Watsonville High School - Manzanita Yearbook (Watsonville, CA)

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A Boys Circus VVhy, we could start a circus jest as easy as a wink, Tommy, 'cause you know all about one, an' all you'd have to do would be to tell us fellers what to do, and' we'd 'tend to the rest. The speaker, the boy who was so anxious to start aicircus, was a little fellow with such remarkably red hair that he was seldom called anything but Reddy. His companion Tommy, was a boy, who, a year before, had thought it would be wonderful to run away with the cir- cus, but in a few weeks. he had returned, only too glad to come back home. You see we'd have to get a tent the first thing, said Tommy, as he seated himself on the sawhorse. I s'pose we could get along without a fat woman, or a skeletong but we'd have to have a tent. anyway, so's folks couldn't look right in an' see the show for nothin'. I've got all that settled. Tommy: an' when you say you're willin' to go ahead an' fix up the show. I'll be on hand with a tent that'll make your eyes stick out. But where you goin' to get the company-the folks that ride, an' turn hand-springs, an' all them things? insisted Tommy. Ben Clark can turn twice as many hand-springs as any feller you ever saw. an' he can walk on his hands twice around the engine- house- I guess you couldn't find many curcusses that could beat him, replied Reddy. But how are you goin' to get any hosses? asked Tommy, thoroughly surrpised at the way in which the scheme was already developing. Bob can get 'lack Dunning's blind one,. an' we can train him so's he'll go 'round the ring all rightg an' your Uncle will let you have his old white one that's lame. if you ask him. I ain't sure but l can get one of Chandler Macklin's ponies. continued the excited Reddy. Yes. and we can have some animals, spake up Abner Bolton. who had thus far been a silent listener on. Old Mrs. Simpson has got a three-legged cat with four kittens, an' Ben Clark has got a hen that crowsg an' we can make my calf into grizzly bear. an' -lack Havener's two lambs will de for white bears. After the planning was finished, Abner proposed a visit to Ben Clark, for the purpose of having him give them a private exhibi- tion of his skill. in order that Tommy might see some of the talent which was to help make their circus a glorious success. At last the day of the circus arrived. Tommy had been pre- sented with a real monkey by his old circus friends, and it was con- sidered quite an addition to their circus. At nine o'clock Ben arrived with the first installment of the meagerie. His crowing hen he had under his arm, and Mrs- Sin1pson's three-legged cat and four kit- tens he brought in a basket. l33l

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hardly stopping in the dance, she slipped the necklace over her head and with a unick toss flung it into the blue waters of the bay. Just then the bell on the ship rang out. It was time for her to go. Thankful that no one but Senor Garcia had seen what she had done in the dimly lighted corner of the room, she made an excuse to her partner and slipped away. Relief from the suspense of the evening came over her. as she swiftly went to the arcade, for now surely everything would come out all right. In a moment her lover would join her- She raised her eyes toward the heavens, thanking the saints for her happiness, but so sure of its enduring that she asked not for their further guidance. The Senor came quickly to her. He stood before her and said in a voice hard with anger. They were my mother's. The girl bewildered and amazed heard the voice which now changed to sorrow and reproach. I thought that my mother. up with the blessed saints, would be proud for you to have them. Then he left. She sought the saints instinctively now to help her. How she knew not. One always turns to them when in trouble. She was dazed and astonished, realizing only that the Senor had left. She raised her hand to grasp the chain of beads. The rosary of exquisite white beads was gone- It was evening. The fog had made the sky a drab, dreary gray. A heavy piercing wind swayed and whipped the trees. The solitary rider who had come over the mountains swayed ,too. as she guided her horse up to the convent gate. Sister Marie, who came out to greet the rider helped the woman from the saddle. Little Rita, she exclaimed, hardly recognizing the girl. so changed was she from the happy enorita Somazia she had bid goodbye scarcely two years before. You were right. sister. The fair day has ended in a dark night. Take me in, for I am tired. Oh, if I had never leftli' It was not until the nun had heard the whole story that she understood. Years after. Senor De Garcia returned. He had left on the night of the ball on the ship on which he had planned to carry Rita away. He visited the convent and heard from Sister Marie, then a very old woman. how Rita had by accident slipped the rosary off when she had meant only to throw the pearls away, how she had returned in her sorrow to the Sacred Heart Convent, and of her life as a nun and her death- That is all of the story except that Senor De Garcia sent to Spain for the beautiful white cross I told you of at the first of the story. On it he had carved a rosary identical with the one which had been the innocent cause of so much sorrow, and had it placed over the grave of Sister Rita, the most beloved of all the gentle nuns of the Sacred Heart Convent. G. Williams. l32l

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In five minutes Abner arrived with his calf, and a dozen mice. Ben and Tommy led the calf into the tent after some difficulty. owing to the attempts of Tommy's monkey to frighten him. The monkey soon demanded his master's attention, because of his attempts to make friends with the calf. From the time that this peaceful animal, who was to be transformed into a grizzly bear. had been brought into the tent, the monkey had tried in every possible way to get at him, and the calf had shown unmistakeable signs of a desire to butt the enemy. The ropes which held them both had prevented the meeting. Reddy was already busily engaged in painting the posters. dc- spite the confusion that reigned, and. as his work would keep him inside the tent. he was elected general care-taken of the animals, a task which he, without thought of possible consequences, accepted cheerfully. Tommy and Abner now left for the barn to find material for the cages of the wild', animals. They were leisurely returning with some boxes when the spied Reddy rushing from the tent, his 'jacket torn. his face bleeding, and his general appearance that of a boy who had been having rather a hard time of it. Why. what's the matter? VVhy don't you stay an' watch the animals? asked Bob. Watch the animals? screamed Reddy, in a rage: pou go an' watch 'em awhile. an' see how you like it- The money picked a hole in the bag so my cat got out, an' she jumped on the calf, an' he tore 'round awful till he got the hen out an' Mrs. Simson's cat got loose, an' I got knocked down an' scratched, an' the whole show's busted up. It was a scene of ruin which they looked in upon after they had pulled aside the door. The monkey was seated amid Reddy's paper and paint, holding the crowing hen by the head while he leisurely picked her wing- feathers out, one by one. Mrs. Simsonns cat and kittens each had one of Bob's mice in their mouths: while Reddy's cat was chasing one of the squirrels with a murderous purpose. The calf was no longer an inmate of the tent, but a large rent in the canvas showed that he had opened a door for himself when the cat scratched him. Afar in the distance he could be seen. head down and tail up, as if fleeing from everything that looked like a circus. Fred Ruhland, '24, l34l