The Seagull, Yearbook of Port Arthur High School, 1915 Page: 96
[128] p. : ill., ports. ; 27 cm.View a full description of this yearbook.
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Merely Pencils
HAVE a friend whose chief ambition in life is to be pushed around on his foot.
That foot has but one toe, and he stands on the tip of it like a ballet dancer. It
is surprising how much pleasure I derive from merely gratifying that peculiar
desire of his-to be pushed up and down on his foot. When I am learning a lesson from
a book, indulging this whim assists me. When I am learning lessons from life, whether
of joy or grief, they are simplified by giving him the right hand of fellowship and
making him hustle.
Yes, he has a shoe for his foot, but he does not wear it while sliding on his toe,
and only puts it on when there is no one to push and he is preparing to retire. Having
no arms he is helpless, and I have to perform this ceremony for him. It is as unique as
his mode of diversion. I pull of his foot, turn it end for end and put it back in its place,
and lo! it has become a shoe, tan-colored and shining.
His head is another unusual feature of this extraordinary companion of mine.
Sometimes I unthinkingly give him a shove in the wrong direction, and (would you believe
it?) he immediately turns a somersault and obligingly allows me to rub his bald cranium
back and forth over these displeasing footprints until they are entirely wiped out. He
seems to enjoy this as much as his usual pastime.
There is another strange fact connected with my friend's head. I can pull it off as
I do his foot, reverse it, and behold! in place of his head there is another foot. Won-
drous miracle! The too on this foot is much longer and sharper than the toe on the other,
but he dances along on the point of it quite as nimbly, always providing, however, that
the toe is kept dripping black.
I have a pencil that Mr. G. E. Carter gave me. It is so seldom that he gives such
things away that I am going to describe it briefly that you may recognize it if it is ever
put upon exhibition.
This pencil is no ordinary one. It is a draftsman's pencil-one of those hard
lead, hexagon pencils without an eraser. It has a very simple color scheme; it is painted
light yellow with the manufacturer's name printed on it in small gold letters.
Look farther and you will see that it has been sharpened by an automatic pencil
sharpener and that it also has my private mark upon it, which was put there by placing
the butt end of the pencil in my mouth and pressing down on it with my canine teeth.
There is very little to describe about my pencil. It is a very little pencil, not
more than five inches long and sharpened on both ends. Originally it was a nice, long,
unpainted penny pencil, but now what is left of it is of a dirty brown color and is in-
dented with teeth marks. On one end the point has been dipped in ink and the other end
has been discolored by frequent meditative "chews." It is now in the fall of its useful-
ness and soon to be discarded, although it has done valiant service. It has been alike
faithful when writing an English theme, working an algebra problem, or when scribbling
just a note to the boy across the aisle. It is associated with numerous pleasant and un-
pleasant tasks, and from a deep unsightly crack across its worn brown surface one would
infer the pencil had not been exempt from wrathful treatment on these occasions.
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Port Arthur High School. The Seagull, Yearbook of Port Arthur High School, 1915, yearbook, 1915; Port Arthur, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139822/m1/100/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Port Arthur Public Library.