Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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46 QUT DIRE A SUNSET AT SEA. XX e had lieen tossing ahout on a rough sea all dav, lvut altout six o'clock it liecame very calm. ,,kr far as we could see there was scarce- lv a ripple. 'lihe air hecome crisp and cold and there was no wind stirring. is the sun low- ered. we saw a small hlack spot on the horizon. liol' a while we could not tell what it was. hut great was the excitement when it was found In he an ieehergl Meanwhile the low-hang- ing' clouds had lmecome crimson and gold. Une flame of red shot up into the sky making' every- thing' appear to he on tire, Even the boat no lly this frjl' sea, the Zllirl the we U the light fell upon it, it became a cloudy emerald green. Near this floating mass uf ice, two whales were playing. .Xt that distance they were merely lmlack ohjects that kept appear- ing and disappearing, lt was more interest- ing to watch a school of jellyfish, through which the ship had lieen plowing for an hour or more. 'lihe sailors caught some in a hueket caught and reflected the color, The 5621. longer dull, lmecame pink and orange. time we had come duite near the iceherg, three or four miles is a short distance at and it looked aliout four times the size of hom, It rinse In a point like a mountain, had many sharp pinnacles which caught sunlight and glistened like steel. XX'hen first saw it, it was grev and hlack. hut as SH that we might examine them more closely. These jellyfish were pale yellow and were shaped like stars. AX few of 1110 largest 112111 red markings which radiated from the center. iXt the sight of the icelrerg, the captain had turnezl the lvoat southward, and we seemed to 110 leav- ing the sun hehind us. Slowly, like a huge hall of tire, it sank lnelow the waves. 'lihough a glow remained over the sky, the water liecame so dark that we soon lost sight of the icelmerg completely. lil, li, '16, AN ADVENTURE IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. Une warm summer evening, while l was vis- iting' in Iilne llill, ten of us decided to make Z1 ll'l1r rrl L'XlllIJl'Zlll4Jll. lk L' lmiulq se-vergll stout sticks and a couple of lanterns with us, .Xfter a walk ot several miles we came in sight of a ramliling' old house surrounded by gr fleugg grove, through which a mislv moon gleanied faintly. lhe owls hooted from the treetops and frogs croaked from the marshes nearby, making it very dreary and desolate. By this time our busy tongues had ceased wagging and some of our courage had disappeared, but as we were determined to continue our quest, we approached the large old-fashioned Veranda with its worm-eaten pillars gleaming like mar- lile in the moonlight. Having timidly mounted the rickety steps, which squeaked at every move, we tried the door several times before it opened. As our courage was not quite sufficient for us to ex- plore. guided only hy a ray of moonlight which came through the vacant window frame, we lighted our lanterns and entered a dark, dreary and solemn hall. There were many holes in the lloor and the loose hoards squeaked loudly. liieht doors opened from this hall, seven of which we were successful in opening, but the eighth seemed to he locked on the inside. We divided into groups hefore exploring. lfive of us first visited a room which evidently had once been a fine lilvrary, as there were large hookeases containing' a numher of hooks that seemed to he very interesting, but which we found upon closer investigation to he far heyond our knowledge, XX'hile we were thus engaged, we heard an excited call from some- where further down the hall. XYe started in the direction of the sound, hut had reached only the lilirary door when our lantern went out. Xte fumhled ahout in the hall, which was very dark, and fell over every object that came in contact with our feet. fly the frequent exelamations, I judged that the others were also discovering that the floor was cluttered with a miscellaneous collection of old hottles, boxes and loose planks. .Xt last we came to a door through which a dim light glimmered. Upon entering the room the other five appeared to lie very much excited and interested by an old organ which, when the keys were struck, sereeehed and groaned like a soul in torment. ,lust as we were pocketing some pieces from the sheet of music for our memory hooks, we heard a key click and a door slowly open. This frightened us so much that we started for the hall, screaming att the top of our lungs. Xve got no further than the door, when our last lantern went out, and we were left in pitch darkness! Too terrified to move, we crouched in a huddled group in a corner. Soon light, tapping' footsteps were heard coming towards us, and in the ghostly moonlight two large ldack things were outlined. XVe screamed and elosed our eyes, clutching' each other vvith S

