Saint Marks School - Lion Yearbook (Southborough, MA)

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ings became more and more clandestine and infrequent. Christopher and fluttcry Sandy Jack- son had fallen by the Wayside, but our number was enhanced by nine char- acters Who abode in Dorm E and re- mained Well behaved for a very brief period. They included Stevie, Bruce, Secant, Pat, Albie, and Bill the Phin. Then there was Silent Ken, Equot a Beak Cas yet unchristenedl, and a gang- ling redhead travelling under the name of Dick Clark, who brought a carton of chcroots with him just to get off to the right start. Equot immediately spread a series of insidious rumors about his roommate, and Albie commenced his school career by yelling Woof Woof out of his window at Yak,who was playing tennis right underneath just to see what would happenf' Woofie came panting right up to Dorm E, and A.B., aghast at his sin, bellowed excuses in the style that later became characteristic. The dreams of military glory in the S.M.T.C. that we had nurtured for three years were shattered as soon as we be- came members of the Southboro Army. Cflarkie paraded for a while in unpolished sneakers, but finding that this only netted him marks, decided not to appear at all and refused to attend maneuvers for the rest of the year. Junior Goad, struggling under a huge rifle, was admonished by his ofhcers to stand up straight until it became evident that Benjie just couldn't stand up any straighter. In fact, the only conscientious member of the military was Gordon, who already pic- tured himself in the role of colonel. After a disappointing loss to Groton and the interminable weeks of soccer and boredom, We departed to enjoy the Yule season and discover the questionable joys of Larut. That winter was memorable for the pilgrimage which Bud and Stevie made to Marlboro during the sixth form dance, and for Clarkie's nicotine habits, which reached nearly a pack a day. No sense of responsibility yet lay heavy upon us and the roughhousing became intolerable to prefects and masters alike. Someone thought it would be exciting to hang people out of Windows by their feet, until the sport was curtailed one day by the sixth form just as Brockie,s toes were dis- appearing over the window sill. It looks bad from the quadranglef' they said, by Way of explanation. Jonesie, who was rumored to be of voting age, forsook us for the Merchant Marine, and Willie Beehan took one last dentist trip', to

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be, and anyone who doesnit like it can leave, quoth Pott. Everybody promptly left. CThc situation was smoothed over sufficiently to allow the organization to totter to a shaky death at the end of the year.D One of this wartime faculty, persecuted by his sixth form corridor, broke down and wept copiously in SC Latin class one morning. His students, bored by this lachrymosc performance, gathered up their Latin cribs and walked out. The Blue Beetle, since departed, de- cided to house-train his large dog in the biology lab, which frequently distracted us from the mating habits of the aeri- didae melanoplus: Those of us who know the little fellow well,e,' Gus Serino had informed us at the bc- ginning of the year that his course was to be mainly history, though l'm your English teacher too, so when I say read a book, ya gotta read it goodf, The end of the winter term brought with it a Bay State cold snap, and Dorm C slumbered in the shower room, until Doug, normally an extremely well-be- havcd lad, yielded to some hidden inhibi- tion and flooded the place. Miss Wheeler became hysterical as Water slowly seeped through the dining room ceiling. Spring brought a fitting climax to the year as the squad knocked off Groton's highly touted ball team, and the form joyfully pulled the wagon in the only victory celebration we were destined to see. That summer was one of glorious loafingethe last for most of us --- al- though Elsie and Hunk, the big boys, went to Brantwood, and Brockie picked up a laboring man's point of View and a good deal of easy cash in a shipyard. VVe returned to face our fourth form year with new bass voices and conscious maturity. There was a good deal of rump- us, confusion, and spirited bull sessions the first weeks, centering around North 3. Recreation in New Dorm took a highly unattractive turn, to the horror of a queer studious individual in the sixth form who found himself in the thick of it. Every authority in school looked on us as a noisome group and, as the vise of discipline tightened, the nocturnal meet-

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New York and didn't show up again for two years. Springtime saw numerous recruits for a summer at Brantwood, and a thirteen- inning defeat at the hands of Groton, a procedure that was beginning to become boring. Ribald songs echoing from North 3 were heard by a sixth former, enjoying the spring evening on the far side of Belmont Field for some unexplained reason, and once again discipline closed in on us. Soon it was Prize Day and we left in a flurry of suitcases and laundry bags for a summer of Brantwood, blissful loaiing, or eight weeks at St. Mark's for the aged members of the form. September, 1944, found us all present and accounted for in New Corridor, North Q, and overflowing down West. The group was augmented by Hands', Brainerd, a blond lad from the Corn Belt, and Nat from Hawaii, who, al- though right-handed, was promptly lab- eled I,efty.,' Christopher, the flying tackle, was with us once more, and we became a form outstanding in number, if not in naughtiness. However, the Butt Squad began to shape up suspiciously as George, Scotty, Clarkie of course, and some thought, Cyno. CEd. note: how absurdfj. Stevie refrained from naive excursions to the woods and partook quietly in his own room. We were never much of a group for wine, women, and nicotine though, and it wasn't long before three members of the squad repented their ways, to the tune of two proba- tions and one permanent retirement. The retired member was last heard from when he requested Mr. Brewster for a recom- mendation to Yale in 1946. As far as we know he failed to obtain it. The Form was the mainstay of all the teams, although we lost the football encounter with Groton again. History class became diverting to the point of bcdlam, and never really did quiet down, despite entreaties from numerous faculty members. Pete the Snerd would bang upon the radiator in Room H violently and then the entire class would troop down to find Mr. Deer to fix it,'y reeessing class for the day. On Sundays the Form found they could concentrate on evangelical matters while playing checkers and reading at the same time, and the bass section came through on the chants so strongly that the tunes were later changed to ones that nobody could follow. Other members of l