Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 9 Sapphire of Jebabat JG ? i£C Gar X. lkaula, a „ T2 BOUT five years after the Sepoy Re- bellion, I was stationed at Travan- corc in the extreme southern part of the Hindustan peninsula. A dear friend of mine, Jack Hartwell, a lieu- tenant of engineers, had but lately returned from the bill country, bringing with him a glorious sftpphire, which he presented to me. The stone was mysteriously engraved with Indian hieroglyphics, and in the centre was inlaid a small, but brilliant, diamond. My friend knew nothing of the history of the jewel, saying he had obtained it from a wayside beggar, who claimed to have picked it from the road, evidently little knowing its value. About a week after my friend had left I went for a stroll one evening, taking the stone with me. as 1 meant to stop at the home of a prominent jeweler of the town, who lived some distance in the country, and inquire the value of my precious gift. 1 took with me a heavy walking stick, as I had heard tales of dacoits in the neighborhood. The intense darkness of the tropics was fast closing in as 1 returned from the jeweler's home. My road lay through a grove of bamboo, and as a storm was brewing. 1 hastened forward. By the time 1 reached the grove I could hardly see a rod ahead of me, and, wishing to leave this dismal strip behind, I began to run at a smart pace. 1 had scarcely gone a stone’s throw, when I was tripped and thrown by some unseen object. I at- tempted to rise, but strong hands grasped me, and I was hastily bound, gagged, and blindfolded. My captors carried me a short way, and I was set £ elta fl st The Delta Psi is for the most part composed of Latin School pupils. The club, owing to previous successes, will endeavor to give several entertain- ments during the coming year. At an annual election the following officers were chosen: Presi- dent. Putney. '10: vice-president, Johnson, '11: secretary. Gunter. ’(»0; treasurer. Welch. 10. Application for admission should be made to Ar- thur Tellier, '10, assistant secretary and treasurer. down, the bandage removed, and I found myself lying by a camp fire. Instead of the thieves I had expected to see. I was surprised to find I had been seized by six fierce, tall hillmen. One especially gigantic fellow, with a close-clipped beard, ad- dressed me in fluent English. “Sahib, said he, drawing a murderous-looking knife from his cummerbund, “you have upon your person a marvelous jewel, and I will not harm a hair of your head if you will but surrender it to me. lie gave a command in some northern tongue which I could not understand, at which one of the hillmen knelt by me, and, searching my pockets, soon produced the stone. Xo sooner had he opened the case in which it lav and handed it to the leader, than all of the Hindus salaamed to the ground. The leader again spoke. Sahib. he said, “this stone was stolen six years ago, during the uprising, from the Temple of Jehabat. 1 have made a vow with these five of my countrymen to recover the jewel, and now my search is o'er. My bonds were loosened, and I was placed once more upon the road to search my way homeward. I had often heard of the holy jewels of the Hindus, and how devotees would spend a lifetime in recov- ering them, if by any chance they were lost or stolen. A few years later I visited Jehabat, and beheld my jewel blazing brightly in the girdle of a Hindu priest. My former captor saw me. and, coming forward, cordially greeted me. but I am sure that any movement on my part to recover the jewel would have been my last. IResolution Whereas, by the divine will of God. our class- mate. Hazel B. Backus, has been bereaved of her beloved brother; be it Resolved, that we, the members of the class of HHO of the Somerville Latin School, tender to her our heartfelt sympathy. Robert T. Davis, President. George I. Dawson, Secretary.

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8 SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR of his heart to hear me declaiming tlnis-wise? Sounds good, doesn’t it ? “ ‘1 lie thee hither. That 1 may pour my spirits in thine ear.’ 1 don’t think the school hoard ought to allow the scholars to learn passages about ‘pouring spirits’ in a no-license town like this, but then. 1 suppose it is all right, since she is going to pour them into his car. That must be one of the times when circumstances alter cases. Oh. girls! Oh, girls! Here is another word for your vocabulary. Listen to what the im- mortal says:— ‘Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem To have thee crown’d withal.’ Metaphysical! That’s a good word—suggests something spooky at the first glance. We'll see what X'oah says about it. Ah! here it is—per- taining to metaphysics. Now, who ever would have thought it? Hut it says below that in the time of Shakespeare it meant supernatural, al- though that meaning is now obsolete. Well. 1 can’t bother any more with Lady Macbeth. She seems t«► have done all her raving before the mur- der—just like a woman. What are you doing? Latin! That reminds me! I knew absolutely nothing about the advance in Latin to-dav. and Miss Sherwood certainly did give me a scare. She asked if any of us were un- prepared. and I didn’t raise my hand, for I was taking a chance on being called on for review translation. 'Phe suspense nearly finished me. At last she called me, but just as 1 got ready for the fatal plunge, and the cold chills began to play tag around my backbone, she told me that I needn't translate, as I had done an extra long pas- sage a couple of days before. Glad? Well, rather! That’s what reputation does for you! I think this has been a lucky day for me all around. 