“Steal-us-and-peel-us-and-drown-us-in-brine!

He pickles his heart in”—a valentine!

“Vinegar for blood! Pepper for tongue!

Stick a pin in him and”—once he was young!

“Glare-at-us-swear-at-us-catch-if-you-can!”

“With dearest love”—to the Vinegar Man!

Dingy little books of profit and loss (died about Saturday, so they say)

And a queer, quaint valentine, torn across ... torn, but it never was thrown away!

“With dearest love from Ellen to Ned”—“Old Pepper Tongue! Pickles his heart in brine!”

The Vinegar Man is a long time dead: he died when he tore his valentine.