Strong High School - Mussul Unsquit Yearbook (Strong, ME)

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'I' I-I IC M USS Uncle jolm gave her the keys, just as he had given them to her sisters before. I expect you to take charge of every- thing, said he, the servants are miser- able - Servants are mere frauds nowadays! interrupted Ruth. Nothing goes right about the place. Nothing ever goes right. she ventured. Uncle jolm eyed her keenly. This niece's attitude was altogether different from that of the other three sisters. At breakfast the next morning L'ncle john began to scold as usual. Ifggs again, said he. This makes four times this week. I detest eggs. said Ruth. as she pushed aside her plate and rang the bell sharply. Nancy, the cook, a stout good-humored Irish woman made her appearance. Nancy. said Miss llridges. If you send up any more eggs for a month you 'll be discharged. do you hear? But, my dear. I am rather fond of eggs. put in the little old man. One can't eat eggs all the time, said Ruth. Here, Nancy, this coffee- isn't tit to drink! and the toast is burned! and you have forgotten the butter. Let these errors be corrected at once. Nancy departed hurriedly for the kitchen. My Dear. said Uncle jolm. Nancy is a very old servant and- I don't care if she is a hundred. sai-'I Ruth: she must do better in the future. Uncle jolm began to be frightened. He had kept Nancy, Alice and jacob for ten years. XYas it possible that he had scolded them for ten years, only to have this young girl outscold him now? They are mortal, pleaded Uncle john, Let them do their duty then. snapped Ruth. Uncle john atc the rest of his breakfast in silence. Alice, the house maid, was finishing dusting the library when he enter- ed it. Not through yet? growled Uncle john. the frown returning to his brow. 'A Alice, said Miss Bridges, if this hap- pens again I shall be forced to do without your services! Look at that clock! Does UL UNSQUIT I5 my Uncle pay you for lying in bed half the day? See that you 're finished before this to-morrow. Alice is really a good girl, began Uncle jolm, If- Dear uncle, pleaded Ruth, permit me to be judge of such matters. been too slack with everything. You have v. Old jacob. the gardener. was not exempt from his part of the turmoil. Ruth hap- pened to hear her uncle scolding the old man for the neglect of tiower beds, and she came to his aid. Do you call this gardening? she asked. Uncle jolm, I am astonished that you employ such a careless man. The showers of taunts and reproaches which she- tlung at the poor old man was enough as he observed. to make one's llesh creep, My niece is a young lady of spirit and energy, apologized Uncle jolm, when Ruth had gone back to the house. A lot like you, sir, a lot like yon! said jacob. scratching his head. Like me! said Uncle john. And he stood for nearly ten minutes, staring at the ground. At the end of the ten minutes he spoke two words, and only two: Like - me! There s no knowin' how the master changed, said Nancy in the kitchen. a week or two later. He 's as meek as a lamb and as peaceful as a kitten. Sure, it's just as the young lady told ns. said Alice, when she came down into the kitchen that first morning after the fire was lighted, and told us she was going to try an experiment. VVe wasn't to mind a word she said, 'cause it was just opposite from what she wanted us to do. Her plan has worked like a charm. It had, in truth. Uncle jolm was a differ- ent man. Ruth had relapsed into the original sunny side of her temper, and all the domestic works of the old house seemed to run as smooth as velvet. But Uncle john took all the credit. He never knew that Ruth had taugh him a lesson.

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I4 THE MUSSUL UNSQUIT Next morning her chum, Helen, called on her way to school. mediately began to in a natural voice. XK'hy, exclaimed Mary, He always screeches at me so, but you seem to have made friends with him. livery time you come in. he 'll talk nice to you. l've just tried to make him talk to me, but he only makes horrihle noises. You get angry with him, Mary, said llelen. 'l'hat's why. maybe. Have you your theme written yet? l have. l.et's swap to read them. To her surprise Mary began to cry. XYhy, Xlary, what's the matter? To her Mary told the whole story, hut without trying to excuse herself. lnstead she said. I woke up early this morning and lay thinking. There are lots of things to write up now, but l left my Latin for the tirst two periods. lf it wasn't for that l could wi'ite one then. l'nt so sorry, Mary, Helen tried to l'oll, the parrot, im- say Good morning soothe her. l 'ni su1'e you 'll never do it again. Come. dry your tears: it 's time for school. .Ns they left the house they could hear the parrot sputtering. ,Xt noon Rlary came rushing up to Helen. U Helen. she cried. you know we don't have lfnglish until afternoon so l left lily theme honle, on the table. .Xnd what do you think? That dear parrot that I talked so innch about this morning, got out of his cage and tore my theme all to pieces. l told Bliss Henderson and she said l could have until to-morrow. lsn't that line? Now I can write up an original one. l've a dandy all thought out. And l'll never do that again if I live forever. S. ll. ill., ':7. TEACHING A LESSON H lxNt NY l can get along with him. l'm very sure. said Ruth llridges. Nobody could get along with him! chorused the three Kliss llridges, in uni- son. lfncle john, the personage of whom they spoke. was a crabbed, ill-tempered. little old man, who lived in an old fash- ioned town in the Rockies. He had money to leave, hut his nieces believed it would he easier to go to Cali- fornia and dig a fortune. than to remain and earn one hy making themselves accept- able' to an old man who was just an old grouch. Helen lflridges had tried it First. She was a soft-voiced, slender girl. with a com- plexion as fair as a lilv. No one can help Mrs. Bridges, as she good-by. lint in three weeks frightened out of her wits. He scolds all the l couldn't stay there richest lady of the land. Martha llridges went next: but Martha, although a fine slender girl, with a will of her own. returned in less than a week. l 'd rather wash dishes in a boarding house, said she, than be L'ncle john's loving Helen. said kissed her daughter Helen returned half time, said Helen. if it made me the heiress. livelyn llridges, undiscouraged by her sisters' failures, departed for Hrownvillc-. lint she returned in three days. lt's scold. snarl, snarl. scold. from morning 'till night! said livelyn. Oh you can't imagine what a terrihle old grouch Uncle john is! llere Ruth, the' youngest, tallest and prettiest of the four girls spoke np: l 'll go. she said. You don't know what you 'rc up against. said Helen. He 'd wear out a stone in a day, said Martha. He's a terrihle grouchf' said Evelyn. l 'll try anyway, said Ruth hrightly. So she packed her trunk and went to lirownville. lt was dusk. when she walked up the walk to the house. Uncle john stood on the steps. So you are Ruth, said he. Yes, l aiu Ruth, said the girl. as she gave him a hearty kiss. You're late, said Uncle john. I am late. said Ruth. That terrihle old stage: l thought l'd never get here. It was just jog. jog, all the way. lt's a hot day, growled Uncle john. l'm nearly baked. sighed Ruth.

