South Pasadena High School - Copa de Oro Yearbook (South Pasadena, CA)

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SOPHOMORES

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IN COVENTRY AND OUT BARRETT KIESLING, ’13 “Say, fellows, I move we send Leslie Carter to Coventry. A boy that has no more sand and grit than he has should be ostracized for life.” “You bet. A fellow that wlil stand by and let his chum drown ought to be hooted out of school.” These indignant statements arose from a group of boys on the cam- pus at Horrowell “prep” school one beautiful afternoon in spring. It was the outcome of one of those regrettable incidents that mar school life for many boys. Leslie Carter, the best swimmer in school, had lost his nerve at a critical moment while swimming with his chum who, being struck with cramps, was unable to hold himself above the water. Leslie, for some unaccountable physical reason, was unable to make a move to help his school friend. His schoolmates, quick to judge right and wrong, took the stand that he had a “yellow streak” and they unanimously sen- tenced him to “Coventry.” Coventry is the name given by school boys to the practice of absolute ostracism of any boy committing an unfair or dishonorable act. It is the worst possible thing that could happen to a boy, for, while under the sentence of “Coventry,” he is shunned by his fellows like a pariah. A boy walked rapidly down the path from the Academy, carrying several books under his arm. A small school cap was perched upon his mop of curly brown hair. A well-developed figure and a strong face formed an exceedingly pleasing combination. His face, however, was clouded and, as he met the group, he bent his eyes to the ground and passed without a word. Immediately after his passing, the group fell into a buzz of recrimi- nation and indignant talk. The ringing of the bell for recitations, how- ever, drove all other thoughts from their minds for the time being. Leslie Carter, pursuing a moody and lonely way to his room, felt blue and down in the mouth. Unavoidably meeting with some of his former closest friends, he received stony looks and averted faces in reply to a friendly “Good morning.” Such things are not especially favorable for a light and happy frame of mind and we cannot blame him for feeling extremely unhappy. Reaching his room, he ran into his roommate coming out with a load of clothes, books and small pieces of furniture. “Why, Harry,” he cried, “surely you aren’t thinking of moving? Surely you don’t think I would have let him drown if I had been able in any way to save him? Have I ever been a coward on the football field or the track? Did you ever know me to flinch in athletics? T can’t explain how: adh “That’s enough; that is all I want to know,” coldly replied his former friend and confidant. “Your lack of an explanation for your conduct has branded you as a despicable coward. Tonight you will be in ‘Covent ry’, which will not lift until you leave school. Kindly let me pass.”

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This last rebuff was too much for the boy’s overburdened feelings and tears rushed to his eyes. Brushing them away, he clenched his teeth and said, “Going to ostracize me from school, are they? This is where they get badly fooled. I’m going to stick this thing out if it takes all the century,” and with this defiant resolve he dashed for his next recita- tion. Things went on in the same manner for several weeks. Leslie Car- ter was still in Coventry. All groups and conversations broke up upon his approach; in the athletic room he was always left the sole possessor of a bench, and in the eating hall his table was always vacated upon his approach. Even with his attitude of defiance he found this relentless ostracism a tremendous strain upon his will-power. He at last took his meals after the rest of the school had finished and substituted long walks for the regular athletic work to which he had been accustomed. He was sorely missing that one thing that makes school life enjoyable, that spirit of comraderie which accepts a boy for what he is, not for what society and money have done for him, and he was rapidly budding into a morose, sullen, defiant man when an incident occurred which changed the whole course of feeling towards him. One night just on the eve of the Easter vacation, when the whole dormitory was quietly sleeping, out rang the alarm of fire. Leslie awoke with a start. Sticking his head out of the window, he saw the flames shooting out of the top of the dormitory. Suddenly it flashed into his mind, “The Pelton twins are up there, locked in their room for disobeying the master.” Slipping on his clothes and a pair of slippers, he ran up the stairs, three steps at a time. Soon, however, he was forced to halt on account of the flames and the choking smoke. Shielding his face with his arm, he rushed up to the door of the room in which the boys were, and, with superhuman strength, born of necessity, he crashed through the door with one blow of his shoulder and, snatching one of the already stifled boys in his arms and throwing the other over his shoulder, he staggered down the already burning stairs. As he crossed the threshold into the outside air, a cheer greetd him and, falling in a faint, he was caught by a hundred boys who rushed to him. In a few moments he opened his bloodshot eyes. His old chum, Harry, was supporting his head, while the other boys looked on solicit- ously. Suddenly a cheer broke out, “Rah, Rah, Rah! Carter, Carter! Rah, Rah, Carter! Rah, Rah, Rah!” Sinking back, he smiled a happy smile and said, “Thank God, I’m out of ‘Coventry’ ”’, and again fell into a dead faint. A REMINISCENCE MAUD HERRING, ’13 From the first moment I arrived in Rome it seemed to me as if I were in a dream, and from various comments it evidently showed plainly in my face.