Sonora Union High School - Green and Gold Yearbook (Sonora, CA)

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-l-l GREEN AND GOLD -l--- His Reward by FRANK BAKER '15 W0 HUNDRED AND fifty dollars I Slowly Rod Terry kept repeating ' these words, as he wended his way along the dusty road, that led to his cabin. The look that dwelt upon his face, was one that would have moved the strongest man to pity. It was not the depressed look of a man who had tried and lost, but one of utter despair. Slowly he reached into the pocket of his mud-stained overalls, and drew forth a letter, and unfolding it, he read it as he walked along. M r. Rod Terry, Spring Gulch, Calif. Dear Sir: I am sending you this note to inform you, that your mother is in fast failing health, and only a change of climate.will benefit her. I think that S250 will cover the expense, and eagerly await the money, which I am sure you will send. Yours in haste, Dr. B. F. Stone, Battle Creek, Michigan. Again he folded the note and placed it in the pocket of his soil-stained overalls. A look of keen determination lit his face, as he reached into his hip pocket, and produced a. 44 Colt. Slowly he opened the stock, and satisfied himself that each one of its chambers was occupied by a shell. Suddenly the still air was broken by the sound of an oncoming vehicle. Silently Rod Terry slipped behind a huge rock, that stood beside the road. I-Ie jerked a red handana handkerchief lrom his pocket, and hastily tied it around his mouth and nose. Glancing around the rock which concealed him, he perceived, as he had expected, the stage coach, which contained the dust from all of the mining camps north of Spring Gulch. It was his plan to hold up the stage, and thus gain the money which was needed to save his mother's life. In about two minutes thc coach would bc upon him, when suddenly over Rod's mind, came a vision of his boyhood. He saw himself kneeling at his mother's knee, she affectionately stroking his head. Remember Rod, she especially the one, Rod, which says, 'Thou shalt not kill.' was saying, always obey the Ten Commandments of our dear Lord, and As the stage came upon him, Rod Terry made no effort to catch the leading horses by the reins, and to thrust his revolver into the face of the driver, but he slowly placed the revolver into his pocket, and after the stage -Page 16- V

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-li-- GREEN AND GOLD il... The Fire Spirit MARY EZRCH '18 ONG YEARS AGO, when the world was young, there dwelt alone in 11 hut high upon the mountain side, overlooking the sea, a little, old man, palsied and weazened faced, who seldom ventured into the civilized world. So meek and unobtrusive was he, that he would have passed unnoticed if it were not for his hair, red it was, now a dull red, now a tawny red, and when the son shone full upon it, a glowing crimson red that caught and held the sunbeams. It was shaggy and unkempt and hung down upon his shoulders in matted profusion, and contrasted strangely with his wrinkled face and feeble gait. His infrequent visits to the human world were largely due in a. measure to the gibes, derision, and laughter that greeted him as he walked along the village streets. Look at the lion! says one. See him shake his tawny mane, says another. Lion! says another, he couldn't even kill a mouse. Only a few spoke kindly to him, and to these he turned with an appealing smile. At last visits ceased. High up the mountain's side on his lonely cot he lay, and with his last breath prayed to Jupiter, Oh high and mighty God, endow my spirit with strength that I may comfort my friends and overcame my enemies. Jupiter heard his prayer, and it is his spirit that is seen in the flickering, dancing flames of the fireplace, making it a comfort for his friends, and his revengeful spirit that wipes out cities and forests, sending up a defiant roar like the voice of the lion, king of beasts, with whom they tauntingly compared him in life. A fe -we isftNi,'.s':i X i .X . .X X si , r - -Page 15-

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-1- --- GREEN AND GOLD ll-- coach was out of sight, he once more started to his cabin, whispering to himself, Two hundred and fifty dollars! At daybreak the next morning, Rod Terry could be seen busily working at his claim. The prospects for a clean up looked very promising, and this morning Rod Terry was not working for himself, but was working to save the life of his mother, the only friend he had in the world. All that day until the shadows of night made work impossible, did Rod Terry labor, but the amount of his hard day's labor, he thought would average about three dollars. What was three dollars compared to two hundred and fifty dollars? But still the prospects for a big strike looked exceedingly promising. That night Rod Terry did not spend the evening at the Red Devil , the only saloon and gambling joint at Spring Gulch, but after a hasty supper, he went to bed, to ponder over the happiness that was sure to come to his mother, when he made the raise to send her the money for her trip. Three days later about two o'clock, Rod rushed into the 'Red Devil , his hair flying, his hat in his hand, and a look of wild excitement spreading over his countenance. I've got her boys, he lustily yelled, and she's going to go forty thousand, if she goes a cent! Quickly the other miners gathered about him, each eager to grasp his hand, and congratulate him upon his luck. About a week later, a tanned and burned young man dressed in a khaki suit, hastily climbed into the stage coach, to help bring home the two hundred and fifty dollars, and also to accompany his mother upon her trip to the South, to see that her every wish was satisfied. 4' -N SLN. ' , 3 . Y Q fi Q. f, ,jj5, ' ' w x I 'i ffigaifgpll f kg bvi. 1-Page 1'7-