Page 46 - 1934

I
Sum m er days passed as do all the better things. Septem ber w a s fast on the
w a y w ith the b eg in n in g of school, of U pper School. W e rem em bered the terrible
h o w lin g w h ich at tim es h ad issued from study h all. Soon w e should be ad m itted
ourselves to that aw e-in sp irin g place.
T h e day cam e and tim id ly w e entered the half-d read ed study h all, feelin g that at
last w e had reached the ed g e of a g reat era of learn in g . T h a t d ay w e received our
schedules and m ad e the acq uain tan ce of that super-b eing w ho presided over the
g re at dom ain, M r. H enderson. T h ro u gh o u t the rest of the w eek w e m an ag e d to
becom e so m ew h at used to our new environm ent. W e w ere am azed at the kindness
w ith w hich w e w ere received by the p ed ago gues. W e b egan to lose faith in the
w a rn in g s of upper classm en. Later, however, the risin g tide of dem erits and the
evils of S atu rd ay m ornings assured us that the o ld fello w s w e re n ’t so far off after all.
By concentrated effort at C h ap el each m o rn in g w e soon com m itted to m em ory
the P arab le of T h e T alen ts. A fter m eek ly assistin g in the m o rn in g hym n w e w ould
go to our classes.
First w e w o u ld go to d in gy N u m b er Five and g reet " T w o G un P a t,” the father
of the first form, w ho w as quite accustom ed to rise to such a pitch in his w rath that
flying ch alk w as not uncom m on throughout the m inutes of his class. H o w ever, if w e
had studied our lesson, w e w e re rew ard ed wdth double one-hundreds in vocabulary
and a choice bit of G ibson’s best.
From L atin classes w e w o u ld , tw ice a w eek, jam across the h all to overpow er
M r. H ow eth w ith a L atin version of m odern French. In this classroom w e found
read in g phonetics just about tw ice as difficult as read in g o rd in ary w ords w o u ld have
been. T h is sligh t obstacle w as offset, however, by the freqent b aseb all-sp ellin g-b ee
gam es w hich, under the captaincy of B illy W h e e le r and Ed W h ita k e r, w e re o rg a n ­
ized both to help us ju g g le our vow els and to keep us quiet.
T h ree days a w e ek w e saw " P lu g ” N ichols for our M y th o lo g y and G eneral
Science. W e acquired under his careful instruction the art of constructing w ondrous
m yths of our own.
Recess brought a w elcom e break in the m o rn in g ’s w o rk by offering study hall
for excitin g gam es of tag. A lth o u gh this pastim e w as forbidden, it w as a lw a y s (a n d
is s till) the most p opular sport of first form ers. W e had not yet learn ed how to
enjoy the fresh air and w h atever else m igh t be found on a leisu rely w a lk around
the block.
T h ird period w as a study period. A t this tim e w e becam e acq uain ted w ith sev­
eral noises peculiar to study h all on special occasions. T h e tch-tch, started by the
" a le rt” students, never failed to b rin g a little color to the face of one en terin g the
h all for a forgotten book. N eith er did the not so g en tle sound rem iniscent of trot­
tin g elephants, m ad e at the d ro p p in g of a coin, ever fail to b rin g the hand of the
m aster-in-charge dow n upon the desk bell.
" D risk ” tau gh t us A rith m etic in R oom seven d u rin g the fourth period. W e
enjoyed good argum en ts and had m an y; and alth o u g h w e often proved our point
to our ow n satisfaction, w e w e re assured that if w e d id n ’t do such-and-such a prob­
lem according to M r. A lle n ’s ideas, w e m ight regret it.
'Page forty-two