Winchester School - Oui Dire Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

Page 79 text:

out-outa 7? MR. SQUIRREL. I live in a lovely park with beautiful trees and Howers. I am storing my nuts for winter. I love to jump about and play with little children. Sometimes bad children come and try to catch me for their pet but I would rather be free. There is a little girl who lives near the park. 9he comes every day and never forgets to bring me something. One night when I was sleeping a great big cat woke me by his loud cry and began to chase me. He nearly caught up to me but I gave a big jump from one tree to another. He tried to jump but he fell and ran away. M. O. Mcli., '22, SNOOKUMS, MY KITTEN. I found Snookums in the cow barn. lfle was born in one of the cow's niangers. llis eyes were not yet open. I did not dare go in while the mother, Scrap, was there, for if I would she would move him. One day after his eyes were open, I carried him into the house and showed him to mother, and of course we all thought he was dear and I took him back to the barn. Snookum is now one year old. XYhen he is hungry, he will beg like a little dog. After he has eaten he will go up stairs and go to sleep on an old cot. XYhen Father goes down stairs in the morning he will let Snookums into the house and he will run up stairs as fast as he can. lfle comes marching into the room and sits down in front of the fire and watches us. Then we all go down to breakfast. .Xfter we have tinished, the cook feeds him and then he goes to bed. S. K. L., '22. A WALK IN THE WOOD. One Saturday Marjorie, my little friend, and I went for a walkin the woods back of our house. XVhen we were crossing the field we saw a little field mouse. NVe started to chase it but it ran so fast we lost it in the long grass. XX'hen we were on the edge of the wood Marjorie cried. Ohl look at the field sparrowl NVe sat very still, and it tiew in the bushes: after awhile it flew away and we peeped in and saw a nest full of little birds with their mouths wide open. They did look so funny. By this time it was noon so We went down to the brook and ate our luneh. After lunch we took off our shoes and stockings and went in wading, and oh, we had so much fun that we hated to leave, but the sun was sinking in the WCS-'L 50 We 'ilwught We had better start home. On the way we gathered some Howers and talked of the lovely day we had had. V. A. H., Taz. CAMPING IN THE WOODS. Une day in -luly, my cousin Helen and I were at our farm. It was a lovely day so l asked my aunt if we could go pony riding and camp out all night. My aunt said we could go. We went down to the stable to saddle our ponies. At ten o'clock we started off and rode until eleven. Then we picked out a camping place, and put up a small tent. About twelve o'cloek we ate lunch. .Xfter lunch we went for a walk in the woods. As Helen was walking along, she tame upon an old barn which was half burned down. One of the planks of the roof was still standing. I was startled by the chirp of a bird. l looked up. and on top of the plank was a baby barn swallow. XYe waited a minute out f s'ffht. Then another came and still another. lt was beginning to get dark. so l thought we had better go home. oth That night in bed I heard the whipepoor-will. the owl, and other night birds. In the morning l was startled by the sound of a flicker tapping on a nearby tree. lt was not very long until I heard a young bird calling for breakfast. Helen did not like camping out there. so we went home. 9. M.. '22. MR. TOMMY MEADOWLARK AND HIS FAMILY. Cuxr. l. The leaves were just coming out on the trees. The Howers were just coming out of the ground. Nr. Sun was just peeping over the hill. Tommy Meadowlark and his little wife were up bright and early. They were li ioking for a place to build their nest. At last Xlrs. Meadowlark found a place where a cow had stepped in the mud. It must have been a rainy day. said Klrs. Meadow- lark, because the grass has grown all around it, and it is nice and dry. Soon they were Flying hither and thither getting straw and feathers to build their nest. Now and then they would stop and sing. Tseen tseerf' Cnxr. ll. The next day the nest was tinished, and Rlrs. itleadowlark went right over and sat on it. They didn't sing any more, After a while they had a little baby. The next day they had another. and the next day another.

