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

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22 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. This building was furnished with one show case, in which, arranged in a very peculiar design, were chicken feathers for hat-trimming-black, white, yellow, brown -with certain prices attached to each. Around the white-washed walls were stuck advertisements some of which dated back as far as ten years. One distinctly pre- sented iitself to the eye of the customer: SALE ON SHIRTS June 31, 1903. ROSSEN'S DRY GOODS STORE Biggest and Best Line of Goods in the West. And also a soiled piece of card-board on which was painted in red letters: EGGS 14 CENTS A DOZEN hung in a conspicuous place. Well, on this bright morning, Elijah's first customer was an old woman. She was dressed in a red cotton dress and had a white wool shawl over her head. Good mornin', Ellijah, I been workin' this morning. I dug all my pertaters al- ready. Crop's bad this year. I don't know what this world's coming to. There hain't a drop of water in the ground. But, Eli- jah, what I come here this morning for, was to git some eggs. My daughter, J une, is going to give a party and I got to git a cake made for her. Oh! these young ones! Why, Elijah your daughter's growed so fast 'at I hard- ly know her and my Junie sheis jist bound she's going to put her hair on her head this fall but I ain,t going to let her. No Siree! But Elijah you fix me them eggs and I'll pay you with those pertaters I dug this morning. .After this garrulous customer had left, many others came and made more or less queer bargains. One man loaned him the use of his horse and wagon, in payment for two dozen of Elijah's best. However some paid in ready money. About noon, a little girl with golden hair and blue eyes skipped into the store. She had on a white dress with a blue gingham apron. On her arm hung a pail to carry her eggs. The old man's eyes brightened at the sight of her for she was the pet of the town. Wal, Elizabeth, did you come ter see old Elijah, honey? Why ain't you in school? Why, Uncle Elijah, to day's a holiday, don't you remember? We're going to have an entertainment at the school-house to- night and all the big children are helpin' decorate. I want nine of your biggest eggs, Eli- jah, and can I go out and see Fanny? CFanny was her pet hen.J Run along, Goldlocks, and I'll pick out yer eggs. When she was ready to leave, he gave her the little bucket with the nine eggs, and one extra for good measure. On the way home, Elizabeth walked very carefully so that she wouldn't break her eggs. And all the while she wondered if her mother could possibly need that extra egg. No! oh, Elizabeth knew she wouldn't so finally after trying vainly to overcome her desire for that pretty little white thing, she set down her pail and picking out the biggest one she could find stood fingering it, wondering. Suddenly a funny idea came into her little head. She would bury that egg and then sometime when she wanted to play house she would know where she would find it. Then she could make a fire and have a good time. So finding a little stick she overturned some of the earth near her play house and Dut her precious egg down in the hole. Then covering it again, she took her pail and went home. 3 DEC rl: X :Zz It h ful sp' had b citizei in his Wei I will succes quain' risen dozen risen Rockl horro They break partie ties r Onr cake make womz Bu' bury Eliza most more Bu folk c digni play-. thusi a goo She seemi pulle4 in dof and i 3792111 . . . . .. .. , .. . . . . -,......,,.....,.,.....ua.- ..t,.a.,,..., e MMig:-L.-I+,,,,1Q,,,g,,,,...1.a.-.,.,A,.-:,,,,-,J:,,:,,7,,1,g,.3g ,g,,:,,,,,,,,,,...,........, v.,,,,,f.,g.r...:-zen... xx.. ,.-F -- V . -

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it the e first t were in the ,ses of ted to allow, . half alves, grape caring These or ar- about : will. as and :h we is the in for cold. aches piled, ir for have 6 the down a big r eX- J dry them L, but three t, the orn. ation shall -nine Lched stick. lched 5 the pped away s re- reat- THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 21 aunt, whose ninety years had carried her across the continent from old Virginia. Then someone called me to come outside and hear the coyotes howl. Such a mournful sound I had never heard in my life-a kind of a bark, then a weird, minor howl, long drawn out. The dogs bristled and barked, and we heard it no more. Do-do they ever come near the house ? I asked. Well, now. they do carry off a man or two once in a while but not so very often,', answered my big cousin in a serious voice, but with averted eyes twinkling. I was glad it was only once in a while, for when bed-time came I recollected that here the windows were removed during the rainless summer months, leaving only the screens in place. All the nights are brac- ingly cool, and it would be the most wretched victim of insomnia who could not sleep well there. On the morning of our departure, Cly- dena and I went horse-back riding. The agility with which she could open gates without dismounting amazed me, who was afraid to dismount for fear of having a long walk home. I am sure that we do not half appreciate our trees in this part of the country. When one has ridden for two hours in the glaring sunlight, the reason for the tanned appearance of California is perfectly apparent. The length of time one has dwelt in California can be esti- mated by the depth of leathern color of the skin. A large, grayish-blue, wading bird flapped away, as we rode along the top of the high embankment beside the wide ir- rigation ditch. It seemed as much sur- prised to see us as we were to see it. To the little girl on the bay horse it was merely commonplace, but she listened at- tentively to the description of an ordinary snow-storm. She had never seen snow, eX- cept as a white cap on a distant mountain peak nor have many who are much older than she. When we returned, we found that Wen- dell, a young giant at eighteen, had come back from hunting with a friend that morning. A white owl, doves, and one of those crane-like, bluish birds constituted the capture. Small game is plentiful, though I am unable to understand what it feeds on. That afternoon we motored twenty-five miles to Fresno for the train. As a fitting end to our unusual visit, we saw two Hin- dus, white-turbaned and in native costume, talking unconcernedly on the station plat- form. Katrina Baldwin, '16. Ebe Enrico 'Egg NCE in the little town of Rocksbury there lived a man who went by the name of Elijah Green. He was in the egg and poultry busi- ness. Now of course, living in the heart of the town, he was a prominent citizen, exceedingly prominent. He was an elder of his church and on Sundays would ap- pear with a black silk hat on his bald head, and wearing his swallow-tail coat. Oh! in- deed, Elijah was a prominent citizen! But the time that my story really' be- gins was at 6 o'clock in the morning when all Elijah's chickens began to arouse the town-folk with their cackling. Elijah appeared in a blue gingham shirt with a red tie around his celluloid collar. He took his key from underneath the ge- ranium pot on his front window-sill with an air of importance and unlocked his shop door.

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aid in an hair f. She igham carry at the of the er see ou in Jliday, J have lse to- ielpin' s, Eli- nny ? 3k out 2 gave 9235, d very Lk her fred if extra vuldn't rcome white icking stood zo her Ig' and J play would fe and purned S6 and hole. 21' pail THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 23 It had been many years since that event- ful spring day and in the meantime Elijah had become one of Rockbury's wealthiest citizens. Do you wonder why the increase in his fortune? Well, if you will promise to tell no one, I will truthfully give you the key to his success. Since you first became ac- quainted with Elijah, the egg market had risen from fourteen cents to ten dollars a dozen. With such mighty jumps had it risen that now, the commoner class of Rockbury people held up their hands in horror at the first word concerning an egg. They never had the luxury of eggs for breakfast and in fact, hardly any more parties were given. For as you know, par- ties require cake and cake demands eggs. One lady timidly ventured to serve some cake minus the eggs. However I will not make you sad by telling of that poor woman's fate. But now, much to the loss of the Rock- bury community, Elijah was dead and Elizabeth had lengthened her skirts al- most to her shoe tops. She was growing more and more like a lady every day. But one day, memorable to the towns- folk of Rockbury even now, discarding her dignified air, she went down to her old play-ground. And fired with a sudden en- thusiasm to build a little bon-fire and have a good time. She began to hunt for sticks. She noticed, especially, one peg which seemed to mark some resting place. She pulled to dislodge it from the ground but in doing so, pushed some of the earth away and disclosed-some thing white-What could it be? Was she blind or did her eyes betray her? No! no! that certainly must be an egg. Yes, she knew it must be an egg, al- though she had not seen one for so long that she hardly recognized it. Then with a flash it all came back to her. Why, this is the egg Elijah gave me and I buried here so long ago. What will mother say when she sees it? I must take it home to the children, won't they be de- lighted though '? With the egg held care- fully between her fingers she walked through the streets to her home. All the common people ran to the win- dows and stared at her in open-mouthed amazement. An egg! Who'd ever a thought it! Thick and fast ran gossip as to how Elizabeth, daughter of the poor widow that lived on Huckleberry avenue had ever gotten that precious egg. Oh well, said all turning up their noses, if poor widows can have eggs, its none of our business. One old man hobbled up to her on her homeward way and asked just to feel of it. Elizabeth was envied of all. She pos- sessed an egg. Unheard of! Unthought of! But the greatest delight reigned when Elizabeth came walking into her home with the treasure. An egg! But such a sad egg! Yet an egg is an egg. Wasn't it a shame she didn't find it sooner? Laura Chandler, '16. Ebrougb the mercy of the 6065 -6' OR ALMOST his whole life of thir- teen years Titus had lived in the little home with his grandfather, Tiberius, now almost eighty years of age, but not yet giving up an ac- tive life. Tiberius' wife, through her il- legal second marriage, had had a daughter, and this daughter was the mother of Titus. The boy's mother had died a year after her baby's birth and Tiberius, not wishing to