Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: FEBRUARY II FEBRUARY They went to the February place. 'Twos fashioned, with curious art, Of colored sugar and paper lace, With a front door shaped life a heart. A trim little, slim little maid within Was rolling out cookies crisp and thin; She blew them a kiss through the window wide. And bade them step inside. They went lo the February place little valentine girl in the February house was very sociable; but she talked so much, and there were so many clocks striking all around, that she was always getting side-tracked into a rhyme. For example, she was just about to describe a jolly party she went to one day last year, when a clock struck six, and she was obliged to say, instead: ? " One day last year, with hems and haws and sidelong steps and nervous caws, the crows came mincing forth to mail gay valentines, you know. The post box was a hollow tree. They did not know, unluckily, that squirrels had gnawed the floor away, and owls moved in below. " The crows went flapping off with glee. They said, ' Our woodland friends will see that, though we dress so solemnly, we Ye sociable at heart.' " The valentines came hurrying down, came scurrying down, came flurrying down, and waked the owls, all fast asleep, and gave them quite a start. What's this, my dear, amiss, my dear?' cried Father Owl. ' 'Oh, bliss, my dear, ' said Mrs. Owl. 'A shower of mail for us. How very fine ' " The daughter owls were full of joy, and quick the little owlet boy ruffed up his feathers roguishly and seized a valentine. " Excitement reigned among those owls; but, being such nocturnal fowls, they could not read the valentines at all in broaddaylight. They blinked a bit and winked a bit, but found them not distinct a bit; then did not go to bed again, bu...