Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1908-02-19

- NuI snreads ito charm
over the preceding week and the
week that comes after. For days and
days the Small Person sneaks into the
house with unnatural, unhealthy and
suspicious quiet, holding queer shaped
lbulging packages under her coat or
ismuggled away in the innermost cav
erns of her absurd little muff The
paste pot appears everywhere in the
house. The paste brush disappears
entirely and is finally found in a state
eof suicide and the ink-bottle. You see
something on the floor that looks like
a cherry. You pick it up and it is a
red paper heart. While you are look
fing at 1t the Small Person trots into
the room, gives you one mysterious
glance, Immediately separates you
from your treasure and scampers
away to hiding place under the din
ingroom table, where she sits for three
st1.light hours in a bilfowy- poCf~-5f
white paper lace, big white envelopes
and numberless samples of scissors.
Then, after these charming hours
of mysterious preparation, the great
day approaches. The mail man is the
Kris Kringle, the Santa Claus, the
good fairy. With Bonded shoulders he
plods down the street, while the Small
Person has her nose glued so tightly
to the window pane that there is con-
siderable question whether or not it
will detach itself without the aid of
a paper knife.
AT last! Hooray! The bell rings.
III
thing from a cold to a spanking the
Small Person dashes out of the front
door and fairly leaps into the mail
bag.
She energies looking like a young
stationery establishment, nothing but
envelopes, big, little and middle sized.
With squeal and scurry she blows
back into the house and opens up her
treasures. There are paper trees filled
with brilliant paper roses, and be-
meath the forest trees sit little cupids
without no clos on at ALL" just as
If 1t were not February and chilly
Great big, beautiful white swan cars
more beautiful even than a new au
tomobile-are dragged out of their
white castings, and 10! when you touch
q little spring somewhere the swar
cars are filed with flowers and al
sorts of wonderful, exquisite, beautiful
things, like birds and jewels and Low
ing hearts. Oh, it is very, very de
lightiul, being a child on st. Valen
tines day.
While all this excitement is beatin!
the quiet home atmosphere into quiz
ers you sit down in a far-away col
ner and think of the time when yo
were little girl. Perhaps you didn'
have as much attention as the Sma
Person; perhaps things didn't some
how come your way-and perhaps it
because you had so little that yo
are ready to make any sacrifice S
that the Small Person shall hav
much. 1t is from deprivations thu
you learn what good things mean an
how much they mean.
Somehow your mind goes way bacl
so tar you wouldn't dare tell til
years. You wouldn't even guess then
II seems so long ago that ii must hay
been another world, or anyway a
other life. You see dingy old schoc
room, where the benches were frigh
fully hard and where the clock W,
so lazy it never moved its hands
all The days were very long for
little tiny child who should have be-
romping and playing out of doors.
One day there came strange VIII
perings about ST. Valentine You wo
dered If he were the man who car
to trim the trees in the orchard.
was all very new to you. becau
everything was new. and you had
much to get acquainted with in b
strange world.
The other children talked KNOWN
ly about a st. Valentines box. Ne
Gay they filed in one after anoth'
and into a big wooden box tn