Somerville High School - Radiator Yearbook (Somerville, MA)

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6 SOM ICR VILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR H IDangetrous Experiment 36 pbiltp 36. Xewfs, '14 EFORL. during, and since Albert Pres- ton's college career, he had con- , stantly taken huge interest in Scien- tific Research as to the Origin of Human Life. This novel study was one of the chief reasons for his en- tering upon a chemical line of work after gradu- ating from college. For eight years he had worked in his laboratory, a secluded building, located two miles from any other habitation of human beings; for eight years he had toiled on. ever encouraged by his firm be- lief that human life might be created by some scientific process as yet undiscovered. At last, having procured with great difficulty the tour elements which he considered essential t this creation of life.—even when all was ready, he still hesitated. Two of these elements the chemist was certain were explosives of unknown strength. He wondered whether the explosion of these elements would be slight r terrific. On the evening of the last day of the month of August, he lay down for a short nap before making the final experiment. In deep meditation he kicked lazily the afghan at the foot of the lounge. On the floor, by his side, lay several cur- rent magazines, while the evening paper waved uncertainly in the hand of the sleepy chemist. At length the hand fell relaxed, and the paper slipped from its grasp. A sigh escaped the reclining figure as the senses dimmed in anticipation of a refreshing nap. Put what was this that plucked at Preston's coat sleove? What horrible little fiend was this who, with beady eyes and bullet-like head, blew a cold, clammy breath in the face of the drowsv young man. climbed like a pet kitten over his blanketed figure, grinned at last a little ape-like grin, as with arms akimbo, it sat at the foot of the couch?. Preston caught up a magazine, which he hurled viciously at the squatting figure. To his surprise the creature had vanished. He sat up. There, near the foot of the couch, lay the magazine, partly ripped from its binding, with its cover slowly rising and falling in the gentle breeze ■from the open window. I»v degrees, he realized he had been asleep. The hideous little creature had existed only in his lively imagination. Preston slowly rose, yawned, and stretched his cramped arms. He ’.lien moved toward the door of his laboratory. The chemist was fully awake bv the time he had surrounded himself with rows upon rows of bottle-covered shelves. Above the acid-stained sink glowed a small in- candescent bull), whose feeble light made the rows of filled shelves resemble a miniature catacomb. The chemist placed four bottles upon a nearby shelf, while lie attached a test tube to an arm over the sink. Into this tube he poured measured quantities from each of these four bottles. While this solution was mixing, he bound a taper to one end of a six-foot pole. He then moved his electric lamp away from the sink, and placed wire screens around and on top of the framed test tube. When all was ready, the lighted taper was thrust between the side screens. There was a momentary silence, broken suddenly by a dull, smothered explosion, accompanied by the tinkle of breaking glass. Preston rushed to the sink and swept away the screens. There, on the bottom of the sink, crouched a figure scarcely larger than a young kitten. There, before him. were the same familiar pair of evil eyes: there, too. the singular bullet-like head with pointed ears set high upon its hairless surface; that little spherical body, from which weak, rope- like. elastic limbs sprung, was certainly that of a previous acquaintance. The chemist could not bring himself to touch the hideous object, so he poked it gently with a glass tube. An impression remained where the body was touched. Again he pressed it, and a second impression resulted. The chemist rolled the figure over upon its ugly little face, and stood watching it intently. Soon a wee hand stretched out along the bottom of the sink, followed by a slender, snaky arm with a bony elbow. Slowly the little figure raised itself to a sitting posture, and just as slowly the beady, squinting eyes sur- veyed the surroundings. At length they met the steady gaze of Preston, who gasped slightly as he viewed the hideous face that bore those eyes. He noticed, too, the gray-green body which every minute was adding to its proportions and won- dered when the sinister little object would cease to grow. Somehow, the chemist wished to kill the ex- panding figure, but it so resembled a human being that he could not bring himself to commit so ap- parent a sin. Then, again, the creature was so 'mall, though it was growing with visible rapidity. hen, at last, it had attained a height of fifteen inches, it seemed to have accumulated its normal measure of strength—and stood up. It was then that Preston became convinced (if he had entertained any uncertainty) that this new creation of his was supplied with vocal organs.