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OUT-DIRI2 45 for, notwithstanding our fears to the contrary, we had arrived early, and most of the Indians had not yet left their wigwams. However, the disappointment did not last, for an old, bent squaw, who had been sitting quietly under a tree doing nothing when we arrived, rose and slowly started towards us. She was dressed in the typical Indian costume, with a brilliant red and yellow blanket thrown about her shoulders, and a tan-colored beaded skirt reach- ing just above her ankles. Iiather hurried to meet her. to ask her to take us through the camp. She spoke very broken Iinglish, but we were soon able to understand that she would act as our guide for ten cents,-paid in ad- vancc. XYe then made our way through the little settlement of Indians, often poking our heads through the small low openings in the tept es. and, just as often, quickly drawing them out again! They were dirty and very close, and as a rule, smelled disagreeably of paint. Iior days the braves had been decorating their bod- ies with any sort of paint that they had been able to secure. Outside of one tent, hanging between two tall trees. was a small, queer ham- mock made of twigs, in which an old squaw rocked a papoose. In many tents beads were sold, and we were just buying a string of very commonplace ones from an old Indian, who had persuaded us that they were very odd, when we heard in the distance a deep, rather musical rumble. This, our guide told us, was the music of the tom-tom, a peculiar instru- ment much like our drum, on which the musi- cian beats with two sticks tipped at each end with a small ball. Since this was a signal for the Indians to assemble to begin the dance, we turned and hurried in the direction from which the strange sound was coming. For this stamp dance a larffe suace had been - C 1 b I L cleared and surrounded by logs. Later we tried sitting on these logs to rest, but we were immediately ordered by the chief himself to rise. as, he anfrrily explained, the logs were for old squaws only. At one end sat the musician, swaying to D the use of the of the clearing and fro in time to the slow music of his queer instrument: at the other end, almost one hun- dred young squaws were lined up in three rows. They were dressed mostly in blankets, with fringes, strings, and tassels of beads. They, also, were swaying from side to side with a slow, rhythmical movement, patting their feet softly on the ground, and advancing slow- ly, Indeed, they advanced so slowly that, though the dance lasted way into the night, they had only reached the other end of the clearing when it was over! just as we reached the scene of the dance all the braves rushed from their wigwams into the clearing, and then commenced to creep here and there, closely in- specting the ground. Suddenly, there was a yell. one of the braves, evidently, had found strange foot-prints on the damp earth. There was a hurried consultation around the huge tire and then all the Indians separated and ran into the forest. Later, having one by one re- turned and gathered around the fire, they held a long and earnest pow-wow. The warriors finally, apparently having come to a decision, all joined in their regular war dance. This was by far the longer and more interesting part of the performance. The Indians danced wildly. waving their arms in the air, stamping fiercely upon the earth, and never once ceasing to yell. .Xltogether it was a sight of which we seem- ed unable to tire. Ifor hours we walked about or sat still, sometimes trying to escape the rather dull, monotonous drumming of the tom- tom, at other times straining our ears to hear better this same music. when the musician him- self seemed to feel the wildness of the scene. and so played with a savage fierceness, as though he were trying to express his wild feel- ings through his music. Always we watched the peculiar, savage-like movements. and often tried to puzzle out the meaning of some action that seemed to cause especial attention. Later it was all explained to us. The dance represented a revival of the war between the pale-face and the savage. The Indians had been notitied by scouts that strange men had entered their country, and all the bravcs left their tents to look for some trace of them. Af- ter their search in the woods. they returned to their camp-fire, and having discussed the in- formation that they had been able to gather, they declared war on the pale-faces. Then en- sued the war-dance. NYC had a picnic tea in the woods. and then. although we had not at first intended to, wait- ed till the moon rose to start on our trip home. In the fiickering light of the fare, the Indians. against the dark background of trees, seemed more primeval and savage than ever, and so it was with a little shiver of fear, which we were unable to repress. that we took our departure from the camp. A. I... ao.