Page 78 text:

76 out-nine THE CLOCK. llnce there was an old church. and in the su-t-ple there was an old clock, just as old as the church. It had stood there for centuries and centuries. It had seen lovers walking tltrough tlte woods below, it had seen them married. it hail seen tht-nt buried. 'Iiheir sons and daugh- ters hail been doing tlte same thing over and ox er again. The clock had seen war and peace. tlnce the church had been the center of Z1 great massacre, in wlticlt many white men and women were killed. The people were in church when they heard a wild yell and the Indians came in and killed everybody. even little helpless babies. .-Xftet' ntany years tlte clock face was just abottt cov- ered with ivy. Nuyv. if you want to see it you will have to go to the land of imagination. C. I.. Heli., '2i. SHARKING. Last suntnter one sunny afternoon I went sharking with nty nurse, my brother, his friend. and the Captain. Before we had started I had made a resolution not to run into tlte cabin whenever we caught a shark, but it was si tt nt broken when I saw the great big slimy crea- ture trying to get away front his captors. Very soon one cante to nibble at the bait. so we hauled hint up and beat him lu death with a club. Wie caught only two, about four or live feet long. They jumped so much in the boat that had I been near I should have been knocked t1YL'l'lu1Zl1'tl. IJIICI' the sea began to get rough, so, in case tlte boat might founder, we set sail for home. Ii. R. C., '31. NORTH WIND. I.ast night in bed I was just about asleep wlten I heard someone say, Leonora, I.eo- norafl I thought at tirst it was Mother. But investigation proved that it was not she. I went back to bed and was having :t quiet forty winks when I heard again the voice, it said, Come, come now. I ant your friend 'North Iliindf whom you read about in tlte story call- ed '.Xt the Ilaek of the North XYind.' I ltave a surprise for you in tlte hack yard. I needed no further urging. The surprise was North XVind and all the characters that were in the book. That night we gave plays which the inoonbeant fairies said were very good. XX'e're to give them every ttight now. L. S. D., '2I. BLUE JAY. Uh, I'nt a splendid fellow! lYith ne'er a speck of yellow: I'nt always blue and white, lYith neektie black as night. I'm proud and haughty, too, Of my feathered suit of blue, Ilf my milk-white breast. .Xnd blue headcrest. In another childs belief I'm always thought a thief, .Xnd so I ant, I know it's true, But wltat I am, I ask of you. I. B. M., '21. MY GARDEN. My garden is twelve feet long and six feet wide. It is divided into fourths by plots of grass two feet wide between each bed. Along tlte back of tlte first bed are spider bushes, lilies- of-the-valley, and tlte rest is filled with roses. In tlte second division there are sweet peas, fuch- sias, violets, purple pansies, and making a border are sweet alyssunt. Along tlte back of tlte third fourth are coreopsis, tlten aquilegia, next yellow pansies, and last are forget-me-nots, In tlte last part, catercornered on each back corner, are white lilacs, in front are bleeding heart bushes, larkspur, catnpanula, ntignonette, forget-me-nots. My garden is situated inside of a yellow brick wall, tlte back of tlte garden is almost against it. On each side of tlte wall are benches and I like to go out and sit and read, but I usually sit on tlte ground. Often while I am reading I hear tlte perpetual hunt-buzz-buzz of bees around tlte sweet peas. Once I found a little nest in one of the lilac bushes. I did not know what kind it was but as I watched for tlte bird I found it was a hum- ming bird's nest. I like to take out to my garden just such a book as The Secret Garden and imagine I am in just such a spot. 'When winter comes it all dies. H. IV. L., '22. N ta

Page 80 text:

