Trivoli Community High School - Memoir Yearbook (Trivoli, IL)

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vb' -.-. .l, Jen ws 'I IT, C, H, S, . . 1915 J lGyfQ,,f ll-1- IThe Menjgir 4 Q E 5 Page Sixty-seven r .., ,S

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I The Memoirl 'em The Last Roll Call School had been in session for four years at Littleton. It was a small town but the rural students made an enrollment of a hundred. The pupils were all striving' hard to receive their education. The last year was a year of work and struggle to keep the school in session. Many people wished to change the school to a larger town nearby. The next summer was the time for voting for the final decision. It was in April, just one week before the end of the term. As usual, the prin- cipal was calling the roll. Miss A-dams. Present Miss Brown. Present And so on wit'h all the students. He stood up and all the students noticed his face carried a troubled expression, I am sorry to say, but this may be the last year We will all assemble for our roll call. I have spent four happy years with you and I sure hope I may spend four more here. We are all very anxious to be here next year, but it remains unanswered until this summer. As he was talking, the Ere bell upstairs rang out loud and clear. It did not sound as the usual fire drill bell, but carried a Weird sound. The students all marched out and at a glance at the roof they saw one blaze of flames shooting upward. The peo- ple gathered and all aid possible was given, but the Wind had made it impossible to check the awful Hames. Professor Dalton! A cry rang out. Where is he? At a glance over the crowd. I saw he was not there. The people had given up the fight, it was hopeless. We had to stand and waich the dear old high burn, the place where we had shared sorrows and joys. Another cry, Where is the principal? One of the pupils answered, I saw him go into the attic to fight the flames but I thought he came back down. The people realized it was too late. The flames were soaring far into the air. A crash!! It collapsed! Amid the charred ruins, Professor Dalton's body was found, beyond identifica- tion. We had lost our old high and the dear professor. It was his last roll call. M. J., '28, Ode to Today Ah! Today! We look upon your bright countenance with awe in our blinking gaze and, you our heart, for you have brought in the spring! You, just a day that has come swiftly and will pass more so. In Vain we try to catch and hold you, a while longer, and although you pass as swiftly as your fleeing sisters, you have smiled more graciously upon us. Ah! Never to be forgotten day, although the cold may come again, never can it chill our hearts more this spring, for we shall think of you, Today, and remember that you have promised Spring and we know you promised true. As we start home from school We shall wonder why we wore our heavy coats on a day like you, and we shall recollect, rather vaguely that you were quite chilly this morning and that indeed our fingers were quite cold when we reached school. We shall look upon you, as you now stand, warm, mild and sunny, and wonder if it be so, then we shall laugh and pronounce you, lovely Today, Not Guilty . E. G., '29. Page Sixty-six a ----L r.e.u.s. . - 1-neil-l-L-iw

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l The Memoirl 'ami Lad, A Faithful Companion Mr. McMarllen, a wealthy merchant of New York, came to the mountains for his health. His wife had died early last fall and he had been very lonesome during the winter. His only son was in South America at the head of a nation-al banking' concern. He had gone to the family doctor who told him to go to a higher altitude. It was not easy for him to give up his work, for he was now a 'man of seventy years of age and had worked with the same concern for fifty years. The docgor told him he would not live long if he stayed in the city, but if he would spend the summer in the mountainsfand the winter in California, he might be able to take the trip to South America he had planned for so long. He left New York one mforning early in May. He dreaded the summer for he had always lived in New York. He thought the mountains would be such a lonely place, having never been west of Chicago and not knowing a man in the west. He entered Denver one evening a week later. When he left the hotel, after getting a room and having supper, he was going to see the town. He became acquainted with several men from the east. The west was far' different from the east. It was so easy to get acquainted with people here. Several dayslater he learned from a friend that he could secure a cottage in the mountains thirty 'miles by train to a small station with a store where he could secure suppliesg and then eight miles south of the station the little cabin stood on the south side of -the cliff overlooking the valley. It was all furnished complete with a radio. His friend told him to take a dog with him and he would never get lone- some. The first of June he set out from the station in the mountains with his dog, Lad, a German police dog, and a pack of supplies on his back. He was a diH erent man. He had become acquainted with men who had promised to come and see him and show him the mountains. These men were really friends, so different from those he knew in New York. One evening two months later, he sat in his cabin with a halfbreed, Strongheart, Whom he had met two weeks before. Strongheart had disobeyed the laws of his tribe and had run away io escape punishment. He had spent the last eight months roam- ing in the wilderness. During the next few weeks the man saw much of the half-breed. The man having taken up the work of a gold-seeker for a hobby, the two often went together, but Lad never liked Strongheart. He would growl and show his teeth every .time the halfbreed appeared, although his master always scolded him for it. Mr. McMarllen went out one day by himself and by chance discovered a rich vein of gold. The next day he went to the station to secure a claim. As he was returning home he made up his mind no: to let the halfbreed know of it. He would leave the mountains now in a week for Denver where he would meet his son, now in the United States on a vacation, who would accompany him to California, where he would spend the winter. One night as he was returning home after a walk over the clifils near the cottage, Stronghean: came running around the cliff. The old man looked astonished and was going to 'speak when the dog jumped at the halfbreed's throat. The old man stood back amazed. He -did not even make an attempt to stop the dog. After a hard struggle -:he half-breed fell over the cliff. The dog looked up in Mr. McMarllen's face with a satisfied look in his eyes. But he had not seen the half-breed's actions when he had come near them as the dog had, and sent the dog from him. When Mr. McMarllen came to the foot of the precipice, the half-breed was gone. He did not Page Sixty-eight I 1. c. H. s. - - :ns 1 l6TN?