Westport High School - Herald Yearbook (Kansas City, MO)

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1, he re- active in Washing- igth even thousand to a thou- istinetive of Inde- ansferred .ier hands . but they ples that uctive of hat have But it is e in the een years hose that s-firmly ices, but f free and s almost 1. There an All- zt to give 'ull share, one man, i to Sam- .p all his it he de- IS, 'll. 1110c'lee1'y. away, ylzt Lose stars, irrii, 'l2. THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOGL HERALD. 27 Brant IFTER twenty years of absence I re- turned to my native city. I came not as a friend to revisit the place of my birth, but, as you remember, in the ranks of the royal army which was ordered hither by the Emperor to frighten certain re- bellious subjects. So I was not everjoyed at the prospect of return, because I feared that some of my old friends might be engaged in the conspiracy against the Emperor. Wlhat qualms I had, however, were all dis- pelled when we arrived. The gates were fiung wide. Crowds thronged the roofs, filled the win- dows and fiowed over into the streets. Every mouth was filled with acclamations for his majesty. Every balcony was hung with the im- perial banners. As we passed along the street the din of voices was deafening. lt drowned our drums, it silenced our bugles, Napoleon l . Napoleon lf K'I,ong live 1 1 the Emperor !' burst from every mouth. I recognized many a lusty voice and saw many faces that I had known in my childhood. My breast was filled with pride as I rode my white horse at the head of my battalion. As we passed, il, noted with great pleasure every familiar window, every door and each pointed roof. Everything was beautiful in my eyes. THE FACE There was nothing that had not a score of pleasant memories hanging about it. It was late afternoon when we entered, and the evening found the troops encamped on the square. The officers were quartered in the lodging houses. To one of these I betook myself. Un knocking I was admitted to the smoky bar, where I encountered a man who was on the point of leaving. As I did not see him at first and as I blocked his exit, he was constrained to ask me to let him pass. . Pardon me, sirf, he said, 'twill you kindly let me go? The voice was some- how familiar. It caused me to start and to look intently upon my 265-0- tzis. If the voice was familiar, the face was doubly sog yet for a mo- ment I could not re- member it. Then a cry of recognition broke simultaneously from our lips. '4It is you, Nesbitfl he cried. 2-Xnd you, Tombreauf' H It was indeed my boyhood companion, Pierre Tombreau, whom I had neither seen nor heard of for many long years. Vtfe fairly embraced in our gladness, and after a full five minutes of handshaking and many ques- tions that poured from our lips and got no answers, nor needed any, my friend captured

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26 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. manry upon whom the system reposed. .Xgain, among the other patriots every one had either his moments of rash vindictive- ness or of indecisiveness. Adams alone was felt to be cool, calm, at all timesg cautious and calculating, strong and undeviating,-a tower of strength, a rock not to be shaken by any storm. So, in decisive moments, when all hung by a thread, in his CLIIIITIHQ' strength and unninching manliness lloston was wont to repose her troubles and her fears. In like manner, by the aid of his co-workers, by his burning articles, by his Committee of Correspondence, did he mould public opinion throughout IXIassachusetts, until the actions and decisions of Boston were echoed by the other towns, and so at last conhrmed by the Assembly and re- echoed from north to south. His power was great, almost inconceivably great, but it all rested upon his fundamental relations as man to man. After Concord and Lexington, after the appointment of Wfashington as commander- in-chief over the Continental armies, a de- cree went forth which shall never be re- calledfl' It was the Declaration of Indepen- dence, passed, contemporaries bear witness, principally by Samuel Adams, efforts. At last he had realized his vision, the dream of his life had come true. Samuel Adams' distinctive work ended with the Declaration of - Independence. During the years of the Wfar of the Revo- lution, during the actual fighting, he re- mained in Congress and was most active in that bodv, zealously supporting Wfashing- ton, always full of hope and strength even in the gloomiest days, serving on a thousand important committees and tending to a thou- sand matters at once. llut his distinctive work ended with the Declaration of Inde- pendenceg the struggle was then transferred to the field and was entrusted to other hands than his. Fifteen years are not a long time, but they have often, especially among peoples that governed themselves, been productive of great changes, great influences that have changed the course of history. But it is almost safe to say that nowhere in the worldls history have there been fifteen years so pregnant with great results as those that transformed loyal English subjects-firmly protestant indeed against injustices, but loyal nevertheless,-into a nation of free and independent Americans. It seems almost too much to credit this to one man. There were potent causes working and an All- seeing Purpose, nor must we forget to give Parliament and the Ministry their full share, but as far as it could be the work of one man, we must credit this transformation to Sam- uel Adams. In this are bound up all his services, as parts in a whole. To it he de- voted his all, and won-Eternity. , l ' EDXNARD NN. MOSES, Ill. A Thought Amidst immeizsc and SZTFIII SUIl'fIllIlt'.S' A 111411115171 0140111 Of HH mu- ms . V , f T V -Ir' f U: Beizmtlz. the szltfm' splendor of the stars, His IJ f d 005 0 sfrezzgflz and frown'-ti morkcrv. 'I IL fi I ' Tv. ' , - . qmimii pd bm ffm -hm CHS Subtle' SPCHV My foolzslz jvrzdc 1'UZ21zlerd, I ZLlH'llC'lI7 atvav, . 7lC.GctC 31 fcilzczes of that bozzfzdlcss spare, But .5'1LlI'dC1Zf,y gn U11-4-0,15-UI1'11g flzonglzz' I I stood-cz mail-twill head b0'ZC'6'Cl, loft' before O'e1'tt.f1Z6Im0d me: jljqmis cfU,.fh M050 Sims The miglzzfiness of G0d's rrcafiolz. God plamzca' and made for mc. SIIIELTON Smiirii, 'l2. ranks c hither l bellious the pri some c might conspi Empei VVI1 howex pelled The wide. the rt dows into ' moutl acclai maje: was peria passe the r deaf' our our l Na the I I man My whit we fam roof

