San Diego State University - Del Sudoeste Yearbook (San Diego, CA)

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room. He turned around to look on Elaiuels book, anal her hand accidentally touched his as she turned a page. After that he eouhl not keep the place; the teacher called on him to sing, but his face grew red. and his voice was husky and would not sing. That night he walked home with Elaine and carried her books; and it was enough for him that her haml touched his as he handed her the books at the gate. It was then that he resolved to quit smoking. Elaine was such a nice girl that she never could like a boy that smoked and swore, he thought. So he quit smoking and swearing that same day. Sometimes he had to shut his teeth on a cuss word half out or a cigarette half in. then men on the cars blew smoke in his fact he was frenzied. hWhen a felleris hungry. he told the boys, he's only hungry in his stomach, but when he's hungry for a smoke he's hungry all over. One Friday evening he met Elaine coming home from an errand just as it was growing dark. Together they walked untxl they came to the familiar sehool-house steps. As if from force of habit he turned up the steps. and she went up almost unthinkingly beside him. On the top step in the great shadowy entrance they sat down. For a while they looked at the sky, and traced patterns in the clouds. Then they listened to the night birds and talked of the things they had learned about birds in the nature study class, until in the darkness his hand touched hers: then they talked no more. Suddenly a step reverberated on the stairway aml Miss Maxwell's piercing voice cut through the moonlight. Puppy lovel', she ejaculated. For shame! To be eaught lllltltllCtl upon a dark door step like a pair of monkeys at the Chutes! Puppy love! Monkeys in the Chutes! Something sacred went to smash inside of him. as God had gone to smash when his mother had married Tim O'Hara, the infidel. Elaine sat all the while crying, with her face in her hands, but William was sullen and defiant, and all the bitterness of Miss Maxwellls words sank into his heart. At last Miss Maim e11 shook Elaine. hCome with me,n she said. I am going to my room to get some reports which I forgot; then I am going to take you to your mother. Elaine dutifully rose to her feet and followed Miss Maxwell t0 the door of the school-house. Miss Maxwell took out her pass key and they went in. It seemed a long time to XVilliam before they came out. then they did. he sat as they had left him. and Elaine was still crying. As she passed him he wanted to say goodbye, but something choked his voice. and he sat there and watched them disappear. The next day he was in school and Miss Maxwell was in school, but Elaine was not. One of the girls told him at noon that she had been sent to the convent. His face went red before the eyes of the girl, as itghad done when Miss Maxwellls icy stare fell upon him in class One of the newsboys with whom he sold papers after school came up to him on the corner and saw that something was wrong with him. llXVhat's your groueh. kid? ' he said. slapping him on the shoulder. than a cigarette and brace up. Billy had almost lost his taste for tobacco, but he took the cigarette and it helped him to forget. lle plunged into abandoned excess after his long period of abstinence. Along about the middle of the term a diamond aplrareti on Miss Max- wellls finger. The whole eighth grade was in excitement. The girls giggled and whispered about it. and the boys talked it over in the basement. llGosht tellers, he must be a rich guy to give her a swell diamond like that. I bet it cost moreln a inotoreycle, said Rey. ltlle must be brave to tackle a jay-faeetl school teacher like herfl said Frank. Hl donlt care if he's a rich man or a brave one. or both-Tlni sorry for the poor son of a gun when he gets her, said Hilly. 28

