The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-07-31
.1'l)ut
West
ecs1snsS4 3sls. 81 Wsstsn Nsvspasse uasea.)
DyRALPH IIIAllILToN

wear
going Ia come back with fortune.
Z .oors - mo 81 e he has about blown
a ali he has on that wild flower fad
r. Ria =
.ve. and ha ,vants to and some {
Mace - store h,s rubbishy stuff. He
won,t tnrn this Mace into 4 warehouse,
I can tell Won =.
Thr. Ah., na,laa Dan Porter and !.
Nat Wen. rhev were discussing their !,
old bachelor relative John Bristow,
an odd generous old fellow who had
cola out on,te extensive nroperty hold !.
,nes ~ Eyenden and had gone to the !
pac,Ac coaat to -sneculate. They had
hnilt hiph homes npon his return, for
Brietow was natural born trader and
had quite some capital. Naturally /
some one Of them would inherit his !,
fortune. Blasted anticipations changed
to sullen disappointment after Bristow
had made the rounds Of their various
homes. at the farst a welcome guest.
Following him came lot of cases
which he had temporarily stored In .
local warehouse. Their contents were
soon revealed. ..,
II suppose" announced Bristow.
.that I have brought back with me the
finest and most complete collection OF
the fora Of the Rockies ever gathered.
I bought 1t from man who had de-
voted twenty years toward assem-
bling them. Thinks /, there isn't much.
I have done for my native town, and
here's the opportunity to make . ten
strike. What I'm going to do is to get
at the collection, classify 1t, put It IN
permanent exhibition cases and present
It to the public library for the enter
taipment and enlightenment Of the
community"
A. which Abel secretly snfckered,
Dan anathemi1ed the donation under
sh,s hroath and Nat coyertay sneered.
rho ideaI The nnhlic library was .
Struggling nropoaition. poorly support
ed and housed in small, gloomy quar-
tors IN tho half attic Of a rickety old
store building.
m. ,no,,+.h,a reen,+ed The Dallas.
~. po-+o- o,nd +ha Walls Families. And.
80 NO. S+h.-e voa M onnortnnitv az
oet+,nui .nvthina ont of ,.the old fell
POO heoan 70 turn the cold shoulder
mon MIN Ono nv one the three
families ceased their coddline tactics.
H. waa no longer the honored. vel.
come onest and. one day when Bristow
stated that he must find permanent
l,v,no quarters and a place to keep his
floral treasures. not q voice gainsaid
his decision. Il was while seeking his
now refuge that one day Bristow met
Nellie Tracy. Her sincere greeting
warmed his lonely heart. She was his
haIf niece. had recently married, and
invited Rrtstow to her home. There he
met her husband. about as fine young
man as he had ever known. Both Ar
mold Tracy and his wife were nature
lovers. The second visit resulted in
Bristow taking up his quarters at their
home. They apportioned to him two
rooms, so he could have his collection
ready at hand to arrange and cata-
logue, making a minimum charge for
the accommodation because they were
really interested in his specimens and
liked him, and nearly every evening
took an honest delight in helping him
in his work Of classifying the floral
collections.
John Bristow was certainly an ar
dent devotee OF his engrossing fad. He
talked flowers to everybody, announc-
ing that when Judge Pearsons return
ed from a visit to: some relatives in
the East, they would begin to plan as
! to getting the collection in charge of
8 the public library. This Mr.. Pearsons
4 was an ex-judge, great friend OF
Bristow, and had been the main NOV
er in establishing the Evenden H.
brary.
Meantime the Dallas and the Porter
ter and the Wells families barely rec
ognized the old man when they passed
i him on the street. Bristow went about
in shabby attire and they attributed
/ this to q lack Of money. They sneered
!. at the kindly cooperation Of the
40 -