“Oh, Uncle Wiggily, will you do me a favor?”
“I certainly will,” said Mr. Longears, “but who are you, and where are you?”
“Here I am, over here,” the voice went on. “I’m Jack, and will you please give this to Jill when you see her?”
Out from behind the bush stepped Jack, the little Mother Goose boy. In his hand he held a piece of white birch bark, prettily colored red, green and pink, and on it was a little verse which read:
“Can you tell me, pretty maid,
Tell me and not be afraid,
Who’s the sweetest girl, and true?—
I can; for she’s surely you!”
“What’s this? What’s this?” asked Uncle Wiggily, in surprise. “What’s this?”
“It’s a valentine for Jill,” said Jack. “To-day is Valentine’s Day, you see, but I don’t want Jill to know I sent it, so I went off here and hid until I could see you to ask you to take it to her.”