Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY life-long enemy, Buck Henderson, came up, stumbling and stammering. The following conversation took place. ' ' Gee, Margie, you didn ' t think you could fool me, did you ? Why I ' d known you any- where. I thought that dumbell, Charlie Johnston, would try to hang around you all evening, so I hurried up to ask you for eight or nine dances and your company at supper. Wouldn ' t you like to go over to the park and sit on a bench until the dancing starts? Chnrlie, laughing inside, merely nodded his head and they left the hall. As soon as they were seated in the park, Buck slipped his tirm around the dainty shoulders of ' Mar- gie and begged her to remove her mask, which she firmly refused to do. After fif- teen or twenty minutes, during which Buck grew quite sentimental, they returned to the hall where dancing was in full swing. Charlie ' s slippers were pinching his eight D feet until he could hardly keep the tears back, but he had firmly resolved to get even with Buck Henderson for once in his life, so they danced. Luckily Charlie ' s face was over Buck ' s shoulder, for if Buck had seen Char- lie ' s distorted countenance he would have easily realized his mistake. During the encore of a dance, the chair- man of the entertainment committee an- nounced that owing to the fact that it was Hallowe ' en, no one was to unmask until mid- night. This announcement satisfied Charlie perfectly, for it gave him an opportunity to have more fun at Buck ' s expense. At last, refreshment time arrived and Charlie sank thankfully on the stairs with Buck. Now Buck had been complimentary enough before eating, but after ice cream and cake he became an expert. Oh! What fun Charlie had listening to Buck rave about her little pink ears! Just as the ' Orchestra started to play Home Sweet Home, and the dancers pre- pared to unmask, Margie pretended to be faint, so they left for home. Instead of stopping at his own gate, Char- lie walked down the street and stopped be- fore Margie ' s house. Buck was becoming quite impatient for Margie to remove her mask so, when he least expected it, Charlie snatched the mask from his face and gathering up the skirts of his ancestors ran down the street. When he reached, his doorsteps, he turned to bid the startled Buck a laughing goodnight. There is no more to tell except that Buck never forgot that party and never called Charlie a dumbell again. L. Williams ' 24. A MEMORY OF THE PAST A slender blade of silver crowned with pearl rattled from a big brawny hand into the rough pine table between us. My gaze leaped from the fine surface of the weapon to find a sudden grimness in the sun beaten face of our chief boss. He appeared to be lost in thought for a moment, then leaned forward and broke into a story of the woods, a story told with a simple eloquence which brushed aside the obscure mist of forgotten struggles and thwarted ambitions. We seemed to be watching as if in actual life the figure of a young lad again striding up the valley to the cabin door of the chief boss. He applied with engaging cheerfulness for a job in the construction gang. He ap- peared to be an Italian of high intelligence and physical fitness. The only name he gave was Steve and just Steve he became to all of his fellow workmen. A deep affec- tion developed between Steve and one of the younger men. The two were at work on the big dam being constructed across the valley tie friendship was often apparent. Work had progressed rapidly except for a few de- lays caused by disagreements between the workers and the foremen. The ring leaders were illiterate foreigners whose brains were soaked in alcohol and disillusionment, and they were intent on making trouble. Con- ditions led to irritations among the workmen and between the workers and the foremen. Petty quarrels and errors in construction seemed to be the white caps of a threatening torm. Steve and his group of friends op- posed the drunken actions of the trouble makers. One day, apparently by accident and ill fortune, a section of staging crashed down carrying a group of loyal workers to destruc- tion. There was a whirling mass of debris, an endless drop and then oblivion for those concerned. In the confusion and horror of the scene a hand flashed back and a streak of silver blended with the gray of a man ' s back, and sank to the hilt. A moment later Steve ' s friend disapeared over the staging to ioin the dead below. With a spring Steve was upon the mur- derer and revenge fought with drunken fury on the very brink of destruction. Back and forth and up and down they struggled like

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Very well, who is there in the city that you know, that we can summon? Oh, well, let me see, — but officer, I ' ve been here a week and — really, I don ' t know anyone here, but at home. — That ' s enough. Put her in the cell, offi- cer. We ' ll hear you in the morning, Miss. Patricia sat silent and was busily absorbed in her thoughts of home, of how her father, a prominent and wealthy lawyer, would re- ceive the news. She could just imagine her mother falling in a dead faint, at such news from her baby girl. And her brother Jim, — yes, Jim would he be horrified and come to her at once ? But the most important question was, — how could she get Jim, without letting Mal- colm Hamilton, her fiance, know? - Soon she fell asleep, and the next thing she knew was that it was morning and the ma- tron had come with her breakfast. After breakfast she was summoned to the office of the Chief. On arriving there she was surprised to see her brother Jim and her fiance waiting to take her safely home. The Chief apologized and the three left his presence. Patricia questioned the two as to how they knew her fate, but until several years later she never learned. When Patricia arrived home her parents were waiting with wide open arms to re- ceive her and to be told how it all happened All that Patricia could say was, that she would gladly let Dad support her, and she would never again go Fortune Hunting. Brother Jim and Malcolm treated the sit- uation as a joke at first, but soon Jim real- ized the joke was all his own because Mal- colm had other things to talk about to Pa- tricia. As they walked in the garden Malcolm told Patricia of things far more interesting to her than the joke — or supposed-to-be joke — for not till long afterward she did learn that the police who arrested her had receiv- ed instructions from her family who wanted her to give up her ideas, and return home. THE HALLOWEEN SPREE Just the week before Halloween, the prin- cipal of the Elmwood High School, announced that there would be a masquerade party held in the auditorium the following week. A panic ensued, during which every one asked some one else what