A practical joke is worth any amount of trouble and physical
exertion. At least, that is the sentiment of a group of Hempnell
College students, as yet unidentified. But we are wondering about
the sentiments of Professor Norman Saylor, when he looked out the
window this morning and saw a stone gargoyle weighing a good three
hundred pounds sitting in the middle of his lawn. It had been
removed from the roof of one of the college buildings. How the
students managed to detach it, lower it from the roof, and
transport it to Professor Saylor's residence, is still a mystery.
Said Professor Saylor, "Thanks for the lawn ornament, boys, but I
really don't want it."
When President Randolph Pollard was asked if the pranksters had
been identified, he laughingly replied. "I guess our War Program of
physical education for men must be providing them with reserves of
excess strength and energy."
When we spoke to President Pollard he was leaving to address the
Lions' Club on "The College in War-time." (For details of his
address, see page 1.)
Just what you might expect. The usual repertorial inaccuracies. It
wasn't a gargoyle; gargoyles are ornamental rainspouts. And the
reporter had not used the lightning angle in his story. Probably
thought it would sound too fishy.
Finally, the familiar touch of turning the item into an advertisement
for the physical-education department. You had to admit that the
Hempnell publicity office had a kind of efficiency.
Tansy swept the paper out of his hands.
"The world can wait," she said. "Here, have a bite of my sandwich."