Sedgwick High School - Comet Yearbook (Sedgwick, ME)

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12 THE COMET and the driver spoke to his compan- ion. See anybody coming, Al? he asked. Naw, guess we ran away from them, or else they haven't found them guys we croakedf' lVe better clear out of these parts, whatever they are doing, said the driver grimly, and proceeded to speed up the Buick still more. Back i11 Denver a bank had just been robbed and two employees had been murdered. After learning of the murder and robbery, the police had immediately given chase. But the ba11k bandits had so great a start that the police never obtained a glimpse of them. The description of the two men was flashed all over the state and surrounding country. The Buick automobile was found on the outskirts of the town of Birkley, fif- ty miles from Denver, but of the bandits, there was no trace. One day, a week after fthe bank robbery, a message was received from Yuma, Arizona, to the effect that two men answering to the description of the murderers had been seen in town. Before word had been given to have them arrested, they had dis- appeared. Where they had gone, no one knew. Some said that probably the killers had gone into the desert until the trouble blew over. Three months after their disap- pearance, when the police had given up the search, an old desert prospec-- tor came into Yuma with a strange story. In his travels through desert sands he had come upon the bodies of two men, half buried in the sand. About them were scattered bills and coins of all denominations. The vultures had partly defaced the bodies, but enough was left to posi- tively identify them as the bank bandits of Denver. The murderers had escaped the law, but it takes more than a murderer to escape desert justice. THE APPAn1'r1oN or nnvnrs LEDGE Along the coasts of England there are many legends which have been handed down from the ancient sea- faring folk to the present day sailors. One of these has to do with the three ghosts of Devil's Ledge. Ten years ago, I was told this old legend by an Irish sea captain. In 1835, -.so the story ran, the Gir- con, a sailing vessel bound .from Liverpool to Paris, had sunk on Devil's Ledge. There had been a terrible storm which had driven the vessel on the rocks, and she had gone down immediately. The entire crew and passengers had been lost. Among the passengers had been three eminent clergymen of the time. These three had come back from the unknown to warn and protect future mariners. Whenever a great storm came out of the Atlantic and a vessel was in peril at Devil's Ledge, the three wraiths of the departed minis- ters of God would appear to direct the ship away from danger. ,In later years a lighthouse had been built, and as the services of the ghostly trio had no longer been needed, they had gradually been for- gotten. Such was the story of Devil's Ledge. Of course, I did not accept the story as anything but a wild tale. Later, I was to acknowledge its truth by my own eyes.

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'mm comm' 11 as the eye could see there was no sign of life. Altogether the Valley was a desolate and lonesome scene, as im- plied by its name. Although nothing stirred on the plain, if one looked closer, in the thioket at the side of the valley, a dark object was visible. It was Old One Eye, the lord of Lonesome Val- ley. The huge moose had lived here for two years, and during that time had fought many a battle in protect- ing his stronghold. It was in one of these battles he gained his name. Lately, there had come into the valley a new enemy, different from any before. A giant mountain lion had invaded the domain in search of food. On this particular morning One Eye was on the lookout for the lion. It had been his policy to drive every animal out of the valley, and up to now he had succeeded. Then it happened. The lion, which had been treading along on noiseless feet, stepped out directly in front of the moose. Old One Eye did not waste time on preliminaries. Witli head down and with a snort of rage, he charged. The lion took a chance on dying by starvation or being killed, and held his ground. Witli the moose only five feet from him, the lion gave a sudden leap and sailed up over the huge sweep of antlers, gave a sudden twist in the air and landed on Old One Eye's back. The moose shook him free, but the claws gouged terribly. Old One Eye saw red and his blood turned the fly- ing snow to crimson. He charged again, and the lion executed the same maneuver, only this time his claws did not slip. His fangs bit into One Eye's throat and closed together. But in reaching, he lost his hold and tumbled to the crimson snow. He was not quick enough to escape the last gasping plunge of the moose. One of the long prongs pierced his brain. The breath of the combatants was no longer visible in the cold air. N ow Lonesome Valley is more lone- some than ever, but when the snow goes, there will come a new monarch to terrorize the Valley. MISTAKEN IDENTITY One day as I was working on my car I found a bolt was missing. I wished to get a new one to take its place. As I did 11ot have time to change my clothes and go down to the hardware shop, I went in my overalls. The hardware building was three blocks from where I lived. I had reached the Five and Ten, which is about half-way there. As I stood on the corner waiting for the light to change, I saw a shabby and tattered old beggar approaching. He came up and said, VVon't you give a nickel to a poor ma11 who has lost his wife? A lady o11 the other side of the street was talking to her little girl. A moment later the girl approached and looked inquisitively at the beg- gar and me. Then she turned and shouted, To which tramp do you want me to give the dime, mother? -R. S., '35. DESERT JUSTICE A speeding automobile tore out of the city of Denver, Colorado, bound south. The two men in the front seat were grim and tight-lipped. Neither spoke until well outside the city limits. Then they seemed to relafi

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THE COMET 13 One year ago I had occasion to take passage on a steamer over the same route that the ill-fated Oircon had taken in 1835. The trip was purely a business one, and I had no thought of meeting wilh the supernatural. lVe had barely cleared port when storm warnings were reported. Fifty miles from port the storm hit us in all its fury. The worst gale in forty years, the captain said. We were driven into the coast in spite of all that could be done. Our wireless sent out distress calls but to no avail. lVhen we were only five miles from shore, the captain said that the Devil's Ledge light was out of order. This meant that we could only trust to luck to avoid the ledge. The mention of Devil's Ledge seemed to stir some recollection in my memory, but I could not remem- ber where I had heard it before. The period of ten years had partially erased the old Irishman's story from my brain or memory. . There was only one hope left, there was a narrow channbl through the ledge through which the ship might be driven to the shore. If she hit the ledge, there was no hope. We were only two miles from shore when the long departed came to our aid. The lookout, who was straining his eyes into jthe darkness, gave a most terrifying yell. Following his pointed finger, we saw three ghostly figures sharply outlined in the rain and fog. Recollections came flooding upon me. The three clergymen of Devil's Ledge. Here they were, in person! The specters beckoned us on, now to the right, 11ow to the left. The helmsman obeyed the commands au-- tomatically. We were so petrified with astonishment and fear that our surroundings went unnoticed. All at o11ce the bow of the ship struck the shore, and we were thrown down by the impact. lVe arose to find the ap- paritions gone a11d the steamer beached high and dry on the shore. Our lives had been saved by the clergymen of Devil's Ledge. Never again will I doubt the stories of old legends. AN ADVENTURE OF THE YEAR. 3132 Hey! J immie, called his em- ployer, Hcome over here a second. Jimmie walked across the large of- lice of his boss and confronted him. How would you like to take your vacation with me this year, J immie? Jimmie started at the unusual ques- tion, and then a huge grin appeared on his clean-cut face, for his employer was none other than Hugh Mawson, president of the Solar Navagation Lines. A vacation with him could only mean one thing-a trip to Mars or Venus. There is nothing I would like bet- er, sir, said Jimmie Blair, respect- fully. I have never been outside the Earth, but I have longed to ever si11ce I can remember. When do we start and where are we going? Well, I am going to Mars to look over our interests there at Keribut, said Mawson, And we will start next Monday, if everything is all right. You know, Blair, you are al- most as badly off as the man who had never seen a television broadcast in 2000. Interplanetary travel has been possible now for one hundred years,