The Literary echo, and Pawcatuck advertiser. [volume] (Westerly, R.I.) 1851-1854, 1854-02-09

had something Of Valentine--but re-
pentance was useless now, and she
trusted to fortune for all to 60 off
right.
The first letter that came up, effect
ualy put to flight all awkwardness, and
set mirth ahoat, for it was to the grave
editor himself, and the quiet humor
with which he read the unexpected eff
fusion, was much MOI amusing than the
Valentine itself, which ran as follows:
l saw you one day. oh, Editor dear
! In your easy ollice-chair,
With your indolent pen behind your ear
! (It usually seemed To be there y
You used the scissors, you used the paste,
And the weekly Chronicle" grew,
And once in a while in desperate haste,
You seized the pen, aud in excellent taste
| Invented an item new
murder and burglary here and there,
steamboat or railroad accident rare,
| A pleasant fiction of stocks
An account of a temperance meeting somewhere
Or great revelation" to make people stare,
! From the knowngest spirit that knocks
And you put up your feet on the table to rect,
And pronounced this weeks Chronicle" one
of the best
An exceedingly graphic sheet
But you looked around the sanctum and heaved
a low sigh,
And mournfully wished some dear praiser was
nigh
But our eyes didn't chance to meet
Surely the pleasantest thing in this life,
Were to be an agreeable Editors wife,
| And up in the sanctum stay
And sit among papers up to ones ears,
In dear little chair, with some dear little shears
And help him to edit all day
To turn the machine for the poems sometimes
Or help disentangle refractory rhymes,
From lines that poets might send
No cooking to do, for we'd live on puffpaste,
And if e'er that sweet nutriment palled on our
taste,
Why, we'd go and take tea with friend
A merry crowding around to see the
hand writing and comment on the first
Valentine, followed the reading, and
sharp and fast were the guesses as to
who was the author, and very liberal tn
accusations and denials They finally
ended in finging the authorship on the
poor editor bimself, who stoutly denied
it, and was unconsciously sustained in
his denial by pair of roguish black
eyes on the other side of the table,
whose owner being just engaged' to
a clever young mill owner, was not ex-
pectcd to be found guilty of writing
Valentines to other young gentlemen,
but whose black eyes sparkled all too
merrily not to betray knowledge. So
the editor stoutly persisted in laying the
weight of the sin on her conscience, and
she could not escape.
Peace was, however, soon restored 4,
for the inpatient audience were on the
qui rire for the next, which proved to
be decidedly sentimental, and addressed
to Miss Il. ", a very pretty, fair haired
blue-ey girl, who diffidently kept her
eyes fixed upon her folded hands and
pocket handkerchief, during the whole
Of the reading
"ris not the light Of thine eye, lady,
Though soft as mOonlit heaven,
Nor the wildering wave fthy brown hair,
Nor the smile to thy pure lips given
| 'Tis thy mellow and musical voice, lady,
That has stirred this heart OF mine,
For ouly allowable soul can speak
In such fairy like tones as thine
! And the dearest sound to this heart, lady,
Were to hear that voice of thine,
Say, low and sweet in its tender tones,
Thou, love, art my Valentinel"
There was quite an excitement as the
second Valentine was handed round, for
the handwriting was so effectually dis
guiSed, that nol even a hint could be
gwen as to the author. Perhaps the
young lady her of might have been
wiser than her friends, but it so, she
made no betrayal. The youth Of APP
pleville seemed fast becoming Of the
opinion that Valentine Party was a
very nice Thing after all and the impa-
tience to hear who was the next honored
in the reading, left little time for study
and specula ion. The Valentines were
mostly short rt-some Of them quite funny
! and other, 5istrc7sinsly sentimental