Steele High School - Annual Yearbook (Dayton, OH)

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Page Sixteen STEELE MAGNET I don't know, returned Mr. Billings, but it 's too much. I could believe that statement with a whole lot less eiort if it was divided by three. Isn't it nea.rly dinner time? What are you going to have? Well, since this is Saturday, and you didn't have to work in the oflice to-day, I thought I 'd just fix something light-sandwiches, or- Mr. Billings' temper had been fraying more and more as the sunlight grew warmer and the ground became stonier. This dictum from his wife capped the climax and he fairly stuttered: S-s-sandwiches! Sandwiches! Do you think I 'm a canary? Here I 've worked and swea.ted until the ground is fairly wet and then you say that we 'll have sandwiches for lunch! I could eat all the sandwiches in Christendom right now. Ugh! He stopped from lack of breath. Mrs. Billings' temper was rather sharp that morning and she an- swered with heat: Well, if you feel that way about it, I won't have them. You might have enough consideration for me not to expect me to slave in the kitchen all the time! And after I helped you all morning in the garden! But I should have expected that you 'd have more feeling for your stomach than for me! She dabbed at her eyes with a diminutive handkerchief. After you helped all-, Mr. Billings paused, amazement pre- vented further speech. What are you mumbling about? came the sharp query, followed by a relapse into tears. Oh, nothing. Go on and have sandwiches or humming birds' tongues or any other apology for real food, but stop crying, the ground is damp enough. Of course, if you 're going to act that way about it, I 'll go inside. I don't see what 's the matter with you to-day, George Billings ! and she iiounced into the house. The minutes passed. Mr. Billings finished his spading and started to plant the seeds. No sound came from the house. A doubt crept into Billings' mind. Had he been too hasty? He had been sorely tried, but he might have controlled his temper. Anyhow, when the rest of those blamed seeds were planted, he 'd go in and make up with her, and when the last lettuce seed had been deposited in the ground, he did as he had decided. Peace once more reigned in the Billings' household--but a day was yet to come. . Two weeks later that day cameg just when the radi hes and tomatoes and all the other delectable things were getting a good start. Every afternoon and evening Billings turned the hose on the garden plot and already it gave promise of luscious delicacies to follow. In the cellar the water meter clicked and whirred. Billings forgot how his wife had driven him to plant the garden, and showed it to hi friends with pride. That momentous afternoon Billings lay peacefully on a settee and slept. Mrs. Billings was down the street visiting a friend and hearing the latest gossip. The trash man had left Billings' alley gate open and here entered nemesis in the shape of two frisky, young pups.

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STEELE MAGNET Page Fifteen It is also dtting that we look forward to the coming year. We hope to profit by the experience and mistakes of the past and shall try to make the next year better, more enjoyable, and richer in educational, social, and cultural opportunities than the past year has been. The new gymna- sium and swimming pool will promote athletic and physical development. It is the earnest desire that students will continue to give their sup- port in maintaining a high standard for Steele. The school is for the benefit of the student, and every one should be full of school spirit, and lend his interest and enthusiasm to make the coming year the very best in the history of Steele High School. - Bl W U2 MR. BILLINGS' GARDEN JAMES E. RICHARDS, JR. R. BILLINGS lived in the suburbs. His wife had been reading wonderful stories in the magazines about the amount of garden truck that could be raised in a backyard. Because of these two facts, Mr. Billings took his hoe and spade in hand, one bright April morning, and, at the insistence of his other half, began the task of trans- forming the backyard into a garden. Mrs. Billings sat on the porch and read aloud a series of articles in the Ladies' Home Companion on The Garden : What and How to Plant. Their excellence will be comprehended when it is known that the uexpertv who wrote them lived in the heart of a city and had gained his informa- tion and ideas from the labels on ca.nned goods. As Mr. Billings wielded his spade and at intervals discarded his coat, vest, and collar, his wife sat comfortably on the porch and carried on a conversation in which Mr. Billings could not or would not join. Finally, his failure to reply became impressed on her consciousness and she too relapsed into silence. Coatless and vestless, Mr. Billings sank his spade into the ground 'With greater or less regularity and turned over the soil to an accompani- ment of grunts of such tenor that a passer-by, not seeing Mr. Billings, might have imagined that the yard was inhabited by a litter of pigs. Little beads of perspiration stood out on Billings' forehead, and fre- quently he straightened his aching back, swabbed the sweat from his forehead, and looked longingly at the cool porch where Mrs. Billings was seated. . . Oh, George, just listen to this P' cried Mrs. Billings in rapture, and read from one of the seed packages: 'Frank Milton, of Kingstown, Ohio, writes that he purchased one package of our Acme Perfection Radish Seed, which he planted, and from the resulting crop he made 515.513 Isn't that fine? Let 's see, a package of seed costs fifteen centsg how many per cent. profit is that?

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STEELE MAGNET Page Seventeen One was white with black spots, the other was brown. Both were full of the gladsome May-time spirit. The brown dog poked an inquiring nose through the gateway and sniffed. All was quiet and inviting. He entered and his white companion followed. No human being was in evidence except that still figure on the settee which emitted unearthly Sounds at intervals. Nothing was to be feared from him. The dogs made a circuit of the garden. The fresh, young lettuce tempted them and they sampled it. You may say that dogs do not eat lettuce. I aiiirm tha.t they do, and that they also eat grass, especially in the spring season. Of course, even then they do not eat a great deal, but they do eat some. ' Now, I do not know whether there is anything peculiarly exhilarating to the canine being, in fresh, tender, May lettuce, but I do know that after partaking of it, these two pups became frisky and romped back and forth across the garden. Destruction lay in their wake. As they wheeled and raced about, the loose, damp soil was lifted, and along with it came the once so promising ga.rden truck. Back and forth and to and fro they frisked as only young pups can, now across the radishes, now plowing up the beets, and now devastating the onions. Suddenly the brown dog halted in his mad career, and neatly raked out a squash plant. The white one likewise stopped and in so doing unearthed a whole row of tomatoes. They both crouched tense, leaped toward each other, and frisked away again in a wild chase. They circled, dodged, leaped, and slid, and at every moment some plant left its earthy abode and lay limp and be- draggled on the surface. In the meantime, Mrs. Billings finished her call and started home. On her way she intercepted the mail-carrier, who gave her a letter. In one corner it bore the name Department of Water. Oh, the water bill, she mentally remarked. I wonder how much it is. She ripped open the envelope and glanced at its contents. She gasped, stared blankly at the enclosed paper for a. moment, a.nd hurried on with angry mien. In the garden the white dog had taken offense at the other and a iight ensued which ultimately became so noisy that Mr. Billings was awakened. It was a. moment or two before he realized what had happened and was happening to his cherished garden. With a shout he leaped from the porch a.nd made for the two canine vandals. They noted his approach and abandoned their personal differences in flight. The dogs went through the gate together, with Billings only two steps behind. At a. scream from behind, Billings stopped short. Framed in the doorway stood his wife with horror-stricken face. A piece of paper was crumpled in her hand. Billings abandoned pursuit of the despoilers and walked with rueful face to the house. What 's the matter? No bad news, is there? he inquired. The water bin! and she handed it to him with a dramatic iiourish.