Walker High School - Pepper Pot Yearbook (Simsbury, CT)

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PubliciTy STunT T was a hoT day in The busy mid-wesTern ciTy of Morrow. The sun's brillianf heaT was radiafed by The pavemenTs so ThaT iT was almosT impossible To walk in The sTreeT. ln his campaign office in The biggesf building in Town, Sam Jaffe saT chewing his pencil, waifing for his boss To finish wrifing him a speech Tor The Women's Club's address The nexT day aT LiberTyville. IT promised To be a dull affernoon, buT parT of his dufies if he wanTed To be elecfed counTy commissioner. Sam did noT care parficularly for ThaT kind of iob. buT his big boss was financing The enferprise, and he was geTTing a good cuT ouT of iT. The work, whaT There was of iT, was easy and pleasanT. David W. SmiTh was The crookedesf and richesf polifician in Morrow and wanTed To geT inTo The counTy commissioner office in order To be in on all The counfy posifions. He paid his men good wages and They served him well, knowing The penalfy ThaT was inflicfed if They didn'T. Sam swung his feeT off The desk as Dave came inTo The room. Sam, here's your speech for The ladies Tomorrow. lT's preTTy mushy and a liTTle far-feTched in parTs, buT iusT give Them ThaT handsome smile of yours and They'll voTe for you. l've been Thinking a loT abouT your case, and l Think you need more publiciTy Than you've been geTTing. l wanT you badly as commissioner righT now, To puT over a big deal. I'II Talk To you abouT This publiciTy angle again. O.K. boss. buT The papers say l've goT The elecTion cinched righf now, and if l can win These dames Tomorrow aT LiberTyville iT will be a sure Thing. So don'T you worry aT all. K WiTh a leer on his face The boss replied. l ain'T The one ThaT oughT To be worried. Ha! Ha! He Turned and lefT The room. Affer Dave wenT, Sam read The speech over. A children's playground on every sTreeT - lncreased old age Pensions - HonesTy is my policy -. He smiled aT The cleverness of old Dave SmiTh. Neifher The boss nor he had any such ideas. buT They sounded wonderful To prospecTive voTers. SomeTimes Sam had qualms abouT The roTTenness of his life. and how he cheaTed The innocenT people who Trusfed him, buT The ThoughT of The money angle quieTed any doubTs lefT in his mind. Sam had been mean and Thoughfless all his life, and had enjoyed causing his fosTer parenTs pain. A man and his wife had adopTed him from The orphanage, on whose door sTep he had been lefT as a baby. This loving couple had done Their besT for him, buT had died in an auTomobile accidenT on Sam's sixTeenTh birThday, wiThouT ever reforming or winning The affecfions of This cold boy. Sam had finished his high school educafion by obfaining a scholarship, for he did have brains. Here he had aTTracTed The aTTenTion of Dave Smifh, a TrusTee, who became inTeresTed in The boy. because of his vicious aTTiTude and moody disposifion which reminded Dave of his own youTh. Sam had been working for Dave ever since, aT odd iobs. This was his firsT imporTanT posiTion wiTh him, and Sam, in doing iT, planned To make enough To be independenf for The resT of his life. ln facT, he mighf even go inTo a few shady venfures for himself. He smiled in anTicipaTion of being his own boss. 96

