Santa Paula High School - El Solano Yearbook (Santa Paula, CA)

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THEY SAY I'M MAD ll was von Frederick who made lhis lasl slalemenl which broughl a dawn ol lhe lrulh upon me. I now sal up and looked aboul me lo lind lhal my leel were lashed lo lhe rall, wilh Goldie and von Frederick clinging lo lhe sidos. Goldie's explanalion was lhal during lho slorm Dirk had slabbed Sandy and Iell his posl al lhe sleam valves, which resulled in lhe boilers blowing up. No doubl John and Dick were bolh inslanlly killed and perhaps Rouen Wolle mel lhe same lale. Goldie , von Frederick, and mysell were lar enough away lo escape inslanl dealh. Thal allernoon we began lo wonder if we should slowly slarve lo dealh, be ealen by sharks, or drown in anolher ol lhose sudden slorms so lypical ol lhis region. Towards dusk I imagined I saw a dark cloud ol smoke. Could lhis be land, or was il merely a hallucinalion ol laligue? I con- cluded lhe Ialler was more probable when neilher Goldie nor von Frederick could discern whal I had lhoughl lo be salvalion. And so wilh heavy hearls we passed a sleepless nighl. Al lhe lirsl slreaks ol dawn we beheld a sighl which broughl our spirils lo a con- siderable heighl: whal we lirsl lhoughl lo be a mirage lurned oul lo be a small island, beyond a doubl one ol lhe Crozell group . The haze which we saw lirsl was volcanic smoke and ash emerging lrom a cone on ils ncrlhern side. To add lo lhe delighl ol being in some sorl ol currenl which was drilling loward lhe barren island lhe day conlinued lo be as calm as lhe one belore. So when lhe sun rose over lhe peak ol lhe cone il seemed lo warm lhe whole ocean and lake lhe chill away lrom our numbed and aching mus- cles. Excepl lor one, lhal day was a ban- ner occasion. Se-'venly-.fix Aboul noon when we were wilhin 250 rods ol lhe island, which we shall call Cro- zell, Goldie gave a cry lhal was almosl al lhe same lime mullled inlo a gurgle by lhe waler. We lurned in lime lo see Goldie disappearing benealh lhe waves. SharkI von Frederick hissed and al llnc same lime crawled onlo our small rall on his belly, bidding me lo do likewise. Vfe had given Goldie up when von Frederick punched me, saying, Look, we musl gel lo Goldie. Upon looking in lhal direclion I beheld an expression on Goldie's lace lhal is im- possible lo describe. one ol mingled lri- umph and ol severe pain. We paddled as lasl as possible some 25 yards belore we reached him and lound lhe walers lhere reddened. We helped Goldie onlo our lrail lile-saver, and in doing so broughl lo view lhe ghaslly sighl ol Goldie's lell lej. mangled, and lorn lo ribbons. All lhis happened wilhin a maller ol minules, lhough il seemed incredible lhal Goldie could have held his brealh so long. I gol him, he murmured weakly. Looking lor lhe reason lor lhis slalemenl I saw direclly behind us a huge man-ealing Blue Shark lying bollom us wilh a sailor's dirk slill slicking in a long gash lrom lhe dorsal lo lhe venlral. ll was apparenl now lhal Goldie always had carried a dagger wilh him and lhal he had loughl a ballle lor lile under lhe waler and won. The doclor made a lourniquel oul ol his shirl while l secured lhe big lish lo lhe rall. We louched land once again al 2:30 o'clock lhal allernoon. Whal a greal leeling lo have al lasl somelhing solid under our leell ' Crossel was quile barren and aboul lwo miles long. How- ever, lhere was enough lor a sheller, which was soon conslrucled. We buill a lire by lhe Indian bow melhod and had Blue Shark sleaks lor supper. The nexl day lhe doclor unwound lhe bandages on GoIdie's leg lo lind lhal inleclion had sel in. I-'Ie called me lo one side.

