Santa Rosa High School - Echo Yearbook (Santa Rosa, CA)

Page 9 text:

THE PORCUPINE 9 ‘sire for revenge foremost in his mind, he re- solved to wait until fortune should favor him with an opportunity, and at last he was put in a position which he thought was favorable for his purpose. Upon William’s continued absence the camp became alarmed for his safety and a searching party was appointed to find, if possible, their absent comrade. He said he would be back in a certain time, and as there were many law- Jess men in the country, their fears hed con- siderable grounds, without reckoning on the common accidents which happen to hunters. The searching party was composed of three men of the camp, who provided themselves with the necessities for the trip and started. Jackson was among the ones picked to go and thought that his chance was near, but was un- able to decide what to do. After the three had been out two days they decided to peparate and meet at a certain place after the next day and a half. Thus the hunt proceeded, and on the second day, toward evening, Jackson came to the canyon where Williams had made his descent, and saw the fallen tree hanging by its roots. The canyon mentioned was known through the countr y as Man Trap Canyon because it was practically impossible to scale the per- pendicular walls at any place, even the ani- mals which could get down by dropping from one shelf to another could not return, because of the distance between the narrow ledges. Jackson was aware of all this and the im- pulse to cut the roots of the tree no sooner came than it was executed, and to his mind Williams was a prisoner in the canyon to die, unless by something not much short of a mir- acle happened to release him. It was nearly dark, so Jackson, after finding a suitable spot, some distance from the scene of his work, un- saddled his horse, ate his supper of cold pro- visions, and cup of coffee, which he made on the spot, smoked his pipe, to quiet the excite- ment of his disturbed brain, and lay down to a troubled sleep, and more troublesome dreams of deep holes, into which he was continually falling, and tall trees which fell on him despite his utmost exertions to get out of the way, and woke at last with a start when he thought Williams had dropped a large stone, from a high tree, onto his head, but found it was just a little green frog which had jumped on his face. As it was morning, and daylight, he got up from his bed of leaves, and continued his journey, after eating a breakfast similar to his supper of the night before. He rode along at a sharp gallop, until he came to a small hill et the end of the gorge, which was the meeting place previously agreed upon by the hunters when they sepa- rated. Jackson allowed his ho-se to walk up, and drew him to a halt at the top, where he dismounted and tied to a small, bushy tree. Leying himself down in its shade he was soon lost in the thoughts of his sinful action of the previous evening. His conscience accused him of it and do as he might he could not dis- miss the subject from his mind. Twice he started to go back to the place to restore a means of ascent and twice his cow- ardly nature held him back, afraid that he might be seen in the act, and would rather commit his comrade to the great beyond than assert his better nature and replace that which he had taken away, at the instigation of a sudden impulse, which had not received any second thought beyond thet of revenge for a fancied wrong. A third half decided movement to go, and again he fell back in a sitting posture and his chance of return was gone, for at that moment the horse became frightened, and in his frantic struggles to free himself he partially uprooted the bush and the unusual comotion caused the ground, which proved to be nothing but a thin crust, to cave in, and horse and rider were pre- cipitated through many feet of space into a body of water. The force of the fall was sufficient to render Jackson unconscious for a period of time, dur- ing which he was semi conscious and irrational on account of having contracted a fever, caused by the concusidn. After striking the water he knew nothing more until he awoke on a cot in a long, narrow room, fitted with about a dozen beds, of the same kind which he occupied, a few plain chairs and a stove. At the time he thought nothing of it, being in such a weakened condition, but as he gained strength he gathered from his surroundings that he was in the wardroom of a United States prison hospital, and he was quite alarmed at his situation, not knowing that he had been discovered and arrested. He decided, how- ever, to remain perfectly silent on the event of his past life and in no way betray himself, if it was possible that he was not known, and when he was well to leave the place as quietly as he-had entered it. Jackson soon became

Page 8 text:

