The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-07-28
HOSPITAL LETTERS

"The managers. of st. Jacobs hosri-
tai solicit old newspapers and ilag,-
| zines for the entertainment OF their
sick and convalescent."
Il response 10 this advertisements III
one of the most widely read neU.spa-
pers in r.. there amt daily to the
| above named Institution u great ware.
ty of publications.
One day there appeared among ~
| rest Il newspaper With these words
written npon the margin: II wish you
n very good mornin. and Il rigitt s.lcei..y
| recovery" then the tuil address OF IA"
writer, Miss Louisa I.a,is.@,s. : Nor!
street. Ills greeting rhs:."i a few
days later the following III ,H*Nr:
So there = realty III the h"io!at. hanHv
wtrld outside ems. ,.inl s. VI Ntip has 3
thought to spare ior us SICK ones! | ii:l
the unfortunate one WHO has receisat
your greeting and 'cpe that year k...l
wish will soon b" g~'atifled and that =
time not vcry aiGtsni ! sail leave ta.s
place entirely restored 70 haalt.l. II .&s
have ever haen seriously Ill or have eye.
endured such pain as I arm now suffering
you will certainly heed the. request OF "a
poor invalid and not ret satisfied VII.
the few words Of Kindness which ll1ve
made nc 50 happy. II there were .ai.
some consenial soul hcrr n whom &c y
speak freely or with whe5nSl r3i~ht chat
a little now u then. Eat jGsst NV
there is no me here who call hep TO i,1*h
away the lorg, weary hours. aEa so ] l'er
you again not to let ME b, pc i'll vain Tor
an answer In TIE neHnti~r". -TitA h:.:..-
est regards. l ara, yours gasAtafuti",
BERTHA WILLIETsS.
In this way Il correspondence was
begun which very soon developed into
a most mterestin. one for both young
ladies'.
Louisa I.obstedt wrote her new friCrA
that She was quite alone in the world:
tiat-she had Il position at s.-all pay IN
n large confectioncr's shop where.
working from early morning until late
at night. with only Il short rest at noon.
she was quite tired out; that her en-
ployer made such unreasonable de-
mands upon Ills le!p THAT he. was much
disliked. She wrote that she had few
acquaintance of her own age and no
real friend. and sue congratulated her.
self that she h:.' conceived the idea of
sending that greeting through the
newspaper and putting her name to it.
although that last was rather risky.
What if her address had fallen into
wrong hands! She hoped also. she
wrote in one of her later letters. some
day to find time to visit Miss Bertha
at the hospital and SO TO become per
Isonally acquainted With her,
Bertha Willmers i'll the meantime re-
piled to these Letters in the same frank.
hearty way. She wrote that her home
was in H.. and that three months be-
fore she had come to II. for he ur-
pose Of earning her living us Il teacher
of music and the languages. In the
course Of Il few weeks she had fallen
i'll, and. at her earnest request. the peo-
pie with whom she boarded had
brought her here to the hospital. How
happy 1t makes me to think l am soon
to see you! l do not doubt that we
shall become the dearest friends, and
yet l am going to ask you to defer your
visit for a little while. And why? You
will think me foolish, vain. Well. call
it a feminine weakness, and vet before
my illness l was always being COM
plimented upon my pretty. fresh,
healthy looks. and you can readily un-
derstand how five weeks of severe i'll
ness would change one. Who knows
but you would be utterly Disguised
with me when l want so much to make
as favorable an impression as possible
upon my new found friend. Just as
o as l am somewhat better and q
little more like my old self ! will write
you to come"
A week later she impaired to Louisa
the delightful news that she hoped
very shortly to leave the hospital, en-
tirely recovered. Her first visit woulo
be to her dear new friend. but before
she could do this she would have t.
make il very, very serious confession
Amid protestations of the deepest es
TEEN and love on her own part IN beg
ged Miss I.ouisa to promise her ont
thing in advance-viz. that. whatever
the confession Nigh he. she would al