Sumner High School - Spindrift Yearbook (East Sullivan, ME)

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THE HARBOR BEACON round his neck and the warm pulsatlng form cllngmg to hlm for protectlon Perhaps the man before hlm had left Just such a llttle one behlnd hlm He could not harden hls heart to k1ll one who llke hlmself had left his loved ones waltlng and watchmg for h1s return perhaps All these thoughts passed through hls mlnd ID the space of a second He lowered the murderous plstol and calmly walted for the other to shoot But instead of shootlng the other also lowered h1S weapon and the two stood lookmg at each other wlth a look that was far from that of a murderer The fine eyes of the German officer llghted up and the hardened look of battle Went out of them Then steppmg over a broken gun carnage he placed hlS hand ln the out stretched hand of the French ofhcer That hand clasp meant more than the glory of war more than the attamment of power In lt was the reconclhatxon of all men and the vlctory of peace My brother sald the German My brother replled the Frenchman The sun was nearmg the horlzon and the roar of guns was growmg less The two officers went mto the shade of some trees and threw themselves on the ground as the shrlll notes of a bugle came echolng up the valley glvmg the order to cease firlng Surprlse shone ln thelr faces but they spoke no word until the rolllng smoke had drlfted past and the dm was growlng famter and farther away wlth the recedlng notes of the bugle call Then the German turned to the French officer and asked ln a low volce Why dxd you not shoot when we met there at the guns? Ah my frlend lt was because I had torn myself from those I love It was the thoughts of them that kept me from lt I could not thmkmg that perhaps you had left those behlnd you who mlght be even at that lnstant lookmg forward to the return of a husband and father The eyes of the other grew moist as he answered You have not dlsappomted them thank Heaven Just at that pomt a messenger dashed up and shouted Peace was declared at Berlln at noon Europe IS at last reconclled B Ot- A CHANGE OF HEART Frances Hardmg had Just replaced the letter ln IIZS envelop when there was a rap on the door followed by the entrance of Marguerxte Brett A home letter? she asked wlth a glance at the envelop m Frances hand Yes from mother and such a surpnse and dlsappomtment The doctor has ordered father on a long voyage-there s nothmg serlous the matter wlth hlm but he has been worklng too hard ln the oflice Mother lS golng w1th hlm and my brother IS to go on a camplng trlp w1th my uncle and cousms I am to stay here I m so bewxldered I don t know what to I suppose you are When were you expectlng to go home? Next week? Yes and I was lookmg forward to such a good tlme Mother and I were to have gone to Palm Beach for slx weeks I am sorry murmured Marguente I wonder how ln the world I shall pass my t1me'7 Of course I can go on wlth my work Oh I have known several glrls who spent thelr vacatlons here One of the Miss Browns always stay durlng the summer and IS very klnd to the glrls who stay takes them on drives and to the clty occasxonally Frances slghed I must Just make the best of lt I suppose But oh how I envy you to be gomg home' Marguerlte smlled happlly Yes I am countlng the days now though I do not know what mother s plans are for the summer Then wlth a glance at the Dresden clock on Frances mantle she exclaxmed Dear me . . ,, . . 7 . . . . ,, . . . . . ,, . ' 1 . . . . . . ,, . . ' ' H S '15 2 . . ., o u n 'T' . . . , l . . . . . ' a ll 77 ' ' 7 . , , ' a KK ' 0 7 7 . . , . ' 0 o e 7 . . 4 . ' a Q u n . ' 7 ' 9 . ll 77 ' KK 7, f ' say. 77 ' , , u . - ' ' 77 . . . ,, . ' 7 . . . . . ,, . . . . ,, ,, . 7 7 ' . . . ,, . . . . . ,, . . . . . ,, . u a u c , Q n . . . 7 . . ,, . . . ,, , . I7 ll ' ' ll ' . , , . ' I ' 77 . . . . . . . . ,, ' 7 ' 7 7 ' ' ' 7 77 . 77 ' . ' 7 ' KI 7 ' 7

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4 THE HARBOR BEACON He had seen two years of service under the flag of his country They had been years of hardship suffermg and prlvatlon and had left in his mind an unspeakable disgust of war and all its attendant destruction and cruelty There was still a picture ln his mind of the scene of h1s own departure for the war zone The town had been filled with excitement at the sudden declaration of war and the mar shallmg of the troops When he came to say good bye to hls young Wlfe and httle daughter a terrible loathing of war swept over him much ln the same manner as It had thls hot night in August He had stood ln the l1brary of thelr cozy home with his unlform on His httle daughter had rushed up to him and flung her arms around hls neck and buried her golden head on the soft grey collar of hlS army Jacket He put hlS arm around her and a brlght curl fell softly over his blg strong hand the hand that had slnce been scarred and torn by lump rose m hls throat and he could say nothing but only pressed the young little body to h1s breast perhaps for the last time But when he looked lnto the brave blue eyes of hlS wlfe his courage came back He hastily said good bye and rushlng down the steps had lost hxm self ln the marchmg thousands Ah how many times that picture had come back to him Sometlmes it was m the roar and crash of the battle sometimes ln the howhng bltterness of a winter s night and wlth it always came that feeling of repulsion for war A bugle in the distance sounded taps and he fell asleep from sheer exhaustion heat and the exertlon whlch the day had brought The next day dawned bright and very hot The a1r was still and hardly a breeze relieved the sultry heaviness of the atmosphere All had been astlr in the different sections of the great army smce an early hour and at fixc 0 clock the first division advanced to meet the enemy It was to be the decisive conflict of the terrible war that had shaken all Europe for two years However lt was not until four o clock IH the afternoon that the first sounds of battle com menced m a ratthng crash of Russlan field artillery Followlng this a tremendous roar rose from the whole valley in whlch the oppos mg armies were located and the an' was Instant ly filled with the scream of shells the roar of machine guns and the rattle of small arms mlngled with the shouts and calls of the officers The young French officer was m the left wing of the tremendous army of the Allies at the head of a troop of men whose duty It was to reconnolter ln a rather thlckly wooded sectlon Upon arrlvmg at this point It was found that the position was already occupied by a detachment of German Ulhans who were ln possesslon of several machine guns Instantly the order to fire was glven and the place became a perfect mealestrom of whlrlmg smoke and strugghng men At the front of thls bold de tachment with hlS han' dlshevelled his hand some face smeared by powder and blood was the gallant French lleutenant leadmg the charge through a verltable storm of bullets and burstmg shells Men fell on elther side of him and bullets barely grazed hls head but he kept on untll almost under the guns where the fight became most furlous Then came a deafening roar and a bllndlng flash a httle to one side of him and he fell to the ground stunned After a few moments of oblivion he came back to consclousness and was on hls feet mstantly The fightlng was not so furious as before but a dense cloud of smoke and dust rose hke a fog from the field Suddenly an officer of the opposing army leaped over one of the guns and the two men drew automatic pistols almost at the same Instant As the French officer leveled at the handsome officer before hum a picture of that scene of saying farewell flashed through his mind He could still feel those httle arms a . . . . . . . . , . , . Q . , . A , . . . , i i . . . , . - Y ! - . dragging cannon or flying shrapnel. A great , ' , , , , ' . . . y , - .- ' I 2 . ' 7 1 3 . . . . . , . . . , I u 1 , . . , , . , . , . . . r r. ' . ' a

