The Rock Island Argus and daily union., 1922-03-06
The Daily Short Story

clean paper and open it, unfolding
| the pink tissue and disclosing to
view a precious gift he had bought
| for Selma Drew when he was 21-
gift he had never got up the cour-
| age to give her.
1t was a valentine with a circle
| of tiny red hearts pasted on silver
| lace, and a boy and a girl a-hold-
| ing hands in the circle of hearts.
| The whole marvellous thing unfold
ed and made a deep frame of diff
/ ferent widths of silver lace, and
underneath the lace were the lines ::
| It's you l love forever,
| | love to call your name;
| When silver grows the golden
| I'll love you just the same"
| These lines didn't seem funny to
/ Fraid Eaton They were the truth,
! framed in silver lace, and he, poor,
! foolish coward, had never had the
token Of his love. He had tried
scores Of times, and every 14th of
February he had carried that val
entine in his pocket, but always
mething-Selina' laugh or an
other man dragging her off to a
party. or something-had kept the
red hearts with the silver lace un-
der cover.
Then came the winter when
Fraid did not get out so many pairs
of shoes as usual, and when Selma
didn't hook in so many rugs-just
knitted and braided them And
F'raid noticed that Selma didn't
laugh ''as much as common"
When the 14th of February came,
true to his custom, Fraid took the
valentine with the silver lace from
its hiding place in the top drawer.
and put it tenderly into his pocket.
Then he poured out the can of milk
and started for Selina's.
Something about the small white
house puzzled him. Selma wasn't
at the kitchen window as she usu-
ally was. He missed her. At the
door he knocked, but there was no
answer Whit strange misgivings
he opened the door and marched
into the kitchen. All his fear of
the magnificent Selma Drew melted
away in that minute of fear for
what had happened to her. She
sat in the old rocking chair. her
hands limp at her side But her
voice came weakly. Put the milk
in the pantry on the second shelf,
Fraid When a body falls over the
stove leg, she don't feel as frisky as
common
Tottering into the pantry. Fraid
set down the can of milk. But sud
denly he stopped, transfxed. For
a minute he foTgo1 tnat Selma had
had a. fall. His old eyes stared at
a riot Of frolicking colors on that
second pantry shelf There was a
fat. pink Cupid kicking his toes
into little green landscape, with
blue and yellow frills around it and
silver lace, and in great red let
ters: ITO My True Love-"
Frald was reused After all
these years, somebody else had got
ahead of him. Somebody else had
given a valentine to Selma and she
put it on the pantry shelf where
she could see it when she cut out
the cookies. 1t wasn't nearly as
lovely as his, either. He stamped
into the kitchen and leaned over
Selma, breathless. His fingers
fumbled for the box in his pocket.
At last his tongue was loosed.
''Liny, girl" he quavered. Look,
| bought it for you when l was 21.
See. Amt it pretty? Why, l love
you, Liny. Tell me when you'll
marry me. You won't marry the
man that sent you-that,"
All the pent-up love of years
rushed forth. Fraid could feel Sc
lina's shoulders shake beneath his
hands.
''I-I-that's your valentine. |
Fraid. 1 bought it and put it |
there" said Selma Drew. Il thought !
I'd waited long 'nough for you to
say something. But it amt so pret-