Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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nights Crawl only tight dollars! l , 48 oUi-DIRE the night. 'Iihat night quite an uproar arose because a mouse ran aeross the iloor ot the bedf Vtvrvlll adyonnng ours jtlrl as we were about to get lllltb lied, so of CtJlll4SC ll. lmudi US tltllltl 21 timetogrrt1vslet'1l, Taking earriaees early in the morning, we went through some lovely Swiss eountry. Une village. called Clages, was having an auction of ealxes, and it was great lun watching the gestieulating of the people. The ehureh here is very old with a tower whieh is even older. .Xll the morning we went through many quaint straggling towns eaeh eonsisting of one street. liinally, at Saxton, we walked out into the Qoune try to eat our luncheon pienie fashion. tioing back to town we went through a preserving fae- tory, whieh seemed almost primitive to me in eontrast with the ones we have in the Linited States. XXX' 111011 took a train for lieneva, ar- riving with many regrets at not being able to start right over again. Ilns trip was not like anything l had 0101 experienced because 110 spoke l'reneh all the time. and so:ne of 1110 seenes were very unusual. lhe NXXHS girls 11010 jllml as laughter-loving as those I had been used to, and we had manv good times. lint the greatest surprise was tail tinding that the trip for 111100 days and two Q. Klef., Io, A STRANGE STEED. During the eivil war Mr. XYilliamson and his eldest son were away lighting, leaving only Mrs. XX ilhamson, 1101 daughter ul' lifteen, llCl' bov of seven, and llel' babv. The union soldiers had attacked the farm and 1111111011 it uf everything eatable, drinkable or ride- able on 11111011 they could lay their hands. Mrs. Xkilliamson and the lllly, who was very dglit-Ute, were made so siek from fright, fatigue and ex- eitement that Miss XX'illiamson thought she had better eonsult a doetor about her mother and brother and get 1110111 some medicine. llut how was she to get to town? The soldiers had taken every horse, mule, and eow on the plaee except one pet eow whieh Xliss Williamson had managed to hide in the bushes by the stream, Now it were to prove it-elf useful in a dillierent way from giv- ing milkg it was to earry her lu town, She rode it there, ereating quite a sensation in the eountrv villages through 11111011 she rode. She consulted lllCll' doetor, got the medicine, and returned llfllllk' lll lllii S2l1llLT XVUV. ' ii, '11 ny. IN MEMORY OF A BRAVE GIRL. Small groups of villagers huddled on the door- steps or 'stood in the streets discussing, in sub- dued whispers, the progress of the war. The sen- try had reported that the enemy's scouts were nearing the town and there was an undereurrent uf inteiise excitement. Already families were be- ginning to gather sueh food and clothing as they Crvllltl earry and were hurrying along the roads in search of a plaee of safety. At dusk the enemy entered the town, and after capturing the few re- maining eitizens, they fired the houses, eut the telephone and telegraph wires, and left destruc- tion and desolation in their wake. The pillagers saw an unpretentirwus-looking house on the hill- side but, thinking it had been deserted, they passed on and pitehed their eamp on the out- skirts of the village. Fate aided the slim light haired girl of the un- pretentious house, and she watehed the enemy's movements from an attie window every day and reported what she saw over a private telephone wire whieh had been overlooked by the enemy. ller supply of food was low and the loneliness and terror uf it all was maddening, but her father had given his life for his eountry and with that in mind she continued. Une day the general uf the enemy's army or- dered a thorough seareh of the town for spies. for it was eertain that they were being spied upon. ln the little house on the hill they found the girl at her post. reporting their last move. She was taken prisoner, guarded that night and after a eonrt martial. it was deeided that she should be put to death. At sunrise she was led out and stood. a slim figure against the blue sky, waiting for her death. .Xt a signal there was a flash of tire from half a dozen rifles and she slipped to the ground lifeless. M. T. '17. THE LITTLE LAME BOY. Ile was a beautiful ehild, this little lame boy, who sat every morning in the same window as I went by to work. l'le had soft eurly hair and deep blue eyes that eompelled one to look twice at their owner. He sat in the same big ehair covered with a downy eom fort whieh almost hid him from view in its soft folds. He always waited for me with a eheery smile and a wave of his thin little hand as Iipassed by: and in summer. when the window was raised to let in the warm sun- shine, he and I would talk together. ln one of these talks he told me that his name 'B

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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

