Woonsocket High School - Quiver Yearbook (Woonsocket, RI)

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THE QUIVER SILENT NOON 20 Silent noon----- Beneath the great Sun-god’s malignant glare. The corn-tops touch their foreheads in the dust In sick submission. No single sound shatters the sullen quiet. For life itself seems dead. Even the mighty pines huddle in dumb dismay— No scented breeze to set them whis] ering. The very hills on which they grow Have lost their echoes in a brooding haze. And. sulking, hide themselves. Even the care-free butterflies forsake the fields. And lazily folding downy wings, Droop downward, downward. Dissatisfied. Then, drowsily, a drying brook Hushes its eternal murmur. A lone cicada shrills—then stops, Embarrassed! Hut just that one wee sound Awakens depressed Nature. The brook logins to giggle at the little insect’s shyness; The joke reaches the butterflies, who Caper upwards in their mirth ; A breeze springs up from nowhere And. hastening, sets the pines A-roaring gleefully! The bills—the corn—the whole wide world itself Are cheered greatly. And all because one minute creature Has broken The silent noon! I oms ( Jknkkkux. '17. THE BATTLE IN THE AIR The air mail pilot climl)ed into his plane for the hardest run of the whole route from San Francisco to New S'ork. The air was clear, and only a light wind was blowing, so he anticipated an easy trip as he settled down in his seat and tested the controls. He shouted “Contact!” and with a roar of exhaust-pipes the whole plane seemed to pulse with life as the blades of the propeller l ecame a shining, whirling, transparent disc. Slowly he opened the throttle, rolled across the field, and rose at the other end. He circled once over the hangars, and then set off in a straight line for his destinatic m.

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THE QUIVER 19 THE TREASURE HUNT HILE 1 was at Camp Hoffman this summer, an old lady, a visitor front Connecticut, was spending her vacation there as a sjtecial guest. One night after we had all gatherer! around the camp fire, the director announced that there was to be a treasure hunt the next day and that the treasure had l een donated by our visitor. Now Camp Hoffman is divided into different encampments, each having a name and a symbol. My group was in the section called Hirch Cove, and our symbol was the Viking Ship in full sail. We were told to follow our noses to the group of trees just beyond, to find our ship, which was the only symbol we could go by, and to follow the directions written on the little ship. Right away our troubles Ixigan. The little ship directed us to the “Well-house.” Now. where was the “Well-house?” Finally one of the girls exclaimed. “Oh! it must mean Wellville!” (Wellville is the name of the hospital.) So we lost no time in hurrying to Wellville and. sure enough, there was our sign. ()ur next step was very puzzling. We were directed to go to a huge fir tree and then so many paces to the right, to look for a hole. Naturally, we thought the hole was in the ground. We walked all around, felt the ground, ran into a few grass snakes, went through the bushes, and were scratched by the briars, but still no hole. Away to the right hung a great iron hoop. It had l een used in a game, but it made a great swing. To this some of the girls directed their steps, disgusted with the treasure hunt, and there, to their surprise, was the code. A hike to the l each followed : but when we got there, no treasure could 1k‘ found, not even a code. Soon somebody’s sharp eve caught sight of a piece of | a] er away out on the wharf, and everybody made a wild dive for it. It directed us almost I jack to the hole, but as we neared the cook's cabin, another note was discovered. By this time we had passed the treasure twice without noticing it. The next clue, hidden on the jxtrch of the cabin, told us that so many paces to the southeast would bring us in reach of the treasure. “Tired to death from our strenuous walk and run, we picked up courage to end the hunt. Suddenly, when a few feet from the treasure, someone shouted. There it is! ! ! There, directly in front of us. lay our treasure. How happy we were to see what we had worked so hard for! We were much revived when our councilor presented each of us with a nice, thick, juicy piece of watermelon. Anna Bliss. '27.

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THE QUIVER 21 I Lis plane was in perfect condition, he was feeling fine himself, he had a daylight run ahead of him, and a day off the next day. Nothing was worrying him as his plane swept over the foothills and headed for the higher peaks of the Rockies. The snow-clad jjeak.s ahead of him glistened and shone in the sunlight, and he thought for a moment of the contrast lietween them and the deep blue of the sky above, as he searched for the nass through which he must go. He easily located it and had entered it Indore he noticed a huge eagle coming from the other end. An eagle is nothing unusual in the mountains hut this one seemed abnormally large, even at the great distance which separated it from the plane. As it drew nearer, instead of rising, as eagles usually do, it came on straight at the plane. Now the pilot realized that it was indeed a giant among eagles. The cruel hooked l eak and the gleaming eves were clearly seen as the bird rushed towards him. He had no room to turn, no time to rise, and only his service revolver with which to defend himself, and the eagle was coming on. He reached liack one hand for his gun and increased the speed of his plane. With a scream that could be heard above the roar of the engine, the eagle soared, jxjised. and struck. With a sinking heart, the pilot felt his plane stagger and begin to drop. He lialf-turned in his seat and fired at the huge shape alxive him. Almost at once came another scream; the plane lifted a little and regained speed, Turning all his attention to flying, the pilot tried to climb higher, away from the floor of the valley, which was too close for safety. He had risen some distance when he saw the eagle coming again. This time it came head on, seeming not to notice the knife-like propeller. It struck. I he profiler snapped like a match, and the plane stopped dead in mid-air. For a second it hung. The eagle, killed by the blow of the propeller, dropjied away l elow. The pilot was dazed; his hand clutched the throttle of his now dead engine, as the plane liegan to slip forward into a dizzying nose-dive towards the earth. The motion of falling, and the blown-back heat of his engine brought the pilot back to his senses. With a gasp he saw the floor of the valley rushing towards him. He stiffened involuntarily, and his feet struck the rudder-controls. In an instant the plane was gliding smoothly and with ever decreasing sjieed almost level with the floor of the valley Rapidly he searched for a smooth ]x t on which to land, but the valley was covered with a growth of pines. The plane was settling. He struggled as long as he could to keep it up. but at last it crashed. With a loud pop, one of the tires burst as it was caught by the top of a pine. The plane shuddered, turned completely around, then sank, tail-lirst. with a great crackling and snapping of branches. Several hours later, the pilot opened his eyes and sat up. He had a terrible headache, his shoulder had l»een wrenched so that he could not use his right arm. and a tear in his leather breeches showed a deep cut in his leg. His face and hands were a mass of cuts and scratches, and his clothes wen-ripped and torn bv his sudden descent. The frame-work of his plane till