United States Naval Academy - Lucky Bag Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Here N eptnne tried to turn a page, but the next fifteen stuck together as one piece. Once more a cloud fell over his face. They'll turn my hair gray again, he said. 'A They turned it yellow when they got out the class ringf' How did that get done? asked Father Time, referring to the well stuck pages. Oh, that's one of llaby Lewis's jokes. He'll grow older in time. Yes. there's hope for him. said Time. I hear he was the reigning beau among the high school girls while he was home on leave this summer. Speaking of love affairs, how's VVeichert? U lnsanefl answered Neptune, and then he fell to musing. Finally a smile played over his face as he resumed, Yes, there was something Philo-maniac about W'eichert's devotion. Some fellows went into his room one day and found him boxing the compass athletically around a glass of water with a violet in it. ' Where did you get it?' was the first question. A VVeichertlike snicker was the only answer. 'What was he going to do with it?' 'Oh, he'd keep it as long l 'l ss it! ' Two days later the same fellows came in again. The glass was now on the tableg and, although the violet looked fresh as ever, he told them that the time-the ecstatic time-for press- as it would stay fresh, and then-dreamily-ie c pre ing would be about the next day. The next day the fellows came in promp 3, . . y . was about time. Inkstands, paperweights, dictionaries were all piled up. One l0'11,Q,'. long look before he was to put it away for two days. 'Let's see it.' said s. He didn't look long. Suddenly a merry horse laugh burst tl f 'is if b appointment. Yes, it one of the fellow out-it was an artificial violet. He is the same fellow that lost his orders on the way to Key West, isn't he? asked Father Time. lfut them in a book for safe keeping and then sent the book home. We heard about it from one of the search parties that wandered over here looking for him when the Oliricttc' sailed from Guantanamo and left him behind. They said he had gone ashore in a boat, and had simply disappeared. Did they ever hear of him? Oh, yes, said Neptune. Drunkards and lovers have a guarding deity. He turned up all right at Guantanamo, but forgot to bring his clothes on board with him, in fact, never thought of anything rational till after he had got some letters Cor, rather, some letterj written. Of course, when he was given his choice he chose to stay without his clothes, for he had no more idea where his clothes were than where his class ring was. and was specially recommended to the De- part111ent for the willingness with which he underwent the resulting inconvenience. Father Time laughed. l see you haven't lost any of your influence with Madame Fortune, he said. Did they ever recover SZlKllCl'lS body? The report was Circulated OV f l e ' ort Florida went down er here that he was lost when tie t1 ansp alongside the Tampa wharffy VVell, well, well! .lflow reports get twisted,'l said Neptune. You must have newspapers over here. Yes, printed on asbestos sheets, said Time. lfll take this opportunity to straighten this out, said Neptune. One night ' -1 1 'f fi'l'l var over- Sadler was asleep on the transport,-sleeping seicncly as 1 no ct e w . I shadowed his life,-serenely as if it were the night before the steam exam. the 3l

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Charity Childf That was about the situation. The rest of the fellows just hiber- nated and did not stir till, ' Now, jump in the gangwayf added another night1na1'e to their troubled dreams. Neptune glanced rapidly over the pages of his roll. fill not read you the bill of fare on board the Mo1L01igahcla, he finally said. It would only remove your pity from the Cuban reconcentrados. They were the envy of the whole battalion when the ill-supplied stores gave out about a week before making Chesa- peake Bay. That brought about a very small change, though, The fare before had been beans and corned beef. Now it was beans alone. They were served ri la tin can, though, so that helped matters some, and it made them relish the good things at the Class Supper. Ah, that Class Supper! Give my congratulations to Ninety-nine. Never was a better expression of good-fellowship and class unity expressed in a more seamanlike way. A newspaper published in this little town of Mars over here had three pages devoted to it next day. Yes, it was successful, said Neptune, simply. Think of the obstacles that had to be overcome. Academic influence, epidemic dead-brokety, telegraphic come-homety,-all worked against it, but the class was well represented, and who can forget the thrill of admiration and comradeship that rose