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16 THE MUSSUL UNSQUIT kYe can get along very nicely, said he, Now that Ruth has subdued her temper. So Ruth was his heiress and favorite after all, for he always will believe that it was he who formed her character. J. l'. '24, THE PRICELESS DOG OF THE NORTH litllwl' three o'clock one afternoon, in late November, Bruce Halloway, stopped to get a few minutes' rest, before he tackled the last four miles of his trap line. lt looked like snow, and he was un- decided whether to stop at all of his traps, or go straight home. He thought that per- haps he could stop at a few of them and shouldered his gun and pack. As he did this his powerful figure is plainly seen. liroad shouldered, well developed arms and legs, he is a wonderful specimen of the northern trappcr. Although his beard has a week's growth, the curve of his lips, and sparkle of his eyes, denotes a handsome face. Bruce was rather anxious to get home, as lietty, his pretty young wife, would be worried about him if he did not get home by five o'clock at least. He had been gone a week on the line, and lietty knew that be would be home that afternoon or evening if he had had no bad luck or drawbacks. llruce did not worry about his wife because he knew she would be safe with flip zhere to protect her. They had raised Qiip from '1 puppy. lfe was half liskimo dog and half wolf. Gip was very gentle and faithful to Betty and ltruce-. but to strangers who did' not look just right to him, he was as fierce as his father. They had been offered unheard of prices for liip, but would not part with him. He was the only dog they would allow in the house. The others of the dog-team stayed in the doghouse. lt has been espe- cially hard for Bruce this winter, as there had been no snow, and he could not use- the dog-team. liruce found two sable in his traps, and this delayed him somewhat. Then it started to snow, and he decided to visit one more trap. This was one that he had set for a bear. It was about half a mile from the home camp. lf he did not have Bruin this time, he would spring the trap, as it was so late in the season that it would be im- possible to catch him. The wind began to blow fiercely from the northeast. Bruce could hardly see objects a short distance away. He lost the trail but his uncanny woods instinct told him the general direc- tion. He knew he must be getting near home when all of a sudden he stumbled headlong. He stuck out his hands to save himself, but he did not stop when his hands touched the bottom of the snow. He heard the crackling of twigs and gave a cry of horror as he realized where he was going. Snap, went the trap. A sharp pain shot up his left arm. Bruce tried to turn over, but the weight of the trap and his heavy pack, together with the pain, would not allow him to move. He cried for help until he was hoarse, but nobody heard him in that vast wilderness. 'Meanwhile Betty had grown uneasy and had opened the door to look out, but the wind and snow blew with such fury that she had hard work to shut it again. At last she called tiip. He seemed to under- stand what was troubling her and giving a low whine started for the door. Gip put his front paws on the door and scratched vigorously. At last Betty opened the door, and with one bound he was lost from view. Down the trail he bounded. The snow was quiet deep now, there being nearly a foot. This did not seem to bother Gip much. Qn he went. and when he got almost opposite the place where Bruce had been caught in the trap, which was about ten rods from the trail, he stuck his head up high and sniffed. The wind was blowing straight from the direction of the trap. Gip had not lived three years and not know the scent of his master. He made a few bounds and was at the edge of the hole. Bruce's feet just stuck out of the hole. Gip took hold of Bruce's cowhides and pulled as hard as he could. It seemed at first that the tremen- dous weight of Bruce. his pack and the trap would be too much for the dog, but Gip would not give up. He knew that his master was suffering. At last Bruce felt himself going up. Gip had dug down so that his feet did not slip. W'hen he got out