Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-01

that member of the opposite sex saw
in me something more than in the
other boys of her acquaintance.
didn't stop to consider that she might
have sent one to a dozen other boys
If | had the heavenly flower of love
might have been nipped in the bud. l
knew Effie had sent me the valentine,
for, fearing l might be mistaken with
regard to it, she scrawled her name
on it. 1 assumed that the verses print
ed on it had been laid down there by
the printer for the express purpose or
letting me know that Effie loved
me.
Many verse, many q letter, has
been penned by a woman who intends
to tell of the love she bears 4 man
that have not in them a 1.-THE of the
pure sentiment that came TO me i'll
those lines. which had been slung off
in thousands by a pressman In a dirty
apron. l dreamed over my valentine.
and 1 dreamed OF Efie. She is now
very necessary to me, but she is in
capable of inspiring me with any of
that delicious feeling which weIled up
within me like waters fitted to be
quaffed by angels. | carried it to
SCuOOl Will LIE anu Ut LcNGSS StOlC
away from the other children to look
at it. l had it with me in my room
when / went to bed and studied it till
knew every flower, every vine, every
cupid 1t was the last thing | thought
of before going TO sleep and the first
after aweking in the morning.
Where was 1? l remember was
abusing my future mother-in-law for
being so stupid as to refuse Ee her
daughters hand. This was long after
l had received the valentine, for Effie
was nineteen and l was twenty. Eff
fie was as stupid. l thought, as her
mother about the matter, for although
she declared she would never marry
any one but me. she demurred at be
coming my wife. l being in posses
sion Of an income of nothing year.
At any rate, she told me that, her
mother having forbidden her from re-
ceiving or communicating with me,
she would obey. Indeed, she was
forced to obey. I couldn't take care
Of her as my wife, and l had no right
to be dangling about her keeping de-
sirable suitorS away.
1 accused her of heartlessness and
tears, then called myself brute, then
kissed her goodby and then went
away determined to put myself in 4
position to earn enough to marry on.
l worked like a Trojan. | did not
only my own work, but every one
else's in the office where / was en-
ployed. While other boys who had no
such spur as l had thought only Of
getting a holiday now and then or of
Sinking what work they didn't fancy
| was thinking only OF Elfie and tiny
cottage L worked all day and often
at night. Indeed. I worked so hard
that my employers noticed it and kept
on raising my salary and advancing
me till one day l was astonished ut n
proposition for me TO manage the de-
tail of the business at n salary Of So
coo year.
While 1 was standing before the
members of the firm with puzzled
look on my face 1 was not thinking Of
the proposition or the $4,000 a year;
was thinking OF how to communicate
the good news Ito Ellie. believed her
mother would grow more and more
difficult to satisfy in pecuniary way
peal to her, but to EfIie direct Three
years had passed during which l had
kept apart from Efiie and Ellie had
kept apart from me. But how could
1 know whether she was unchanged:
1 couldn't. Suppose 1 wrote her to
find out and received no reply. l
wouldn't know whether my letter had
fallen into her mothers hands or
whether Efie had received it and did
not care to renew our past relations.
And here comes In the second val
entine. l was offered my new position
the list Of January. and in six weeks
ST Valentines day came round.
sent Effie. who was now twenty-five
years old. valentine. / was aware
that the custom had even at that day
fallen largely into the hands OF chill
dren. / didn't intend to declare my
love in verses that had now come to
seem cheap to me. l used the valen-
tine as Il starter for clandestine cor
respondence. / wrote message on st