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

Page 9 text:

THE ECHO. 7 “Now, Mirandy, don’t you start a-cryin’, ‘cause Mr. Cooke, he’s all right, an’ even if anything does happen, remember your Si’s a hero. I ain’t got no overcoat, but Samanthy Ann, you give me that buggy robe, and I'll be as warm as can be. Now, Pete, remember you’re a man, an’ if anything hap- pens to your dad, be good to your ma and the kids. Goodbye, Reuben; bye- bye Sally and Mandy. Mirandy, I’m a-goin’, and if I don’t come back, you— why, Mirandy! you always wanted me to be a hero, so you musn’t cry that way. Mr. Cooke’s waitin’, so—so long.” With this, Si departed, a large red bandana before his eyes, and an old buggy robe over his arm. From the wagon came a mingled sound of crying and calling. Between the sobbing of Si’s children, came Mirandy’s pitiful calls, “Oh, Si, you ain't leavin’ us for good, be you? Si, goodbye; Si, you are a hero sure; but I want you, oh, so bad; Si. I can’t stand it any longer, come back, come back.” But Si was already seated in the biplane, trembling and shaking, with a robe wrapped about him, and Mirandy’s shawl about his head. As the biplane left the ground, a loud and mighty scream was mingled with the roar of the machine, for Si was afraid. As they rose higher and higher, he entreated Mr. Cooke to let him off, but the latter was either too absorbed in his work, or did not hear him. Meanwhile, on the ground, more eyes were centered upon the pitiful group in the wagon than upon the airship. Mirandy, almost hysterical, breathlessly gazed heavenward. “They’re goin’ too high,” she moaned. “Now, where are they? I can’t see “em. So high, you say, Pete? Ain’t they comin’ down now? Oh, oh; they are both on their last journey, for they’re sinking; they’re falling! Oh, Lord! have mercy on Si. Save my Si! And now they’re gone; they have fallen over there, and my husband is gone; he'll never talk to us'any more. Oh, how can I bear it!” By this.time Mirandy was in a sad condition, hysterical and wild with grief. People gathered about, trying to reason and comfort her, but of no avail; for indeed, many thought something had happened, as the airship had swooped suddenly downwards, then seemed to fall on the side of Taylor mountain. Suddenly a mighty shout arose, and, as Mirandy raised her head, she beheld in the distance, over the mountain, a speck, which steadily grew larger and larger. Was it really her Si coming back to her; or was she dreaming? No, it was her Si, for everyone said so. She was thankful; so, after giving thanks for so much good fortune, she again watched eagerly. “Why, he’s comin’ lower and lower. Surely he ain’t goin’ to land on top of us! No, they’re goin’ up again. See, Samanthy Ann, your father is a real hero!” Mr. Cooke guided the graceful machine over the track, circled over Santa Rosa, and continued to circle about, until Mirandy forgot her fears in the enthusiasm over the flight, wondering how Si was’enjoying himself. Si, high up in the air, was not enjoying it. Besides being cold, he had a strange feeling whenever he opened his eyes, so he kept them shut. Grad- ually the shawl about his head became looser and looser. He thought to himself, “What if that shawl should come loose and get torn in the ma- chinery, then Mirandy would fix me even if I am a hero; but I dare not lift my hand to fix it!” Finally Si did lift his hand to hold the headgear; and

Page 8 text:

6 THE ECHO. tone of voice. Amid the explanations of sympathy, surprise and wonder, Ralph betook himself once more to the dining room. As he opened the door, a draught of cold air swept across the room, and he crossed to close the win- dow. For a moment he stopped to gaze at the twinkling lights high among the massive beams of the skeleton hotel. Slowly his gaze centered on a little knot of workers gathered together at the junction of four huge beams, directly under a light. Something in their actions arrested his attention and as he looked, something struck the window-sill beside him. It was the large, bare, well-picked drum-stick of a turkey. So those were the “spooks,” were they? Those men climbing by the window to work. The maid out fixing the dressing, and the beam so close to the window-sill. As Ralph’s mind grasped the details, one by one, a laugh came from the group above. It broke the strain, and his grim face relaxed to a grin, while the grin broadened to a smile, as he chuckled to himself, “Poor Tom, he would get married.” —A. S. ’12. A Hero OWDY, Mr. Cooke! I been atryin’ to make my way in here ‘bout an hour, ‘cause I heard you might consider carryin’ a passenger. Be you thinkin’ “bout it? That so? Then, maybe you'd take me along. I’m adyin’ to go, an’ my wife Mirandy, she sez she'd hate like anything to have me go, but she’s right when she sez, ‘Folks have to do something to show how brave they are, and make people realize that you're somebody.’ Now, ain’t that right?” Si, from under his broad, summer, hat, gazed earn- estly into the face of Mr. Cooke. There was a smile playing about Mr. Cooke’s mouth, as he looked at Si, for the latter was a typical backwoodsman. He was very tall and angular, had a short, pointed beard, a long mustache, and a head covered with straw- colored hair. “Well, 1 am prepared to carry a passenger, but, as he has disappointed me at the last minute, I could take you,” returned Mr. Cooke; then added, “but you know it is cold up in the air, so unless you can bundle up, better not attempt a flight this time.” Si’s face was beaming, as he replied, “Oh, I can manage fine. How long before you're goin’ to start? Ten minutes? All right; I'll just go and get ready.’ And Si departed. Making his way through the group about the aviator, Si hurried across the track, through the entrance, and, upon turning down the road, screamed out in delight, “I’m a-goin’, Mirandy! I’m agoin’!” By this time the happy excited man had arrived at the side of an old spring wagon, in which sat Mirandy and several children. All were staring at the hero with open mouths; then Mirandy explained: “But Si, you ain’t got no overcoat, and say, Si, wh—what—if anything should happen to the machine, an’ you—you’d be hurt? Wh—why—S-Si, I-I-I’d just die!’

Page 10 text:

8 THE ECHO. then, as the airship glided downwards and was ready to light, he realized that he was enjoying his trip, but perhaps it was because his first flight was nearly over. Mirandy, standing up in the wagon, gazed anxiously at the machine as it glided down, saying, “They're comin’ back to earth; They're comin’! Oh, my children, ain’t we all thankful! See! they're gettin’ lower and lower; but I hope they won't be caught in those trees. Now they've lit; they've lit at last, and soon our Sill be back to us!” Five pairs of eyes gazed eagerly over the track. At last there appeared in the distance a person, at whose sight everyone smiled. Poor Si, worn out by fright, came forward, waving to his beloved ones and calling, “Oh, Mirandy, it was grea t! and ain't you proud of me?” The hearty greetings over, Si and Mirandy turned their horses home- ward, after thanking the smiling Mr. Cooke for his generosity. Si, driving with one hand, and with an arm about his Mirandy, could only say, “My goodness, but it was great when we were comin’ down!” And Mirandy, her face wreathed in smiles, was too happy and too proud for words. Bear Hunting YO) e EAR HUNTING seems to possess a peculiar attraction. It Al 9 ») gerous and exciting big game-hunting is the quest of the is a sport in which there is plenty of danger and one that requires the hunter. to be constantly alert. The most dan- erizzly bear. Here the hunter often becomes the hunted. Of course, with the modern automatic rifles, there is little danger; but in the days of the old muzzle-loader, when one had to kill with a single shot, it was far different. The grizzly, unlike most bears, likes to fight. He would rather fight than eat ripe wild blackberries. He will al- ways take the offensive, never taking to his heels like his brethren. Man- hunting is as much sport to him, as bear-hunting is to the man. Hugh Patten, a hunter of Sonoma county in the early days, had an ex- perience with bear-hunting that was not of an enjoyable nature. One even- ing about dusk, he was up in the mountains, coming home from a hunt. Be- tween two ridges there was a low place that had hardly any outlet. In the winter time this place was filled with water, forming a lake which covered about twenty acres. The water, when nearly dried up in the summer time, afforded an excellent bathing place for animals of all sorts. Wild hogs, ‘coons, and bears congregated there to splash about in the shallow water. Hugh was tramping hurriedly toward home, neither noticing his sur- roundings nor expecting to encounter any game, after having been unsuc- cessful during the day. But the unexpected happened. Just as he emerged from behind some trees that had hidden a part of the lake, he saw two large grizzlies enjoying themselves in the mud, while trying to keep off the mos- quitoes. They were playing like a couple of cubs, boxing and biting each