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| Lucy at her school desk. |
Monday morning Lucy could hardly wait to finish her breakfast before starting for school. She didn't even waste a minute talking to her friends in the hall. She went straight into the fifth grade classroom, looking for Miss Chase. The teacher was working at her desk.
"I have a perfect idea for our school assembly," Lucy called out to her.
''That's fine, Lucy," Miss Chase said. ''I'm going to ask for everybody's ideas in a little while. You'll keep your suggestion for later, won't you?"
Disappointed for the moment, Lucy nodded and went to her seat. Carefully she tried to copy the graceful script she remembered from the valentines. Slowly and lovingly she wrote:
"How fine, how full of sweet delight
Our lives will be when our hearts unite."
It didn't look much like the script on the valentines, she decided. So she started to write it again when the bell rang and the school day began.
It wasn't until late in the morning that Miss Chase brought up the subject Lucy was waiting for the assembly program.
"February is a short month," Miss Chase said, ''but it's full of holidays: Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday and St. Valentine's Day. Our class, as you know, has been assigned to prepare the assembly program, and I hope you've all been working on ideas. Who has a program to suggest?"
Lucy stretched her hand up as high as she could get it, but she didn't catch Miss Chase's attention.
"Yes, Robin," Miss Chase said to a stout, red-headed boy.
Robin stood up. "I have a valentine play I want to suggest," he said.
Lucy sighed. Why did he have to choose a valentine idea too? But she listened attentively as he told about his play.
"The scene is in ancient Rome," Robin said, "and you would have to have a big urn for this play. Every February 14th there was a spring festival and the Romans filled the urn with the names of great men and heroes, written on slips of paper. On St. Valentine's Day, every youth at the festival had to draw a name out of the urn and pretend to be that great man. We could do the same thing!"
As Robin talked, Lucy pictured herself dressed as a Roman goddess moving across the stage in graceful flowing robes. It sounded like lots of fun. Still, she liked her own idea better.
"Thank you, Robin," Miss Chase said when Robin sat down. "That's a fine idea. You will be the leader of your group if we choose your play for the assembly."
She wrote "ROBIN'S PLAY" on the black- board. "We are going to hear all the assembly suggestions," she told the class.
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| Again, Lucy put her hand up. |
"Then I am going to ask all of you to vote for the one you like best."
Miss Chase looked around the room. Again Lucy put her hand up, and this time she even waved it a bit. But Miss Chase did not seem to see her, and called on Peter.
"I want to give a valentine play too," Peter said. "Mine would be about St. Valentine him- self. I read that he was put in prison for not believing in the Roman gods. When he sent a message to a little girl he had cured of blind- ness, he signed it 'From your Valentine.' That was supposed to be the beginning of valentines, although hundreds of years went by before any more were sent."
"That's another good idea," Miss Chase said, and she wrote "PETER'S PLAY" on the black- board right under "ROBIN'S PLAY." Lucy thought about the two plays, and about her own idea too, and suddenly a new plan occurred to her which was so exciting she forgot to raise her hand at all! She heard Miss Chase saying, ''All right, Susan, you're next."
"Mine is a valentine play, too," Susan said.
"Another valentine play!" Miss Chase looked surprised. Susan grinned. "It's about birds," she said. "The story comes from a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer. We'd have to fix the stage to look like a garden. "Mother Nature stands at the top of a high flight of steps. Beside her is a beautiful lady eagle. Suddenly, birds of every size, kind and color come flocking around. Mother Nature speaks to all of them. 'You have come here, oh birds, as you do every Valentine's Day, to choose your mates and fly away. Eagles, you may choose first, since you are King of Birds.'
"The biggest eagle begins to talk. 'Mother Nature, beside you is the most beautiful eagle in all the world. She should be my wife because I am the biggest and bravest eagle here.'
"No! No!' screams another eagle, ''she should be my wife. I am the best-looking eagle here. I deserve the most beautiful wife.'
