Wheaton Community High School - Wecomi Yearbook (Wheaton, IL)

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30 ORANGE AND BLACK IiilIEIiIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIHHHIIIHHIHHHHHlHiHWHIIHlllllllHH!Hlllilllllllll4IIIlIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIiIIilHllllHlHHHHHHlNHHllllllllNHMNINNNWiIIHill!lIHNHillIHiill!NINNWHIllNHHNllNNUH4INllUNHiHHNNHlllllllllllllllllllllll, remained and when the rain ceased the waves began to rise. Large, green, white crested, billows dashed over the ship as the storm roared on its way. When the storm bloke, I was in the little pilot-house. My two friends had gone down into the hold with some of the men who had finished cleaning fish before the storm. I now decided that I wanted to go below to see what was going on. The captain warned me to hang tight when I was outside and to be careful when I was in the hold or I would get 'em sure. In spite of the captain's warning, I was soon doing anything but holding tight. I stepped out just after a large wave swept over us. I quickly descended the steps to the deck and started forward to get under the large hood that covered the front of the boat. No sooner were my feet on the deck, than the boat lunged forward on its downward plunge. The deck was covered with running water and slippery fish slime. I shot forward under the hood as though I was on a toboggan. While thus mer- rily sliding along, I wondered how I could find the small trap door, and also realized that if I did not fasten myself to something I would presently come sliding back again and be washed into the lake for my foolishness. However, I was doing needless thinking. My foot struck something. I felt myself falling and at the same time received a crushing blow on my- stomach. I gripped the deck with all my strength, but it was too slip- pery. My hands slid and down I went. I alighted on my feet in a very dimly lighted room amid loud acclamations such as these: Well done! Some kid for speed, dat! and Oh he'll make a salt before his mother. The wind had been so nicely knocked out of me that I could only glare back my compliments in return, which, if said, would not have hightened any feelings of friendship, of that I am sure. While holding to the ladder I had just failed to make use of, I began to examine the place into which I had fallen. It was a very dirty, gloomy, and evil-smelling little pen. A dim and very smoky lantern swung to and fro from the ceiling. With the aid of this I was able to see some narrow bunks, placed one above the other on opposite sides of the room, leaving space enough for a man to pass between them. I was now able to straighten up, and remembering what the captain had said about getting 'em. I lay down on a large coil of rope while my friends and the men were more comfortably situated on the bunks, Soon they were all asleep and snoring lustily while above the rest I could hear Ole who drowned out some of the others with a strong bass. Finally the creak- ing of the wooden boat, the wash of waters, and the snoring, mingled into one low drone. The smoky, swaying lantern seemed to glimmer at a greater distance and then go out. I slept with comfort on a hard pile of rope. At last I awokeg all was astir. The harbor was close at hand. Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed The light-house top I see? Is thlis the hill? is this the kirlc? Is this mine ozrn contree? lllllllIllllIllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHillIHHlllllIHlllllllllllllllllHHIIIIIIII ill Ill III ll I IIII Illll Ill lllllll HHH I Hlllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllllll IIIIIIII I IlllIIIIIlllllIlllllllllllllllllllIlllllllllllll lil lil ll ll

