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

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q..r..-... -----'1 n'.:-a--ra'2 l:.'-v..'wcvL-:4:af.m,1..:qf... -:I-fgfqefz-rx-urw.n,.,y.1..m--W-'f- ' - f - 1 24 THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. see the child homeless, had taken the boy up to his hermit home on Mount Vesuvius. What a home that .had seemed to the little fellow! The kindly care of his grand- father, never too busy to amuse him, the wonderful cave home, all this he had taken for granted throughout all his early years. And then how he loved to study and be taught by his loving and painstaking teacher the rudiments of the greatest arts of the world. For grandfather had not al- ways led this hermit life. Even at that day, fifty years afterward, the name of Titus Tiberius was spoken of with venera- tion in Rome. Many people still remem- bered with pity the young noble who had risen to the highest place in art and lit- erature in the Roman world and then, on the eve of his greatest triumph, heart- broken over his wife's crime, had fled Rome and tried to forget all under the blue Cam- panian sky. But now the young lad, thirteen years of age, was beginning to experience the changes toward manhood. Often he sat out under the great oak tree and, gazing into space, his artistic inheritance was aroused and he saw the wondrous beauty of that Campanian scene. How Wonder- fully blue was the Neopolitan Bay, seem- ingly at his very feet, and the beautiful green, Nature's favorite color, extending up and up to the very summit of Vesuvius, and then the mighty mountain itself, stretching out to the north farther and farther away toward Rome, the glorious capital of the mightiest and most powerful nation that ever ruled the world, toward Rome, the goal of his ambitions- .how wonderful it allwas! And then he would dream of how he might make a great name for himself over all the Roman empire, and that included all the world. For this was the wonderfully prosperous time of the reign of Titus, son of Vespasian, when the empire reached almost its greatest extent and all the world paid tribute to the crown of the Caesars. But of late grandfather seemed worried. He complained of visions at night and sud- denly he would wake up saying that he had heard strange sounds. But the boy, in his oblivious, youthful sleep, had heard none such. Well under the mountain in the back of the cave-home was a small re- cess and in the floor was a cleft, half a foot wide and about three feet long. 'Down and down stretched the cleft, seemingly bottomless, for one day Tiberius and Titus had dropped a burning torch down and had watched it fall, growing smaller and smaller into a mere speck and finally fad- ing from view. But time after time the old man was troubled by those visions and evil presentiments. Yet there seemed to be no cause. Then one day, as they were working hard together, suddenly came a deep rumbling as of thunder and they ran to the door, surprised that it should threaten a storm when they had had no knowledge of its approach. To their sur- prise, however, there was not a cloud in sight and the sun was shining brightly. Several times this occurred during the fol- lowing days, with apparently no reason, until one day the boy, noticing slight vi- brations around the cleft in the cave, knelt and, holding his ear close, heard faint, dis- tant mutterings. After that the cleft was closely watched and it was discovered that the rumblings had come from there. What could cause it? Surely no trouble could come to those vast stretches of southern Italy, lying peacefully under the golden, Italian sun! Day after day the rumblings gradually increased and both were occasionally disturbed by the vibra- tions. And then, one day, far, far down was discovered a little point of red.fire. Week after week the little speck grew, al- most imperceptibly. At first all this was the cause of much anxiety to Tiberius, but as the novelty wore off, it was taken more and more as a matter of course. The boy was almost fourteen now, when suddenly came an announcement from Pompe in the phithe boy dc had su When and to it seen see it greate his ve pleadei had to years. promis joy fr day gf days a Fin: great 1 set th their j the bc fully 4 so as Naturi sistiblf a loud beratii and hi terror thougl crevici and hi forgot tionsi The the w they 14 over people gone I road N eral fe foot W Withi in pul . . ,.- . -.,....a.2:.4L.L+..f,.14 :.:.4....- . W.,-..l.-M.:..-gg.:,gg,5,:,,.-,L-tgsolh , was .mv . Q it v N - V

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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

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Jorried. nd sud- zhat he ie boy, 1 heard tain in nall re- half a 'Down mingly d Titus ,nd had er and .ly fad- rne the uns and med to y were same a iey ran should had no air sur- .oud in 'ightly. :he fol- reason, ght vi- e, knelt nt, dis- :ft was ad that trouble hes of ler the ay the 1 both vibra- f down d,fire. ew, al- iis was us, but n more , when from THE WESTPORT HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. 25 Pompeii of a holiday and a mighty combat in the arena of the great Pompeiian am- phitheatre. Twice Tiberius had taken the boy down to Pompeii and how the sights had surprised and amazed the young lad! When they showed him the amphitheatre and told him of the contests waged there, it seemed as if it was his dearest wish to see it all himself. And now one of the greatest shows of all was announced for his very birthday! How he begged and pleaded that they might go, but Tiberius had to take into account his own advanced years. At length he gave the desired promise. The boy was overflowing with joy from then on as he bade each short day good-bye and counted the lessening days and hours. Finally dawned the morning before the great day and how busy they were as they set the home in order and -prepared for their journey of the following day. When the boy went to bed that night he had fully determined to stay awake all night so as not to over-sleep, but soon Mother Nature called for rest, and she was irre- sistible. At about five the next morning, a loud rumbling and roaring went rever- berating through the cave, waking Titus and his grandfather. Then again to their terror it occurred. But that was all, al- though they noticed that the fire in the crevice seemed to have grown much larger and heaved back and forth. This was all forgotten, however, as they made prepara- tions for the day. Then they set out. It seemed as if all the world was turned toward Pompeii as they looked from their high vantage point over the Roman roads, thronged with people, leading toward Pompeii. They had gone down a slight distance toward the road when suddenly Tiberius slipped sev- eral feet and in turning to catch a hold, his foot wedged under a rock and stopped him. With the boy lifting the rock, he succeeded in pulling the foot out, but as it came, he L'-HVG 3 QFOSLH of pain and they found that, while not badly sprained, it was in no con- difion for 3 long tramp to Pompeii. The boy, with his fondest hope thwarted, bY'3V91Y helped his grandfather back to their home and then went outside to mourn alone. Hours went by and he Could See the people pouring into the great amphi- theatre, when suddenly he heard Tiberius call and hastening in, he found him kneel- ing by the crevice. The red, molten fire had risen far up and was heaving back and forth, still many feet below the surface. Later as they were eating lunch, they were almost thrown to the ground by a sudden heaving of the cave floor. Rushing to the crevice, there were mutterings and mighty rumblings and they found that the cleft had widened to over three feet and opened up far back into the mountain. A hundred feet down there was a veritable sea of molten fire boiling and heaving back and forth. Surely it was time for flight! So, picking up a few things, they set out for the sea midway between Herculaneum and Pom- peii. Painfully they wended their way down under the bright, blue sky, saving the ankle as much as possible. How glor- ious was Nature that beautiful day! Many painful steps they had taken when the boy, looking back, gave a cry of fear and to- gether they turned around. From the summit of Vesuvius was shooting up a mighty apparition as of a gigantic pine tree. Its trunk was black smoke and its branches living fire with lightning playing through them. Then the ground shook. The mighty cloud of smoke and ashes rolled towards them and clear to the sea itself fell an awful shower of burning stones cast up from the bosom of the mountain. No longer stopping to look, on and on fled the boy and the old man. But overhead darker and darker spread the mighty cloud. A night darker than the darkest night was rushing upon the realm