Wethersfield High School - Elm Yearbook (Wethersfield, CT)

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There in the glare of the searchlight lay the ill-fated Joy. She had been thrown on a jagged rock with her bow pointed skyward and, on her lulling deck, over which the high seas broke, clung five figures praying that help would come before their craft slipped down into the fathomless depths. John dropped both bow and stern anchors, and the May came along side of the slanting deck tugging at her ropes as if in fear of the black rocks which jutted from the sea. One by one the victims, water soaked, and pale, climbed to the May's deck. The women fell, the men were too exhausted to speak. Winnie was the last to come aboard, and just as she was climbing from the slippery deck of the wrecked craft, the stern anchor of the May gave way and the wind swung her around, leaving Winnie clinging to the rail of the Joy. In an instant John was sliding down the remaining anchor cable to the deck of the joy. The men threw him a rope and with Winnie under one arm and the rope in his free hand, John was dragged over the rocks, up the side, and over the rail to the deck of the May, where he fell unconscious. John was put in the cosy cabin in the care of Winnie, who had now recovered herself. The rescued men got the May under way just as the Joy slipped before a giant wave into the sea. The May plowed her way through the sea and back home. Sixty miles away, the much relieved family could hear Winnie whispering sweet little nothings in John's ear. --Frczlerivk Pritchard, '2 8. MOODS I felt the sad, slow drip of tears upon my heart, And fought the misty shroud of grim despair, I saw my high-flung hope lie broken at my feet And watched my dreams go floating off in air. And then across the dim horizon came a whisper, A whisper of a deathless song, And I saw my hope arising, and my dreams come drifting back, Bringing peace and life for which I've hoped so long. I heard a burst of lilting music From the land of sunset glowg A robin's call at morning From a glen where violets growg The damp sweet wind of April And the patter of summer raing A long deep note of laughter And a joy devoid of pain. ' -Barbara Wz'Ils, '2S.

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How many have you aboard and how long can you stay up? cried John. We have three men and two women and cannot stay up longer than an hour and a half, came the voice. Stand by a second,', yelled John- Dad, there is-- 'II know, the voice of john,s father broke in, I have been listening. That is Judge Fort's yacht and Winnie is aboardg you know her-go get them. I'1l stand byg and, he added, 'tlooks like you're going to get a chance to run the scow one handf, Winnie Fort on that boat! thought John. That was enough, for John adored Winnie. I'm comingf' he yelled at the transmitter, send up rockets. The next moment he was in the engine room and had the big Deisel running like a sewing machine. Slipping into a slieker he dashed upon deck to the windlass and hauled the anchors up. Then he made his way across ,the slippery deck to the pilotis cabin so that he could get under way before the wind drove the craft upon the rocks. He switched on all the lights and started the automatic fog horn sending out its hoarse bellow. He threw her into gear, and the May's powerful propeller shoved her over the first swell on her fifteen mile journey to save the lives that clung to the rocks off Fisher's Island. The May could do eighteen miles per hour in a calm sea, and john estimated that now she could do the fifteen miles in somewhat over an hour, and they could stay up only an hour and a half. He grasped the tugging wheel, shoved the throttle to its limit, and headed into the swell toward the blinking light just visible, which marked Fisher's Island. In his haste John had forgotten to turn off the transmitter and back home, sixty miles away, his anxious family was listening to the bellow of the fog horn and the howl of the wind, while miles out on the black sea a huddled group expecting death listened to the same sounds. Swell after swell passed on their journey to the land and the light on Fisher's Island was near, but still no sign of the rockets. Then off to the left, very near, came the yellow glare which marked the. spot where the ill-fated Joy lay. John crammed the wheel hard to the right lest the May also be run upon the rocks. He knew that this side of the rocks was treacherous, but on the other side there was deep water. No more rockets appeared, and John began to fear he was too late and that the boat had slipped from the rocks. He switched on the powerful searchlight which was mounted on the cabin top and controlled from the inside by a swivel. And just in time, for in another minute the May would have been rammed headlong into the jagged rocks. He threw the motor into reverse, and for a moment the May rode motionless. 1 Y., . 77, 1

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TERROR: ' I walked up the rickety stairs, my heart in my mouth, and knocked on the door. No a'nswer. The silence that had issued after that dreadful scream clanged on my throbbing ear drums. With shaking hand, I essayed another knock, inhnitely feebler than the first. What do you want? demanded a gurreral voice. Overwhelmed by the suddenness and silence of his approach, and my mind dazed by the rapid course of events, I spun around. Wliat do you want? again asked the strange creature which my startled eyes beheld. Ignoring his question, I stammered out: H-how did you get there? ' That is my business. Answer my question or you will disappear as quickly as I have appeared. The very sharpness of his tone whipped my mind back to normalcy. I heard a scream for help and came accordingly, I replied, looking into his sharp black eyes, the orbs of which appeared to burn with a feverish light into the innermost recesses of my soul. His yellow skin contracted into a scowl and his long white beard twitched with unac- countable rage. This strange being appeared to wilt, and his voice broke into a hoarse whisper. This house must never be investigated. You shall learn a few of its secrets, as have others, but alsovl he grew vehement and burst out- even as they have died, you also must perish with your knowledge! I sprang towards him, but a concealed door opened in the wall, through which he darted, and I was brought up with a jolt against hard plaster. Infuriated beyond reason, I bounded to the door on which I had first knocked. I grasped the knob and a tingling shock passed up my arm. Closing my eyes, I charged like a mad bull at the offending door. In the meantime some force had automatically opened the door. Meeting no resistance I was flung into the room like a shot from a catapult. My Lord, I was in a mirrored room. Most dreaded torture. Every- where I wildly beheld myself! A door opened! What more horror? I rushed towards it with a stifled shriek! I stopped! My inhuman Captor stood in the doorway with a young man whose face was distorted with agony and whose mouth frothed blood. I leaped towards his tormentor, sending out a powerful blow. My fist was shattered against plate glass. I tore madly around the room, seeking in vain for that mocking face, but the powers of reflection utterly defeated me. The fiend soon tired of this sport and he closed the cleverly placed, mirrored door, and I was left to my half-mad self. Insensible to my throbbing hand, I beat and kicked the walls, bruising myself countless times, until I finally sank to the floor exhausted. God, the horror of it! My image appearing every- where, I could not distinguish which were the walls, which the ceiling or which the floor. I closed my eyes, and with the shutting out of the terror of the place, my poor mind once more began to function in the manner of an outraged normal person.