October 22, 1948
THE LEXHIPEP
Page 3
The Hitchhiker
—Buddy Foster
(This story won the O. Henry Short Story
Award for 1948.)
It was a hot, dry, dusty day. Not
the slightest breeze stirred the limp
leaves. . The sun burned fiercely down
on the concrete highway over which
heat waves were dancing.
A man was walking slowly alon;
this road. His shirt was stained with
sweat and open at the throat. His
tie was loose, but tied so that he
could, at a moment’s notice, tighten
it in order to present a more re
spectable appearance. He carried a
coat over his arm.
To him the road grew hotter with
each step. He couldn’t stop under a
tree, because there were no trees near
enough to the road to allow him to
get back to it in time to fiag a passing
car. Maybe a little farther down this
road I will find a place where there
is shade, he thought.
Being hungry didn’t add much to
his enjoyment. He judged the time
to be about three o’clock. It had been
thirty-two hours since he had eaten,
and then only a sandwich. The rea
son for this^ situation was that he
was broke."' '
No, he hadn’t always been broke.
He had inherited a small fortune
but he had wasted most of it and lost
the rest] when the stock] market
crashed. Still he was luckier than
many people, because he was able to
get a job as an accountant. His
small salary fed him, but it did not
meet his extravagant way of life;
and so he resorted to embezzlement.
He was caught and spent a number
of years in prison.' His mind now
dwelt upon those years when he had
a chance to learn many other forms
of] theft from “experts”. But he
learned something else instead. The
“experts” always seem to slip and get
caught.
Yes, he had learned his lesson, but
still he could not find work. Nobody
wanted to employ an ex-convict. He
wasn’t at all sure that the society
which had once condemned him to
prison, where he was supposed to re
form and learn not to break laws
again, was going to allow him to be
honest now that he wished to. It
seemed as though he would be forced
to steal again in order to live.
Perhaps there is another way,
thought the hitchhiker. But, no, I
can think of no other way that I
haven’t tried. I’ve got to live. I’ll
rob the next man who gives me a
ride. There’s a piece of iron pipe;
I’ll use it as a club.
A few miles up the road a car was
approaching. The driver was a very
successful lawyer returning to his
home after a profitable business trip.
He and the hitchhiker had been very
good friends in high school.
As the car came around a curve
and started toward the hitchhiker,
he hid the iron pipe under the coat
which he was carrying, tightened his
tie, and stuck out his thumb.
Tlie lawyer did not recognize the
hitchhiker at first, but he took pity
j on anyone Walking on such a hot day
■and stopped to give him a lift. As
^ the hitchhiker approached the car,
' he was thinking: This is it; this is
, the man I am going to rob. But
where?
“Jim!” exclaimed the lawyer as he
recognized- the hitchhiker.
“Al!” said the hitchhiker as he also
recognized his high school chum. He
sighed with relief as he entered the
cool car while his thoughts ran thus:
This brings a new development into
my plans. It’ll be hard to steal from
a friend. Maybe I can touch him
for a loan since he is an old friend.
No, that wouldn’t help. I’ve tried
that. 'What I could borrow wouldn’t
be much. After all, it has been a
long time since I last saw Al, and
you can’t expect a guy to lend a
person much after so many years;
too, soon it would be gone and then
it would be the same old thing all
ove ragain. Yet if I take his money,
, he might not have much with him or
he might be almost broke at home,
and that would leave him in a fix. If
he were rich and carrying a lot of
money, I could—
“Jim, you don’t look as though
you’ve had very good luck,” said Al,
interrupting Jim’s thoughts.
“No, I haven’t,” replied Jim.
“Life has been good to me since I
saw you last. Let me see—you were
an accountant then, weren’t you?”
Is he jjust pretending that he
doesn’t know about—no, I guess the
company kept publicity down, thought
Jim as he mumbled, “Yes, I was.”
“I’ve been very lucky. I was work
ing with a banking firm last time
I saw you. Now I’ve set up my own
law office, been successful too; I’ve
just finished a big, profitable deal.”
“Good for you,” said Jim as he
started thinking: So he does have
money. I could take his money and
car and drive a distance.. I’d have
•to leave the car before long because
it could be traced too easily, and
then, I wouldn’t want Al to lose his
car. I could go far enough to get a
new start. The money would most
likely last until I got a job. If I get
caught. I’ll be sent back to prison.
Maybe prison won’t be so bad; at
least I would eat regularly.
“■\Vhat have you been doing since
we met last?” inquired Al.
“Sorry. I didn’t hear you.”
Al repeated the question.
“Nothing much,” replied Jim. “I
just spent a few years in prison.”
“What! For what?”
■ Jim told Al his story; when he had
finished, Al said nothing, and Jim
continued thinking: That mountain
I saw when we reached the top of
the hill—the base of that would be
a good place for the robbery. I’ll hit
him with the pipe, take the car over
the mountains and leave it. Then I
can leave the state, maybe the coun
try. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do—leave
the country. I can go to Mexico and
get a new start there. Mountains
are getting closer; just a few more
minutes now.