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ORANGE AND BLACK 29 lltlllllilllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIIllllilllilililllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIllllliiiiiIlllllllllIllIilllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllHillllllllllllIIII5IIIIIIIIIIIIIHillilllllllllllllIlllllllIIIIIIIllillIIllilIllllllllllllllIllllIIIIIIIllIIIIIillliIlHlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll something that looked like a shoe-maker's awl. These they stuck into the fish which they were able to throw quickly into boxes. This work con- tinued for about seven hours. During this time six miles of nets were taken in. I have forgotten how many hundred pounds of lake trout and white fish were caught, but I remember that the captain said that it was a fair haul. All the time we were on the lake there had been no roll of the boat. The water remained like glass. The boat had sometimes been at a total standstill. It reminded me of a painted ship upon a painted ocean. In the early morning there had been a slight mist but while the nets were being drawn in the sun blazed down hot and strong. The decks were cov- ered with dead fish and slime. The sun made the smell of this intolerable. It seemed the very deep did rot and that slimy things could crawl with legs upon a slimy sea. A large number of gulls stayed near the ship while the nets were being brought in. When this was going on one of the men showed us something new. He picked up a dead fish about seven inches long. He then stuffed a five-inch spike down its mouth and threw it into the water. Down dropped a gull catching the fish before it had time to sink. The gull swallowed fish. spike, and all and flew off shrieking loudly. Coleridg'e's Rime of the Ancient Mariner had been in my head all day and then a part of it came to me. God save thee, ancient Marinefrl From the fiends, that plague thee thus.'- Why look'st thou so?-With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross. ' After the net was all in, other nets, which had been folded and set in boxes, were tied together and thrown out. This work went on rather fast. While I was sitting on one of the dry nets that the men were not yet ready to use, my interest was attracted by one of the men. He was a large Swede named Ole. I noticed him because of his enormous strength. He was handling the boxes containing the nets. These were heavy for two men to lift, but Ole handled these boxes alone very easily. He was six feet four and weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. I could not help but think what a man Ole would have been if he had lived in the days of his ancestors, the Vikings. No sooner had we gotten under way for home than the weather began to change. The sky took on a yellowish copper color which soon changed to a lead gray, and then to a deep black. A slight breeze passed over us and then the elements began their strife. Wind and rain came together forming a rushing deluge. Foam in long waves seemed to skim over the lake. Flash after flash of lightning lit up the sky in rapid suc- cession. The thunder cracked, peal followed peal, and then rumbled on to what seemed a never ending distance. The rain stopped but the wind IllIIIIIIIIIIIIllIIlllllllllllllllllllllllll IIII III I Il lllllllll Il l HH llllllllllllll IIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllIlllIIIIIIIllIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllll IIIIIIIII I l lillllllllllllllllllll Illlllilllillll IIIIIIIIIIIHHHlllllllll I ll Illlll ll ll I

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ORANGE AND BLACK 31 IIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIIIIIIllllllHillllWilllllllllllllllIllllllllllllllllllHlllllIllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHlllllllllllllIIIIIIIIlllllllllllillillllllllllllllllllllllIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllIlIII!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIllllllllillllilllllllllIIIIIIIIllliIllllllllllllillllilllll When just within the quiet harbor our ship let out a blast from the whistle of such an uncanny shrillness that it seemed to reverberate in the very marrow of my bones. I thought of the palt of the poem, which has been quoted, where the ship went down like lead, but our ship steadily churned its way to the dock. After giving the captain oui thanks and a small sum for cigars for the crew, especially Ole, we started on our three mile walk home. We had not been seasick but we were land-sick. When we stepped on shore it was like standing on the back of some great serpent for it rolled as though alive. It was about eleven. The moon had come out and lighted up the white lime-stone road along which we staggered. He came at last to the top of a long hill and there we stood holding on to each other as though we were drunk. Behind us we could see the black church spire that iose above the town, and on the harbor little lights twinkled from the boats, but ever the landscape rolled. The wind raced through the trees whose branches cast weird shadows across the road. Close upon our right stood the ceme- tery in which the grave stones, shining white in the light of the moon, waved to and fro in ghastly form. Home seemed good but the furniture rocked fearfully, so I went to bed with haste and was soon asleep. How wonderful is the land of dreams! It was as though I had just closed my eyes when the dragon- headed prow of our sea rider grated on the beach amid the roaring surge. The clang of arms, the calls, the shouts, and then we bore down upon the English town with all the fury of the Viking host we were. Beside me was Ole's great form. His mighty sword killed men on right and left. The fight is on! I strike, and strike, and laugh, and strike again. The enemy's blood flowed hot and fast, and glistened black, beneath the mo n's pale, cold light. RICHARD HOFF, '22. ,A llllllllll III IIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll IIIIIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllll III Ill I I Illl lll Illllllll lllllll ll II I I llllllllllll1lIIIIllIIllILIIIIIIIIlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ll lll llllllllllllllllIIIIIlIIlllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllllllllllllll