OCR Text |
Show f IVh'n wlnlr'a at Ma eldrst Ant .nlnVst AnJ boldrst. Chrn rmMii tnnA fit Valsntlne, To show that lovs I burning And siahlna ami jrtsrnlna And brrathe upon the wintry earth his Imlirani ill Ins. t i Va T(r) ) OF THE ftRanSx' dnr. tho four-(BjWWllSjjT four-(BjWWllSjjT tcentli of Fcbru Jer&imr derful that It vr spreoils Ita charm iver the preceding wiek nnd the reek that comes niter For day nnd lays the Hmall Person sneaks Into the bouse with iinuntiirnl, unhealthy and suspicious quiet, holding queer ahaie bulttlng pnekngea under her coat or smuggled nway In the Innermost cav cms or her nbaurd llttlu tnufT. The paato ot appear everywhere In the house The paste brush dlsapieara tntlrdy and Is finally found In n state ol suicide and Ihu Ink bottle You see sunn-thing on the floor that looks like a cherry You pick It up nnd It Is n red paier heart While you arn looking look-ing at It tho Hmall Person trots Into the room, give you one mysterious glance, Immediately acparnte you . from your trc-muro nnd scamper J awky to a hltllfiK placVnmlcr tho din-I din-I Ingroom tabic, whero she site for three straight hour a In a billowy pool of whlto paper lace, big white envelope and numberless samples or scissors Theu, after those charming hour of mysterious preparation, the great day npproache The mall mnu Is the Kris Krlngle the Bun hi Claus tho good fairy With bended shoulders he plods down the street, while the Hmall Person has her nose glued so tightly to tho window pane that thoro Is con sldernble question whether or not It will detach Itself without tho aid of a paper knife At last' Hooray! Tho bell rings. At Imminent risk ol catching every thing from a cold to n siuinklng the Hmall Person dashe out of tho front door und fairly leaps Into tho mall bag. Hho emerge looking like n young tntlonery establishment, nothing but envelopes, big, little nnd middle sited With n squeal and u scurry sho bluws back Into tbo house nnd opins up her troaauros There uru iier trcoe filled with brilliant paper roses, and beneath be-neath tho fori st trie alt little cuplds "without nu clo's un nt all," Just as If It wero not February and chilly Croat big, lieautlful white aw an cars more beautiful even thnn a new mi tomoblle are dragged out of their while casings nnd In' when you touch a Utile spring somewhere the swim cars aru tilled with Mowers and nil sorts ol wonderful, exquisite, beautirul things, like birds and Jewels and loving lov-ing hearts Oh. It Is very, vory do-llghtriil, do-llghtriil, being a child on St Valen tlne"s day W'blla all this excitement Is beating tho quiet home atmosphere Into qulv rrs you sit duwn lu n faraway cor- .tier nnd think of tho time when you wero a Utile girl Perhnp you didn't Ihave as much attention as the Hmall Person, perhaps things didn't somehow some-how come your way and perhap It's I because you hud so little that you .rn ready to make any sacrifice so I that tho Small Person shall have I much It Is from deprivations that you leurn what good things mean and bow much they mean u,t,)i,iii vmir mlnil uoes wnv liaclc. so far you wouldn't dare tell the yeai You wouldn't even guess them It seems so lung ago that It must havo been another world or nnyway another an-other life You see a dingy old school room, where (he benches wero fright fully hard and whero the clock was so laiy It never moved Ita hands nt all The daya were very long for a I little tiny child who should have been i romping and playing out of door I One day there came strango whls perlngs about St Valentine You won dered If ho were the man who came to trim tbo trees In the orchard It was all very new to you, because everything was new, and you had so much to get ncquu'nled with lu n big stranga world Tho other children talked knowingly knowing-ly about u St Valentino's box Next day they filed In one after another god Into a big wooden box they Whi-n life Is at Its bbyikest And mMki-sl And wsskrst Tl sn rnmeth jcood Ht Valentin Tu stiow tl st lovs Is rosy And wlstrul tyrd and may Ant brsstin-s on cvry torpid hssrt Ms Uniterm ss dlvln- -lood Housekeeping, dropped whlto envelopes When school was about to bo dismissed tho lieautlful Lady who took care of nit tbo children opened up tho myatcrlnus affair and took out the onvoloivs ono by one, calling tho noma ot tho llttlo boy or girl. You held your breath When would your come? Ah! exquisite moment of anticipation! Your heart such n tiny llttlo silly, lovnblo heart, too fairly ceased to beat, for every moment mo-ment you expected that your name would bo sisiken The other children were busy showing their white lace valentines, Und never noticed the wistful wist-ful little face In a fttr hack seat It was nil over The box was empty. Tho lieautlful l.nily closed her desk. Tho children ran for their hats nnd coals You placed two soiled fat little lit-tle hands to two very moiety misty eye nnd felt your first great sorrow. You did, didn't you? Well, If you didn't, I did. 'Tbo heart ot n child I so sensitive a flower. A thought will crush It o tear will brulso IL |