PAPA'S VALENTINE.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 138, 18 June 1910, Page 6

PAPA'S VALENTINE.

Benjamin Brown was about three score— A year or two less or a year or two more— But did not so old appear. Though sprinkled with white his beard and hair, He •still had rather a jaunty air, And aneye quite bright and clear. Benjamin Brown at his hardwear store ■ m Could write a plump cheque in figures four, Or even five if he chose; But higfi art glass in a parlour door, And Persian rugs on ev'ry floor Are not home as some suppose.' Benjamin Brown had been left io mourn • A wife who had gone to that far-off bourne ! Where sorrows and troubles cease, Leaving to Benjamin daughters threeOne was Kathryn and one Marie, And the third was Eloise. Benjamin Brown, as time rolled by, Had cause to heave full many a sigh, Forecasting coming illsj For Eloise, Marie, and Kathryn Oared not for papa, not a pin, Only to foot the bills. Thoughtless were they (girls sometimes are): Only their pleasures were their care, It should have been expected, For Kathiyn, Eloise, and Marie Were all now in society, And papa was neglected. To Benjamin Brown, the lonely elf, Forgotten and left too much to self, There came a time of thinking. He clasped his thigh with a loud, glad cry, As he said in a jubilant voice and high: "I'll do it, sure as winking 1" *'I'H give 'em a valentine some night, While the festal candles are shining bright!" His laugh" he could not smother. And this valentine, the girls agreed Was one they really did not need— A lively young step-mother! —The Rhyme-Miller.