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OUT pine 47 fright. Suddenly a hearty laugh made us open our eyes, and to our great relief and joy we saw my young uncles holding tlash-lights so tha-t their faces were plainly visible. They had heard of our little trip and had come to sur- prise us. ll. ll., io. LE VOYAGE. Ort we started! Our loyalty to tiencva was shown by the red and yellow bands around our large dilapidated straw hats. l wore an old blue skirt, rose-colored sweater, tan tramp shoes, and last but not least, a knapsaek on my back. As we arrived at the station with this outfit there were ten chattering girls wait- ing for us, making a party of twenty to take the trip. XYe filled one whole coach, and if anyone chanced to look in for a place, we would call out, Filled, and he would gasp at such a strange sight and turn away. K At St. Maurice, forming ourselves in march- ing order, we walked through the quaint town of one street to a hill overlooking the Rlifnie River. Here we ate our lunch. which we had brought with us. NYe then climbed a very steep, winding path to a grotto called l.a Grotto des Fees. It was very interesting, with water dripping down the sides forming queer figures on the wall. .Xt the end there was a wonderful waterfall which the guide illumin- ated with a lantern in such a way as to create the most wonderful colors, which made it look like a rainbow with diamonds sprinkled through. On the way back to the station, we looked at the ruins of a church built in Roman times. NYC had to go through a comparatively modern churcrh tbuilt in the Middle Agesi, and through a little narrow door to see the ruins which were behind it. There were very few remains, as it had not all been entirely excavated at that time. But there was a part of what must have been an altar, and also some of the original pav- ing stones. At Sion, our next stop, we saw some forti- fications of the Middle Ages. As the fortifica- tions were on a hill, we went through the town on our way up. It happened to be market day. and one street was Filled on both sides by booths. where Swiss merchants sold not only eatable products, but also all kinds of wear- ing apparel. The outside walls of the forti- fications still seemed to be pretty strong, but were slowly going to ruin, as no care was taken of them. We entered through a beautiful arch of which we all took pictures. The barracks, or at least what seemed like barracks, had lit- tle narrow rooms, hardly large enough to turn around in. The chapel. not far from the bar- racks, was very beautiful on account of the wonderful carvings on the pillars, pulpit and also on ix hat seemed to be the choir pews. llut. after seeing this, we had to go back for the train to F-ierre, where we spent the night. There was nothing to see here but the beautiful coun- try, and on the front of the hotel the loveliest wisteria l have ever beheld. Un the way to the station next morning for llrig, our military inode ol walking and our strange outfit caused quite a sensation among the villagers. llere, forming ranks again, we marched to a hotel, where we deposited our things. as the knapsacks were not light by any means. Un going up the street, we saw a very impressive old house which we were told had been the largest private house in Switzerland. lt was built after the llonian style. The iron entrance door, the work of years, no doubt, was very beautifully carved. There were bal- conies on the stcond and third tloors running all around the house and facing on a very love' ly court, which contained a fountain and some marble statuary. ln the gallery there were still some pictu1'es of the family. which gave us a very good idea of the costumes of the early periods. After this. we went to see a church upon a very steep hill. Nye were a lit- tle disappointed in this building, as it seemed too modern to be interesting after what we had seen, but we could admire a very wonderful view which extended to the St. llernard l ass. lt had the great snow-capped .Xlps as a back- ground. while in the foreground a smaller moun- tain covered with green trees sloped gradually to the fields where cattle were grazing, .Xfter luncheon we went to a small village called Rarogne. The first thing l noticed was that evervthin--' was written in lierman and all the people Epoke it. The village was full light out of the most picturesque blue, pink, and green houses, with little balconies jutting in the most unexpected places. tlne house, in- habited by stolid peasants. had upon it the coat of arms of some baron, who evidently had once lived there. Most of the houses had friczes of different scenes around the top just under the eaves. Again climbing a hill, we came to a church which was not interesting inside. but was very beautiful outside, because of its grace- ful lines and the ivy-cove11 l QVQY Walls- XTC then took a train back to Sion, where we spent