"A plain little eagle cries out, 'Mother Nature, hear me. Hear me! I am the plainest little eagle, but I have the warmest heart. Let her be mine.'
"Mother Nature asks all the flocks to choose between the eagles. But before they can choose, the wise old owl says that the lady eagle should choose her own mate. Mother Nature asks the lady eagle, and she, of course, wants the mate with the warmest heart.
"So I'll be his, if he'll be mine
And take him for my valentine.'
she says. . . ''I'd like to act out that play."
Susan sat down to the sound of loud applause.
Quick as a wink, Lucy's hand went up and, finally, Miss Chase called on her.
"I have two ideas," Lucy announced.
"Two ideas!" Miss Chase looked amazed.
"I think we should give Susan's play and Peter's play - they're both short. Then we can give Robin's play, but the names on the slips in the urn should be Washington and Lincoln and Betsy Ross, people we all know. Then we'll pick children to draw these slips from the urn and act out something from the life of the person they've drawn. The audience will have to guess who they are pretending to be, like playing charades," she said.
"Yes, yes!" shouted the fifth graders, and, "That will be lots of fun.''
"Children!" Miss Chase called. "Lucy hasn't finished!"
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| Mrs. Holly's valentine collection. |
"Well," Lucy said, "I know a lady named Mrs. Holly who has a collection of old, old valentines. Some are from Washington's and Lincoln's times and some are Victorian. They're all beautiful and she promised to bring them to school if Miss Chase gives her permission."
"I'd like to tell about her collection and introduce her to the audience. Then we could end the assembly by having the children all come up on the stage to see the beautiful valentines."
Everybody applauded Lucy as she settled happily back in her seat. There was no need to vote.
"Well," Miss Chase said, "Lucy has certainly worked out our program for us, hasn't she? That's just fine, Lucy. I'm very proud of you. Please ask Mrs. Holly to come, Lucy, and I'll extend my invitation too, just to make it official."
As soon as school was out, Lucy ran all the way to Mrs. Holly's house, and told her the good news.
"Lucy," Mrs. Holly said, "of course I'd like to come, but wouldn't you prefer to show the valentines to the school all by yourself?"
"Oh, I'd love to!" Lucy shouted, jumping up and down. "But I didn't think you'd let me."
Mrs. Holly laughed her merry little laugh. "I'll let you," she said. ''And Lucy, I have a dress for a Victorian ball here in the house. My mother cut it down for me when I was about your age. Would you like to wear it? It will go well with showing valentines.''
Would Lucy! She was almost too happy to breathe.
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| Mrs. Holly suggests Lucy where a Victorian ball gown. |
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| Lucy gives a valentine presentation. |
The day of the program, she glided onto the school stage in the heavy brocaded gown and stood in front of a small table holding the valentine album. She showed the audience the comic valentines with eyes that moved and hats that lifted. She showed them the quaintly simple valentines from Washington's day, and the gloriously colorful ones from Lincoln's time. She pointed out how very romantic the Victorian valentines were. And then she gave her speech, which ended:
"St. Valentine, Washington and Lincoln, and all great people belong in our February program. February should belong to everyone who loves his fellow man. As the valentines tell us:
"How fine, how full of sweet delight
Our lives will be when our hearts unite."
Then all the children and teachers and many of the parents came in a long line up to the stage to get a closer look at the valentines. They told Lucy how much they had liked the program.
Last of all came a surprise a surprise‚ ''Mrs. Holly!'' Lucy had no idea she was there.
"Lucy," she said, "it was a beautiful speech. Because I enjoyed it so much, I want to give you this Victorian valentine as a present."
She handed Lucy a frilly lacy valentine covered with hearts and flowers. A glass dew- drop clung to the stem of soft, blue forget-me-nots. What a dear valentine!
As Lucy fingered it, she knew she would always remember this day. She knew too that this would be the start of a valentine collection. all her own.
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| Lucy begins her collection. |