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THEY SAY I'M MAD We were a parfy of eighl bound for fhe soufheasfern shores of Tasmania, iusf six weeks ouf of fhe Bay of Biscay on board an old fub, 'rhe Corona . She was forfy- five feel from prow io sfern, wi+h a beam of fourfeen fee? and drawing abouf 'ren feef of wafer. Oiy, oiy. sirl and dofs as goof a ship as ye kin gef fer The price ye puf up! said Goldie , fhe firsf mafe. He was a mounfain of a Swede, six feef four and solid as a rock from fhe sole up. He weighed fwo hundred and fiffy pounds, had blue eyes sef in a symmelrical hafchel face which was 'ropped wifh a big blond mop of rough and unkempl' hair from which he derived his name. I was inclined +o agree wifh Goldie in his remarks aboul' fhe condifion of fhe Corona and gave myself a pai on fhe back for being lucky enough 'lo pick her up af an aucfion in La Rochelle for fhe nominal sum of S4,500. The ofher members of our parly were John, Sandy, and Dirk, who comprised lhe crew, and Monsieur Rouen Wolfe of Ihe French police, rerired as an advenfurer, Dr. Frank von Frederick, a nofed European scienfisf and surgical docfor, and myself, Waldo Galway, also an advenfurer and sfudenl' of animal life. The purpose of 'rhis expedifion was fo confirm rumors of a kangaroo Tribe in Tasmania, seeming 'ro have a very high degree of infelligence and organizafion. The compufafions af noon showed our posilion fo be fiffy degrees Ialifude and forfy-five degrees easl Iongilude, on fhaf fafeful day, Sepfember 29, I93I. Affer having considerable Trouble wifh a leak in +he boiler, which had developed 'rwo days before, fafe seemed +o be rafher ironical in augmenfing our dislress wifh high run- ning seas. She's nof holdin' her own againsf The s+orm sir! shoufed GoIdie . WeII, for God's sake build up more pressure fhen, I yelled back af him. Thereupon Goldie made his way haz- ardously down fhe ladder from fhe bridge +o fhe engine room, being knocked info ihe scuffle once by a big wave 'rhaf caughr us broadside and sef fhe decks awash. Inside of an hour we began fo hold our own, buf fo do so was perhaps more 'rhe acr of a fool fhan +o lef fhose heavy seas bang us around. for a pressure had fo be mainlained fhaf was indeed a risk 'ro lhe sfrenglh of our now weak and leaky old boiler. lFor 'rhis I cursed myself for no? having 'rhe foresighf 'ro have an experf examine fhe Corona before I boughf her. I+ was now plainly evidenf fhal she had been fixed up iusf good enough fo bring a fairly deceni price on Iooks.l I was on fhe bridge 'ralking wiih Dr. von Frederick when Goldie bursf info 'rhe cabin panfing, and wi+h a look on his face fha? fold me all was nof well. Cap'n Galway sir! Yes, Goldie . Cap'n sir, Dick has Iosl' his nerve and sfarfed a mufiny aindlu A+ 'rhaf momenf 'rhe Corona shud- dered from sfem 'ro sfern and all foo soon fhere came a hollow boom as of disfanf fhunder. I don r know whaf happened befween 'rhe 'rime of fhaf awful explosion and The nex+ fhing I remember, buf i+ was morning before I became aware of fhe facf fhai I was s+iII alive. There ye are now cap'n, fake 'er easy, +hank God fhe sform has gone down. Wha'r happened Goldie, where's lhe boar, whaf happened +o 'rhe resf of 'rhe par+y? I'm sfill wifh you, Waldo, buf I'm afraid we'lI never see fhe o'rhers. Srvrnfy-ffm'

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THEY SAY I'M MAD Do you sfill have fhe dirk? Why, man! Thaf would be inhumanl Very well, if fhaf leg is nof ampufafed. Goldie will die before nigh+faIII Buf you have no anesfheficf' lf you wanf fo save your firsf mafe, give me fhe dirk. I did so and was fold fo knock Goldie unconscious wifh a shorf, fhick piece of wood. The scene 'rhaf followed I will never puf on paper, alfhough if is one of fhe mosf vivid of my advenfure. We musf gef fresh wafer, said von Frederick affer he had finished his fask. You search fo fhe norfh and I'II scour 'rhe soufh. Then he picked up 'rhe shorl' sfick of wood and laid on anofher blow fhaf made me shiver. Tha+ will keep him ouf of pain unfil we gef back, he said. I searched fo no avail and fhe docfor broughf back fhe same reporf, so we would have fo suck fhe dew off fhe leaves once again. As von Frederick wenf over fo ex- amine his pafienf he uffered a low cry and seemed fo sfagger. I hurried fo see fhe cause of alarm and froze solid in my fracks as I saw fhe clofhes of Goldie lying scaffered amongsf a bloody, gory mass of flesh, and fhe framework of whaf used fo be a human being, all disemboweled and mangled beyond recognifion excepf fhaf one leg was sfumped. Thank God he didn'f know whaf happened because of von Frederick's Iasf blow. Whaf do you make of if, Frank? Wolves? The way von Frederick replied made my blood curdle and fo fhis day I fhink he musf have known somefhing fhaf I did nof. I-Ie answered slowly in a low guffural voice. Wolves, Waldo? Wolves, did you say? No Waldo, if is nol' wolves. This so frighfened me fhaf I was afraid fo ask for an explanafion and I know he wouIdn'+ have given me one if I had. As I busied myself abouf fhe fire von Frederick came fo me and said. We musf build a big raff, and we musf build if fonighff' And so all nighf we cuf frees by firelighf and lashed fhem fogefher wifh a sfrong vine fhaf grew fhere. By morning if was complefed, a raff fwenfy feef square wifh fwo long paddles. We rnusf have wafer! repeafed von Frederick, and he sef off in search of if direcfly foward fhe middle of fhe island. Meanwhile I had launched fhe raff and had everyfhing ready fo leave in a momenf's nofice. Wifhin fhe hour Frank refurned carrying fhree monsfrous sized gourds full of wafer. I musf make one more frip, said he. and fhen we'Il be off! I was sfraining my eyes fo wafch fhe acfions of von Frederick as he was refurn- ing in considerable hasfe, when righf be- fore me I saw fhe Thing do fhe same fo von Frederick as if had done +o GoIdie . I have always refused fo describe or nar- rafe The specfacle 'ro anyone for fear of going mad. Immediafely I shoved fhe raff fo sea and was horrified fo see 'rhe Thing advancing fowards me. Undoubfedly if could swim. Then by fhe good giff of providence Crossef shuddered, an erup- fion fook place, and a big crack opened under fhe Thing and if was swallowed by Crolssef. Wifh a fremendous roar my raff was sucked foward fhe island as if foo was swallowed by fhe sea. I was picked up by fhe sfeamer Lacona fhree days lafer, famished and so weak I could hardly relafe my sfory. They said I was mad! I would fighf fhem, buf, fhank God, all my evidence is af fhe boffom of fhe seal EDUARD WALDEN. Sefvzniy-smmn