My dearest Calvin,

A letter came yesterday, which completely took my breath away, for it contained a P.O. order for one hundred dollars, and when the girls heard of five dollars coming to each of them there was great excitement. I really feel sorry to take it from you, it would have been so nice to apply it to your note, but really it is a tremendous help to me just now, I had just been wondering how I was to manage the taxes, one due on Monday and Tom was giving me all he could spare to make them up, but besides that, I had a bill at Watkins of some standing and one to Donaldson and Patterson of eighty odd dollars, so this money of yours will just bring me nicely through. It seems so fine to have sons to help me along, I feel tremendously rich. O! if money could make Ruby well, we would be too happy.

We are all quite agreed, that if Ruby is able we would certainly take her to Arizona, there is nothing we would not do for her and even though it may not save her, we cannot bear to think of her going through another winter in the cold. But there is so little encouragement in her condition. Just when we think her stomach is getting into better condition, as last week when her temperature came down to 99, it immediately began to go up again, and tho' I think did not go up quite so high, it continues up for a week and her digestion gets out of order and makes her cough more and cannot stand milk at all, so we cannot feed her up.

Well Dr. Arnott is writing a friend who spent two years in Arizona and I am still waiting for an answer from the lady there, whose address the gentleman here, Mr. Cook game me. Ethel Ambrose was out there and I wrote Miss Ambrose as Ethel is away. They replied that is Miss A. and Willie too that Ethel derived much benefit, but the "people were bloodsuckers" and they seem to think the journey such a hard one, had to change so often. But Mr. Cook said, he thought you could get a car right through from Chicago and modes of travel have improved probably since Ethel A. went there. I had about made up my mind to go with R. myself, feel as if I could not be satisfied to leave her. Dr. Arnott is looking for a person to go with us. Sometimes I feel that we ought to go before end of October, it will be pretty cold here then, tho' Dr. A. says we should stay as long as we can up north. When this month is over, I must have a talk with Dr. Parfitt, and thought of asking him to write her condition to Dr. Arnott and see what they think. Mrs. Mullin seems so afraid of a collapse but I feel, even if such a thing did occur, we could only feel we had done our best.

I had been praying so earnestly that God would show forth his miraculous power to heal in spite of all man can do. Now, that we are in such comfortable circumstances if we could only keep Ruby!

Saturday Afternoon.

Received the letter from the lady in Arizona and will sent it on to you when I have let R. see it. It is not encouraging, the country is such a wretched place to be in, and any improvement is so slow, that a winter seems nothing and summer unbearable.

This is the last day of Tom's holidays, he goes back Monday, we shall miss him much for I enjoyed the boat rides particularly in the mornings, gave me a great appetite for my dinner. To go back to old subject, if R. showed herself to be better in the summer, one would know if the weather agreed with her, but her best time was really last November. Must close all send much love and many thanks.

Your loving mother

M.B. McQuesten