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 5 formed that most spectacular of plays—lie had blocked the kick, gathered the ball off the ground, and was headed for the enemy's goal-line with a clear field in front of him. ()h, you Jim-boy! Come on. Jim, come on! You're the kid! Come on! Keep---------- Ratten suddenly came to a full stop, with the sound of a shrill voice two rows down filling his brain to the exclusion of all else. The girl below was jump- ing insanely up and down, waving her crimson pennant, and screaming words of encouragement to the flying youth on the field. Keep it up, Jimmy! she urged. You can do it! He crossed the line and planted the ball be- hind the goal-posts. “Oh, my dear old Jim! You're a wonder! —and so on. hysterical little terms of endearment and adoration. Batten sat down heavily. Of course, they were ahead, and Jim was a hero, and all that. Rut “Jimmy and My dear old Jim! What did it mean? Again her voice, quieter and filled with pride, reached his ear. She was talking to a girl sitting beside her. Yes, she was saying enthusiastically. He is a wonder, isn’t he? He wrote that lie would probably play to-day. so 1 came on without letting liim know. I simply adore Jim. You see. we’ve known each other quite awhile. She laughed. I should say you had. agreed the other. Ratten did not ordinarily jump at conclusions, but he saw only one way to interpret what he had just heard, and in reflecting on the interpretation lie lost all interest in the game. He was not. of course, angry with Jim, only hurt—hurt to think that his chum, his room-mate, with whom he had boned. and flunked, and scrapped, and—and everything else, had kept secret from him the fact of his friendship with this girl, absolutely the most beautiful and wholly lovable specimen of femin- inity he had ever beheld. He knew it now. and he couldn’t blame Jim for loving her—or her for adoring Jim, either. Rut Jim had deceived him. deliberately and intentionally. He had declared vehemently, time after time, that when it came to the opposite sex he “couldn’t see anything but a blonde. “Brunettes!” lie had exclaimed disgustedly. “Good-night! Why, there are so many brunettes right in my own family that a blonde would be a decidedly welcome acquisition. My father is dark, my mother is dark, and my kid sister is darker still. They say she’s going to be a peach when she grows up’’-—here he had laughed at something or other—“but I can’t see it. You might be able to. It’s funny, he went on, but she’s crazy to meet you. I’ve had your photo at home, you know, but I’ve never had one of hers. Rut Ratten had not been sufficiently interested in Jim’s kid sister even to inquire her age. or how soon she’d be in high school. Kid sisters were bothersome little nuisances, anyway. He had one himself. ()f course. Jim’s aversion to brunettes had been a blind. Jim simply hadn’t wanted anybody to know in just what direction his affections actually did lie. Ratten wondered when the engagement was going to be announced. Probably not just yet. lie smiled a bit grimly. It was queer, wasn t it. that it should be his best friend, his college chum, who should demolish his suddenly built ambitions, who should be the cause of bringing before him the perfect realization of what had always been his ideal, onlv to snatch her away and claim her as his own. What a fickle world this was. Well, it was up to him to make the best of it. He’d go up to Jim after the game and. congratu- late him. wish him everlasting happiness, and all that sort of thing, and then never look at her again except to gratify his sense of the beauti- ful. to admire her much as he would admire a wonderful painting. Cheerful prospect, wasn’t it? Well------- Suddenly the cheering burst out all around hin. wildly, exultantly. Was the game over? Ratten stood up. Evidently it was. for the crim- son supporters, thousands of them, were swarm- ing on to the field. One touchdown had won the game. Ratten climbed slowly down and joined the mob. In a moment lie caught sight of Jim. triumphantly riding on the shoulders of yelling undergraduates, being borne in the direction of the locker-building. A bit of color in the midst of that throng caught Batten’s attention. A girl—the girl—was waving her crimson pennant violently, trying to get the hero's eye. Suddenly Jim saw her. and instantly began to kick and struggle to get down. Ratten turned away, lie didn’t wish to witness the greeting which followed, lie started to walk slowly off, but was arrested by a shout. Jim was calling to him. In spite of himself, he began to turn around. Jim was standing with an arm over her shoulder, and was yelling something unintelligible, waving his hand imperatively at the same time. And then his voice reached Ratten. Rilly! he yelled. Rilly, come on over here and take care of my kid sister while I go in and gel dressed, will you? It was an evening in springtime nearly two years later. Canoes, hundreds of them, floated lazily along the historic Charles. ()ne. detach- ing itself from the rest, was propelled silently (Continued on page 7.]