when Fenner, lilelm, Dungan, Kalbfus, Lackey, and Larimer made toasts as sparkling with wit as the wine they were pledged with. The majority of them were dead broke next morning, and had to depend on ingenuity and sight drafts to get home. jerry Morgan got home on a preach- er's ticket-half fare. Helm, the overgrown boy, got his rates without the least trouble, as did the child livans. .llrinser got half rates, being a 'Children of lsrael.' Kimberly rode home on the circus train with tl1e animals. Fenner missed three trains, then decided to walk. Cole, unable to keep on an even keel, came home in the baggage ear, check 41 I',874. Courtney? Oh, he had his OW11 private car. They were pretty well scattered before the next few days were over. There was a flutter of hearts and handkerchiefs as ' Dolly ' stepped off the train at New- port. lfar out in bleak Dakota, a little squaw with bronzed face and pigeon toes watched anxiously for the weekly train. lyler eyes glowed with a tender light as the choo-choo slowed down, and, with sprightly tread, tl1e Red Cloud chief strode manfully toward her. ' Ugh! ' said she. 'Ughl ' said Red Cloud. The word, so full of expression, sent a thrill through both, and, with full hearts, they trudged silently off to the wigwam. lfar to the north, where the ice for years had clung to the elammy slopes, where the moss in bunches hugged the trees as if to keep out the little warmth that coursed their branches,-Buchanan made his way. ln a day all was changed. A month of tropical weather followed, and a cyclone swept the place when he left. To the other end of the world our graveyard finally drifted, and there fol- lowed a conquest never equaled since Ponce de Leon cruised around that God- forsaken land looking for the fountain of youth. Many a wild tale has this bold man told of his deeds, but they are not a matter of history. , 30 l

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had lost his book a week before, as usualj, when there was a crash, a shrill whistle. -and silence. 'lt took him only a moment to realize that his life was at stake. A single bound broug'l1t him to the rail ri Za pajamas. An- other, and with his sword and trousers trailing after him pennantwise, he landed on the dock, llurried, embar-- rassed, but safe. .lglis was a wild experience. An incom- ing steamer had got too close and carried away a boat davit. I thought it was funny T hadn't seen his shade over here, said Time. I usnally see them as they pass out- ward bound. One came by the other day behaving like a maniac, do you know who it was? 3' Uh, yes, that was the fellow that started to carry tl1e old piano down the front steps one day just at dinner formation. He was getting on first rate until he heard liailey's musical voice calling the roll of the first company, and thought it was somebody playing on the piano. He got rattledland stumped his toe, and, as the sharp corner of the piano set- d. tled impressively down on the middle ol his 2,,ga':Qq7c'Z?f back, his soul was wafted to the clouds, and, X X i as it went out, it sang: 'There's music. thereis music, there's music everywhere' L 4 XVhen he passed here, his tune had f' 1' Xxx 4:7 0 at ,17 7' xii ff I ,1 5 changed, said Time. .llc was singing idk. , fi! 5, ' A Hot Time in the Old Town 'lfo-night.' .rcfjf g 'l Wtwll, that sounds more comfortable I f, Y than the ' Scorcherf That's what they play T after every funeral at the Academy. lf they ever bury me over on 'Plantation Point, I'm going to request that they play something else. Fd like more something from Mendelssohn played on the mega- phone. .l would, too, unless Courtney played it. il sometimes listen to the concerts the fellows give after supper at Upper Quartersf, said ',l.'ime. How? I see why you donit understand. You people over on the earth haven't got on to our system of telegraphy without wires yet. You are slower than the oscillations you are trying to use. You'll never succeed with anything less than two billions per second. just let me show you how mine works. Witli that, lfather Time stepped across the room to a switchboard and put in a plug. There was a crash, a sputtering, then a mingling of sharps and ilats in some- thing not unlike a cannibal war dance. On it went. The bass was miserably faster than the treble, half the notes were flat. The only ones that were right were elided. Neptune stood it as long as he could, then clapped his hands over his ears, and lustily shouted, Stop it, stop it! If you love my life, put a reducing valve 011 it! Do something. Uh-! U At last lfather Time heard his voice above the din, and pulled out the plug. Silence, blissful silence, followed. Never did silence seem as good before. That's 32