“I am sorry,” their mother told them.  “The children have been so kind to you this winter.  You remember how they helped you with the coal?  I wish we could send them each a very beautiful valentine to thank them, but I am afraid I can’t spare the money to buy even one.”

Sarah had been as quiet as a little mouse while Tom and Mother were speaking.  Then suddenly she said:  “I know what we can do!”

“What?” asked Tom.

Sarah began to dance about the room.  “It will be such fun!” she said.

“Please tell me,” begged Tom.

“Don’t you see,” Sarah explained; “we can’t buy valentines, and we can’t make valentines, so we shall just have to be valentines!”

“Now how in the world can we be valentines?” Tom asked her.

“We’ll dress in our Sunday clothes,” she answered.  “We’ll cut hearts out of paper and pin them all over us.  Then we’ll ask Mother to pin a paper envelope on each of us, and address it to one of the children.  When we are ready we’ll ring the door bell of that child’s house, and when he opens the door, we’ll speak mottoes, and all sorts of rhymes.  Won’t the children laugh?”

“All right!” said Tom.  “Only, I would rather not be a valentine myself.  You be one and I will send you.  We’ll pretend you are the doll valentine we saw down town the other day, the one that danced when the man wound her up, and spoke the verse.”

“Well!” Sarah assented, “and you must wind me up and I’ll dance little Sally Waters.”

They spent the rest of the evening thinking of rhymes.  Their mother taught them all she could remember, and Sarah repeated them over and over again so that she should not forget.

The next morning they went to school, but as soon as they had reached home and eaten their lunch they began their preparations.  No one in the whole world ever saw a sweeter valentine than Sarah, when she was ready in her bright red dress and short snow-white coat, decorated with paper hearts.  Then her mother cut and folded some wrapping paper into a big envelope, and placed it about Sarah’s little body.  Of course her feet had to be left free so that she could walk, and her head, so that she could breathe.

“Let’s go to Johnnie Jones’s house first,” Tom said.

So his mother addressed the envelope to Master Johnnie Jones, and the children started off.

Johnnie Jones was at home that afternoon, feeling very sad.  He had fallen into the pond several days before, and the icy bath had given him such a cold that he had to stay indoors.  He could see the other children running about from house to house sending their valentines, and he wanted to run about and send some too.  To be sure he had received ever so many, but he was tired of looking at them and hearing the mottoes read, and he wished very much that some one would come in to play with him.

Mother had just said:  “I am afraid no one will come to-day, dear, because all the children are busy with their valentines,” when the door bell rang.