The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-03-26
A Singular
BeqCest
Its Purpose Could Be
Only Inferred
By MAY G. ETHERlDGE

alone in the world. | felt so desolate
to do something to divert my mind
from my trouble. | should be obliged
to make my wv living, but l possess
ed q few hundred dollars and could
not bring myself to begin the work
till my money vas all gone.
Scanning a newspaper me day | saw
an advertisement of a lady who de-
sired a companion with whom to tray
ell abroad. The applicant must be i"
tween twenty and thirty-five 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 | could
obtain the situation. | came within
the limit of age for l was exactly
twenty. AS to the cheerful disposition.
! bore my ~misfortunes without inflict-
Ing them on others, but I surely did
not feel cheerful. | 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.
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 | should re-
turn with some $1,000. which. with
what l already had, would give me a
little nest egg. So l agreed to go.
Mrs. Southerland's son, a young man
Of twenty-five. brought her on to the
steamer, where l 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 &C.
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 of the young
man took me aside and said to me:
II 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 I will do
what l can to make 1t up to you. l
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 MI to give it up to any one
else II l 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 n else than me"
I could understand this situation,
and l 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
/ would endure as a 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.
ly In the matter and that he might
have perfect confidence | should de
vote myself to his mother and stand
by her till brought her back to
him, as l hoped. greatly benefited.
Mrs. Switzerland proved to be a sin
gular When l returned to her
after this interview with her son she
said to me:
Il suppose you have been talking to
Roy. He is a good son to me-, but he
does not realize that l am perfectly
competent to take care Of my own af-
fairs. Besides, he considers me very
irksOme and Pm sure is glad to get
rid of me. However, he is more duti-
ful than most sons, who don't hesitate
to fall in love with the first pretty face
they see, and those who have poor old
lonely mothers will not scruple to mar
~ 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 q wife to usurp my
first place with him he will 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
my term of service. Without making
any reply to the remarks l asked the
lady what l 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 l wanted to
do to provide them.
I had accepted this situation in order
to recover from a condition of my own
and found myself called on to bear q
depression of another. One would sup
pose that I had made matters worse
for myself. But this, in one respect at
least, was not SO. My own distress fell
30 the ground before the greater sui.
1efing II another. Mrs. Switzerland
was q hard mistress, finding fault
with every one, including her own son.
INT thono woro mOnon when hnP