78 OUT- DIRE Mr. and Mrs. Meadowlark were kept busy feeding their babies. After a while they thought that Tommy, Tr., the oldest baby, was old enough to learn to flvi Tommy was a stubborn little fel- low. and his- father had to scold him before he would even try. Xthen he did learn, he was al- ways fussing with Sammy Vlay. The other two children learned very quickly. Une day Tommy said. HLPUITIC' on, Twitt, t for that was his hrother's namel. let's see who can Hy the farthest. Their little brother heard them, and wanted to try too. Poor Twitt got excited and fell right into the nest of Hr. Sparrow. Mr. Sparrow did not like that :md peeked at him and pulled his feathers out. Then Klrs. Sparrow came and they fought with him until he fell to the ground. He lay there till a little girl found him. She took him home, but he died the next night. Then a naughty little boy catne and killed llrs. Sparrow with his bean shooter, but Tommy, -lr. and Klr. Meadowlark and the baby lived happily through the summer. l.. G. P. '22, A BLUEBIRD. l have been gone many. many weeks, but now l have come back to the country. Xye found a beautiful meadow. .-Xll around there were bushes. To one side there were trees, in a wheat field, a little older than the first crop. Une tree was a fine place fora nest. My mate was hunting in some other place. so f sang tny little song which sounded like 21 sweet warble. Then I saw her blue back and tan breast, coming out of the woods. Xyhen she came T started pecking the tree. She fiew away to find some soft grass to put in the bottom of the nest. Vie found some nests in one tree. The grass in the meadow had been cut, so we brought it back to the nest. lly that time, l had bored a large hole in the stump, Xyhen the nest was finished, my mate laid four pale blue eggs in the nest. Une day we saw the hunter. l scrambled head first into the hole. so the hunter did not get us. After sitting on the eggs for three weeks they cracked and out came some featherless little birds. Now l brought worms for they could eat as many as l would give them. ln a few days they got some pretty feathers like ours. They were growing old. Now after some lessons we fiew south, KIT. fi. lf. l22. THE OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN. The sun was shining bright one May morning in the old-fashioned garden. and the fiowers were making their early bow to each other. The state- ly queen, the hollyhock. was first to awaken. Minnie Mignonette, Natalie Nasturtium, and Polly Peony were the Queens favorite maids. therefore they stood nearest her. If lazy Poppy and Sweet Pea slept late, the Queens pretty maids would waken them. The velvety pansy sisters were the princesses. Their names we1'e Priscilla and Pauline Pansy. Priscilla was the older of the two. Susie Snow- drop was Priscilla's playmate and Betty Butter- cup was Pauline's. The messenger of the palace was Robin-red- breast. Priscilla and Pauline gave a party. They in- vited Susie Snowdrop, Betty Buttercup, Mar- garet Magnolia. Laura Lily, Alice Aster and Rob- ert and Rachel Rose. They had a fine 'timeg they had luncheon outside under the large, shady trees on a long bench: they had dew drops and sun- shine. just as they were eating, a carriage went by and it stopped in front of the palace. Pauline went down to see who it was. It was Dorothy Daffodil and her cousins, Tommy Tulip and Clara Crocus. They had some refreshments with the others. The sun was just setting in the west, when the fiower girls said Good Night. II. F. '22. A FAMILY OF BLUEBIRDS. Une day father bluebird sang to his mate. Tree-al-ly, tree-al-ly, which means, Come and hunt for some food for our babies. After they had gone, one of their mischievous little birds. Tommy, heard a noise and looked over the nest, but he could not see. One of his sisters, Twittie, told him not to look over the nest because he would fall out, but he would do it. :Xt last Twit- tie gave up arguing with him and out of the nest fell Tommy Twit. Tommy could not Hy so he had to stay there. The noise that he heard was a frog trying to sing. XYhen the frog saw what happened he said. Let us have a yelling contest, and they did. Guess who won? Oh, I might as well tell you. The bird did. Xyhile they were yelling a very near neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. llluebird heard this sound and fiew down to see what was the matter. XYheu she saw the condi- tion of things she flew after Tommy Twit's par- ents. XYhen Mr. and Hrs. Bluebird reached home they were very discouraged, and did not know what to do. -Tust then a boy was coming down the street. The mother and father were very frightened when they saw him coming. N