Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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OUT -I IRE 53 mountains and again she had arranged their home. That was one spring, and the next fall a stranger had come one evening to the cabin and talked to ,lim until far into the night. The next day when the stranger rode away -lim went with him, and, just before they started, he told her that it might be a long time before he returned home but she should wait there for him. He had not yet returned. She had waited there for twenty- five years and was still waiting for him to come llO11lG. Despite the years that had passed, she still believed that he would one day come up the trail from the world he had gone to. Mlhen the story was hnished we sat in silence. XVhat was there to say? Next day we rode on and followed the trail that leads to the summit and then descends to the valley again. Xyith us went the memory of the little cabin half way up the mountain and the woman waiting so hopefully for her husbands return. Mfould she be disappointed? XYho could tell? E. G. IE. '17. A SNOWSTORM. Everywhere was silence. heavy brooding si- lence. The earth was frozen and bare, highways lay hardened into ridges and the creek bottom be- spoke the relentless hand of lack Frost. The trees stood erect and motionless like sentinels, their little twigs, wont to dance so merrily in the breeze. poised now as if on tiptoe. All was ex- pectation. Even the air held its breath. A great hawk came circling down and alighted silently on a giant spruce. In the west, dark ominous piles of clouds slowly assumed fantastic shapes as they drew nearer and nearer. Complete silence, then a tiny snowflake floated lazily through the air, then another and another. heralds of the approaching storm, Faster and faster they came, whirling, skipping, dancing, tripping, blotting out the landscape by their very numbers. Descending, they covered the bare arms of the trees and mantled the earth in a robe of ermine and sifted themselves daintily into every available nook and cranny. On and on they came, penetrating, fairylike and noiseless. Slowly and more slowly they fell until they Ceased altogether. The landscape was trans- formed as if by a magic wand. The earth had exchanged her drab coat of early winter for one of ermine. Sharp contrasts were softened by bil- lows of glistening snow. Trees and small shrubs were laden to the ground with their burden of sparkling gernsg even the giant spruce was D crowned with a diadem of jewels. The hawk, huddled close to the trunk of the old spruce dur- ing the recent flurry, shook himself and, spread- ing his great wings, soared away. The scene he left behind him was one of beauty, tranquillity, and silence. R. lfl. '17, MARIA. hlaria dances into l'welfth Night, and in fact all through the play, like the mischief-loving little imp that she is. Her black eyes snap and utterly fail to conceal the coquetry and pranks which are the delight of her small person and for which even her sedate manner and prim speeches are insuflicient disguise. Clever and adroit in the management of her associates, she displays the diplomacy of a statesman and with all a loving heart, in spite of the amusement she is afforded by her little affair with Malvolio when through her cunning he makes such a fool of himself by displaying his conceit and gullibility. Many times her bright face peeps out with a sauciness which adds charm to this attractive comedy. In the end Maria marries Sir Toby llelch, another character in Twelfth Night. How with a sportful malice it was follow'dg May rather pluck on laughter than revengeg lf that the inquiries be justly weigh'd, That have on both sides pass'd. G .xr 'l7. THE MIDNIGHT FEAST. Two years before the time of this story a club had been organized in Miss l1rown's lioarding School. It was called the -lolly Six Club and consisted of Kitty Gordon, Eleanor King, llelle Smith, julia Kelly, Delia Hope and Elsie Martin who were the best of friends. Elsie Martin had moved out west because of her mother's health, but still remained a mem- ber. The girls kept her informed from time to time of what was going on at school. They were all sorry that she was not here now be- cause they had decided to have a midnight feast. The party was to be in a vacant store- room on the fourth floor. The girls had planned to go to bed at nine o'clock, the usual hour, and then to get up at eleven o'clock for the party. flow they man- aged to awaken at eleven o'clock nobody knows, but they did, and after much stumbling in the dark they were hnally ready to meet at the end of the hall, which was not far from