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where a bearded man was chipping noisily on a sTrange TormaTion of sTone, while an admiring group oT sTudenTs sTood devouring his every move. A figure in a blue smock aT The Tar end oi The sTudio was aT work upon someThing I could noT see, and I recognized ThaT Tigure! l knew ThaT hair and The Thin neck and narrow shoulders. I couIdn'T move. WiTh Ieaden limbs glued To The floor, I was held in an icy vise, and could scarcely breaThe. Then slowly and warmly reTurned composure spread Through me and I could move easily across The room. She was working on a clay head and iT was of me! BuT no. iT was noT of me: iT was The head of The whole wide world. The expression of every seIT-cenTered person in Grand CenTral STaTion lay in The arroganT, disinTeresTed eyes. and in The nose and slighTIy biTTer mouTh. All humdrum humaniTy in iTs unaroused momenTs was porTrayed here. Now I knew why This girl looked aT people The way she did, and now I knew whaT she found deep beneaTh The masks and covering. IT she could see Through inTo The minds and hearTs of people in Their glorious and inspired momenTs as well as she could when They were narrow and self-cenTered, and record whaT she saw, she would creaTe The mosT beauTiTuI pieces of scuIpTure in The world. She would be a genius. As I sTepped Trom The shadow of The building and came again inTo The sunny, noisy sTreeT, I TeIT like an unTamed bird seT Tree Trom iTs haTed cage wiTh The whole warm sparkling world placed before iT To choose from and To enjoy. I sTarTed up Madison Avenue Twirling my cane and smiling gaily aT every passer-by. Boy AgainsT The Sky You sfand erecT like some young Tree, STrong and sfill AgainsT The sky. You have a mind wiTh which To see, AcTive will. A voice To cry. Why is iT ThaT you seem so Tree, Time To kill Before you die? Or have you sTolen NaTure's key, On This hill AgainsT The sky? MarTha Ely 95

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Sam pulled himself up from The chair, as he noficed The laTe hour, and puffing his haf on his head, he walked ouT of his office lpaid for by Dave Smifhl. The nexT day while Sam sTill slepf, a poor old woman could be seen walking along The dusfy road info LiberTyville. She carried a frayed carpef bag and was obviously dressed in her besT. which was nof very new. or becoming. Her grimy hands showed signs of hard work: her whole appearance was one of servifude and lifelong Toil. She made her way info The Town audiforium. where Mr. Samuel Jaffe was To speak, and shuffled up To a seaf in The fronT row. AlThough iT was Two hours before The address was scheduled To begin. she saT conTenTedly wiTh a pleased smile on her humble face and her old carpeT bag clasped TighTly in her hand. When The club members began To arrive They were slighfly nonplussed To see her siTTing There in The seaTs reserved for The welcoming commiffee and more imporTanT members. buf she looked so piTiful and eager. Thar They leT her sfay in her prominenT seaf. Mr. Jaffe spoke well in his Thrilling. sincere voice. His handsome face and sfraighfforward manner won greaf applause from his enamoured audience. They didn'T lisTen much To his words, buT were more inTeresTed in him. Then as Sam was Taking his final bows. wiTh The newspaper phofographers, senT by Dave SmiTh, working from every angle. The old woman wiTh a beafific smile on her face. clufching her carpef bag. sfumbled up onTo The plaTform. She Took his hand in boTh of her coarse. worn. ones. looked inTo his shifTy eyes and said in a cracked voice. My boy. l know you will be a perfecT commissioner. Sam, asfounded and embarrassed, rudely jerked away from The cheap old woman. and wiTh a curT nod he walked down To The waifing commiTTee, buf noT before numerous picTures had been Taken of The incidenT. The woman wiTh a hurT look in her doglike eyes hobbled down The sTeps and ouT of The audiTorium unnoficed by The ladies who all clusTered around Sam Jaffe congrafulafing him. The nexf day Dave Smifh sfrode info Sam's office brandishing a newspaper before The eyes of his underling. Sam. look aT This picTure! Such publicifyl You sure are a genius for doing The righf Thing. This pracfically cinches you To win The elecfion. Look aT The adorafion on ThaT woman's face. How much did you pay her for posing wiTh you? LeT me know and l will reimburse you. The whole Town is Talking abouT This, and ThaT's exacTly whaT you need. l guess you're preTTy smarT affer all. Sam looked af The picTure in quesTion and said. WhaT did l pay her? Why noThing. ThaT was iusT some fool woman aT The LiberTyville audiforium ThaT goT sorT of carried away by my high ideals. She musT have ThoughT I was preTTy good. DisgusTing old hag. isn'T she. BUT iT's a real good picTure of me don'T you Think? He smiled in self saTisfacTion. basking in his boss's approving glance. On a lonely road abouT Ten miles from LiberTyville. an old woman Trudged along wiTh Tears running down her face. Every few sfeps she would reach inTo an old carpef bag ThaT she had carried wiTh her and pull ouT newspaper clippings. She would glance aT each for a momenf and Then drop iT onTo The road. IT anyone had 97