Across the street to Elsie's door; And then I meant to run Before she got the valentine-- I knew that she'd get one. I knew it would be beautiful, With lace and hearts and things, And pretty verses on the leaves, And tied with ribbon strings. I knew the verses all by heart; I knew the bows were pink; The hearts were gold; the lace was white-- Oh, what would Elsie think! I saw the postman come at last, And Elsie at the door; She got a valentine, sure 'nough-- I knew she would before. And then I hid inside our hall; And, when his whistle blew, The postman called: "Hello! hello!-- A valentine for you!" Sure 'nough, I got a valentine, With lace and hearts and things, And pretty verses on the leaves, And tied with ribbon strings. And I have wondered, ever since, And guessed if Elsie knew For sure I'd get a valentine, Before the postman blew, Just like I knew that she'd get one And knew her verses, too. I never s'posed that I'd get one-- Do you guess Elsie knew? --_Written for Dew Drops by Ellen D. Masters_. * * * * * A TREE TALK. What a wonderful thing a tree is! A live thing, a useful thing, a beautiful thing, and so common that we scarcely think of it as a wonder at all. Think of the great families of trees, the maple, the beech, the birch, the hemlock, the spruce, the oak, and so on and on and on. So many alike, and yet each one different. What a world of wonders! In the human family there are oddities, you know, and so in the tree family. There is the whistling tree, for instance. It grows in the West India Islands. It bears pods with open edges, and the wind passing through them makes the whistling sound which gives the tree its name. Then there is the cow tree, which yields a delicious creamy milk. This tree grows in South America, and often looks like a dead tree, but if it is tapped the milk will flow out freely. Sunrise is "milking time," when the natives come with their jugs and fill them with the sweet, nourishing fluid.--_Selected_. * * * * * [Illustration] TWENTY VALENTINES By Marion Mallette Thornton "Oh," said Millicent, watching the postman's blue coat up the street. "I wish he would come here day after to-morrow and bring me twenty valentines!" "Will he, Mitty?" Jimmy-Boy asked eagerly. Millicent shook her head. "'Course not, Jimmy-Boy. I know only six little girls; I couldn't get but six." Aunt Sara was listening. She was Millicent's very prettiest auntie from the city, and she nearly always found a way to help. "How would you like to _send_ twenty valentines?" she asked. Millicent laughed. "Why, auntie, I couldn't send but six, either. I don't know any more girls. Besides, I haven't any more valentines."