Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-03-26
V.-Continued.

CHAPTER v.-Continued.
Ny Dear Friend: 3.
I have hesitated a dong time be
fore writing because I do not know
that I have the right to call you a
friend, or. even an acquaintance in
the commonly accepted sense Of that
term. 1t is so long since you and
went to school together, and we have
been SO widely separated since then
that perhaps you do not wen remem
Der me, and may consider my letter
al intrusion. I hope not, for I
should hate to rank with the girls
who r writing to strangers under
the license of mistaken patriotism.
My reason for writing you is thai
a good many years ago you did some
thing very. nice and kind for me one
day, in fact you helped me twice, al
thought l don't suppose you knew it.
Then the other day, when you were
going to camp and I sat in my car
and watched you. it suddenly came
over me that you were doing it again;
this time a great big wonderful thing
for and doing it just as quietly
and. inconsequentially as you did it
before; and all at once 1 realized how
splendid lit was and wanted to thank
you.
It came over me, too, that.I had
never thanked o for the other
times. and very likely you never
dreamed that you had done anything
at all. y
You see I was only a little girl,
very much frightened, because Chuck
Woodcock had leased me about my
curls and said that he was going to
catch me and cut them off, and send
me home to my aunt that. way, and
she would turn me out Of the house.
eral days, SO hat l was afraid to go
to school alone, and yet I would not
tell my aunt because I was afraid she
would take me away from the Public
School and send me to a. Private
School which l did not want. But
that day 1 had seen Chuck Woodcock
steal in behind the hedge. ahead of
the girls. The others were ahead of
me and I was all out of breath-run-
ming to catch up because I was afraid
to pass him alone; and just as I got
Caroline Meadows, you remember
them, don't you?-they. gave a
scream and pitched headlong on the
sidewalk. They had tripped over a
wire he had stretched from the tree
to the hedge. I stopped short and
got behind a tree, and / remember
how the tears felt in my throat, but I
was afraid to let them out because
Chuck would call me a crybaby and
Il hated that. And just then you came
along behind me inc jumped through
gave him an awful whipping. Lick
ing" I believe we called it then. 7
remember how condemned I.felt as I
ran by the hedge and knew in my
heart that I was glad you were hurt
ing him because he. had been s~o:crueI
to me-. He used to- pull my curls
whenever he sat behind me in recita-
ton.
I remember you came in to school
late, with your hair all mussed UP
beautifully, and ! a big tear in your
coat, n a streak OF mud on your
face. I was SO worried lest the teach
er would find out you had been fight
Ing and make you i~stay,after school.
Because you see knew in my heart
that you had been winning q battle
for me, and II anybody had to stay
after school I wished it could be me
because OF what, you had done for
But you came In Laughing as
you always did, and looking as Il
nothing in the world unusual. had
happened, and when you passed, my
lnesk you threw before me the love.
Hest pink rose bud / ever saw. That
was the second thing you did FOR mo,
Perhaps you won't understand how
rice that WAS, either. forsyou see o
didn't know how UNHAPPY I had
been. The girls hadn't been very.
friendly with me. They told me al
Was stuck UP, and they said I was
too young to be In their classes any
way andaousht TO 30 70 K~indergarten.