1 got by in Latin, and excused from the examinations in ‘math.’ and had my division changed so that I could be with you. Xow. if you will bring forth the wherewithal I'll try my luck at penuchi. I’ll warn you. though, before it is too late. My last two attempts had to be eaten with a spoon, but if you'll risk it. 1 will. I want to try a new way—warranted to make it nice and creamy —money back if you’re not satisfied. Is that the clock striking? hive o’clock? It can’t be! Well, we’ll have the penuchi party some other day. And just think of the German waiting to be done! I have a study period for that, though, to-morrow. But 1 never can study on Friday, for Dick and Harry sit on each side of me. and talk steady all through the period without any let-up. Dick is a comical fellow, but he will simply have to keep quiet todnorrow. or there will be war in camp. My cousins are coming out to-night to play bridge, so I am positive I won’t get another minute to study except at school. I do wish you could come over this evening. If you do. we will teach you how to play bridge and make you a fiend like the rest of us. “Here comes your postman! Lucky girl! I am expecting a letter this afternoon myself. Well. I nn'st hustle home or I won't get any din- ner. Thanks awfully for helping me with that soliloquy. I’ll call for you in the morning early. Do try to be ready by S o’clock. Auf Wieder- sehen! (Ilovcrncol; utbeirn. mutt, E., tt In this calm and peaceful twilight, while the skies are bright and clear. And the autumn’s crimson sandal treads upon the leafy year. While a hallowed stillness lingers in the glory of the day. As it gathers up its beauty, leaves the stars, and glides away; Now my thoughts have wandered backward to a cot embowered in green. Where the checkered autumn twilight streaks the trailing vines between, Where the cluster roses shower all their pink and snowy leaves. Clovernook. what changed thy glory?—solemn sadness everywhere: ( nce your halls were filled with laughter, now they’re mouldy, bleak, and bare; ()nce your hearth at twilight’s stillness showed a happy, joyous band. Now it shows but empty darkness, wrought bv Time’s unfailing hand.

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR B dbasc for Scenerv 36v? IDaroarct X. IRich, X., ’ll ELL, it was settled at last! We would give that play in the Town Hall. We had done something like that every preceding summer spent in Westgate, so win shouldn t we this time, and make it just a little hit bet- ter than the previous times? )f course we real- ized fully that before we had had no scenery, and that we needed it now in order to make our scheme complete. But why should we be dis- turbed on that account? W'e could obtain it the last day. if necessary to wait that long. The only things to trouble us now were the rehearsing and the bother about our costumes. There were twelve in our party, and they all en- tered into the plans with great animation. The townspeople looked forward eagerly to the per- formance. as they did to everything held in the Town Hall. The day before the great event we went up to Mr. Luttrel's house and asked him if he would attend to the business for us. He was a cross man. and very lazy, but he was the only person who owned any fittings. The only satisfaction obtained from him was this:— You young creatures don’t know much, do you? You need to be taught a lesson for leaving things until the last minute. Well. and he squinted one eye, as if he were occupied in serious thought, if you want them duds, you’d best drive to Berley just about as fast as that old nag Floss will take you. I sent my man over there with them. It is only seven miles, and you might over- take him if you hurry, but let me tell you. it won't do you any good standing there a-gawking at me. I’m sleepy. I miss my nap.” Seven miles! And two hours! What should we do? How could we overtake the team, when it must have nearly arrived by this time? Mr. Luttrel was one of those influential people of the town who arc apt to assume great inde- pendence and arrogance where strangers are con- cerned. We deemed it strange that he had sent the props to Bcnev. as we had heard of nothing that was going to take place in that town, but our minds were set at rest by even this unsatisfactory chance. Xot daring to question him further, lest he refuse us the use of his property altogether, we hurried back to our cottage, while one of the boys harnessed I‘loss. The drive to Berley was an extremely pleasant one. considering the circumstances. That part of the country is full of beautiful lanes, driveways, and trees, and we were very merry, in spite of our disappointment. I'pon reaching Berley. we drove through the main street, but saw nothing of the team which we were seeking. We knew that it would not be likely to go through any other street, as they were all very narrow and short, and did not connect Main with any other. There was no other street in the town running parallel to Main street, so we reasoned the wagon must be on its way to the next town. Newcastle, four miles’ drive. We whipped up the horse, and although some- what disheartened by our second disappointment, we were soon in high spirits. We were going so swiftly that we could not help overtaking the wagon soon. So on we drove, conversing hope- fully about our plans for the following day I here were only three of us. but we managed l( keep up hope, and watched every vehicle breath- lessly until we caught up with it. W'e were in the midst of an excited discussion, when my cousin noticed that the horse had slack- ened her pace considerably, and soon she stopped altogether. Then we made the pleasing discovery that one of her shoes was missing. What could we do? We couldn’t go back, now that we had come so far. e must be somewhere near Mr. Luttrel's props.” We had driven so fast, and a great lumbering, clumsy wagon such as would be required to truck scenery could not possibly go half as quickly. Spying a blacksmith s shop, we made arrange- ments with the muscular blacksmith to leave the horse and buggy with him until our return. Meanwhile he would shoe the horse. We asked him if he knew of any place where bicycles were sold or hired. lie told us that there was only one place in all Newcastle where bicycles could be had. and he wasn’t even sure of that. Ife directed us to a small shop a littje way ahead, and. luckily for us. we were able to hire three. Mv cousin was quite angry when he found that he must ride a girl's wheel or walk. But after fum- ing a while he decided to ride.