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

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SEA BREEZE 18 Nlt is the wer news,N she told him, low. Then emphatically, UHow can we keep their ninds off it, when it is all they hear at heme?' Mr. Binks sighed, looked over the children thoughtfully. He knew them ell pretty well. He'd had them four years, had watched the stretching outbof their young minds, from kindergarten on. He knew their backgrounds, as well, for it was easy to learn in a shell town such as this was. Most.of them came from,good.hmerican homes. Only a few, as happens lnbeverp grade, stood out from the rest--three boys. A , There wus Tommy Cooke, whose father road everything radical, and talked of it cleverly. Tommy had thetlsame ability to absorb knowledge, but Mr. Banks was determined that he was going to make better use of it. p q , , 1 Y Just as Babe Riley would use his futher's fighting spirit to attain more than d broken ncse. The older Riley had been a prize fighter, and from him, Mr. Banks had learned several things. One wus--if you cdn't dodge d blow, you must take it. - Ho smiled faintly ut Miss Lee. UNell, if you cdn't keep them eff the wdr news, we'll have to nuke it serve our purpese,n and he faced the cless again. - 4 Mr. Binks had never been an eloquent nan, but today he spoke of the.gredt siege of the Philippines. He mace the telling simple. It was the story of MacArthur and his men. o As'Mr. Banks talked, his eyes searched the face of the third boy who stood out: Hens Jeffers, with his thin features and strange gray eyes, his'quaint manner that wus o curtd1n,between him and the rest of the world. Ulf only,N thought Mr. Banks, NI could find some faint glimmer ef interest in Hens, semethlng thdtfl could curry to his sick futher in the Veteran's Hospitdl.N Mr. Banks recalled his nany talks with Harry Jeffers, Han's father, who had seen a promising artist before the World war. The first talk last year. had been when Harry had brought Hans to enter school F . NI've nude an awful mistake about my son,N Harry had sdid, his thin dnrk face somewhat drawn. HI married his mother when I went back to Germans ten years ego to paint along the Rhine. May- 5 be that was d mistake too--my marrying so late, with my broken health--but she, Anna, is Harrj's hand clutched the Nazi. Believe me, I have 1 cldred his very lovoly.- Very sincere. Only,-- buck of a chair--she's all Gorman. Even tried to keep Hans American. I have de- citizensnip, but whut is'1nside him, I dcn't know! It's what I've,got to find outlu , . . . Harry had brought his family back to the United States when Hans was two, but Hurry had been in and out of veteren's hospitals so much that Anna hed sought her own people. She had seen that Hans played wlth other German speaking children and had even sur- rounded him.w1th German ways. All this had happened before Harry had reulized it.

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SEA BREEZE 17 when he next regained consciousness, Jerry found himself in a boat with the girl forcing a burning liquid down his throat. when she saw that he was conscious, she smiled and spoke to him. You are feeling better now, M'sieur, Rawlins, No? Jerry grinned. nSure, I feel 0.K. Outside of a very funny feeling in my head.W I The girl laughed a delightful rich laugh. nNaturally you feel funny in the heed, as you say, M'sieur. You have lost a lot of blood. Oh, but you Britlshers are a hard lot to k1ll.n Jerry grinned back at her. A guy couldn't help grinning when she smiled. She had such darned pretty teeth and cute dimples. Then Jerry came too with a start. nHey, where are we? who are you? The information I--N nPlcase, H's1eur, everything is all right, new. We are in a boat on our way to England, in fact, we are almost there. My name is Lucette Lenoir. Pierre was my brother. The information is in that letter in your pocket.n nHm,hmhJ nYou want to know how you get here, M'sieur?H 'Yes, and the papers, where did you get them?N nP1orre gave me the papers before he came to you M'sieur. Ho was afraid that tho Gestapo would catch him with the papers, before he reached you and he thought that should you and he be caught, I could meet the bo-t and tgke the information to England. I was waiting at tho hidden door that opened into thc alley from our gar- den where Pierre said that he would send or bring you, when I heard you run into the alley. Before I could open the door, you faintod, but fortunately I managed to drag you in and shut the door before the Nazis arrived. Then with the help of my servant, I bandaged your wounds, smuggled you to the beach, and met the boat. That is all. The rest you know.' Jerry gazed at Luoette in admiration and muttered: Nwhat a gall What a galiu nwhat did you say M'sieur Rawlins?H nEr--nothing, Lucette.H NOui, M'sieur?n NI--well that is--well you-- oh, darn! Lucette, has anyone ever told you Low beautiful you are?n WJerreetlI Lucette flushed n beautiful pink, but her eyes hold a sparkling challenge and a glowing promise. 'Jerry grinned and closed his eyes. He was very tired and very, very happy. His Hperilous missicnu had been successfully completed. Eugene Jellison '44 That'ihgrovin5,It. Mr. Banks, the principal, paused outside the third-grade door to wipe his glasses. Two boys from Longfellow School had been in the Philippines with MacArthur, and all mcrning Mr. Banks had seen them in every room he visited. ' It took Mr. Banks a while to clear his glasses: then he opened the door and went in. The class settled tc attention. Miss Lee, the young teacher, looked troubled.

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SBA BREEZE 19 Mr. Banks, his friends, and teachers had watched and worked with this strange led. They had made him talk American, but ne- bedy--least of all Mr. Banks--knew how far they had succeeded. was he German at heart--or Am risen? Hens futher waited! Mr. Banks dreaded going to Harry Jeffers again without some comforting n-ws--such as cheering wer news--about his sen. All thet Hens seemed te have teken from his father was his artist e- bility. Hans, at eight, could draw pictures that were so start- lingly true et times that they must have been vivid portrayals of whatever need he happened to be in. These pictures were his only expressien. Host of the time he lived in an unusual silence es he was new. Jhile the others were excited or enthusiastic about something--their mouths open in gasp- ing attention, Hans just sat there in the second row, unnoving, un- blinking. Having noticed this, Kr. Banks realized suddenly, what he wanted nest ef all was to reech this boy. He eeuldn't even be sure the boy was listening. He sighed and brought his talk to an abrupt close. l Miss Lee took over. HAnd now,n she said with e bright smile, nsince it is our drewing period, I went ouch of you to drew seme- thing of what Hr. Banks was discussing. Try to show what his talk meant to yeu.n Mr. Banks was in his office en hour later, when Miss Lee came in. NI thought you would like to see these,N she said, handing over a pile of drgwinp pdpers. He took them and smiling, glanced through them carefully. Ther were the ictures that the children had drawn of the nallent J s 4.3 Philippines. Most of them were to the same general pattern-- varied ideas of jungle lands, with many soldiers and jutting guns, tanks and Jeeps and overhead planes dropping bombs, flags and an- bulences and else, Red Cross Nurses Qt work. Tommy Cooke hed e Filipino with a large battle in full sway--in the center was a curved knife, showing its use by the bodies of Japanese strewn around. Babe Riley had on American soldier machine-gunning o Jepanese. This wus e man-to-msn conflict. nlnteresting how ch1ldren's minds grow in four small ycars,n Mr. Banks commented. Then Miss Lee handed him another. nThis is Hans Joffers,n sho whispered, excitedly. Hr. Banks looked end studied it for a long time, then took off his glasses, wiped them and looked again. The warmth thnt was growing inside him took away his presumed idea of defeat and reached ahead to e worried father who lay sick on a hospital bed, waiting and hoping. Hans Jeffers had given one of his startling expressions of need. He had drawn the jungle very vividly,--as if nothing else ' mattered. But, best of ull, high in the sky, Hens had placed an eagle, an American eagle, fierce, conquering, with itls broad wings