University School of Milwaukee - Trident Yearbook (Milwaukee, WI)

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THE ACADEMY Seventeen Nobody had spoken or moved since I began. At the termination of my story, there was a moment ' s silence, and then the most uproarious laughter imaginable. What I was finally able to gather be- tween periods of laughing, was that the whole night ' s experience had been a frame from beginning to end. It was the initiation that a city boy must take before he can be received in good fel- lowship with the rest. —Russell U ' lrth, ' 24 Thrown Away. A figure moved along the river bank, moved slowly on towards the splashing waters of the dam; the dam whose waters furnished power to light the big city nearby in its gayety. To the east the moon rose, small and cold, and looked upon the city, upon the waters of the river, frozen, except at the dam, and upon the lonely figure painfully making its way beneath the ice-clad boughs of the trees that hugged the river ' s bank. Had one seen the face of the traveler he might have been startled. For it was not the face of a man, but that of a boy, a boy with the responsibilities of a man thrust upon his shoulders. It was war ! He had been just a doughboy. He had run away from home, lied about his age, and enlisted. His stay in camp had been short and he had left with his regiment, one of the first. Now a wooden crutch tried to take the place of a leg, shot away in France. Back in America again, he had found himself without work. And why should people help him ? There were many others worse off than he. The moon was high in the cold, star- less heaven by the time the figure had reached the center of the narrow planks that bridged the roaring waters of the dam. The moon looked down and won- dered why the figure paused. And in the spring, when the ice broke up, men on the magnificently arched con- crete bridge in the city below paused, and wondered at the wooden crutch that slowly passed beneath them. W. H. S.

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Sixteen THE ACADEMY for joy, because I did not relish being locked up in jail with a lot of drunkards and town bums. The lantern, which the sheriff had brought, was standing near the door, lighted. I crossed over, turned it out and then sat down, and the sherifT, when he saw me go towards the door, came and sat next to me, Razz looked at me and nodded. I drew my legs up under me, and bolted out through the doorway and off the porch. The sheriff caught my foot as I went out but could not hold it, I had too much momentum to be stopped by that. Razz was right after me, shouting that I had gone toward the kitchen, and pulling me in the opposite direction. In our efforts to put more distance between us and our pursuers, we stumbled and fell many times, before we reached a deserted hut Here Razz produced a flashlight and told me to get up in the loft, which was made of pine boughs, saying that he would teli the Colonel where I was hidden, and to throw the sheriff ' off the trail. Razz left and I shook so from fear, excitement and cold, that I thought any minute I would fall down from my lofty perch and land on the hard floor below. I could hear by attentive listening the hus- tle and bustle that was going on about the camp. I heard such cries as : Watch the boats ; have you counted them? Guard the road. Who ' s there? Surround the camp. The sounds of boats being pushed into the lake and all the other noises that accom- pany a thorough search. But these sounds gradually became dim, and 1 could hear the voices and footsteps of the Colonel and the Sheriff as they ap- proached. I expected they would turn down the hill towards the cabins, but still they came on. They entered the cabin, and the Colonel explained to the Sheriff that the hut was deserted, ex- cept for a few mattresses, in the corner of the loft. The Colonel said there would be no need of looking in the cab- ins, as the boys would turn the culprit over as soon as he appeared, they being as hot on the search as the sheriff ' s deputies. The only place he could be would be here, said the Colonel. Here ' s a chair that you can stand on to look up into the loft. I grew cold all over. I was sure the beating of my heart or the trembling of my body was shown by the rustling of the pine boughs. A cold clammy sweat was all over my body, and I then realized that Razz had failed to reach the Colonel and tell him of the plans he had made. The Sheriff was on the chair, poking up into the loft with the Colonel ' s cane. I had my legs spread apart, and at the first poke, the cane came up between my legs. The Sheriff was poking a second time, when Razz hollered: Colonel, I ' ve got the boy, we found him. But it was too late! The cane hit my leg. The sheriff reached his hand up, grabbed my trousers, and yanked. I came down with a thump. The sheriff lost his balance and came down on top of me. I was up in a flash, only to run full tilt into the Colonel ' s stomach. He caved in with an Vh ! Before I could recover from my second collision, the sheriff ' had me. I was taken down to the office and Razz came in. The Sheriff was mad as a hornet, that the Colonel and Razz had tried to help me escape. He told them he had a good mind to put them in the Cooler too. Razz and the Colonel con- fessed, that I was a member of the camp, and that they tried to help me escape. They put me in a room adjoining and closed the door. I picked up a funny paper, tried to read the jokes, gave up, then started to whistle; that failing, I sat still and listened. Razz told how the camp would get a black name if I was put in jail, how my father and mother would feel, and was all but crying him- self, when the sheriff said, that, if I would pay for the furs that were stolen, and hush money for the sheriff, he would free me. At this point I was brought into the oft ' ice, told of the terms, and asked if my father would pay $350, if I was to be let off. I said father would pay, and after thanking the sheriff for such lenient terms I came down here.

