Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-03-06
Byconstance searIe.
{ Copyright, 1917, by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate. J

fash and went almost as quickly as
it came.
This day, valentines day. she was
angrier than she had ever been in hel
life before Patience Cotton had shown
i her valentine that had been slipped
under her door early that morning
Not very much of valentine as val
entines went in days Of paper lace. Gu
plds and hearts. but it carried con
viction to Charity. If it did not entire
! her friend Patience. 1t was home.
made affair. two cut-out hearts with a
bunch of dried forget-me-nots tied to.
gether with bit OF blue ribbon, and
the lines roughly printed:
Oh take
this tribute of
my love and cast it
not aside:
Twill bind our hearts
as one in thought
| tho distance doth
| divide.
J In one corner was a family traced
monogram entwined with the outlines
of rudely drawn heart.
! 1t was this monogram that had far
ed to white heat the anger sfnoldering
! in, Cbaritv's breast. j. F. NcOuld only
mean Josiah Foote and he had left her
a few NIGHTS before with look in his
| eyes that had turned her world upside
down
| There was the possibility that the
| initials belonged to some other name,
but not for one moment did this
thought enter her mind, for the men
ton of distance" in the verse made it
plain to whom the written lines re-
ferred Josiah lived in Hvannis, quite
a number of miles from Chatham and
it was in Chatham both Charity and
Patience were born and had lived
their eighteen years
1 These girls with the blood Of stiff
necked Puritans in their veins We're
mo different from other girls of their
age. but there was this difference be-
tween the two. To Charity had come
endurance and the habit of silence
over a hurt, handed down to her
through generations of repression and
when her more laxative friend show
ed her the sheet of paper with rs
hearts and for-getme-nots and rudely
printed verse, no hint of feeling evil
denced itself to the watchful eyes of
Patience Cotton
She agreed that it had come from
Josiah, although she had never
thought he could write poetry. Still.
she said. one never knew what a man
could do until he tried And of course
she was glad ne cared So much for
Patience. But little later she mount
oI e4a %osr - NIT n
tagging feet. walked slowly across the
room to the chest Of drawers. and
with face between her two hands look
ed herself straight in the eyes.
For the first time In her life she was
envious Of Patience's good looks. and
| jealous although she would have ex-
planned that the feeling possessing
her was anger. deep seated anger. =
| Her mothers voice brought her to
herself and recalled to her mind that
Josiah Foote had told her he was COM
| ing over that evening to bring her
something he had bought in Boston
when he was there the week before.
Again came that sharp twjnge of feel
! ing she could not explain, for Patience
had limited that she expected him to
speud the evening with her
| To her surprise, Charity found him
in the hall taking off his great coat
and as she reached the foot of the
stairs he blocked her way with an EN-.
r, barrassed gesture that went ludicrous-
| ~ with the bigness of the man
"Guess might as well give 1t to you
here" he said nervously. "Your moth
er's in the sitting room and mayn't
u oh III cd or
: an envelope. his face flushing as he
did so. Hope you'll like It,"
Thank you" There Vas little
catch in her throat as she looked at
i the envelope in her hand. 1T was
kind of you to bring 1t tonight"
| why. told you was coming" he
replied, surprised that she should have
: forgotten his intention. aren't you 60
| ing to look at it? thought it right
pretty.
With hairpin she carefully slit the
envelope and drew from 1t wonderful
CONNECTION of paper lace, cupids and
hearts with a dear little house half
hidden by lattice covered with roses
Tied to the top with a clumsey bow of
blue ribbon was a ring set in turuuois
TO represent a cluster of forget-me
nots
oh" she cried ''for me How did
you know J wanted one? How could
you know
! He came a step nearer 10 her. 81
didn't But it looked so like you when
saw il in the window in Boston that
I had to go in and buy it. Patience
Gotten happened to come along and
thought as | did, that it was real pref
fy."
, The name brought her back to
earth
Patience" she repeated the name
slowly but looking at him. ''She was
here this morning and told me you