8 “YTHE PORCUPINE the place, nowhere to go for relief, no help to -be expected from the authorities, for what was more than all, he was a criminal, and hunted, sand as soon as he made himself public, even under the name of someone else, he would be taken, because doubtless, his picture was known over the country, and people were watching for him, ready to take him at a moment’s notice. We will leave him stending the-e in the rain and sharp cold wind, for it is winter, and see what has become of Jack Will- jams, with whom we first started. CHAPTER aug In the early days the sheep herders had had ‘a great deal of trouble with the wolves, and every year they lost thousands of sheep; how- ever, in later years they had killed many of them, and now only a few were left to disturb the flocks of sheep which grazed the hillsides. One by one these few were being killed, but one among the number, an old white faced wolf, seemed to bear a chazmed life, for in the many years that he had been pursued no one had ever caught him in any kind of a trap, or even obtained a fair shot at him, and every season, and through the year, he killed numer- ous head of sheep, defying men, guns, dogs, traps and poison. He would noa touch a piece of meat he had not killed at the time, and in that way avoided traps and poison, and because he was so old and experienced, he was able to keep out of gunshot range and away from the dogs. When Jack heard of the wolf he thought that it would be a splendid bit of sport to fol- low him, and if possible, kill him. Accordingly one day he took his hose, provisions for three or four days, gun and plenty of ammunition, and started after the wolf, which had been sighted on the brow of a neighboring hill. He expected to be back in three of four days at most, and many were the comments when the fifth day had passed and he had not yet re- turned, but on the sixth day a relief party, con- sisting of Jackson and Tom Whiffle, departed with an extra horse and several days’ provis- ions. We will follow Jack from the time he left the camp until the time that the movements of the relief party are closely connected with his actions. After leaving the camp he was able to keep the wolf in sight for a short time, and then he lost him and was obliged to go by what he had heard, more than from any defi- nite knowledge of his whereabouts. He rode for two days, and on the evening of the second his horse fell down a deep ravine and broke his leg, and Jack was compelled to shoot it.to end its misery. The next day he proceeded on foot and saw the wolf ata dis- tance of a qua:ter of a mile and going north- ward. Williams followed now with the hopes renewed and at the end of the fifth day he cametoa cenyon, which he could not descend at any point. Walking up for probably a mile he came to where a tree had fallen and now hung by its roots from the top about three quarters of the depth, then with the aid of his lariat he reached the bottom and proceeded to explove, forgetting for the time the object of his journey. As it was then near evening he built a fire on a sheltered ledge, and after eat- ing a very spare meal, lay down and went to sleep. On the sixth day he traveled down stream and on the seventh he came part way back, not caring how long he was gone, as he was enjoying himself, and elthough his pro- visions were very low, there was plenty of game and he did not suffer. On the eighth day, near evening, he reached the fallen tree, and found to his dismay that it had fallen clear down into the gorge, leaving him with no vis- ible means of ascending the wall. On gleme- ing over the tree he saw with surprise that it had not fallen of its own accord, but had been cut off on purpose with some sharp instrument. This was certainly a piece of hard luck and Jack decided to make a raft amd go down the river as far as possible. He made the raft that evening, and the next morning started on his voyage, and the evening of the ninth day brought him in sight of what appeared to be a large cave into which the water poured with a noise resembling thunder. Jack tied up for the night and the next day, after fastening a large rock on the end of the lariat for a drag, he started slowly into the cave. He had pro- ceeded in this way for three hundred yards, when with a fearful crash, a flood of light en- tered the cavern, and a mass of what William supposed was earth and rock fell into the water and drenche d him to the skin with the splash. By the light from above he saw a body float past, but was not able to tell what it was, another was following it; he put out his hand to stop it, and a wave of horror swept over him as he recognized the form of a human be- ing. CHAPTER IV. Jackson had recognized Williams before -he had been at the camp very long, but as his hatred was as deep rooted as ever, and his de- | : : : : : 4 }

Page 10 text:

10 quite well acquainted with the place, and learned that he had been left by a party of fishe-men, who hed taken him off a raft of logs further up the coast,.and from this he was quite sure that he was as yet safe from the law. In a month he was able to travel and started back to the camp where he had been employed. Being without means, he was obliged to start on foot, but before long he procured e horse and proceeded on his journey. What had hap- pened since he had fallen through the hole was a mystery to him, and although it was about th-ee weeks ago he had heard nothing of it, and there was no one to ask, at least so he sup- posed, thinking that he had been alone from the time he fell till the time he was picked up, and not being able to explain his ride on the raft of logs he was at a loss. This was the part of his life which was to prove so important to others and so disastrous to him, as you will see. if you care to read the chapter to come. GEAIPAR ERS ae We last saw Williams in the cavern at the time when he recognized the human body. With very little difficulty the body was drawn aboard the raft, and Jeck continued his voyage with his seemingly lifeless companion. Before long the increasing speed of the raft and the sound of the water told Jack that they were nearing a crevice or passage in the wall, and soon the light from the hole above was ex- tinguished, end once again he was in perfect darkness. Before long he saw light ahead, and heard the sound of a waterfall, which rather dis- concerted him, for he saw no way of escape and did not wish to go over; but almost before he could think he came to the edge and went over. When he recovered consciousness he was ly- ing on a sand drift, partly in the water and part on the sand. Remembering the circumstances he looked for his companion but could not see him. He had fastened Jackson to the raft and he knew that if he was on top he was all right, if not, he would probably die. As soon as he was able to welk he started off across country to find where he was, and make arrangements to return to the ranch. Williams had traveled into the hills about six hours when he came to a summer camp and decided that he would inquire the way. Imagine his surprise, when, upon arriving at the camp, he saw the father of the girl who was to be his wife. The meeting was a pain- ful one to him, but he saw no way out of it as THE PORCUPINE Mr. Margrove seemed to recognize him. In- t-oductions and explanations followed the meeting and then Mr. Mergrove understood the continued silence of Jack, and then also for the first-time Jack knew the trick which had been played upon him. Bella and her mother returned in a short time after a t-amp in the hills and matters were fully explained. Jack remained for some time at the invita- tion of the family and it was decided that he should retu-n to the East as a member of the family at the end of the summer outing. He also placed considerable information in the hands of the officials, concerning Jackson, who soon after leaving the hospital was ar- rested, tried and sentenced to a term in prison. The End. } SIR ROGER’S VISIT TO SIR RALPH (Composition written by Undergraduate) Having often received an invitation from his friend, Sir Ralph Benton, Sir Roge last week journeyed to town. It seems he had promised such a visit for above this half year. I ac- companied him thither. My friend, Sir Roger, told me the other morning as we jumbled along in the stagecozch, that the preverse beautiful widow of the next county to him was a sister to Sir Ralph, and when very young they had been estranged f-om one another, but have since been reconciled and are now a good example of a brother and sister. The stagecoach left us et Soho Square, be- fore a gloomy looking stone house. The old knight mounted the stairs and gave two or three irregular bounces at the door, and upon the opening of it, a loud, cheerful voice in- quiring whether Sir Ralph was at home. We were no sooner come into the hall but we were surrounded with a crowd of servants offering us their respective services. Sir Roger after having looked about him very ettentively, and not finding one with a crippled arm, or wooden leg, let the one nearest him take his hat and cane. I was not a little pleased with the curiosity of the old knight, who wondered if Sir Ralph would receive them in evening dress or in a smoking jacket and slippers. We heard Sir Ralph in the hall humming twice or thrice with great vigor, then he, en- tered the room. I was very much pleased to observe the secret joy which his host discov- ered at sight of the good old knight. After the re