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28 THE wEsTPoRT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD- me and bore me away to his l1OUSC, Wllefe he insisted that I should stay. XVhen we arrived, dinner was already pre- pared. VVe went to the dining room forth- with. The table was set for two and he motioned me into one of the chairs, saying, My son will not return for dinner tonight. You will hll his place this eveningf' VVhe11 WC .were seated and he had the knife in a fillet of beef, he asked me to render him -an ac- count of myself for the years of my absence. I accommodated him and ate the delicious roast and drank freely of his old wine. I gradually grew to esteem myself as a hero and diligently set forth my reasons for this conclusion. The wine lent great impetus and fire to my tales. The kind applause of my friend urged me into a sort of oratorical fury that grew as I became more and more aware of my powers. I fumed for Tombreau like a spirited war horse. I roared like a cannon, with my fist I pounded the table as cannons pound the field. Time fled and Tombreau finally suggested that we adjourn to another room where we could smoke. As a farewell to the field on which I had just fought so eloquently, I bawled a toast to the Emperor. Tombreau clicked glasses with me and we both raised the wine to our lips. I did not drink, though. My eyes fell on a mirror just then, which hung on the side wall. It reflected the door by which we had entered, and, glowering from the gloom of the passage, I beheld a face. Inky eyebrows lowered in a black frown above long, narrow, tilted eyes. Full lips were bent into a sneer- ing smile that displayed sharp white teeth. The smooth oval cheeks were pale, and the candle light caused the face to stand out lividly from the darkness into which the black hair faded, losing the deflnite contour of the head. Those long glittering eyes saw my emotion, for I felt strangely embarrassed when I met them in the mirror. The sneer yielded to 3 fascinating smile and almost immediately a soft, musical voice sounded from behind I have come home earlier than I thought I could, fatherf' it said. A tall young man came forward into the light of the candles. He was well turned and gr3CefUl HS 3 Cat- HG looked a smiling question from me to Tom- breau while he drew the gloves from his long fingers. and flung his cloak into the hands of a servant. This, Brant, is Captain Nesbit, of whom I have often spoken. He has been kind enough to promise us his company during his stay in this cityf' I . The young man and I exchanged bows, and after he had tossed off a glass of wine we three adjourned to another room, where we lighted pipe and sat down to an evening of conversation. This Brant had a fund of anecdotes which he told with much dramatic vigor. He proved to be a most charming man. Yes, charming is the word, for one could not disobey those long dark eyes and white teeth. When they said laugh, it was a command that one must obey, yet a command that one often obeyed against onefs will. Those eyes of his were as effective in the ghoulish stories, o-f which he told a score, as in the mirthful tales. One of these was about a little sheathed poniard that lay on a table close by. Brant said he had bought it of a man condemned to die for a murder which had been committed with it. I-Ie had been induced to buy the dagger, he said, because of the superstition connected with it. The murderer, so went the story, had had it from a man convicted of murder, and he, in turn, had purchased it from an assassin who was doomed to die, and so on back through many years of crime. It had come to be thought that the stiletto was possessed of a supernatural power. Wfhen- ever the blade was unsheathed, the legend ran, it must kill. There was no hand that could resist this strange magic, Brant leaned over on hnishing his story, and with a laugh plucked the bright little blade from its jeweled scabbard. I wotildift have done it for worlds. Phi he hissed you have indeed fallen low, my little dagj ger, to b could lla There he flash Instincti turned 'E superstif Nou , . 4 7 Nor 'Enoi lt is lz another 0jmQ1'l 2111 he must yt-L1 yOl SO tl' minute: able for half wz son, W upon r sec his face of again shining dicted to bed I remf sion t gently medial I w: fused and gi were the st passer heard then slami voice: to tht ning They peopl VVI