Soldan High School - Scrip Yearbook (St Louis, MO)

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AII's Well That Ends Well HE door bell of Mr. Cecil Thomas, who, in the vernacular of a Frenchman, would be termed a bourgeois of London, gave a shrill and sudden sound. It was that young Amer- ican, as he was usually referred to, and rather 'Q contemptuously, by Mr. Thomas. Jimmie Bacon was lead- ing a life of experiment, and for the past year he had been engaged in the pleasant business of trying to convince a London magazine that James Bacon stories were really unusual, and that any publisher with common sense ought to appreciate the fact and accept them. And it was some job! Mr. T homasis pretty daughter, Barbara, opened the door, for she knew only too well who it was. Bacon had come to make his customary Sunday evening call on her, and this evening he was all joy, hilarity, ecstasy. And this same evening Barbara felt exactly the opposite. Well, Jimmie, she said in affected cheerfulness you look as if you had just been presented with a hundred thousand pounds! What makes you so happy? - Rejoice, Bobby, and be exceedingly glad, for my most marvelous and phenomenal story-the one I read you last Wednesday-has been accepted, bought, and paid for! I'm so glad, was her abbreviated reply. Then she led him into the drawing room, indicated a seat for him, hesitated, and finally took a seat directly opposite her fiance. Jimmie went on enthusiastically, half sarcastic, half serious: Yes, Bobby, the dawn of my glorious future is before me! I'm working on a big idea now. It is entitled 'Professional Loafers! When that's taken we will-well-we won't have to wait any longer. I'm- Barbara was ready to talk now, and she was waiting for the oppor- tunity. Her countenance reflected stern resolution. However, Jimmie's exuberant enthusiasm could hardly be checked at this juncture. 'Tm almost certain, he continued, that within two months I will have earned enough money to buy a marriage license, Bobby! Then, more seriously, But really, Bobby, if Dame Fortune smiles on me a little, we will be married before Christmas. But what has gone wrong with you to-night? Are you feeling well, Bobby? Oh, yes-I'm quite well. Jimmie, I have something--I wanted 7! nf' ': 1 ' ., wi f . 'F' My ls 1 f rf f ' 4 ry t0- By Jove! I know what you want. War! That's the topic! Well, I have some good news for you. The French have stopped the Germans' march on Paris. I tell you when Von Hindenburg puts one over on old man Joffre, I'll eat my head! I guess Willie Hohenzollern can't cele- brate Sedan Day in Paris as he expected to. Too bad! Billy must be awfully upset. But if he'd take my advice he wouldn't expect any more triumphal marches into Paris. The days of 1870 have passed. 18

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.,-,K-1--.,f - -3-W' YQ, -1 ,fag - A ' 5-1--1gL:, -g-3' -rff-Y-'-T37 cottage he had learned to love. Well, we'll be men-Americans, any- way-even though we can't enjoygour Christmas at home. Let us pray to the Almighty that we may be home for the next Christmas that comes around. The sound of marching feet came from without. A gruff voice called a command. The door opened. A German officer and two pri- vates entered. The oflicer glanced at Fritz. Your prisoner? Yes, sir, answered Fritz. Leg shattered. A cold chill shot through Scotty. He turned to the window wearily and a sense of hopelessness came over him. Bring him out! commanded the officer sharply. Fritz protested in German, pointing to Scotty's bandaged leg. The officer smiled ironically. Bring him out! he snapped, speaking to the two soldiers who had entered with him. Then to Fritz: Our division is to withdraw at once. Our movements cannot be hampered with prisoners. Orders have been issued to shoot all captured men. You will immediately carry out this command. Shoot your prisoner! Fritz stood motionless. The command was not repeated. Slowly the officer drew an automatic, then lifting his arm and directing it at the American, he grunted, You die. Scotty understood now, but was helpless. Shoot, you-coward! he hissed, clenching his teeth and looking steadily into the muzzle of the revolver. But partly through love and partly through anger, Fritz interposed, arresting the ofI'icer's arm. A struggle ensued. The two soldiers holding Scotty dropped him and rushed upon Fritz who sank down, bayoneted by a fellow-soldier. Scotty's eyes blazed with hatred. He cursed and groaned as he dragged himself io his feet. The bandages about the wounded leg turned bright crimson. He clenched his teeth and hopped forward. To sink his lingers into the throat of that fiend! But to once feel the hot blood of this creature warm his hands and he would be content to die. His opponent did not hesitate, but calmly raised his gun and shot into Scotty's body. The body wavered for an instant, then crumpled up in a heap on the ground. In a little one-street town in Missouri, Scotty's mother called the little family to the Christmas dinner. When they had bowed their heads, she prayed- Oh, great and merciful Father, we thank Thee for these blessings, May Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. -Harold F. Lee, 7. 17

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Q' 'J 'I-17 .Q 15:-1,326 1 -A g et 5s . g, , ff l, ,-iils-1-.tg -- 4133 'I'm so glad, Jimmie. But that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. What in the world are you driving at, Bobby? Speak! commanded the bewildered Bacon. Jimmie, she said quietly, I must tell you that our engagement is at an end. Recent events have led me to believe that father is quite right-about you-about Americans. What's wrong? he demanded, stunned. Wrong? Everything! Father has always allowed me full freedom, as you know, perhaps it has been unfortunate. He always was opposed to our engagement, but he would not stand in my way. And mother has her own favorites. Still, I have stubbornly persisted in my ways. Somehow, Jimmie, your frank, open manners, your-well-what you Americans aptly call pluck, nerve-somehow these traits had a peculiar fascination for me. Unfortunately, though, you have proved yourself unworthy of the love of an English girl. It's strange, he replied, that I've been good enough until now. And just at a time when-but, no, Barbara, you can't turn me away like this. You can at least give me a concrete and definite reason for it, besides your father's prejudice. Prejudice! she retorted, all the prejudice in the world would not make me change my mind. Until last night my father's objections, to me, too, were prejudice. But when prejudice proves to be well founded, then it ceases to be such, and in my father's case, it becomes sagacious admonition. Imagine me walking into the opera last night with my parents and seeing my fiance gayly engaged in the entertainment of another one of his 'friends' ! That was Dorothy Coverdale, he answered calmly, we used to go to school together in Denver, and she has just come to London. I do not understand you in the least, Barbara. Oh, yes, one of your old friends! she snapped. Think of my humiliation when father saw it. Think of the things he had to say to me. What could he say? 'Look, Bab, there is the man you propose to marry! Why, yes, that young American likes you quite as well as he loves his other friends! I tell you, Bab, these Americans do not take life seriously. They are mutable, fickle, inconsistent. When James Bacon is not calling on you, he is visiting somebody else, and it will be the same after he has married you.' At last the terrible truth struck me and-- I can't believe it! Bacon thundered. It is ridiculous, absurd. Barbara, I tell you it is nothing less than petty jealousy! James, she said sternly, you are certainly mistaken. Keeping company with several women at the same time may be correct etiquette with American young men, but in England it is intolerable and out of the question. Holding a small ring on the palm of her hand, she added: We will speak no more on the subject, Mr. Bacon! 19