Scituate High School - Chimes Yearbook (Scituate, MA)

Page 27 text:

THE CHIMES 25 that its mouth would not open wide enough to get them within. But the fact remains that there was no perceptible loss of life among- the bugs. However, the newt seemed to thrive so well that I concluded it must have eaten some min- ute food which could not be distinguished by the naked eye. I changed the moss every two weeks so that it might get a fresh supply of its invisible food. The newt actu- ally grew a half -inch tail during its stay with me. The little fellow was great company at my desk. Some- times I would be led to think that it had escaped it blended so well with the moss, but after a closer examination T would discover it peeping out at me, its long neck arched up like a cobra ready to strike. When I took it from th glass and deposited it on my arm, it would start a race for the concealment of my arm sleeve and often made me burst out laughing with its comical gait. I was deeply moved when one day I looked for the little fellow and found it dead for I had associated many happy memories with it. A DESCRIPTION June Hundrickson, ' 34 Slower fell the feathery flakes, calmer blew the tempes- tuous winds, gradually the storm clouds broke, and then a bright silvery moon sailed majestially past the storm-lined clouds up to her celestial abqde in the wintry sky. In the shimmering rays, the tall gaunt trees stood darkly silhou- etted against the crystal white blanket of snow which had so recently fallen. The wind, still howling , swept through their leafless branches, causing their shadows to look like a spectre host, come from some gloomy underworld to in- vade the now serene and tranquil earth. Off in a distance only the occasional howl of a lone dog broke the — yes, ghastly silence. But the once radiant, shining moon is per- ceptibly waning. Her duty is done for awhile. It is now the reign of the golden sun.

Page 26 text:

24 THE CHIMES I was scra]) ' ng up an extra larg ' e handful when niy eye ' s were attracted Iw a white forn.i which I mistook for that of a caterpillar. I never had seen so white a caterpillar and so I examined it more carefully. To my astonishment I found that it had four tinv leg ' s and a pair of beautiful little eyes which were watching- me carefully from beside a stem of moss. I w as delighted beyond words, for it was none other than a tiny newt, •hich I had ahvays wished to see. It w as about an inch and one-half long and had a diameter of about three-sixteenths of an inch. Its upper half w as a rich reddish brown and its under side pure wdiite. Both its ur] er and lower sides were covered with a mucous pe- culiar to the batrachian group. Its legs were very short in comparison with its body and tapered towards the body rather than away. It had four dainty toes on its front feet and five on its hind feet. The tail, which I thought would be long, was stubby and I w as led to think that it must have been broken off, but later a new tail grew. The eyes of this newt, I think, excelled in beauty any gem I had ever seen. They were go d around the edges which spark- led with a jet black center like a true gem. As the newt did not move, I gave it a slight tap on the end of its tail. It gave a leap fully eight times its own length and started on the most ridiculous amble that ever Avas staged. Eirst it advanced the front leg and the hind leg on the other side, then just the reverse. During this walk its long body, similar to a w easel ' s, and its tail wiggled in unison. I put it is a ball of moss and, forgetting every- thing, ran home. I secured the most beautiful ma3-onnaise bottle I could find and placed the newt and moss in it. Then I added a little water and put the whole on my desk. There I added a little water an4 put the whole on my desk. There Mr. Newt stayed until the first of September and in- creased in wisdom and stature upon a diet of air and good- ness-knows- what. One might have asked how this little amphibian could live over three months with nothing to eat. I certainly did not intend that it should starve and so I caught a number of plant lice and small ant ' s and put them in its jar. 1 do not know whether the newt disliked this bill of fare or found

Page 28 text:

26 THE CHIMES HOW TUJ : THISTLE REALLY ORIGINATED Ellen Russell Bailey, ' 31 Once upon a time — oh, a long, long- time ago when our great-great-grandfathers were little boys — there lived a very lazy little porcupine in an old den at the top of a steep hill. He lived with his father and mother and they loved him greatly, but of course, at times, they got rather exasperated with him and his laziness. Each morning Baby Porcupine used to take a sun bath on the front door sill while his parents worked hard to get him food and do all their own work besides. One morning Mother Porcupine was very ill and baby Porky, who was really now almost grown up, had to go down the hill to get his own food and help his father. Father thought that if young Porky Jiad to do something it might cure a little of his laziness; but it didn ' t. Each day he kept moving more and more slowly till one day when he stopped to rest, old Grandfather Crow, who was partly a wizard, came by, and seeing him, said, ' ' Some cold day in the very near future, you ' ll freeze that way. And a few minutes later when Porky tried to start up the hill, he found that he couldn ' t move ! He called for help and though Daddy porcupine pulled his hardest, — yes, Porky was rotted to the ground. Three days later there came a great storm and poor Porky turned purple with cold and in a few hours died. In the following spring some children were playing in their back pasture when suddenly one, the eldest giil, hap- pene d to fall on what was left of poor little Porky. She quickly jumped up but was naturally very curious to know what it was. So she took a bag and a knife and dug up the ' funny plant and took it home. On the way home some of the little spears dropped out and grew up into others of their own kind — though, of course, smaller. These are called ' ' thistles now, and there are many in nearly every part of the country.