The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-04-27
The Birthday
Party
@9
S2:S 70 132::ssee>5sSSss3:>ss>c.SS
Ey SUSAN CLAGETT

He glanced AT his desk piled high viii
work, hcSi;atrd. turned toward III,
window, paused again then Wake,
across the room. throw III The >a%l
ana leaned ont.
VI the moment no one WAS in sight
then. amid a gale Of laughter. bob
ana came from I'M .nd If M hans.
rushing with the 1Icrtnr~~ of The winG
down the Stnpplv >Iupjn4 lawn EIaiI
counted rs the Sled ra>,rd. "Whnr,
on earth did the voung,trr get them
ALL" ne Wondered. Hi~ -azr followed
the children ont of sight then cam,
back To woman s+andinr naor thp
steps leading IN II thr house
She did not urn her hr,ld and ,ciyno
the opportunity. he watched her in
t,ltIy notin. tllr viud-,InNn hair
| the brilliant color Of tho haIr-,.,n
check. lie was struck. too, nv th, p,.r-
| fact y3i~n If Liz sisters friend who
! had been a guest in his home for soy
uraI weeks. Absorbed In hil worl, he
had scarcely noticed her hnrorn. had
/ shown her only such courtesy as was
| due her uS 4 horI~, gueSt mrntin,, her
only at meal time. and fatory NOT Then
| He had given this mo- heed Now rs
he watched her, H. idIv wondered if
she had been AWAY and had inst re-
turned. As the tLuuaht conn ia him
>hr ran quickly iii the stems ana info
The hall.
An hour later 4 very fired IttIa hoy
rrcpt into his uurIr'S arms 70 fell Of
his wonderful afternoon.
lyon know III MI birth1,,. a.,
Muyvcr gave me n party an toId me
! could 20 ont into the .byways and
hedges an gather 'rm IL, di1n,t
know just what She meant. Uncle Blair
an I didn't see no hedges an no by-
Ways bur went out on Tie street an
found Jimmy who sells papers an
blacks shoes. He's grrat-and Jimmy
told me bout the apple boy who lives
way off from here. an we went for
him an he told me of Bobby RurnS
II" has only one leg, but that didn't
make any difference cause his cgutch
walks as fast H. The good Iee An
coming back we met the hutrhpr'S
boy,t and | asked him as nice as 7
could an when we got back Tim was
here an cooks hoy and girl"
The man laughed. Il hone vour
mother had enough to eat"
1T was Just beautiful. There was
ice cream hearts an cakes an sam
witches an Ellen told Us stories about
st. Valentine. cause I'm a Valentine
baby. Did You know that uncle
BIair?"
Blair the elder drew the hov close.
Surely, the most wonderful valentine
| ever heard of. But who is 'ElIen|"
The boy looked surprised. "Wby.
you see her every day"
81 do? Then perhops 7 don't know
her by that name. But 1t sounds
He thought for moment.
diving back into old memories IT had |
q little sweetheart by that name. She
was just about as big as you and she |
sent me a valentine every ye.r until
after l went to college. have one of |
them in the back of my watch where
can look at it now and then" He
pulled out his watch, opened it ana |
Sazed at the picture within with
reminiscent smile. That was the
aSt on" she sent me and | never heard
from her again. am always looking
Tor her and sometime I hope I will
ind her.
The younCStcr looked ut the draw
NJ with interest. "Ellcn'S watch has
me. toe" he said. "A big boy gave
{ to her when she was Il little girl
sn't it funny both Of yod've GOT pie
ur"S. only hers is lots pratticr Two
It'll" birds, She calls them low" birds
Kissing each other-lotS prottier than
hose hearts with stick running
through en-"
The watch closed with n Snan and =
cspk of keen interest crept into tbu
mans eyes.
Il must make the arnuaintgnco of
his wonderful lady who tells stories
nd carries love birds aho1t wstb nor
Where can we find herr"
Blair looked at bis n,clo n o,.+o,,
"Don,t v,r roaI,, tn,,i,.
now herr She's boon bora 9 Io,,,,
imp, She did go a,y.v but oo,,o h,oI.
asterdav an, shoe hoo, e1i,i,, ,,