The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1909-06-18
THE ALPHABET
By Susie McGraw.

1t was one of those bright
summer days of May. The sun
was Illuminating all nature, ex-
cept human nature. The only
visible sign of illumination in
the High School was that which
came at four o'clock.
On this particular afternoon
my shallow vein of seriousness
seemed suddenly to have deep
ened; for when the usual well
come sound of the last bell"
came, l was loath to leave the
building, but looked forward to
the quiet that would follow the
glad rush down stairs. Even
the teachers left early, so l soon
found an opportunity to let my
thoughts wander on in that
trend which seemed to keep
them within the limits of our
four years in High School. l
was beginning by fine mathe-
matical process to make a list
of the things which had brought
us the greatest good. Such was
my serious mood, when | heard
a peculiar disturbance near me
in the dictionary's corner. Un-
mistakably it was a voice
hoarse and uncertain, but with
each succeeding word became
more firm, and then l heard
my own name distinctly spoken,
followed by this surprising
statement:
Il wonder if you know that
here upon my perch, l have
learned the alphabet of your
Senior class. l know you are
curious to hear it, so l will be-
gin" Not in set rhetorical
phrases such as we would eX-
pect from a dictionary were
these secret thoughts revealed,
but in the ordinary ineligible
language of the High School
pupil.
A is for Abbie, first in the
alphabet, latest at school; B is
for Beck, who will not disclose
her reason for the admiration
she always feels when she sees
new field" Two of your
Brilliant Seniors" belong to
c. Both Clara and Clark
should begin with B. D. is for
Dein, the girl with the beauti-
full "Marcelle Wave" E is for
Ernest,-"On summer ewes, in
pensive thoughts, he gathers
SHELF in needless sport. F.
contains two opposites, Frey
the philosophic, Friend, the
jovial. G is for Gerry who likes
a storm" H is the general
panacea, Harris cures the ply
sical, and Hitler the spiritual
diseases of the school. | is
for Ice" a temperature with
which the old building was ac-
commodated during most of
your senior year. j is for
Justice" which some of the
members demand upon the sub
ject of child labor" R. is for
Krantz, reputed authority on
Arnold's essays. L is for
Laura, languid, lively and love-
ly. Nj is for Thurman, one mem
Der loyal to the class colors.
N is for NO" word the SEMI
ors never used when asked to
write a paper. o is for Os-
borne who is apt to say Hello"
when he means How do you
do" P is for Policy, who has
a tendency to establish Mills"
R is for Romaine, the great
oracle of advice. S is for Soete
who thinks that ladies man
ties" should be somewhat modi-
fed. T is for Turnberger, the
great translator. U is for
Unity, which your class possesses
V is for your valdictorian, al
though smallest, he is not least
as you all know, and people will
overlook his fears of the dark
shadows on Ch. street at night.
W-what you are and what
the Juniors aim to be. There
are two whole pages of KS but
not one of them belong to you.
Your class never looked at the
tweDty-fourth letter of the al
phabet. Y is for youths of
Wisdom" synonymous with the
class of 1909. q is for zero
you never felt its meaning, your
zest of study -