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OUT- l 3 I R lf 49 was Bobbie and that he was 'tgoing-on-seven years old. He had been a cripple ever since his infancy when he had been dropped by a careless nurse and had twisted his legs. He said that his sister and he were the only people left in his family and that she went every morning to teach in a kindergarten for a living. XVhile she was away, he entertained himself by watching the people go by. XYhen she came home from work. they had many enjoyable times together, reading and playing quiet games. Although the pain was much greater some days than others. I never saw him cross or heard him say a disagreeable word. Then one morning as l passed, I saw no cheery face at the window, and all the rest of the day I thought of all the misfortunes that might have happened to him. Un my way home I went in to inquire the cause of his absence. His sister rec- ognized me as the man of whom llobbie had often spoken, She said that the little cripple had not been well that morning and had remained in bed all day. She had had one of the neighbors come in to keep him company while she was away. Later she had called in a physician and he had seemed very worried over the child's condition. From then on Bobbie never sat in the window, for he kept growing worse and his poor little face became thinner and paler. Une day when I went in to inquire for him, I was told that he had died the night before, holding his sister's hand and smiling until the last. I shall never forget this child whose loving heart and sweet disposition ruled him even in the most extreme pain. A. H. ,I7. SAMMY'S PEKINESE. Sammy was a little boy about nine years old. He had dark curly hair and large blue eyes which looked up at one with a wistful air as though he always longed for something. Sammy's mother took in washing but she could not make enough money to give Sammy the one thing he wanted most in all the world. Sammy wanted a dog, not the kind that runs around the poorer streets half fed, and very hungry, but a very different kind. Ile had seen a picture once in a magazine of a little low-set dog with a pug nose and long hair, with the name Pekinesel' under it. This was the kind of dog Sammy wished for, but as I have said before, they were too expensive for Sammv's to buy. - morning Sammy rose before his mother, and with a little money he had been hoarding for many years, set out to a newspaper plant, Where he bought as many papers as his money mother One allowed and started out to sell them. Ile was such a sturdy, lovable little lad that many peo- ple bought his papers just to see his face light up when they gave him his pennies. They did not know that every penny Sammy took, brought him nearer to his dog! As soon as his papers were sold, he rushed home and proudly showed his money to his astonished mother. .Nt first she did not like the idea of her son selling papers, but when she saw how happv he was in doing it and that the wistful look was leaving his eyes, she consented. Y As the mornings went by, the bowl in which Sammy's money was kept, grew fuller and fuller. Still the dog was a long way off because the crock would have to overflow many times before thc dog could be bought, Sammy was growing he kept patients as he was leav- whimpering as and Sammy saw fence. .Xt once came from this, disheartened because of this, but ly on. Une cold winter morning ing his home, he heard a dog though it suffered with the cold a dark spot on the snow by the he went to see if the whimpering and with a wild shout of joy he picked the object up. lt was a dog with a pug nose, and bow legs, and long hair. His joy passed as swiftly as it came, for he saw the dog wore a collar. lhe thought came to him that if he would take the collar otf, nobody would know whose dog it was, lflowever, he put this thought aside, and a very sad little boy started out to lind the home of the runaway dog. Ile found the address without much trouble and saw that trunks were being carried out and that people were bustling around inside as though they were closing the house. It was a very large place and Sammy was a little afraid to ring the back door bell. .-Xs soon as he did, he found himself in a large kitchen confronted by a large cook who was smiling down at him. lle gave her the dog without a word and started to leave the room, but she stopped him and gave him something to eat. This kindness and the thought of leaving the dog was too much for Sammv and he burst into tears, sobbing out to the cook his whole longing for the dog. Silent- lv the woman left the room, soon reappearing with her mistress, who asked Sammy to repeat all he had said. At the end of his story she told him that she was just leaving the city and that she would be only too glad to give one of her ljeeks to Sammy because she had two dogs and one was all she wished to take with her. Sammy, after thanking her again and again, permitted her to kiss him ta privilege which he seldom gaveb and, with the dog tightly held in his arms, ran home. M. D. YI7.