Poem enclosed with Robert's letter:
It's seldom trouble comes alone,
I've noticed this: when things go wrong
An' trouble comes a-visitin'
It always brings a friend along;
Sometimes it's one you've known before,
And then perhaps it's some one new
Who stretches out a helping hand,
An' stops to see what he can do.
If never trials come to us,
If grief an' sorrow passed us by,
If every day the sun came out,
An' clouds were never in the sky,
We'd still have neighbors, I suppose,
Each one pursuin' selfish ends,
But only neighbors they would be,
We'd never know them as our friends.
Out of the troubles I have had
Have come my richest friendships here,
Kind hands have helped to bear my care,
Kind words have fallen on my ear;
An' so I say when trouble comes
I know before the storm shall end
That I shall find my bit of care
Has also brought to me a friend.
CHAPTER XIII
That afternoon, after three o'clock, when the afternoon newspapers were out, he bought a paper and found that cotton and wheat had advanced many points and that he now had a nice profit on the purchases made that morning. Indeed, the gods of good fortune and finance were smiling on Robert, but the Goddess of Love was frowning and he must have patience. As the sun was slowly setting and the day was waning, he watched in sadness because no news had come from Marie. He firmly resolved that he would carry out his intention and place the personal notice in the papers the following day for news of Marie, if something did not come that evening.
Robert called Mr. Kennelworth on the 'phone in Texarkana and again met with disappointment. Not a word had been heard from Marie and her parents were now growing more anxious and feared that there had been some accident or foul play in some way. They were making a search in every direction; City and County officials had been notified and all the schools thruout the country were on the lookout for Marie and making every effort to obtain some information about her. Robert told Mr. Kennel worth about his plan to insert the personal notice and Mr. Kennelworth agreed with him. He thought it would be a good idea and he believed that if she were secretly hiding somewhere, she would surely see the papers because she herself would be anxious to know what happened to Robert and what he was doing.
Robert arose early on Wednesday morning, June 8th, hastened to the newspaper offices and placed the personal notices to appear the following day. When he returned to his hotel, for the first time since Sunday he thought of his birthday, June 9th, when he would be 21 years of age. When he thought of this a great hope came into his mind. He decided that Marie, for some unknown reason, was hiding until his birthday and intended that they should be married on that day and she was going to be his birthday present. Robert's imagination went wild. He was elated over the hope. It seemed like a sudden inspiration to him. It would be just like Marie to wait until his birthday to give him the surprise of his life, and think this delay would only try his faith and patience and she would know just how much she meant to him, but did not think it too long to keep him waiting if he really loved her as he said he did; that he would have patience and wait.
Robert was sure that his advertisements in the papers the following day were going to bring results and that probably Marie, just as soon as she saw it, would come to him. So he really began to plan and hope and get ready for a marriage to take place on his birthday. He was so happy over this sudden thought, so elated that he 'phoned Mr. Kennelworth again that night and told him all about it. Mr. Kennelworth, half-hearted but hopeful, agreed with Robert that there might be something in it, that Marie might have had some plan of this kind in mind, and sincerely hoped that Robert was right and that this birthday would be the happiest of his life.
After Robert talked with Mr. Kennelworth, he immediately called Walter Kennelworth on the 'phone in New York, told him all that had happened, about his placing the personal notices in the papers, about his hopes and theories that Marie would show up on his birthday. Walter said that it would be just like her to do a trick of that kind and that this might be just what it all meant. He thought that Robert had struck on the right idea and was hopeful, too, that the marriage would take place on Robert's birthday. He was to call Robert on the 'phone the next day or Robert should call him just as soon as he got any news. Walter wanted to send congratulations for his birthday and his wedding day. The fact that Walter was so cheerful and shared Robert's views and hopes in the matter, made Robert much happier.
After Robert had talked with Walter, the bellboy came and brought a special-delivery letter and a telegram. Robert opened the telegram hurriedly, hoping that it was something from Marie, but found it was a telegram from his mother in which she congratulated him on his birthday the following day, and encouraged him to hope for the best and not give way to despair in case Marie did not show up. The special-delivery letter was also from Robert's mother, and read:
My dear Son,