her hair drawn tightly back over her ears, at her pretty but colorless face, at the little gray dress she wore, and then he said a brutal thing to her. 4' Ann Clay, do you want very much to be an old maid? Well, then, if you don't, you neednit be one. I want you to take this money,- sev- enty-five dollars,- and I want you to spend it as I tell you. It's an investment on my part. I want Bill Eaton to worship you as he wor- ships this false dream of Gail Petersen. You are to go first to a beauty shop, and have your hair waved and fixed becomingly. I want you to have your face massaged and made up skill- fully. You will buy a new dress, bright-colored and youthful, and new shoes and stockings to match. If you need something else, get it and send rne the bill. Itfs now twelve o'clock. By four this afternoon you should be finished. Run along now, and be goodf' The doctor had just finished dressing Bill's broken leg, when the door opened to admit an insouciant person with red-gold hair, her little body dressed in a green frock which glorified her hair fa fluffy little skirt that impudently revealed the classic kneesi, her long slim legs in sheer stockings, her tiny feet in spike-heeled slippers. The doctor scratched his ear, and looked again. There could be no mistake. It was a new Ann Clay, a lovely little thing with a shyly iinpertinent red mouth and wide eyes! K Wlieivl what a difference, Ann. I knew you could be pretty, but who'd have thought you were a beauty! Forgive me if I've been rude, but you took my breath away. Bill, too, now fully conscious, gazed at her in wonderment. U You're Miss Clay? For a minute I thought you were a girl I used to know. You've been mighty fine to take me in this way, and when I'm on my feet again I'll try to repay you as much as I canfi at You may call me Annf' said the green nymph, 4' and I'll call you Bill, because you're going to see me around here whether you want to or not. You know the rest. They marry, and live happily ever after in a cottage in Charney, with two children, a canary bird, and a collie dog. Weill give you one more look at them. Bill and Ann are sitting in the living-room. It is night, and the children are in bed. The collie is asleep under the piano. Ann is writing a letter, and Bill is reading the paper, when sud- denly something he reads makes him give a startled gasp. Ann leans over his shoulder, and sees on the front page of the paper: 4' At about three o'clock this morning a green Rolls Royce sedan, driven by Miss Gail Peter- sen, New York society woman, crashed through a fence on the road down Bear Mountain and hurtled down the precipice. Miss Petersen was killed instantly, as were Clive Stanley and James Strange of Chicago. The other occupant of the car, DeWitt Harding, is still alive in St. Mary's Hospital, Tarrytown. I-Ie said that all of them had been drinking heavily, and Miss Petersen had been in a grim and quarrelsome mood, when- Bill slammed down the paper with a mut- tered K The wages of sin is-7' But Ann in- terrupted him. Darlingest, don't be melodramatic! We donit really care what happens Lo her if we have each other, do we?