Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-02-14
THAT LOST VALENTINE.

To the Editor of the Eagle.
Rockton had new postmaster;
quite an event in that staid old village.
as the late incumbent had served SO
many years that he had been regarded
as a fixture. The new P. NJ, rather
young man, decided that the old Office
must be replaced by a new one, for it
was a shabby affair. So the building
that had done duty so long, was
moved of and q new structure reared
in its stead. The old nest of boxes
not a great many-was torn down to
be remodelcd, and as the frame was
moved, something not unlike letter,
was seen lying behind. When the
dust was brushed off it proved to be
a valentine, bearing date five years old;
an odd shape too, with a border OF
anchors. 1t had slipped from the box
when the frame came loose "a long
time ago." and when the frame was
fastened back, SO was the luckless val
entine. If Miss Alice Fay, the adj
dressed, could have received 1t on
time, what change it would have
wrought for her. and how many I'M
happy days it would have saved. But
she got it at last and it proved the
most welcome missive she had ever
received, though it awakened a train
Of regrets. Over and over she scanned
the lines:
"Long years I've loved sweet Alice,
And hoped her heart to win, etc"
Whether the writer had composed,
or adopted them, Alice knew not,
neither cared she. They told her OF
true, manly love, and asked that she
| should signify her willingness to ac-
cept, by an immediate reply. Alice.
knew now, why Joe Hawley had left
Rockton so abruptly five years ago,
without calling to bid her good bye,
and they had slways been such good
friends. She remembered, too, that
about the time of his going away, an
old friend of the family was visiting at
her home, and he, being stranger in
Rockton, had been referred TO as a
sutton for her hand. oh! what pity
honest Joe Bawley had not gone to
the young lady and ''spoken his
piece" instead of committing it to
the keeping of a post Office! Well, if
he had, this story had been lost, that's
all. Mr.. and Mr.. Fay knew that the
valentine had been lost and found, but
did not suppose the contents were of
any Importance; but they noticed a
change in their daughter, for which
they could not account. Unlike her
usually quiet self, she was restless and
sometimes nervous, alternately elated
and depressed. From the time she
had seen in the Rockton Gazette a
paragraph concerning the ''fnd' in
the old offic Alice seemed to be ex-
pecting news, though why she should
she could not have told. Perhaps il
was the intimation of woman's
heart @.
A copy of the Rockton Gazette had
found its way to New York, and the
item of"a.lost valentine" was noticed
in the columns of one Of the dailies. Ii
caught the eye of Mr.. Joe Hawley
whose friends had long since given
him up "a a hopeless case of single
blessedness. Something in the
item set him to thinking
that the lost missive was none other
than the one he had sent, and of course
Alice was not TO blame for his disap-
pointment. Hastily he made prepare
tions to "run down to Rockton"-
only 200 miles of 'run'-and though
the train that carried him made good
time, Mr.. Hawley's patience waJ
sorely taxed. AS they neared the vii
lage and "slowed up" he could scarcely
restrain himself from jumping from
the platform and taking "short cut"
to the home of the Fays'. All at once
he thought, "What if Allie is mar
ried?" Man-like, he had taken it for
granted that she was the same old
Allie, and now his heart almost stood
still. But soon he found himself on
the old familiar streets, and learned
almost by accident that Allie was still
Miss Fay What load of doubt was
lifted! He bethought himself that it
was the 14th of February, SO when
Alice opened the door in response to
his ring his first words were, ''Here's
your valentine, without danger of be-
ing lost, unless you decree it so.' Odd
talk, wasn't it? Alice Fay was always
pretty, but Mr.. Hawley thought her
radiently beautiful when by her ode
cree he was made what he termed
"the happiest man on top of the
globe.r and Father and Mother Fay
welcomed him as a son. UNA.
THE ROCK ISLAND SCHEME.