Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-09-11
The Daily Story
A Singular Bequest-By May g. Etheridge.
Copyrighted. 1919. by Associated Literary Bureau.

| to do something to divert my mlno
i from my trouble. should be obliged
to make my own living, but l possess
ed a few hundred dollars and could
| not bring myself to begin the work
till my money was all gone.
| Scanning a newspaper one day saw
! an advertisement Of lady who de-
! sired companion with whom to trav-
ell abroad The applicant must be be-
| tween twenty and thirty-fiye years old,
| educated and of a cheerful disposition.
| Besides her expenses, she would be
| paid $50 a month.
| 1t seemed to me that this would be
a good opportunity for me If 1 could
obtain the situation. / came within
| the limit of age, for I was exactly
! twenty. AS to the cheerful disposition.
/ bore my misfortunes without infiict-
| ing them on others, but I surely did
not feel cheerful. 1 answered the ad-
vertisement and. having been invited
to call upon the lady, found her a wild
ow, much broken down in health,
nervous and irritable.
I was so disappointed at the prospect
before me that declined the position.
This seemed to excite Mrs. Souther-
lands desire for my services, and she
doubled the offer of salary. Since
would be at no expense 1 should re-
turn with some $1,000, which, with
what 1 already had. would give me a
little nest egg. So I agreed to go.
Mrs. Southerland's son, young man
of twenty-five, brought her on to the
steamer, where I had gone shortly be-
fore to prepare her stateroom for her
and unpack needed articles. Roy
Switzerland was evidently much har-
assed by his mother, whose nervous
condition had evidently communicated
itself to him. This is a common oc
currence. There is nothing that will
break down ones nerves quicker than
taking care OF a nervous wreck. While
his mother was resting in her state
room before the ship cast off the young
man took me aside and said to me:
81 don't envy the work before you.
l am sorry to turn my poor mother
over to another, but she needs other
care than mine. Quite likely when
you return you will be in the same
condition as myself. If so 1 will do
what I can to make 1t up to you. I
don't consider your salary any pay for
what you will have to endure. A
thousand dollars a month would not
induce me to undertake the care of
my mother, and twice that would not
induce me to give it up to any one
else If I had not come to the end Of
my rope. 1t is essential for both her
and me that she should be cared for
by some one else than me-"
I could understand this situation,
and 1 confess the young man won my
earnest sympathy. The prospect be-
fore me was surely not frightened by
what he told me. l did not think so
much of his offer to make good what
I would endure as n feeling of con-
tentment at being able to bear his
burden for him while he took a rest
I assured him that he had acted wise
~ in the matter and that he might
have perfect confidence. should de-
vote myself to his mother and stand
by her till 1 brought her back to
him, as 1 hoped. greatly benefited.
Mrs. Switzerland proved to be sin
Eular woman. When 7 returned to her
after this interview with her son she
said to me:
SUppOSS W z OCCh "
Roy. He is a good son to me. but he
does not realize that i am perfectly
competent to take care of my own af-
fairs. Besides. he considers me very
irksome and I'm sure is glad to get
rid of me. However. he Is more duti-
full than most sons, who don't hesitate
to fall in love with the first pretty face
they see, and those who have poor old
ry and leave their mothers out in the
cold. But Roy can't do that without
my consent unless he is willing to give
up the family fortune, which my hus
band left entirely to me to dispose of
as I please, and Roy knows that the
moment he takes wife to usurp my
first place with him he viii lose every
cent of it,
This was but an expected sequel to (
what Roy Switzerland had told me and /
was not a very pleasant beginning of 4
my term of service. Without making
any reply TO the remarks 1 asked the I
lady what I could do for her to make |
her comfortable. This diverted her /
mind from her unappreciative son. and /
she told me of so many things she /
wished for that l had all 1 wanted TO /
10 To provide them.
l had accepted this situation in order /
to recover from n condition of my own I
and found myself called on to bear
depression of another. One would sup
pose that l had made matters worse
for myself. But this, in one respec. ut
least, was not so. My own distress fell
to the ground before the greater suf-
fering of another. Mrs. Switzerland
was hard mistress. finding fault
with every one, including her own son.
but there were moments when, her
nerves having come to period of rest,
she showed an entirely different dispo-
sltion. During these intervals she
showed unbounded love for her son
and declared that If he wished TO mar
~ society girl she would not stand in
his way. We had not crossed the