The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1888-03-24
Two Valentines.
FANNIE ISABEL sHERnIcK.
Her vaIentin


curiously. turning II over and over in
her white hands.
II wonder who II can be fromp" she
said. keeping herself In state Of pref
~ agitation and suspense which she
might have ended at once. by breaking
the seal.
But who OF us has been just rs fool
lish. II Is perfectly stupid fashion
but after all IL seems natural one.
this scrutinIzing OF ones letters before
opening them.
And believe n woman would lose
half OF her pleasure II she did not
have this little excitement OF wonder
and curiosity beforehand.
Aud she made quite fascinating
picture as she stood there. the warm
glow coming and going In her dimpled
face. the blonde hair tossed back care
lessly from white brow which was
just now wrinkled with a pretty
thoughtfulness.
She had on one of those quaint old
fashioned tea-gowns that women have
worn in these last few years striking
combination of old gold-blue. softened
and made beautiful by clouds of soft
lace and knots of dainty ribbon that
fell about her In careless. artistic
fashion that was peculiarly her own.
She wore her clothes with grace that
few women can claim.
In the laces at her throat few rose
buds nestled just fresh from the con-
servatory. She loved flowers with an
intense passion and seldom was with
out them.
Somebody In the room was watching
her with enyious jealous eyes. her cous-
In Stella Hayward.
They were both society girls. but
Mamie O'Neil was the favorite every
where. Her sweet face. her gentle
ways. her kindly heart endeared her
10 every one.
From babyhoo Stella had been jeal-
Gus of her. and now that they were
grown. the jealousy ranked in the
heart with tenfold fervor.
So now she sat watching her cousin
with dark and curious looks.
For goodness sake!' she exclaimed |
impatiently, ''why don't you open the
envelope and see who il is fromp What |
Is the use of acting like goose over
a valentine. just as II IL was the first
one you had ever receivcdp"
In her heart she had guessed who
Ii was from and IL made her still more |
angry for IL there was n man In town
whom she secretly worshipped II was
Will Harding.
Mamie laughed in confused fash
ion.
'Why of course am goose" she
said. blushIng as she broke the seal.
oh how lovely" she exclaimed the
next moment. Aud Il was lovely, that
exquisite valentino. not one OF the clab-
crate affairs that are in vogue these
days, but simple. old-faslioned card.
with a bunch of real pansies. splen-
did in their gold and purple beauty
pressed upon it. and in the corner
knot of gold ribbon just matching the
hearts of the pansies. The card was
rough edged and shaded.
Thoughts of you that is what
the pnnsies mean. she thought to her
SELF and her heart fluttered little.
for she too guessed from whom came
that precious gift. He was the only
one that know that panses were her ia
vortes Of all flowers. just few nights
before they had been talking about
flowers and she had expressed her
preference for those royal beauties.
How kind IL was of him to think OF IL.
ibid you know Will Harding was en-
gagedp'
Stella asked presently quiet careless
ly. as though she were not thinking OF
the valentine at all. but by some piece
OF news she had recently hoard.
Mamie started and closed her hand
tightly over tho valentine but her face
was turned away from Stella. She was
thankful for that for she knew that the
color bad faded from her cheek. She
had not dreamed before that Will Hard
Ing was anything TO her. Now she
knew the regard had been growing In
her heart day by day. and week by
week. Yet even with this sudden flush
OF pain. she hardly dared to call II love.
mo" she said calmly to Stella .I
did not know IL. Is he--and to
whomr'
"Yes. to Eva Noble. Haven't you