“See those mountains, Jim?” asked
Al. “It will be cooler on the other
side of them. It always is. New-
some is on the other side; and Doug
Newberry, you remember Doug—the
boy most likely not to succeed—owns
a factory over there now. Doug said
he needed an accountant. He would
like to have you. It’s a fine job with
good hours and a large salary; you’ll
like it.”
“Watch your coat! You might drop
it out the window. What was that?
Did you drop something?” Al asked.
“No, I didn’t drop anything; that
was a piece of pipe. Wheel must
have hit it and thrown it back.”
“Yes, probably. I’ve got to watch
where I’m going. I didn’t see that
pipe.”
BOO HOO
—Bonnie Rose Leonard
In school we studied all day long;
At night in French we dwell;
In English learn the right from
wrong—
We’re doing pretty well.
In Chemistry it’s 89,
An A we almost made.
Then all the teachers came along
And change the blasted grade.
HIM
—Barbara Ritchie
There is a young lad named Jim,
And I have a crush on him;
But Mary Jane
Is a good-looking dame.
And my chances for Jim are slim.
“HERE THEY ARE!“
—Jo Ann Blackwelder
Well, school has begun, and the
first football game was a big suc
cess, complete with a victory, cold
weather, and cheering bleachers, but
somehow there seemed to be some
thing missing. I guess it must have
been the good ole people who left
us to go to college. It didn’t seem
quite right when one looked at the
cheerleaders not to see Betty Ann
Wall and Martha Harbinson out there
yelling their heads off. Betty Ann
is in college at Converse, and Martha
is at Woman’s College, Greensboro.
L. H. S. also lost some extra good
football players. Some of these were:
Charles Price, who is now in school
at Catawba, Pete Clark at Lenoir-
Rhyne, Jaybird McCrary and Sam
Everhart at Atlantic Christian, Bob
Holmes at Davidson, Bill Cook at
Guilford, Benny Walser at U. N. C.,
Bill Blalock at Duke, and Zacky Tay
lor at University of North Carolina.
There surely were a bunch of ambi
tious people in last year’s senior class
who left to go to college to further
their education. Many have already
written Mrs. Hedrick, and from what
they say they seem to be getting
along fine. Lyniel Beck entered col
lege at Eastern Carolina Teachers’
College; Buddy Bender at High Point
College; M. T. Brown, Jr., at Catawba
Martha Cox and Ruth Jenkins at
Pfeiffer Junior College: John Foust,
T. D. Stokes, Tommy Young, Wayne
Everhart, Bob Hendricks, Jim Rus
sell, Ronald Smith and Charles Har
binson at the University of North
Carolina: Mary Ann Hartzog at St.
Mary’s; Grace Hendricks at Carson-
I'M NOT TO BLAME
—Lover
I’m not to blame for falling in love
with you.
I’m sorry I’m to blame, ’cause all
I said was true.
Can I help it, darling, if you thrill
me through and through?
So you see, I’m not to blame for fall
ing in love with you.
I hope I’m not to blame for building
my hopes so high;
I hope I haven’t hurt you by loving
you ’til I die;
You didn’t resist or even try to say
that your love wasn’t true.
So please say that I’m not to blame
for falling in love with you.
Newman, Jefferson City, Tenn.; Nan
cy Helmstetler at Mercy Hospital;
Mary Allison Martin at Peace Col
lege; Shirley Richardson at Baptist
Hospital; Charles Rothrock at Vir
ginia Polytechnic Institute; Jane
Shoaf at Mary Baldwin; Nancy Wait-
man at W.C.U.N.C.; and Nancy With
erspoon is at Roanoke, Virginia.
We also lost a few boys to Uncle
Sam, Hewey Clodfelter is now serv
ing in the U. S. Navy, stationed at
San Diego. John Neweli, Jim Pos
ton and Doug Craver are serving in
the U. S. Army, and I would like to
quote Doug as saying, “On to Mos
cow!”
To prove that some of the Lexing
ton High School Alumni are really
making good, the LEXHIPEP staff
received the Ashmorian, paper of the
Ashmore Business School in Thomas-
ville, and happily learned that their
staff contains a few of Lexington
High School’s ex-Lexhipep altaff
members: Adele Tuttle is editor-in-
chife, and Johnny Palmer is sports
editor, with Jack Burkhart as his
assistant. Sarah Everhart will make
them a good assistant business man
ager, while they couldn’t have made
a better choice than Isabel Essick as
subscription manager; and Mrs. Ray
King, the former Kathryn Hillard, an
L. H. S. graduate, has Just been made
a member of the faculty.
“Monk” Mathis, “Moe” Gosnell, and
Joe Cope are operating Stamey’s
Drive-In. They say, “Come on out!”
Jack Swain has Just paid his $1.00
subscription to the LEXHIPEP. At
preesnt he is running the Lexington
Silk Mills.
Anyway,] Lexington High School
wants to wish each of you the best
of everything in whatever path you
may have chosen.