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. ?NWT That night after supper llilly told the boys all about it as they sat on the garbage pails iu the alley. Yep, fellers, he said, she scrubbed my mouth for saying ldarn'; but thatls just her itlea. Everybody's got funny ideas about what's bad and what ainit. Miss Maine thinks 'tlarn' is bad, and ma thinks it ain't. My ma thinks tdam, is bad, and steptlatl he thinks it ain't. Gee! tellers, don t it make you want to bust out and th somethin' fierce when an old hen sticks around sayino; 'ain't he turrible,' and ain't it awful'? Bill paused and thrust his hands into his pockets. He pulled out a bagr of Bull Durham tobacco and rolled a cigarette, while his audience looked on admiringly. ul'lere,s to Miss Maine, and her whoppin lies, he saitl, theatrically. t'I'm goiif to smoke. to show you tobacco won't make a guy tllC in a ht, like she said it would. Does she suppose w , ain't got eyes? Don't we see hun- dreds of men smokin' right along, aml not much bothered with frothing at the mouth? . tl lut you'll get a cancer on your tongue if you smoke long. said the lit- tlest boy. Then I'm going to smoke long to show you she's a liar. said Ilill. Aml with that the boys disbanded for the night. Hilly became a habitual smoker. and the more he smoked the more he wanted to smoke. until at last he smoked almost as much as he swore. I le grew to like the taste of the tobacco way down in his lungs. After a while the twinkle dial in his eyes, and his tleportment went up aml his grade marks went down. The soothing tobacco was deadeningr his activity and curbing his penchant for mischief. A number of things had been lost lately that he could not timl. aml he had failed in the arithmetic examination. llilly realized that his fame aml his powers were slipping from him, but he never thought of tobacco. Miss Maine had men- tioned none of these effects. XYhat use to tell ehiltlren of slow ordinary results? of course they believed ex'erything. and the more drastic the dose the more effective the cure. Tell them the startlingathe one in a million phe- nomenonathat was Miss Maine's way; but it had not worked out with Hilly. CHAPTER III. The first morning of school after llilly was promoted to the eighth grade he came in five minutes late, as usual. and scrutinized the new teacher. She was a big, angular womam with antagonizing corners of righteousness stick- ing out all over her. lilly scrutinized her as he came in and was sorry he had been promoted. Then he looked at the girl across the aisle and was glad. in spite of Miss Maxwell. the teacher. It was the first time he had ever really looked at a girl. and now there was nothing else that he could make himself look at. She was a slim girl with wistful blue eyes and a fuzz of light hair that made a halo around her face. lilly listened intently as Miss Maxwell called the roll. The girl answered as she called Elaine. and llilly was glad she had spoken. for it made her seem more real and less like an angel in a picture. Most of Billyis time was spent watching,r Elaine. and most of Elaine's time was spent reading story books behind her text books. or dreaming- out of the window. One day she looked up from her story and s1 might across at Billy. She had been reading about a Splelltlltl lover. aml was xx'omlering how it would seem to have one. Her eyes fell on Billy. All the other boys were shorter than she was and she couldn't even imagine them into princes 0r lovers. Fancy a lover that one would have to stoop to kiss! lilly was tall and he had wavy hair and he didn't have frecklesaso her eyes fell again on Billy. Just then Billy looked at her. and a deep scarlet Ilyetl her face: then scarlet dyed his face. totx and they both looked away. Later that same tlay lilly forgot to take his Singing-lmok ta the music 27

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nWilliam Trenton ! ' ser tamed a voice from the doorway. Every boy stopped dead in his tracks. One had his foot in air and dared not put it down. llWilliam Trenton. report to 'llrofessor Snyder, screamed the voice. and Billy alone moved. Sullenly he began to climb the stairs, and Miss Maxwell climbed after him. llVVilliam, said Miss Maxwell in the ofliee, lttell Professor Snyder the awful word I heard you use in the basement just now? l'Son of a gun. said Hilly. Professor Snyder looked as pro'ierly shocked as he could, being a man and not an old maid: then he turned to Billy. WVilliamf' he said. you have been a nuisance ever since you First came to school, and you have given Miss Maxwell so much trouble that I am going to send you into the uugraded room. If you can't get on better there. you will have to leave schoolf, So it came about that XYillian Trenton was passed along to the uugraded room and to Miss Barnes. CHAPTER IV. Miss Barnes was short and thick, bubbling,r over with strength and good nature. She was neither pretty nor plain, but just common and everyday and freekletl. Her hair was combed back carelessly from a side part. and her face was always flushed like a boys when he has been running. Her eyes were gray and laughed always behind the gold rimmed glasses. Billy looked up at her. when he got into the ungraded room. and decided that he liked her in spite Of the fact that she was a teacher. From the start Billy liked Miss Barnes and Miss Barnes liked Billy. But just as she was beginning to feel that she had got hold of him, Mr. Snyder brought him in to her for stealing an apple from a fruit stand across the street. Sit down, iVill. said Miss Barnes. after Professor Snyder had gone out. lilly liked the way she said ttXVill. instead of ilXVilliam. But her casual manner unnerved him. Hitherto he had always faced punishment defiantly and with a swagger. but Miss Rarues's attitude was new. Plainly she was not shocked and could not be shocked; what use then for bravado and nonchalauce? Obetliently he sat down. and put the big red apple on the table in front of her. It is a beauty,u said Miss Barnes. liaml l know just how you felt when you saw it. I was a little girl once. But we have to think of the other fellow in this world, or it's a sure thing: that he wonit think of us. A long time ago men decided to let other peonle's things alone. You see if they had decided that each man should take what he wanted. why no one eouhl own anything unless he stood guard over it to fight for it. It would have been fair enough. but think what a confusion there would have been all the time. Dotft you see why it is wrong to take things that belong to someone else? l believe that you do, Billy. because you are a sensible boy. and you will think about it, and you won't take things after this. It was a new exoerienee to Billy. Someone believed in him$didnit think he was different from other people. His lip quiveretl. but he looked straight into Miss Rarnesls eyes. liMiss Barnes, if you can it'lrg'Ct about this. I ll never steal llUtllill, aqaina neverlil Truth was in his voice. and Miss Barnes took his hand. lll have already forgotten it. XVill: go down and play. Billy went down the stairs. a different boy. ilGeef, he said to himself. lKtealiii' ainlt like ltlarni and rson of a gun? there,s a reason. I'll never steal nothin'. again. Till never do nothinl Miss Barnes.d0n,t want me to. Fliels a peach. and she's got some sense.'U 29