The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-02-03

Ii the glass;. lag puWcu tAG AoVA ~A-
grily; he bleated once mere, and then
before the horrifed onlookers could
prevent him he bent his head ana
crashed violently into the glass front.
SCATTERING 1t In a thousand flying frag-
ments and topping the whole struc-
ture ON to the startled postmistress
and her assistant.
Fortunately nobody was hurt not
oven Billy the goat. The glass front
Of letter box No. Is was impaled on
one horn, and on the other was fancy
embossed envelope that inciosed q val
entine. Somewhat subAued. he was
captured by several citizens Of Little
River and tethered to the doorknob.
Then one and all went forward to a.
sist in restoring order in the chaos Of
mail matter
Drusilla, pale and frightened, still
lowered in the corner into which Greg
DRY Ware had thrust her and which he
had left without a word to help clear
up the wreckage. Fanny Bicknell. the
sharp faced, sandy haired little pest
mistress, pointed . skinny finger at
Drnsilla. while her little dark eyes
flashed resentfully.
II declare. Drusilly Fowler, amt you
got any better sense than to tag that
goat of the Franklins into the post
ONCE? expect the gov'ment will get
after you. You've broke all the rules
of the ONCE. 1t says no dogs allowed
inside, and that means goats and such.
I thought you didn't take no stock In
the Franklins' goat"
IT don't" retorted Drusilla. with
spirit. "He chased me ali the way
down here. He's the bane Of my life.
You can look to Mr.. Franklin fer dam
ages"
81 shall" said Miss Bickneli acidiy.
and then, addressing the men who
were picking up glass preparatory to
raising the fallen section Of boxes. she
added: what you men fussing over
there7 Remember that's all gov ment
mail matter you're handling"
Picking some Of these letters out Of
the dirt under your boxes, Miss
Fanny" said Gregory War; gnmly.
II should recommend that you have
something done about your boxes. The
whole thing is cracked and warped.
and the mail box Is full Of cracks.
Look under here where It stoodr' He
pointed to square dust outlined
space on the door whore several yell
lowed and dirty missives wore mingled
with bits of dirt and splintered glass.
You're the postmistress, Miss Fanny.
You'd better see what these letters ara
doing underneath the mailing box"
He stood back while the fussy little
woman came forward and picked the
letters out of the accumulated soil.
She scanned them closely-there were
three In all-and then she looked hest
tatingly around the ONCE.
these must have slipped through
the crack in the mailing box" she
said after awhile. Here's a bill from
Fryer & Kermit for Arson Rowell.
Come to think of 1t. Anson's dead this
Ave years, and Fryer 4 Kermit went
bankrupt anyway. so there's no harm
done there! And here's q postal card
for Mrs. Beebe. saying that Burns 4
Co. amt got the sample Of blue
cloth she asked for. and. land, it's
dated two years back. 30 that don't
make no matter either. because Mrs.
Beebe's wearing black now anyway.
And-here's letter for-mercy me.
are you there. Drusilly Fowlerf Here.
Gregory. give that letter to Drusilly
while boss these men" She thrust
yellowed embossed envelope into
Gregory's hand and turned away.
He came toward Drusilla, his eyes
fixed on the missive In his hand, his
face white beneath It's coat Of tan.
When he spoke his voice was thick
with emotion.
"Drusilla, here's a letter Miss Fanny
just found under the mailing box.
Like as not it's been there all this last
ten years, ever since mailed II one
night before Valentines day. never
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS answer
ed It." he said with slow emphasis a.
she took the letter from him. Nov I
know. but suppose It's too late.
She opened the missive with shaking
fingers and drew from within a lacy
and Powered valentine. Wreaths OF
roses and forgetmenots surrounded
two loving hearts. and underneath was
q printed verse that was heavily un-
derscored in ink:
While l protest my heart b thine
would inquire II thine n mine.
IL this be true pray give . siga
To say you'n be my valentine.
And the name of Gregory Ware was
signed to It. and the Gate was ten
years agoi Drusilla stared at Il until
all the GOODNESS had fed from her eyes
and great tenderness invaded her
face. Ashamed to lift her batraying
glance to his serious inQuiring enc, she
pressed the valentine with unconscious
grace to her heart.
"0h. this ought to have come before
lit ought to have come beforsr' shs
cried passionately.
us 1t too late now, Drusilla p asked
Gregory softly. its never too late to
BE- happy-if you want to be-" be sur-
gssted.
II want to be-" sighed Drusilia con-
tentedly, and then later she added,
who would have thought that goat
OF Franklin's would prove q blessing
In disguise7'
Little River folk watched agape, and
nobody but those two understood why
Gregory Ware and Drusilla Fowler
led the Franklins' pet goat home with
such solicitude or why Gregory bought
1t afterward and changed Its name to
Valentine.
ut can browse in the south meadow.
He'll make nice playmate-for some
body-some day" he added vaguely.