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53 oUr-DIRE they will lltll'l any llowers, I do not mean to sav-tl1e1'e are no tlowers there. Uh, yes, there sweetpeas and llZlSlIll'llllll1S cling to the wall. and pansies and linglish daisies a11d the kind 11fll11XXe1's cl1il1lren love to pick. Last of all is the corner to the right of the SUIT dial, where there is a stone seat beside the little stream that lost her way and came running in under the wall, but t11r11ed right around Zllltl we11t stumltling o11t over some stones. .-Xnd there's pansies, that's for thought, Zlllfl there's rose- niarv, that's for l'Clllk'llllll'LllICL'.H i R. .X., '17, THE LOST CHORD. XX'ithin a great cathedral, where llllll and quiet shadows fell over a few scattered pe11i- lL'lllS kneeling in silent prayer. sat an organist. ,Xlone with tl1e keys-idly l1is lingers strayed. striking here and there a note, 11 chord,-his INl1Itl far away groping, groping for a thoughtl and still his fingers wandered, as he too bowed his head i11 prayer. Xkvhile thus in silent communion with his tlod, a wondrous beam front the setting' sun F-lltbllk' through the great stained-glass wi11dows. and fell 11po11 l1i111, fill- ing the erstwhile dim a11d silent church witl1 soft and radiant beauty. XYith swelling heart and tear-dimmed eyes, again his lingers fell upon the keys, and there was born a marvelous, heavenly Sl.I'IllIl, such as no lIltJl'lQIll had ever .Xhnost prostrate with ineffable joy, the organist tried with all his powers to repro- heard. tlllCC the chord. Une by o11e all the combina- tions he had ever known fell from his trem- bling hands. lltllll'5 passed, days, years, tl1e niusician grew l'l'4PlN young 1na11l1ood to old age. and l1is supreme tliought flllll ambition was still totindhis l'.ost Lil1o1'1l, WhiCh,i11 0110 tleeting nionient had been born, a11d l1ad as swiftly l'Cll1l'llL'll to its heavenly source. II. L., 'I7. THE WOMAN ON THE MOUNTAIN. I'o1' hours we had been riding along the trail that led up the mountain side. NYe had hoped to reach the Hgllllllllll il louse but hour by hour this hope had become fainter lllllll all we now de- sired was shelter for tl1e night. At last we espied a light amid the glooni of the trees and we urged our weary horses forward. .ks we rode up to the floor, my brotlier remarked that he hoped we would spt,-111l tht night' here. l hoped so too be- cause we -.ve1'e so tired Zllltl the night air was ex- tremely cold. Wfell, we could only ask for a night's lodging and abide by the answer. In re- sponse to Dick's knock the door was opened by a little woman. She peered anxiously out at us and I suppose was convinced of our harmlessness, for after a l'l'lOllICHtiS hesitation she requested us in a very kindly 1I'lEtII1'lC1' to come in. XVe had be- come so used to the rough tones and manners of the mountain people that we were startled by the contrast of this polite request. The room into which we were invited was a sight to rest people even as tired as we were. It was long and low and at one end a blazing log tire sent out a cheerful warmth. Except for the light TTOIII the burning embers the room was in darkness, but our hostess made haste to light two high candles that stood on the mantle. She seemed to realize that we wished to spend the night, for as she dropped the taper into the tire she said, XYon't you'take off your wraps and sit by the fire while I get you a bite to eat XYithout another word she hurried into the next room where we could see her hurrying around prepar- ing supper. Soon the savory odor of browning bacon fllld strong coffee could be smelt and pres- ently our hostess brought in a jug of milk and a plate of snowy bread to be toasted at the fire. .-Ns she re-entered she smiled and said, Oh. I know what is wanted by the people that come here on their way to the Slllllllllt. Many people used to stop here several years ago b11t now the people don't seem to care any more to follow the trail. For the tirst ti111e I looked at her closely. She was very little and slight and quick in all l1er movements. Irler hair was soft and gray, and the eyes beneath were kee11 and very blue and seemed to see everything. .Xfter supper was over, Dick turned to Mrs. XYillard-this we had learned was lIC1' name- a11d said, Are yo11 all alone here, Mrs XVilla1'd P The little lady shook her head and stepping to tl1e door, whistled shrilly. In a IHOIIISIII a large collie dog appeared at her side. Here is my companion, sir: and a Fine o11e he is, she said as she closed the door and returned to her chair by the tire. The dog followed and lay down by her side. XVe talked of many things and finally drew the following story from her: just twenty-seven years ago she had come out froni the old country with her husband. She was a bride then and life was f11ll of promise. jim and sl1e had made a home for themselves in a city of the middle west and for two years all went well. Tl1Cll one evening at dusk .lim came and told her they had to leave the city before morn- ing. I-le had brought her away up here i11to the N 3

