The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-11-27
b. RUTH GRAHAM


Dear Patient-I am very sorry for you.
I hope you will get comfort from this
paper. which I intend to put in the box
at tho terminal OF the railroad for pa
pers to go to the hospitals. pity you
especially being confined on account OF
illness when Thanksgiving Is coming on.
Cheer up! On next Thanksgiving day
I trust you will be in condition to enjoy
a fine Thanksgiving dinner
This communication to an unknown
dear patient was signed with two ini-
tials, E. A. The newspaper was a
weekly issued at a place called Edge
water. some twenty miles from the
city.
THAT little note" said Olcott t. him
self. was written by a girl. No M
else would have signed her initials.
The place in which she lives is made
up of residences Of we'll to do people.
l question If in all there are 500 houses.
I shall have no difficulty in discovering
who E. A. is. and l propose to dine
with her next Thanksgiving. l would
do so this year but for the fact that
there isn't time and l couldn't eat a
Thanksgiving dinner"
Olcott a a young man Of means.
The reason why he was at a hospital
instead of his own home was twofOld
first. he was a bachelor, without a
near relative, and. second, he had been
recommended by his physician to go
to a hospital as the most convenient
place in which to be i'll. Possibly in
his convalescent state he was especial
~ impressible. Be that as it may, he
read the paper that had been given
him. c%onjuring up visions Of the per-
son who wrote the message on the
margin. When he had finished the pa
per's perusal he tore off the message
for preservation and future use.
OlcOtt was at an age when an ap-
probation for the pleasures Of social
life begins to lose its edge. When he
was twenty he fancied that he was
cOurted because of his attractiveness.
Now that he was twenty-seven he had
come to understand that he was court
ed principally for what his income rep
resented. He had not lived at home
since the death Of his mother. when he
was nineteen. His illness. during
which he had been under the care Of
paid nurses. had made him sensible Of
what might be the tender sOlicitude Of
one who loved him. Sundry young
ladies he had met in society had n
deavOred to make it appear to him
that they appreciated him for himself.
but he believed that any other mar
who could give them a home would
do as we'll.
For these reasons he was attracted
to this person who had q heart to take
in an unknown person in a hospital
from whom there was scarcely a pos
sibility that she could derive n bene-
fit.
She might possibly be old and home
ly. but he did not believe she al
At any rate. as Don as he was dis
charged from the hospital he proposed
to hunt her up-that is. IL she lived in
Edgewater. If not, there was not
much hope Of finding her.
When the next Thanksgiving season
came round Olcott had made the &C
q%uaintance Of Miss Edith Arnold Of
Edgewater and had proved by secur
ing a specimen Of her handwriting
that she was the person who had con-
tributed the newspaper that he had
read as a convahscent. There had
been no great difficulty in this. All he
had to do was to 60 to Edgewater.
join a club there. consisting of young
men and women. make the acquaint-
ance Of the residents and look out for
q girl whose initials were E. A.
Miss Arnold was. as he had supposed.
very young. She was barely eighteen.
Olcott paid her a great deal of atten-
ton. at which she was naturally fat
tered. He discovered that her heart
was as tender for the afflicted as he
had supposed. and 1t was not long be-
fore he had won that heart for HIM
self.
All this while he had the pencil
sag that he had torn from the news
paper in his portmanteau. But he said
nothing about it to Miss Arnold. who
supposed that their meeting had &C.
Cured by chance. Olcott had resolved
when in the hospital that he would eat
his next Thanksgiving dinner with her.
and he vas working up to that point.
This. too. was very easy. for a few
weeks before Thanksgiving he asked
her to be his wife, and she accepted
his proposition. Under the circum-
stances it vas quite in order that he
should be invited to take his Thanks
giving dinner at the Arnolds'. Toward
its close he took from his portmanteau
the scrap he had torn from the news
paper and passed 1t around the table.
1t was easily recognized as Edith's
work. Then OlcOtt said:
When III In II hospital | tore this
message - Ia "':h" f-nm Il newspa-
per that f"'i i,.n nv birds. vowed
th". ~" . -" ut ThankSgiY.
ti.s A. r - - ~. UP TAR and I hDvn