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

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-2--? GREEN AND GOLD -- which came was a real surprise box, for it contained a small box of glace fruit, some sewing materials, with clippings from several papers as well as some poems exalting King George and denouncing the Kaiser. And right in the middle of the box was the biggest surprise of all. It was a large picture of a tall woman seated in a painted garden, a fluffy parasol in her hand, and wearing a large white hat, Into the area of the woman's hat melted the lightly shaded hair, and into the hair, the outlines of the face blended. lt wasn't a very clear picture, Dennis thought, but it was worth having. He showed it to his comrades, telling them it was his fiancee, the Lady of Sandletonf' although where Dennis got the name, nobody has ever found out. But he kept the Lady of Sandleton wrapped up in one of his many British flags, where she was quite well preserved for a time. Soon, however, the troops received a call to the front, and they ser. ont. none too merrily, Dennis in their midst. With Dennis went the Lady of Sandleton. Dennis' first taste of liic in the trenches was not what he had imagined it would be. It was far worse. It was hard enough living when the autumn sun softened the terrors of warfare by making outdoor living comfortableg but when winter rains poured in on the miserable men, with their piercing torrents, which filled the trenches for several inches with muddy water-then, life was intolerable! More so was it to Lady Sandletonl' wrapped up as she was in the small British flag. With the coming of the rains the whole complexion of the picture was changed from a warm sepia to a vivid streaked red. But Dennis still kept the likeness and he still admired it, and when- ever he looked at the poor, disiigured Lady he would think of his poor master, and his wasted love. But always he consoled himself with the thought- It serves him right. Dennis never got one glimpse of the enemy that almost killed him. For days he worked in the batteries, firing and receiving or answering charges. He had almost become used to seeing some of his comrades fall to the ground whenever a shell exploded. Then the valet fell victim to the German guns, and was very severely wounded by some flying bits of steel, to the presence of which he had grown almost hardened. He did not re- member the trip back from the firing lines in a big white motor ambulance nor his being sent back to England to one of the hospitals for more seriously wounded soldiers. When finally he realized that he was back in the mother country, he was iniinitely glad, and hoped that he might be crippled for life, that he would not have to go back again and fight, The hospital he was in was one of a number of military institutions conducted by charitable societies which were established since' the beginning of the war. Lady Sandleton was with him, and he treasured the picture dearly as a memento of the trenches, and he never let it out of his possession. It was not long before Lester Sidney had word that his nephew was in a hospital in England. Then Dennis received letters every day from thc old gentleman, and in many of them were enclosed two-pound notes, to buy him some little luxury he would not athrwise have had. But Dennis -Page 21-

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-ii-1-1 GREEN AND GOLD- ---- that he would have to go to war? Soon, as one of the King's Army he would be sent to France to be basely murdered by the dreadful Germans, and just for his one desire to do something noble for the world. And his omnipotent idea still possessed him. Iiis fate was leading him on and his fame would he gained not in the arts or sciences or wages of peace but on the field of battle, possibly by achieving some noble deed or by alleviating the suffering of his fellow creatures. Who knew? That thought was some in- spiration, yet it did not dispel the trance-like state of mind he was in, when he left England's shores and found a new home in the fields of France. And down in London town, Sidney Carlton heard that Dennis' regiment had gone to the front, his servant with it, and Carlton believed that he had sent a good man to his death. For days he sorroxved in silence, scarcely eating, and spending many night hours without sleep. At last in despair, he sought the inevitable end, and as men did long before his time, and have done since, he drowned his sorrows, and tried to forget the past. Even Lester Sidney, himself, was somewhat perturbed when the war broke out. While he secretly regretted having forced his nephew to join the army, he never betrayed this feeling to anyone. He at least rejoiced in the fact that his family would be represented in the trenches and have an opportunity to show their English courage. Before Sidney had fully recovered from the effects of the many whiskics and sodas he had downed, he made up his mind that the only thing he could honorably do was to join the army. So he was rather surprised, one morn ing, on awakening, to find himself in an army volunteer camp, enlisted not under his own name, but under that of his valet. He did not dare disclose his identity to anyone, but departed from England's shores aboard an old transport, just as Dennis had done a few weeks before. Even the servant was unaware of his master's latest move. Life in France was somewhat diiierent from what Dennis had imagined. His regiment was not sent to the front until several weeks after they had been assigned to positions quite beyond the range of battle. In these camps, where they awaited the call to tight, the soldiers saw wounded men pass by continually, in the steady stream of army ambulances, slowly rolling to shelter from fire. Dennis could picture himself as he would return from the front in but a few weeks, an occupant of one of those vehicles of mercy. Lester Sidney wrote often to his nephew in France. His letters were eloquent tributes to bravery of all ages, and exhortations to the nephew to fight for every drop of blood that was in him, whenever called upon to do so. These epistles-for they deserved that lofty title-were really a great de- light to Dennis, who welcomed their coming as a breath from England, and the idea that he still had someone there, however false that one may have been. What a life he would have led, had he enlisted under his own name, for then nobody would care just what happened to him,'and he would be quite alone. The uncle, too, was very considerate of his soldier nephcw's comfort, and often sent him large boxes meant to help and cheer the boy. These boxes always contained liniments, bandages, playing cards, and on thc top of every one was a small English flag. Often they held more. One -Page 20-

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-iii GREEN AND GOLD il-.l did not spend them. He let them accumulate and stored them away with the picture, and whenever he would remove the soiled old flag from his pos- sessions to look at them, he would grin and say quite significantly- It serves him right! One day he received a long, sobhy letter from the lady in the picture. She wasn't the Lady of Sandleton at all, but the daughter of the Earl of Saintsbury. At least it was some satisfaction to know that she was somebody after all. But the letter contained some very startling news for Dennis. Since you have shown. your wonderful bravery, the lady wrote, you have grown immensely in father's opinion. At last he has consented to have our marriage ceremony performed, and as soon as possible. We will he in London in about a week, and then may the long planned affair take place. You have been so anxious about it, I know you will accept this news joyfully. One week-seven days. Dennis could not believe it. What would become of him when they found out that he was not Sidney Carlton at all? Then one day passed,-it was only six more now. Then five. After that, another letter came. Father had arranged for it all. Saintsbury, wife, daughter and Uncle Lester-all would be at the hospital the following Wednesday, and with them a minister- Dennis laid the letter down. He had played the game well, so far, but how much longer could he do it? Old Lester Sidney wouldn't know his real nephew from Adam, by sight, but certainly the lady would. What would she say? Well, he would get ready for them and prepare for the worst. Suppressed excitement was visible among the attendants when they heard that a wedding was to take place in the first ward on the Wednesday following, and they made quite a hero out of poor, blushing Dennis. But the thrill got even him, for his little pile of two-pound notes went to buy him a new suit of clothes to be worn on his wedding day. On Sunday, Dennis was permitted to sit up, with the promise that he could be up on Wednesday. On Monday he had a slight relapse, but soon recovered. On Tuesday, another train-load of wounded soldiers from the front were brought to the hospitals, and some of them were brought to the one where Dennis was, and some were even placed in the same ward that he was in. He did not relish this sight, once so familiar to his eyes, but he was too wrapped up in wedding preparations to be much annoyed. After Tuesday came Wednesday. Dennis, all spruced up, sat in a large cushioned chair by a front window, waiting for the awful moment which would bring him his bride. And then he thought of Carlton. Whnt would ne think of it all? But then, as Dennis argued, it serves him right. A handsome motor drove up in front of the hospital, and the occupants alighted. There were two men, a matronly woman in gray, and a young woman in pink. She was to be the bride. They disappeared through the --Page 22- 1 4