Winthrop High School - Winthrop Winner Yearbook (Winthrop, ME)

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A MW .r ' ' W 'q.lu- ,i M in-is A i i ,, ,J as-.ii LITER RR THE HAUNTED SOUL It haunts me still-the howling of that phantom wolf. It happened some years ago, but even now at times it comes upon me and nearly drives me mad. Much do I doubt that there is a more weird, ghostly sound than the howl of a wolf in distress. It will freeze the heart of some of the most courageous hunters to the core and give them a pe- culiar feeling, one hard to express, that will remain with them for the remainder of their lives. My chum and I were camping in the Rocky Mountains in the fall of 1922. Our chief object there was for the purpose of deer huntingg so as we had been in camp for two days and had not been out hunting, we decided to start early on a Monday morning. The morning arrived very coolg a little sprinkling of snow had fallen the night before, so that it made the tracking very good. We struck a deer track soon after we left the camp and trailed it for a long time but couldn't seem to get near enough to the deer for a shot. It warmed up considerably in the forenoon and the snow went rapidly. We found that the tracking for the rest of the day was spoiledg and so about noon we started on our way back to the camp not wholly disappointed, because we hadn't had such terribly poor luck after all. We had struck a track soon after leaving in the morning, and that was something that all hunters weren't able to do. We would have arrived home safely and without any delay, but for one inci- dent that was the cause of my writing this tale. We were standing on top of a knoll from where we could get a fairly good view of the surrounding country- side, including our camp. Suddenly there was a rustle behind us which broke the quietness of that peaceful abode and cast fears into our very souls. We both whirled to find ourselves look- ing into the face of a large wolf which seemed to be approaching us very cau- tiously. Whether or not the wolf meant any harm to us I do not knowg and if he did, he never had a chance to com- plete his objective, for at that instant I pulled up my rifle and fired at a point between those gleaming eyes. As I looked into the eyes of that dead wolf,

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WINTHROP HIGH SCHOOL 15 MARGUERITE STOCKFORD KKMGTQYI Advertising Manager of Senior Play C41 g Class Treasurer C41 g Class Ode. A real trouper you are, Marguerite 3 we are going to miss your constant encouragement after your career at Winthrop High. You have proven yourself worthy and we are proud to acknowledge you as our classmate. CHARLES THOMAS Chuck Football C3, 41 5 Senior Play K41 g Prize Speak- ing C31g Cheer Leader 13, 413 Class Marshal C315 Secretary of Class C215 Baseball 13, 41g Class Ode. Well, Chuck, we know you will never be a student, but life has many possibilities, and you have a wonderful spirit of good humor and fun. You are a good sport, always upholding the class, and we acknowledge you as a wonderful classmate. Our class sheik.

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WINTHROP HIGH SCHOOL 17 I wondered whether I had done the right thing in killing him, perhaps he never intended to harm, but anyway, what was the use to risk our lives with any denizen of the forest? We arrived back at camp in a few minutes and busied ourselves with lit- tle chores, with no regard for anything else. After supper was over that night and everything was done, I decided to go out on the back porch of our camp and look away over the hills to see some of the beauties of the place that we were in. My chum remained inside, prefer- ring to read than to sit outside. Dark- ness comes on quickly in the heart of the mountains, and such was the case this time. It was very quiet, once in awhile you could hear barks or snarls of wolves and foxes calling or answering their re- spective kinds. A fiery red moon rose out of the east and bathed the mountains in moonlight, which was a very hand- some sight to see. All these things I was regarding with the keenest pleasure. I had no due oc- casion to do so, but it appeared as if a magnet had drawn me to the spot. Sud- denly I glanced over to the knoll that we had been standing on that afternoon. Something seemed to be standing there outlined against a background of celes- tial moonlight, something that was haunting and that made a cold shiver run the length of my back. All at once from the top of that knoll there came the call of a wolf, and then I knew what I had seen standing there. They were long, drawn howls, the most weird that I had ever heard, and my heart sickened in me. The wolf was calling to his dead mate, that never came, the one that I had killed. I do honestly believe that I passed through the most miserable time in all my life listening to that sound. I was being punished for killing a wolf that prob- ably meant us no harm. The howling suddenly stopped, and I saw the great bulk of the wolf move slowly from the top of the knoll and van- ish into unknown depths, but even after he had gone I could hear the haunting echoes of that howling in my ears, and even now, some night when the storm is raging outside, I expect to hear in my dreams the howling of that phantom wolf. L. S., '32. A VISION OF LIFE As I sit by my fireplace watching the flames, They picture before me mountains and plainsg There, by their dancing and changing of form, They show me life as it comes along. At first they are small, and tiny and wee, Right there before me childhood I seeg Now they grow brighter, more graceful in form- These flames are youth. More logs are piled on. The flames are now brighter, so wonderfully clear, They tell me at once middle-age is here- Middle-age with its happiness, glory and song- But we cannot stop here, for life must go on. The Hames reach their glory, a marvelous height, A glory that shines off in a. wondrous. light, But this glory is short, and before very long, There in the fireplace, the last logs are piled on. The fiames die down now, and there in my sight I see the most beautiful place in life, Now the world's toils are o'er, and life's reached its goal, And there in the hearth is a bed of bright coals.