St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

Page 24 text:

311151 Gnaaip CA Storyettel By JOSEPH MCINERNEY NK xu EH! ONLY wish you could have seen Mrs. Jones -f v -f Q as she sat at breakfast table the morning af- Q5 ter the pitched battle next door. john was V M hardly out of the house before that anxious V v soul was Hitting about her housework, paus- EK C , : ing at intervals of two minutes to run to the window and peer intently at the silent, almost forbidding, door of the residence of Mrs. Smith, her nearest neighbor. Across the stillness of the night there had been borne to Mrs. Jones the sounds of marital conflict. These sounds had emanated from the house next door, and to add to Mrs. Jones's curiosity, they resembled noises of the week previous coming from the same source. I For the rest of the night Mrs. Jones had given herself up to the pleasant task of deducing inntunerable happenings and conjuring gruesome tales. Her major premise was, without deviation, the fact that the people next door were newly marriedg her minor premise,-that their mother-in-law was paying them a visit. What a fertile Held of speculative thought for a woman! Mrs. jones made the most of it. As she lay there half awake, conclusion after conclusion followed in the wake of the previously mentioned premises with the lightning rapidity only a woman's mind is capable of. The dawn brought a compromise in the nature of an a posteriori method. She would see! she would experience! and then Mrs. Brown, seven doors down the street, would listen in awe. The hour passed and no sign of life appeared next door. After mature deliberation and with some misgiving at the sacrifice, Mrs. jones sauntered forth with a jar of her most

Page 23 text:

U? in in ed. ind iish tion 96 cent the 1 rc- ipiric iools nam rican e in- t the r the liilip- ectual i un- lmei- is are ti Elllll 1 Fili- Q bill, ie im' dmiml tompf' enatof gigated stayfd polity TO A NEW BORN BABE 21 Americans would receive the everlasting gratitude of the Filipino people who are greatly misunderstood in this country, should they help to clear up the misunderstandings which do the Islands a great harm. ' 'Gln at Nun 'Burn Babe By VINCENT W. HALLINAN Ah! with what infinite surprise Through fresh discoveries you fare! Sweet little babe, whose wondering eyes Question a new world's answering stare. VVhy do you frown at its soft caress? Only its tenderness you know- Or can your infant reason guess The cruel visage it can show? All too soon must you feel the care, The storms of sorrows the world will shower VVhose dreaded realms at last you'1l dare Forgetful of childhood's laughing hour. But we that are far on the weary road, Knowing its pitiless, sordid way Perchance can lighten the crushing load Lest drag too heavy Life's sober day. And you, little one, let your lightsome way Light the path to our distant goal, That we shape our own unhallowed day On the innocence of a baby's soul.

Page 25 text:

mes af- was ious aus- l to ling, lf. e to unds il to .week i up and liout iewly lla! man F half re of midity fht a She 'OWIL door. i the most JUST GOSSIP 23 prized jelly and tapped lightly on Mrs. Smith's doors. The knock was answered, rather tardily, by Mrs. Smith herself. Glancing sharply at her dishevelled hair and eyes that showed traces of recent weeping, Mrs. Jones murmered sweetly, Good morning, dear. How well you look. With a further glance in the hope of finding signs of more strenuous chas- tisement, Mrs. jones continued, I brought some of my latest preserves, dear. I am sure Mr. Smith would like them? The last remark had the desired effect, for at the mention of her better half's name an ominous scowl passed over Mrs. Smith's tear-stained countenance. This was not lost on Mrs. Jones who stored it away for future elaboration. How kind of you to think of me, and so early in the morning. Won't you come in P said Mrs. Smith in a half-hearted, formal manner. Mrs. jones was not the least disturbed at the cold- ness of her reception. She, on the contrary, was determined not to be deprived of the pleasure of that most delightful of all woman's occupations, getting news. With curiosity at fever height she entered the parlor. VV hat followed will ever live in her memory. It took the experienced Mrs. Jones two hours to conclude her cross examination. At the end of that time she had learned-nothing. Mrs. Smith had parried with ready wit the deft strokes of her wily neighbor. De- spairing at last of drawing out Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Jones art- fully inquired about mother-in-law. Again she was balked. Mother-in-law was indisposed and sent her regrets. This and the evident signs of weeping were all that Mrs. Jones carried away with her. To say she was disappointed is putting it lightly. Balked of her coup d'etat just as she was gloating over her triumph and picturing her recital to the wide-eyed Mrs. Brown down the block, was gall and wormwood to her. FK Pk PIC all Pk 214 elf if The purpose of this narrative is to tell what really hap- pened on those two nights at Mrs. Smith's house. Not to