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54 OUT- DIRE anv of their rooms. liitty had managed before dinner to get her chafing dish and all the necessary utensils up in the attic. so that all thev had to carry was the candle. It was enough. because it was all they could do to get themselves up safely. I7ortunately they had only one tiight of stairs or they might never have reached their destination without being heard by a wakeful teacher. They all wore tennis shoes so as not to make the least sound. but before going up the stairs they took even those off and went up in their stocking feet. The stairway had a wall on each side which made it very dark. and with only one candle to light the way, they had to go up very slowly. When they were about half way up. the stairs gave a loud creak, which frightened them so that they all stopped. Iielle whisper- ed, Sit down quietly, girls, and listen for a few minutes. Mercy! That squeak was loud enough to wake anyone. Apparently it had H01 done so, because all they heard was their own breathing. Then Belle whispered, 'Tome on, girls, I guess it's safe to go on! I don't hear anything. So they silently crept up the stairway and opened a small door into a square hall. They tip-toed across the hall and enter- ed the store room, which they were very glad to have reached without any more frights such as they had had on the stairs. julia made a welsh-rarebit, and after eating every morsel of food in sight. they decided to write their letter to Iilsie and tell her what they were doing. liitty had brought the pen- eil and paper with the chafing dish. Iflaving cleaned up as well as possible and having written their letter, they prepared for the de- scent. Uh! the excitement of getting back! It was nearly one o'cloek when they started down the stairs. At the bottom they all stopped to lis- ten and Iielle. who was nearest to the door, was going to peel: out first to see if the coast were clear, but when she tried to open the door it would not yield. Girls! she exclaimed in a whisper, the door is locked. Who do you suppose did it? XYhat shall we do? For a moment no one spoke. They were all too much frightened to thinlc except Eleanor, who, all of a sudden, broke into uncontrollable laughter. lit-lle had to put her hand over Elea- nor's mouth to keep her rlttiet, and then whis- pered erossly, Stop your laughing, giving her a shake, and tell us what is so funny about it. At this tone of voice Eleanor tried to con- trol herself, and when she could speak, she did so. The reason we can't get out, she ex- plained, is because there is a Yale lock on the door. I happened to pass by when the cham- bermaid was coming up here and I saw it, but I never thought of it again. It serves us right to get locked in here though. XYe'll have to sit here until morning and then we can rap on the door. and someone will let us out. Yes, someone will let us out, repeated Delia in disgust, Hand who will it be? Miss Brown herself, I suppose, or a teacher! That would be pleasant. Oh. dear! I'll never be in another of these silly parties E Sh! warned Julia, not so loud or you'll wake someone. The only thing we can do is to sit here until, morning and then rap on the door when someone comes along: if it happens to be Miss Brown or a teacher, we will have to take the consequences, that's all. At this Delia began to whine, but Julia interrupted her. t'Xow, do be sensible, Delia, and don't whimper about it. I confess I'm just as much frightened as you but we've got to stay here and that's all there is to it. Lets try to go to sleep, These stairs aren't very comfortable, but we certainly can't stay awake all night, be- cause we would be too sleepy to go to classes in the morning. I'm glad I've finished my les- sons. Good-night. She curled herself up and prepared to go to sleep against the hard wall. All the girls lcnew that this was the only thing to do, so they all followed her advice and were asleep as soon as their uncomfortable sitting positions would allow. The next morning they awakened very early and sat listening for someone to come along the hall. They finally heard footsteps from the direction of their rooms. Of course they all wondered if anyone had found out that they were not in their rooms. As the sound came nearer, they could tell that the person had bed- room slippers on, so it must be one of the girls. Ilelle rapped lightly on the door, and in a low but distinct voice said, Please open the door. The person in the hall stopped as if she were not sure she had heard the command, but when Belle repeated the words, the door was soon opened. Oh, Mary, whispered Belle, who was first to come out. you have saved our lives. Don't tell any of the girls or Miss Brown or anyone else about it. Hurry to your rooms, girls. They needed no urging for that. They vanished, leaving Mary standing in the hall looking as if she had seen a ghost. Maybe 'Q