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Eighteen THE ACADEMY Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder. A One Aa Play. NOTE : The regular teacher of the Beginners Latin Class of M. U. S. was visiting schools in Chicago so Doctor Pratt was planning to take the class. LIST OF CHARACTERS Dr. Pratt, Dean of M. U. S., Gonser, Bliedung, Frankfurth, Baerwald, Mem- bers of the Beginners ' Latin Class. ACT I Place— Room C — M. U. S. Time— A Latin period of the 1920 school year. (Room deserted. — A bell rings. — En- ter Dr. Pratt, closing door after him. — Noises, off stage, of boys running down stairs and talking loudly. — Boys run by glass panel in door. — Someone slides across floor in hall and bumps into door with a thud. Gonser opens door and rushes in followed by Bliedung, Frank- furth and Baerwald. ' Dr. P.: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY SUCH DISORDERLY CON- DUCT? GO OUTSIDE AND COME IN RESPECTABLY! (Students obey and then take seats.) What was your lesson for today? — What page are you on? WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU HAD? GONSER, WHERE IS YOUR LESSON? Gon. : I-I-I don ' t know. Dr. P.: Huh! If you don ' t know where the lesson is you couldn ' t have studied very hard. Sit down ! Baer- wald, what was your lesson? Baer. : We didn ' t have any. Dr. P.: Huh! Well, we ' ll see what you know. Class, recite hic-haec-hoc! Class : Hic-huius-huic — Dr. P.: What? Recite it across! Baer., Frank., Blie., Gon., together: Hic-haec-hunc, Hic-hoc-hos, Hoc-hanc- his, Has-hos-his. Dr. P. : Didn ' t I tell you to recite it across? Then do it! Frank., Class together: Hic-haec-his, Hic-haec-hoc. Dr. P. : Who said his? Frank. : I did. Dr. P. : Then you may recite it alone. Frank. : Hic-hic-hic. Dr. P.: WHAT? Don ' t you know what the nominative forms are? I just gave them to you ! If you had been pay- ing attention you would have known it. (The rest of the class quickly look in their books.) Bearwald, what are the nominative forms? Baer.: (After another look in his book) : Hic-hacc-hos. Dr. P. : What is the matter with this class? You can ' t even read straight. The forms are hic-haec-hoc. Frank- furth, you may go on. Frank. : Hic-haec-etc. Dr. P. : Don ' t put an .y on the neuter accusative ! You may study it now and I will have you recite it before the end of the period. We will go through the review on page 130 now. Gonser, you may answer the first question, (reads) Give an example of the comparative with a comparison — Well, don ' t you remember the one the teacher gave you? Gons. : Oh! Yes! In order to get down the stairs quicker, he fell down. Dr. P.: Wha— . Yes, that ' s right! Now, Bliedung may give me an example of the relative clause of purpose. I pre- fer one of your own but if you can ' t think of any give me the one the teacher gave you for that too. Blied. : The one she gave us was, The Ambassador, who came to seek peace, fell in the lake. Dr. P.: We ' ll skip the rest of the grammar ! What words are formed with the Latin word post, such as post-mor- tem. Baer. : Postscript. Frank. : Postpone. Blied.: P. M. stands for post meri-