“I don’t care if he has but one hand,” pouted Lettice to Betty’s teasing remarks, when the latter came up for the grand illumination.

“And he is a Yankee.”

“Well, suppose he is?”

“And he’ll take you away from your father, whom you have sworn never to leave.”

“Indeed, then, he will not; for we are all to live together, and so much the better for my dear dad. Aha! a valentine! See, Betty! It has come by a special messenger. Danny found it under the door. Isn’t it a beauty, with that pretty filigree paper, and those roses? And what lovely verses! They are original, I know, for perhaps you are not aware that my sweetheart has a gift for making rhymes. Listen:—

“‘LINES TO THE LADY OF MY LOVE.

“‘God bless thee, dearest, for thy love,

Whose pure and holy light,

Upon my pathway here below

Hath shed its radiance bright.