Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-02-27
A BLESSED BROTHER.
BY WTNTHA CHESTER.

"Whoopee, Kate Look at this ~
said Bobby, entering the room with all
boys clatter, and pulling beautiful
pink and blue valentine out of large
envelope. "Look what got p
"Hm % said Kate. abstractedly, from
her big easy chair by the window.
Don't bother me, Bobby, I'm inter
ested in Ramona"
But Look" persisted her brother.
cts valentine. Such a beauty
Whew % he ended, having exhausted
his slender stock of adjectives. Kate
good-naturedly looked Up.
Yes, that is pretty. Come here, let
me see it. Did Jessie Gwyn give it to
you? It's lovely" said Kate, remem-
days, when she had looked forward so
eagerly TO st. Valentines coming.
II guess she did. [ told Jessie I was
going to give her one, and she said She d
give me one, too. We don't keep those
thirgs secret like other people d." said
Bobby in superior tone.
mo, you and Jessie are little eweet-
hearts, and you tell each other every
thing. That's right, and it is really
very pretty, beautiful, !" she added TAX
ing up her book, "now run away. 1
want TO nnISn my reading.
swell, say, aren'tyou any more curl
GUS than that :? Don't you want to
know if there's valentine for YOU ?'
Kate laughed. Young ladies don't
receive valentines any more 1t isn't
fashionable. But" for the first time
noticing package of letters under his
arm, where did you get all that
mail ?"
"Postman gave it to me just as I was
coming up the steps. Better look and
see if there's anything for you."
Letter from Fannie" murmured
Kate, 1.-TWO for mamma; here's one for
me In large envelope, addressed in q
strange hand. What can it be-why,
Bobby" delightedly opening it. "a
valentine such pretty one What
beautiful pen work ! Who could have
sent it ?"
1t was a picture of youthful couple,
sketched on thick, roughly-finished pa
per. Branching trees were over them
and fence between but served as a
rest for youthful elbows, while youth
full lips met in kisses. A true love knot
was represented in one corner, and
long grasses bent gracefully over the
romantic sketch, all executed with TIE
utmost nicely and skill. Kate, glancing
up, met her brothers mischievous eyes.
Bobby" suspiciously, "did you send
me this ?'
''No, of course not. [ couldn't do
nice work like that. One of the boys at
school sent it to you-that's enough for
you to Know"
Bobby's school friends, suggested sever
al names, but it was none OF these.
Who could it be then ? Her eyes
turned again to the valentine.
"Oh, here is something in the spray
of grasses that may tell me-" But
when she spelled 1t out it was "Je
tame encore. je t'aime." She caught
her breath, looked yet more closely at
the words and said: "Bobby, tell me,
do any of the boys understand French :?
Can you yourself say, L love thee yet, I
love thee in French ?''
mo, Kate; you know can't. French
doesn't come in our course for a year,
and the boys don't know it either"
boys at school. for there's French in it,
besides no boy could sketch as beauti-
fully as this. Bobby, tell me, have a
particular reason for wanting to know
who did this !? If you don't tell I'll tell
Jessie Gwyn you sent Maud johnson a
valentine, too, and she'll be so mad at
you she won't speak for wee ks"
"Oh, she'd get over it sooner than
that. She couldn't help speaking to
me, cause she likes me so. However L
don't mind telling you, now I've had
all the fun [ wanted. You see, I
thought it was too bad when everybody
else was getting valentines that you
shouldn't have any, cause I'm fond of
you and hate to see you neglected, So
[ got sheet of that etching paper at
the store and took It to our head pro-
fessOr. [ told him you were a young
lady and wanted something nice and
uncommon for a valentine. [ thought
he'd know about how to fix it up for q
young lady, and sure 'nough he did,
but it took him an awful long time for
that little pen scratching. He took it
home with him last night to make a
neat job of it, he said, an I thought it
would only take him few minutes that
afternoon. However, he brought it
back with him this morning, and said
how would that do. I said it might do
for young lady. but little girl like
pretty. He laughed and asked who
Jessie was, an 1 told him, an then he
asked how my sister was. Prof Talbot
is a jolly good man an no mistake. All
of us boys like him. He's younger
than the rest of the faculty, and hasn't
had time to forget when he was little
boy like us. Somehow he took fancy
to me from the frst-he's only been
there little while-all the boys said SO
and some of 'em didn't like it, cause
they said be made a pet of me. l
s'pose it's because Pm the youngest in
my class. I'm only 9, and the others
are 'leven and more. Anyway, he's
been awful nice to me, and | didn't
mind asking him to do this little thing
for me-"
"You think it little thing, Bobby,
but if you knew the value of these little
pen scratches you would say it was art.
1t Was very thoughtful and sweet of
you to want to remember your sister in
this way. Now give me kiss and run
away while l finish my book"
But Kate did not attempt to read af-
ter the sound of the boys whistle had
died away. Instead of that she let the
book slide out of her lap, without even
noticing it. Her eyes filed with glad
tears, aud her cheeks glowed like a
rose. "'Je t'aime, je t'aime ? IL
maine encore = I didn't know / cared
SO much. He hasn't forgotten me in
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