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SOMERVILLE HIGH SCHOOL RADIATOR 7 For simultaneously the mouth opened, the eyes closed, and a piercing shriek echoed through the laboratory. Preston started, while the little creature, as if alarmed by the sound of its own voice, puts its three-fingered” hands to its ears and raced aimlessly about the sink. Anticipating an accident, the chemist reached for a screen with which to prevent the creature from falling over the edge—but too late. With a sickening little thud it fell upon the cement flooring and lay still. Placing the lifeless figure upon a marble slab, he looked at it sadly, turned out the light, and retired. About six o’clock the following morning Preston was awakened by the crash of a breaking bottle in his laboratory. He hastened to the door and jerked it open with an excited hand. 11 is bare foot came in contact with a cold, clammy object which in appearance and size was very similar to the little manikin of twelve hours ago. He shud- dered as a second putty-like object struck him on the head, slid off, and lay helplessly still. The now terrified chemist reached for a revolver which he always kept ready, and with a hand ren- dered unsteady by rage, shot, one after the other, three more little figures that were scampering about upon the crowded shelves. To Preston’s horror, from each wound in the lifeless creatures a pair of little heads protruded, followed quickly by little spherical bodies and stringy arms, exactly like those of their predeces- sors. Then, for the first time, the chemist realized that he was powerless to exterminate this fiendish little tribe. He stepped cautiously among the dead bodies with their hateful offspring, and carefully examined the body of the first manikin. There, on its side, appeared a cavity which the chemist had not noticed at the time of its death. This ex- plained all. During the night the offspring of the first mani- kin had in some way been mortally wounded, and as Preston discovered, had multiplied pair upon pair. When, therefore, Preston had entered the laboratory in the morning, two creatures clamber- ing upon the door had been knocked down, and from their torn bodies four more creatures had emerged. Then, too, his active shooting had only made matters worse. In utter desperation the wretched chemist slammed the door and fled to.his bedroom. Thirty-six hours later Preston was awakened by cold water licking in little wavelets upon his back. Looking about the room, he found himself surrounded by a sea of floating furniture, books, and ornaments. Weak from lack of food (he had eaten practically nothing fqr forty-eight hours) he waded to the laboratory door and started to open it. He had barely turned the knob when the door burst open, allowing a torrent of water to pass through, that nearly carried his feet out from under him, and. what was more, Preston, to his great delight, counted twenty-two dead-manikin bodies in the flood. The manikins had accomplished their own de- struction. In the course of their many pranks these little creatures had turned on an emergency fire spigot. Their death by drowning produced no fruitful wounds. Albert Preston waded to the fountain of water issuing from the spout, and stopped further flood. And, as he walked from place to place opening doors and windows to drain off the water, he often repeated, half in reproach, more in a tone of grati- tude, I hank God, it served me right! s a I hereafter Albert Preston's researches took other directions. -----------•• ----------------- Mis “ H i Sister ” [Continued from page 5.] close to the bank, where, under the protecting shadow of the overhanging trees, it came to a gentle stop. A moment of utter stillness, then----- Did you, came softly in a masculine voice, now answer me truly. Did you drop that pen- nant purposely?” I lie other occupant of the canoe was silent for a long moment. Did you? persisted the masculine voice, re- lentlessly. She tried to appear indignant. Certainly not!” she answered with feigned haughtiness, but her voice, ringing guiltily, belied her. Put anyway. she continued, after a short interlude during which she was given no chance to speak in her defence, I knew who you were the first time I looked at you in the car. Jim had a picture of you at home, you know. Pitt.”—and he spoke reminiscently, thinking, doubtless, of that football game, it was very neg- ligent in Jim not to have had a photograph of lus ‘kid sister’ at college, don't you think so? He almost—” Patten checked himself sharply. Pm never mind that. We have much more profitable ways of spending our time than in such idle prattle, haven’t we, old scout?” He was address- ing the moon, quizzically, fraternally. That jovial, round-faced, old watchman of the night simply chuckled, winked, and nodded his appreciative assent.