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

Page 17 text:

| ! THE PORCUPINE 15 His Reception It was a cosmopolitan audience.. Almost every civilized nation was represented. The majority of those present were Russian Jews and Poles, who had come out of admira- tion for their fellow-countryman. Here and there were a few Americans, whose curiosity had led them to the con- A few Germans and Frenchmen—seekers of the One or two newspaper re- cert hall. best in music—could be seen. porters sat with pencil ready to criticize the recital, but the audience was small. New Yorkers are not given to patronizing unknown pianists, especially when not under the direction of one of their famous managers. For an artist without a’name to give a concert solely by himself was almost unheard of. Jan Marval paced nervously up and down the little room just off the stage. He was buried deep in thought. To- night was his night of all nights. He was about to realize his fondest ambitions. His dreams were about to become realities. For years he had thought of nothing else but to play before an American audience; and now, to-night, just a few feet distant, was that very audience waiting to hear him. He hoped it was large, and that his first appearance in America would be successful. At an early age Jan had shown a remarkable talent for music. His father, being very poor, thought he saw the hope of future wealth in his son, so he kept him practising unceasingly at the piano. The result was natural. At fifteen Jan was a wonder, and at seventeen he made his first tour of Poland. This tour had brought Jan’s father some pecuniary relief, so he now felt that a tour of America would be well. Exaggerated reports had reached distant Poland of the great appreciation shown by the American audiences; of the wild applause and the mad worshipping of pianists by

Page 16 text:

14 THE PORCUPINE the first half they stood one point ahead of Cleveland. The scoreboard read “6—5.” Five minutes more in which to win the game, with the score just the same as at the end of the first half. Suddenly a shout burst from the excited audience—but it was just as the referee’s whistle blew. Bob had made a splendid field throw, but had Karl Knight, the idol of the school, fouled just before? One referee thought that he had caught the ball and thrown it while he was outside the field. The other thought he was inside, but neither were positive. If the referee who called the foul was correct then, of course; the goal would not count, and Piermont would win, for only two minutes were left, and what could be done in that time? The referees could not come to a decision, so they asked Karl if he were conscious of fouling. Here was a chance to win the game! But he remembered the captain’s words, “Tf we win, it must be squarely,” so with only a moment’s hesitation he answered with a simple “Yes, I fouled.” No more was said. The game was resumed, but Karl was determined to do something. He must make a field throw in those two minutes. Before the Piermont boys had fully recovered themselves from joy over the decision, the ball was in Karl’s hands; in the next second it was on the edge of the basket. Unde- cided whether it would win the game for Cleveland or Pier- mont, it rolled around the rim, then stopped, wavered for a moment before it rolled, not into the basket, but onto the floor. The whistle blew; time was up, so the boys trooped off to the dressing room; that is, the Cleveland boys did. The Piermont boys remained for fully ten minutes, tearing off their high school yells as if they were mad. All Cleveland High School was disappointed in the result of the game, but not in Karl. Honesty is always admired. He was disappointed himself, yet he felt the joy of victory. He had conquered a dishonest impulse.

Page 18 text:

16 THE PORCUPINE the women; and of the great fortunes that were made each year by foreign artists. For these reasons Jan’s father thought his son would have no trouble in bringing home rich rewards. The big boat was about to leave for America, and Jan had engaged passage., His father, mother, and Nina, his little sister, were at the pier to see him off. It was a sacl parting. With tears in their eyes goodbyes were said. Jan’s mother warned him to be careful, “for America is a dangerous place,” and his father said: “My son, you must play as never before, and bring home much money, and we will buy much land and houses, and be no longer poor.” Jan answered his parents as best he could. He asked little Nina what she wanted from America, and she replied: “Bring me ze doll—vot you call her? Ze Teddy bear?” After a last boodbye he had just time to make the boat, and was soon on his way across the waters. He had difficulty in engaging a manager. In fact, he found it impossible to hire one. Their reasons were many: He was unknown. He would not agree to let his hair grow six months without cutting. He would not agree to act queerly, and to adopt foolish mannerisms. His name did not contain all the consonants in the alphabet, and consist of seventeen or eighteen letters, and it could be easily pro- nounced by everyone. So he was forced to hire a hall, do his own advertising and manage for himself. The result was as I said before—a small ‘audience. Jan had not yet had a glimpse of the little crowd, so he did not know whether failure or success was in store for him. But it was time to begin. As the stage door opened, Jan Marval entered, and advanced to the piano, A still- ness on the part of the audience took the place of the noise of a few moments before. Seating himself before the in- strument he struck a few preliminary chords, and was soon deep into the first number, a Beethoven sonata. The first sight of the audience was a surprise to Jan. He was shocked at the smallness of it, and knew the recital