to wear. The sub- ject of clothes is supposed to be exclusively for the gentler sex, but during the next week the boys, for once, showed all of their hidden vanities. Some talked of clowns and witches, others of knights and Indians. The girls, of course, were not far behind. One could easily see that their minds were not on the keynote of action in Macbeth or on French composition. During the next week, Charlie Johnston thought and thought about clothes, but he couldn ' t think of any costume that could be created out of his slender allowance. Finally, in desperation, he sought the assis- tance of his mother. Mrs. Johnston offered to help him, but would give him no hint of her intentions. The next day she ransacked the attic from end to end, and at last, after much strug- gling, succeeded in opening the trunk she had been looking for. She hastily gathered the filmy mass of contents into her arms and went downstairs. In a few minutes she called Charlie, who was raking the lawn, and asked him to come in to see his costume. Very much excited, he went up the stairs in three bounds and stood expectantly in the doorway of his mother ' s bedroom. As soon as he saw the heap of ruffles and frills on the bed, his face fell, and he could not hide his disappointment. His first words were, Aw mother, I can ' t go as a girl ! But after lis- tening to her plans he became much inter- ested in attending the masquerade in his great grandmother ' s party dress. The night of the party can never be for- gotten. There certainly were many minutes of hopelessness and despair. Can you ima- gine Charlie scrambling into his ladylike clothes and holding his breath while Mrs. Johnston hooked the dress? Or can you see Charlie struggling to get his all but tiny feet into his mother ' s black satin slippers? Finally, even his powdered wig and mask were adjusted to suit his mother, and he started out for the high school. Fortunately the streets were dark and Charlie didn ' t meet a soul. Arriving at the school, he left his mother ' s wrap in the dress- ing room and powdered the tip of his no?e before the little, cracked mirror. Charlie had a scheme of his own and planned to en- joy the evening to the utmost. He nonchalantly sauntered into the hall, and had no sooner seated himself than his

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY savage beasts. The bloody dagger came into play again with deadly surety of winning. The inevitable would have happened, but with over confidence, the ruffian stepped back to the very edge of the footing. He slipped slightly, trembled on the brink, and with a shriek dropped down to the very fate to which he had treacherously flung the others. Steve picked up the weapon and sadly quitted the valley. The chief boss paused — and the silence seemed oppressive. The shadow, appeared to be gathering to rush, to strike, and to blot out. I raised the blade, and as I handled it the last crimson ray of the setting sun tinged it with color; but soon the streak of bloody color changed to purest silver and then to the dusk of ended day even as in our story. K. Taylor ' 24. THE FIRST ESSENTIAL It was the first day of school, and already the main room of Madame Dufrey ' s select school was filled with the noisy babble of young girls. Madame Dufrey, who had just been advising the teachers on various sub- jects, was just leaving the room when a large handsome car was seen to stop at the en- trance of the school. The new arrival proved to be an extremely fashionably dressed woman with a very haughty air. She went into the room fol- lowed by two young girls, one who looked about sixteen, and the other, a year her ju- nior. The younger and plainer of the girls was unmistakably a poor relation, for her face bore the meek, humble look of a depen- dent, while the haughty black eyes of the other marked her as the lady ' s daughter. At Madame Dufrey ' s inquiry, the lady gave her name as Mrs. Browning, wife of the Honorable Mr. Browning of Riverside, N. Y. I have come, she said, apparently speak- ing to Madame Dufrey, but looking straight at the window, to place my daughter Coral in your charge. She is to study the higher branches of education, such as music, French, Italian and dancing; I do not wish her to waste her time over such ordinary studies as geography, spelling, arithmetic and gram- mar. Those will do very well for Betty, and she threw a look of disdain at the poor relation, whose eyes were bent upon the carpet. She is the child of my husband ' s sister, and it had been decided that she become a teacher, so it is my wish that you be very thorough with her in all those stupid th ings which Coral is not to study. Madame Dufrey bowed, and Mrs. Brown- ing continued, Last year, the girls were studying at Sunnybrook Seminary, and if you ' ll believe it, the principal insisted on placing Coral in the spelling class, because she made a few mistakes in her first com- position. I dare say it was more Betty ' s fault than hers, because Coral admitted to me later that it was one of Betty ' s that she had found and copied. Naturally I would not consent to having Coral placed in the spelling class, so I took her away. It was my intention to have Betty finish her edu- cation there, but my husband, who is very peculiar wouldn ' t submit to it, so I have brought them both. Mrs. Browning then arose, and after kiss- ing Coral six or seven times and nodding to Betty, took her departure. Just beyond the immense grounds of the school and separated from them by a huge concrete wall, was a fashionable boys ' col- lege. The young ladies were strictly prohib- ited from having anything to do with the young men, but in spite of the careful watch- ings of the teachers, notes were flung across the wall while handkerchiefs were waved from the windows of the girls ' rooms. Coral had not been there long before she was well acquainted with all the young men, but it was only on one that she lavished her bright- est glances and most winsome smiles. That one was Worthing Halton, a young man who possessed great wealth. He was immediately attracted to the beauty and charm of Coral, and went boldly to Madame Dufrey and ask- ed permission to call upon her. His request was granted and during the two years he remained at college, he continued to see her. One evening when he called, he was made to wait for so long that he had made up his mind to leave, when a fair delicate looking girl, with deep blue eyes and curling auburn ha:r, entered the room. She introduced her- self as Betty Lee, cousin of Coral, who. she said, was unable to come down. Worthing looked at her with great admiration, which made her blush deeply, and would gladly have detained her, but with a polite good-evening she left him in a state of complete bewilder- ment. How strange, he said to himself, that