Thomaston High School - Sea Breeze Yearbook (Thomaston, ME)

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THE SEA BREEZE partner. What a fool Stanley Holton had been to leave the donkeys and supplies with him. When he had returned they had vanished. Then ha-d that night- mare trip across the desert be- gun. When he had been almost ready to give up, help had come. Two years later he had en- countered John Adam. Word- lessly, but with deadly intent, he had sprung at him, knife in hand. Some on-lookers had separated them, but not before the knife had bit deep, and John Adam had been carried away, blood dripping from his back and shoulder. Stanley Holton now lived the scene over again, and relished it. Awake, Mr. Holton? 'asked the doctor bending over him. Blinking, Stanley Holton said, How's he doing? Doin' fine,', the doctor as- sured him. Who is he anyway? Someone by the name of John Adam, D. Brennan, '31. A MUDERN FAIRY TALE .. ..i- Polly was one of those calm young things who detest staying at home, even to dance by the radio or entertain the boy- friend by the light of a thickly shaded lamp. And she could hardly keep from passing right out when her step-mother posi- tively made her promise to stay in one night a week at least. For cryin' out loud! Did she think a girl wanted to stay at home ALL the time? Now Polly had the misfortune to be a step-daughter whose step-mother was very jealous. Polly didn't begrudge her this, for why shouldn't she be jealous of Polly when her own daughter was so dumb-looking and out- of-date? And yet it was Sadie's own insistence on old-time cus- toms that kept her daughter in such a state. Poor Lithua. She was SO old-fashioned. She never had any of the cute little sport dresses Polly could fash- ion for herself. She was forced to wear drab clothes, very digni- fled and innocent of the frills and ruffles which help to make a girl cute. Her feet were encased in sensi- blei' shoes, an oxford of very low heel. And her hair! It was pulled straight back, laying all the little tendrils which were brave enough to curl, flat, and a huge pug was coiled high up on the back of her head! Lithua -barely twenty and looking like a positive old maid! But Polly never stood for such non- sense, and why should Lithua? If she would only develop a sense of independence such as Polly had! QPage 17j

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THE SEA BREEZE Looking suddenly up, Stanley Holton, who had been walking aimlessly along, found himself before a large building which had incribed over its doorway, St. Alban's Hospital. A thought struck him. He almost laughed aloud. What a joke ! How very fitting! Since he had lived and was on the eve of re- tirement from that former life, why not give himself in order that a less fortunate being might be given one more chance to make up for what he had lost? Still laughing as though the joke was the most amusing he had ever heard, Stanley Holton mounted the steps of St.Alban's. Not long after, he stood before a doctor, Are you quite sure you are willing to undergo this, Mr. Holton? Quite sure, doctor. I know it's a bit irregular. It's really only a whim of mine, but I've always satisfied every one. This is my last whim and- Yes, yes? Plainly the doc- tor was not intereste-d in the personal side of the situation. You are a healthy man, Mr. Holton. This patient seems to have no relatives or friends. So if you are ready-this way please. PK: Pk Il? ASlowly and struggling, Stan- ley Holton tried to pull himself out of the abyss in which he had sunk. He thought he was still roaming through Africa. Under his feet was the wet, sweet grass of the jungle. Far off he could hear the trumpeting of the wild elephant. He smelt again the smoke of the fire around which the natives gathered to tell tales of superstition. And then it had come-that from which he had never recovered, that which had come to him night after night to cause him to wake up in a clammy sweat, unable to close his eyes for hours after. The desert! Those hours and hours alone on the desert! Without food, without shelter, without donkey or camel, and- worst of all-without water! He would always remember it-stumbling, groping under the glaring sun-sometimes en- .eloped in flying sand-skin dry as dust, and the sensation of thorns in his throat. The heat of the sand burned through his boots. His smarting eyes, blind- ed by the sun, played tricks on him. He thought he saw the blue of the river near him. Panting, praying, he had stag- gered to it and--it was not there! Farther off it lay, tan- talizing and mocking him. And the man who had caused this! The man John Adam, who had been his partner. A sneaky long-faced fellow. He had of- fered to cast his lot with Stan- ley Holton's and indifferently the latter had agreed. Then there had come about that mat- ter of rubies which they had found in a native village. From then on, John Adam had only half-'veiled his hatred for his fPage 161

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THE SEA BREEZE Well, Polly had a date for to- night-and I don't mean may- be! And such a date it was! With a young god of startling blue eyes, blond hair and bronze skin, whose muscles rippled 'neath his fancy silk shirt. She came in early in the after- noon and announced with a brisk enthusiastic manner to Lithua, Well, I'm dated up 0. K. tonight, sis. And is he grand? Gee, six foot, blond hair, blue eyes and what not. And nifty! Say, he's the keen- est looking boy you ever laid eyes upon. He's sure the goods, all right, and to think-I got him instead of that cat Mable,- and Dorothy? Is she mad? Mmmmmmh. And Iim gonna wear my swell new green velvet gown. Ta, da, boop-bOOD a doop! And away she tripped, her short skirts flying, slingillg her gay beret on the chair as she passed. Lithua gasped with amaze- ment and shocked incredulous- ness. How did Polly dare to do it? Howshe admired her cour-. age, and wished she could be half as brave! Meanwhile, step-mother had learned what the rumpus Was all about. Determined that Pol- ly should mind her promises, she marched heavily up-stairs and with a stern face and black brow which meant trouble, she presented herself at Polly's door. Polly was engaged in laying out her clothes for the big time that night, and was aroused from a dreamy reverie of bliss by her step-motheiris loud Wellll-an' where d'y1ou think youire goin'? Ya know this is YET last night, and yer ain't stayed home one night this week yit, so ya don't git out to- night, see? Aw, Sadie, be good. I can't lose this date-why, all the girls are after him, and I got 'im! You don't know what this date means to me or you would not even suggest giving it up. And when you see him, you'll probably want to go out with him yourself. Oh, yeah? Well, you little double-crosser, you ain't gonna have no date tonight. You stay in like I said, or- Or What? Polly eagerly caught her up. What'll I have to do? Stay in like I said, you little runt! Bang went the door be- hind her. Polly fumed-she stormed-she begged and pleaded, all to no avail. She could NOT go out. Finally Sadie, growing weary of Polly's heart-rending sobs and angry words, decided that she must do something before she went mad. Her nerves weren't good enough for her to stand much of that noise. So she, taking the idea from the old-time fairy tales, took a large mysterious box up to Pol- ly's room. Without ceremony, she banged open the door and marching in, deposited her bulky body on the bed, causing it to creak and mourn in anxiety fPage 181