Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1865-07-21
ORllo(. Statte|,s',jn1rta{lr,1;;. tt|,',j ia I.
WHAT CAME OF OFAVALENTINE.

On the evening of the 18th of. February,
1850, two young men sat in acomfortably
furnished room In a large New York board
iDg-house. A bright fire glowing in the
CRATE, well chosen engravings adorned the
walls, and bright light was diffused about
the room from an Argand ibnrper.U 4 1s.!s
Let me introduce the occupants of the
apartment as Tom Stacy and John Wilbur,
young men of twenty-five or thereabOuts,
who were known in business circles as Stacy
d Wilbur, retail dry goods dealers, No. -
Broadway They had not been in business
long, but were already doing unusually
well. They had taken apartments together,
one of which is now presented to the readr
er. 'Ii.i1 gulGgHgraUn II Of .r...yfs # ..'-:
"Has lit occurred to you, Wilbur" asked
his partner, removing his cigar, and knock
ing away the ashes, ITO morrow is St. Valr
entine's day ?" ..-.,, stff,J ysir
g'"Yes, thought of it this afternoon, as
was walking up from the store" fIgg--
= $50 did l, and to some purpose, too, as
will show you." "s-s1ys.a- III. n -aG3 ...
j. Tom Stacy went to drawer, and drew
out a gorgeous valentine, an elaborate COM
bination of hearts, doves, &c. yiiapLg,y
".What doyou think gave for that2" he
asked. ~ o'' n, .r.f,...T. .f..f. hrn .a1,.a
II don't know: I'm sure. 1t appears to
ut cost me ten dollars" .-gIa.,i- In ,51...
"Whewr whistled Wilbur. at strikes
me you are either very eXtravagant or very
devoted. May know what fair damsel Is
to be made glad by the receipt of this ele-
CANT missiyep" u. tr.l. ,r-,.. !, IN 4i,f
"That's my secret" said Tom, laughing.
81 don't mind telling you, however, Its
to 90 to Edith Casteton." # f..f.. .'ls
81 presume you feel particularly inter-
ested in the young lady ~ a,{oi.. I'D
''Not at all. But 1 told her would send
her o valentine, ct Ia uota T. Shan't You con-
form to the, custom of the day?" g..
II had not thought of it." said John,
thoughtfully, "but believe will."; b..
,7"And what fair lady will yon select as
the recipient?p fqt,. ..I ~ ytsy r.K
"YOu remember the poor seamstress who
occupies an attic in the house," "l' i0 .-.I..
tg"Yes, have met her OH the steps two or
three times" r.,l.rr l.JI Ur. .
''She looks as if times were hard with
her. think I'll send her valentine
. And what COED do you think 1t will do
herr" asked Stacy, in surprise. .,,.. ...,
Wat till you see the kind of valentine
will send.n ... ..gs.. .-
Wilbur went to his desk, and taking out a
sheet of paper, drew from his port-mon-
naie ten-dollar bill, wrapped it in the pa
per on which he had previously written
"From st. Valentine" and placed the whole
in an envelope. rl -. ....,.
There" said he, ''my valentine has cost
aSmuch as yours, and l venture to say 1t
will be as welcome" .g.ar u. ..,...
''You are right. / wish now had not
bought this costly tritie, However,a as it is
purchased, L will sendit.", y.i LII. 5....
The next day dawned clear and frosty.
Itwas lively enough for those who sat by
comfortable fires and dined at luxurious
tables, but for the poor who shared none of
these advantages twas indeed bitter day.
In an attic room, meanly furnished, sat
young girl, pale and thin. She was COVER
ing over a scanty wood fire, the best she
could afford, which heated the room very in
sufficiently, She was sewing steadily, shiv-
ering from time to time as the cold blast
shook the window and. found its way
through the creVices. n,'. -l .. 2. t...Ij,,ri
n Poor child! Life had very black as
pect for her on that winter day. She was
alone in the world. There was absolutely
no one on whom she could call for assist
ance, though she needed it sOrely enough.
The thought came to her more than once in
her discomfort, "Is it worth whileliving any
longer?n But she recoiled from the sin Of
suicide. She might starve to death, but she
would not take the life that God had given
her. ,.. d.'., MI ..u. u.l---...... ..,. i.,.
Plunged in gloomy thought she con-
tinued to work. All at once step was
heard ascendingth staircase which led to
her room. Then there was knock at the
door. She arose insome surprise and OPEN
ed it, thinking it must be the landlady or
one of the servants. ,lgsI II asa' odd.
She was right. 1t was a servant. ,
s.IJara'S 1attar for unu hot tho most hnx,
Just brought, Miss Norris" .s,nlT tr..7
.a''A letter for mew repeated Helen Nor
ris, in surprise, taking it from the servants
hand. "Who can have written to mef?"S
"Maybe it'sa valentine, Miss said the
girl laughing. "You know this is Valen-
tines day. More by token, I've got two
myself, this morning. Ones karakter
[earicatnrsD, SO mistress calls it, just
Bridget displayed ahighly embellished
pictorial representation of female hard at
work at the wash-tub, the cast of beauty
being decidedly Hibernian. n ,s,.a-. iaa7I
Helen Morris laughed absently, but did
not open her letter while Bridget remained
"a. little to the disappointment of that
~ Helen slowly, opened the ser envelope. A
bank note for ten dollars dropped from 1t to
the floor. JaE. rff..n,J .,.''-,e is5inr.t
She eagerly read. the few words, on the
paper: "From st. Valentine" q1,,.t, ,5d
Te IHeayenTbe praisedW she said, folding
her hands gratefully. ''The sum will en-
able me to carry out the plan which 1 had
in view,pi Is,d -o+ .cr oHs n9dy, anr nj
Eight years passed away. Eight years
with their lights and shadows, their Joys
and sorrows. They brought with them the
merry voices of children-they brought
with them new made, ,graves--happiness to
some and grief to others. n yebrt Ees ara
10 Toward the last they brought the great
commercial crisis of '57, when houses that
seemed built upon rock tottered at, oneeto
their .fallso Do not many, remember that
time all too well, when mel chants with anx-
ious faces, ran from one to another to solic-
IL help, and met only averted faces and
distrustful loOksp And, how was itin, that
time ofuniversal famine with our friends
Stacy & Wilbur?
sNUp to 1857 these had been doing an excel
lent business. They had gradually enlarged
the sphere, Of their operations, and We're
rapidly growing rich, when this crash
S'They Immediately took bin sails Both
were prudent, and both felt that lthisste
the time wheno this duality was urgently
,,epdedg 1UiH9s tin NIB EiYBQ .Hat, n991do7i
4 0By great efforts they had succeeded in
Keeping up TIL the 14th of February, 1858.
On that morning, a note of two thousand
dollars came DUE This was their last peril
That surmounted, they would be able TO 20
on with assured confidence! nsis g1ef9T9Ss
J y But this aIhsf this was the rock ON which