Woonsocket High School - Quiver Yearbook (Woonsocket, RI)

Page 28 text:

24 THE QUIVER “AND THE LEAST AMONG YOU SHALL BE GREATEST” The chorus of exclamations and shouts of laughter that arose after Tom Meredith finished his story died down and the group of men seated about the fireplace of the club den, smoking and telling yarns, became silent. Some gazed dreamily into the flames; others, plunged in thought, blew occasional smoke rings into the air, but none spoke. Suddenly, Dick Prescott’s pleasant voice broke the stillness and every man listened eagerly, for Dick always told a good story. “Speaking of kids and war orphans, let me tell you a true story that impressed me deeply. When I was invalided home from the front, after having chased a few Germans and lost one leg and been gassed as a consequence, I was pretty glad to get back to this land of peace and quiet, believe me. Since I could not take long walks very well, I used to limp around the grounds at home. We had a little summer house out oh the lawn where I liked to rest and write my stories and articles for magazines for it was so quiet and restful there. Not very far off was a low stone wall, which divided our place from a vacant lot where a gang of youngsters often gathered to play. “One afternoon as I sat in the arbor writing, I heard the kids talking and shouting. They seemed to be having an argument about something, so I went over and climbed up on the wall to see what it was about. I have always liked youngsters. I like to watch the kids play and have their ‘squabbles’ and get over them all in one breath. Well, these kids, it appeared, were going to play they were a regiment of American soldiers. Two or th ee little girls with aprons and Red Cross caps were to be the nurses, I judged. The boys had guns, or sticks to imitate guns, and paper or real soldiers’ hats, but they couldn’t decide which was to be the captain. One of the boys was saying. ‘Well, I ought to be captain, ’cause my father is a captain in the real army and I know all about it.’ “ ‘Huh,’ another little shaver scorned, ‘Gee, my dad’s a colonel. Guess that’s higher ’n an old cap’n.’ “Another put in that his big brother was a lieutenant in the aviation; another, that he had three brothers, one a sailor, the other two lieutenants; and still another, that his father was a major. “ ‘Quite a mix-up,’ I said to myself, and wondered how they’d settle it. “Just then, one of the boys noticed a little fellow who had just come into the neighborhood and who had been standing a short dis-

Page 30 text:

“Quiver” Board, 1920