The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-02-17
RICHMOND.
live happy life, and be worthy the
everlasting esteem OF
YOUR VALENTINE.

little quiver about her mouth, which
Bertha understood; but she read it
with firm voice and careful, deliberate
accent.
Then" she said, hen she had fin
ished, Il shall burn up all the rest of
my valentines. and send only this one;
for it is what | mean, in earnest. and,
as old Aunty Smoke says, Eff it don t
do no good it can't do no harm. :.
ITO whom shall you send it, dear p
Bertha asked gently, a little subdued
by Nelly's epistolary success.
Il hadn't made up my mind, Nelly
answered thoughtfully; they all need
1T.
''Oh, send it to jack cried Kitty
Greene He boards with US, and HE
needs it-bad enough. II ever a boy
was full of his pranks Jack is. and if
ever boy tormented girls life out,
Jack does mine.
A color clear and bright as flame
glowed on Nelly Hunts cheeks. Had
she had dark: eyed Jack in her mind
all the while? She only answered
very quietly:
Il don't mind. I had just as lief
send it to Jack That is, I'll send it
to him if you II promise, on your sa-
lICu hohoIi hStSA III any ~ ~
him know who wrote it. p"
''Oh, | will-true as I live and
breathe I'll never tell him, and never
let him guess If can help it.
And all you girls ?" Nelly asked,
with the pretty pink glow deepening
in her cheeks. will you all prom
Use?
And they all promised, for there
was a sort of honest earnestness IN
NeIfy's nature to which they found it
natural to yield.
So the valentine was directed in
NelIy''s most neat and proper manner
to Mr.. Jack Greene" and was
dropped into the post office with the
rest of the valentines the girls had
written that day.
On the fifteenth the six girls were
all together at school comparing notes
and exchanging condolences. But
Kitty Greene drew Nelly aside, and
said, while they walked up and down
the hall together, their arms around
each other as girls will.
Il saw Jack get it Nelly"
'Nclly's pretty cheeks glowed and
her eyes shone like stars, but she
asked no questions Indeed they were
scarcely necessary, for Kitty was eager
enough to tell her story.
He got it, don't you think, along
with half-a dozen others, and he read
them all before he came to this one.
l knew this, you know, by the shape
of the envelope. When he came to it
saw him read it all through, and
then [ saw him go back and read it
again. l heard him say to himself:
That's an honest letter from some
little saint"
!. Then he came up ta J NED me and .Bb Bbe5bd
very busy with my valentines. Then
he spoke
DO you know that handwriting,
Kit?'
Il felt like an awful little liar, but
l had promised you. ] stretched out
my handy for it, and said, carelessly:
why. amt it Sues
"She is his sister, you know. So he
thought | did not know who it came
from, and he changed his mind, and
put it into his pocket, and went off.
When [ teased him afterward to let
me see it. he said:
mo; there are some things a fellow
would be coward to show.
$50 | saw it hit him, and we'll 1t
might 1t was a tremendous letter,
Nelly"
And Kitty ended with hug and
kiss, and a look OF that loyal admira,,
ton which girl can give another girl
now and then.
When the spring came Jack Greene
went away from Chester, and did not
come back there any more. No doubt
very existence but for the valentine.
II nn,,Il fnrraf Sha ,1ual
to blush, as she grew older, to think
how "bumptious it was. as she used
to call it to herself. What was SHE.
that she should have undertaken to
preach a sermon to that boy? What
If he remembered it only to think how
it was. and to laugh at 1T?
But, luckily, he did not know from
whom it came: and with that thought
she cooled her bushes.
Nelly was twenty when Jack Green
came back to Chester again. And
now he came as a physician, Just
his studies, and anxious to
build up practice. Soon his fame
grew. His patients We're among the
poor at first, and he cured them; aud
then richer people heard of it, and
sent for him. But, while he took all
the patients that came, he never gave
up his practice among those who most
needed him. His praise was In all
their mouths There had never been
any doctor like this one.
Nelly was Miss Hunt now-for
Bertha had gone away from her into
the next country-and Nelly's grief
had made her gentle heart yet more
gentle. and her helpful spirit yet more
helpful.
Toward night. one summer day. she
bad gone to see an old woman who
had been her nurse once, and had
found her very ill-quite too i'll to be
left alone, and certainly in need of
physician. So Nelly tore leaf from
her memorandum book and wrote on
it few lines, begging DIR. Green to
come at once, and then called to the
first passerby and entreated him to
take it to the doctor
1t was scarcely half an hour before
DIR. Greene came in quietly and grave
|y. He attended to his patient with
that careful consideration which made
Ill those poor souls whom he visited
adore him. Then he turned to Nelly.
Who will stay with her to- night? p
he asked; for. indeed, she hardly
ought to be left alone.
Il shall stay, was the quiet an
swer-
Then come to the door with me,
please. and let me give you your direc-
lions
Nelly followed. and stood there. in
the soft summer dusk-a pretty pie
the wild rose flush dawn
ing IN her cheeks, and new light