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

Page 32 text:

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

Page 31 text:

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

Page 33 text:

lxalhfus playing on the new piano, explained .lfather Timeg then seeing Neptune's Pale' ll2l2'5Z'2Wl MCC- lm 0XCl1llll1Cfl. VVhy. whatfs the matter? Are vou ill? Shall l get you something? l'miaw:fully sorry. I wouldn't have inilieted it on you if I had known he was going to he playing. it Y I n u ' A H No, l m all l'lg'lll.Q hut you nught have known he d he playing. 1ile's always hlayingf' grumlmled Neptune. - l m willing to try for the sake of science, said Neptune. Let's see vom' maehme work,-at any cost. lfather 'lfime made a few adjustments, then replaeed thc Plllfl- 'l'here was another sputtering: then about a dozen Very well's,H sepa- l ' VV odward's tu1'n. Man overhoardf, he 1'e- peated, to make sm'e that his mind was on the right taek and that his hraee was lll70Sll1Q'- 'l'he coxswain and erew got into the hoat. Clfull stop three min- rated hy soothing l2r's, anc it was o utes longzj Cast adrift the gripes: lower away and g'et her to the gang'way. Junior ollieer ol' the deck appears at the gangway. wearing white g'loves and side arms: sees that the 1nen have on their shoes and neekerehiefsg gets in the hoat, and pulls away. When he gets where he is going he ' manipulates the rudder ' so as to ln'ing her alongside. llut the man, 1nte1'poses a sphinx-like voiee. what has heeome ol' him? Uh, the man, gasped Woodwa1'd. l tioug so unusual the instrument eouldn't reproduce it. 'lfhe next thing that came over it Was. XfVhy do they never put a masthead lig'ht mo1'e than forty feet ahove the hull? .lividently whoever was asked didn't know, for the same voiee soon ex- l wht-- but his thought was plained: Why, it might he mistaken for a sta1'. Yes, said rlllllltf in sheer disgust, a st1'eet lamp might he mistaken for a ,full moon, too: hut only Q11 a eluh night. Let's tu1'n it on the Ordnance Depart-- ment. l le again adjusted some relleetors, and had seareely tinished when a clear- Cut voiee sounded through the transmitter, XVhat's the weight of a l1und1'ed- pound shell F Six inehes, sir, was the answer. What do the ammunition passers supply themselves with at tl1e battery? There was a slight hesitaney, hut the answer finally came, Pieces of gun- Cflttflll. to wipe otlf the cases with. What is the solution used in reeoil cylinders? was the 11ext question. Nitr 1-ffl 'eerinef' was the prompt 1'eply. 1 f-5 Suppose, that in loading an eight-ineh gun, the charge bag has got damp at , the hase, so the p1'i1ne1' fails to ignite the ' 'Jw Z' ehargeg what would you do? 1' Take it down to the galley and dry it, iore hroke the switch. e, he said, tu1'ning the relleetor on Love Lane. Yes. l' thought V! he'd he there, he added, as hor1'ihly nasty was snatched from some ill-fate C versation. 'l'hat's our amalgamated engineer, came hack, as Time onee n lNe'1l try one more plae d man's eon- NW the man with fortunes as variegated as his Wk- Hgure. l,et's hear what he's sayingf' He Nts-4, W I '59 33