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6 THE HARBOR BEACONI after eleven I must be off or I ll be late for plano practlce Cheer up Faflie Maybe you won t find the summer so bad As the door closed after her frlend Frances returned to her French GXQFCISGS but the recelpt and readmg of her mother s letter kept mterruptlng her thoughts She could not concentrate her attentlon Her dlsappolnt ment was lntense It was so long smce she had seen her famlly She had gone home at the Chrlstmas vacatlon Frances had graduated from the hlgh school in her home town the previous year As she wlshed greater advantages for the study of French German and the plano than Bangor offered her parents had sent her to the MISSCS Browns School of MUSIC and Languages ln the suburbs of a large clty Presently Frances closed the book There was no use m trylng to study whlle her mmd was so disturbed There was an hour before her tlme for plano practlce so she declded to go down lnto the garden for a whlle She seated herself on a rustlc bench under a large tree Only a few mmutes had passed when she was aroused by the sound of someone crylng Turmng her head ln the dlrectxon from whence the sound came she saw on a bench under a rose trelhs the figure of a glrl wlth her face hldden ln her hands Frances recognized the mass of dark wavy han' lt could belong to none but Vlrglma Mann After a moment s hesltatlon Frances qulckly left the bench under the elm and returned to her room What was the matter wlth Vxrglma Mann she wondered? What could brlng tears to the eyes of the cold and proud girl These questions were answered last evenmg ln the llbrary when she heard some of the students dlscusslng V lrgmla Mann s mlsfortune and expressmg thelr sympathy for her A throat speclallst had ordered her to stop smgmg for at least a year Marguerlte v.ho was one of the group turned to Frances and sald It s too bad 1sn t lt? Yes Is she golng away? No she IS golng to stay here and glve her tlme to the plano She was expectmg a posltxon 1n the cho1r next autumn and the worst of lt 1s, she hasn t any money Oh I don t know But then I don t know much about her at all Sald Frances stlflly I guess none of us have known much about her Marguerlte replled gamely She kept us all so much at arms length I am afrald that none of us have trled to be mce to her Nxce to her' repeated Frances Why she IS one of the most repellant glrls I know Of course I am sorry for her I thlnk that manner of hers IS partly due to shyness and reserve Then wxth a laugh Marguerite added And I am afrald most of us have been Jealous of her you know her volce lS so superlor to any of our volces Frances made no reply to that She dld not want to admlt that she had been Jealous of V1rg1n1a but ln her lnmost heart she knew that It was true She had not been Jealous of her volce but she was Jealous of her supremacy at the plano and of her proflclency ln German and French yet she was sorry for her now and somewhat ashamed of her own pettlness I belleve that you two are to be the only ones here durmg vacatlon Marguerlte saxd hesltatlngly I hope It won t be unpleasant for you Indeed not' Why should 1t'7 was Frances somewhat haughty answer but all the same she wlshed that Vlfglllla was not remalmng at the school for the summer However the matter was not much xn her thoughts durmg the excxtement of exammatlons and closlng recltals V1rg1n1a Mann and Frances were the only resldent pupils to remaln for the summer besrdes three teachers who were to take charge of the outslde puplls Frances went on wlth her studxes She saw httle of Vlrglma who spent most of her tlme at L 1 u 1 - 1 ' 17 . , , . ' ' u 1 11 . , . . . 1 ll u ' ' ' ' 1 . . . . . . , . V . . . . . ' ' 1 ' 1 97 ' ' xc 1 1 . , . . . . ,, . . 1 ' , , . ' ' u ' 77 ' - u . , . . . . , . . . . . . ,, . ' U ' ll u . . . . . . . ' 77 , . u - u 1 1 ' 1 ! ' 7! D7 ' , . . . . H . . , I - I . . . . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - s 3 . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . H . . . . . . ,, . . 1 1 . . . . H . , , T O ' ' ' 1 17 . . - - 1 u ' 11 1 . . ' I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . 1 1 . . . V . . . . . . , . , . . . . . . . 1