CHAPTER XX ST. VALENTINE'S DAY

 St. Valentine's Day was now close at hand, and all of the children of the neighborhood were saving their money with which to buy valentines.

 

"I know just the ones I am going to get," said Nan.

 

"I want some big red hearts," put in Freddie. "Just love hearts, I do!"

 

"I want the kind you can look into," came from Flossie. "Don't you know, the kind that fold up?"

 

Two days before St. Valentine's Day the children gathered around the sitting-room¹ table and began to make valentines. They had paper of various colors and pictures cut from old magazines. They worked very hard, and some of the valentines thus manufactured were as good as many that could be bought.

"Oh, I saw just the valentine for Freddie," whispered Nan to Bert. "It had a fireman running to a fire on it."

 

There were a great many mysterious little packages brought into the house on the afternoon before St. Valentine's Day, and Mr. Bobbsey had to supply quite a few postage stamps.

 

"My, my, but the postman will have a lot to do to-morrow," said Mr. Bobbsey. "If this keeps on he'll want his wages increased, I am afraid."

 

The fun began early in the morning. On coming down to breakfast each of the children found a valentine under his or her plate. They were all very pretty.

 

"Where in the world did they come from?" cried Nan. "Oh, mamma, did you put them there?"

 

"No, Nan," said Mrs. Bobbsey.

 

"Then it must have been Dinah!" said Nan, and rushed into the kitchen. "Oh, Dinah, how good of you!"

 

"'Spect da is from St. Valentine," said the cook, smiling broadly.

 

"Oh, I know you!" said Nan.

 

"It's just lubby!" cried Freddie, breaking out into his baby talk. "Just lubby, Dinah! Such a big red heart, too!"

 

The postman came just before it was time to start for school. He brought six valentines, three for Flossie, two for Freddie and one for Bert.

 

"Oh, Nan, where is yours?" cried Bert.

 

"I—I guess he forgot me," said Nan rather soberly².

 

"Oh, he has made some mistake," said Bert and ran after the letter man. But it was of no use—all the mail for the Bobbseys had been delivered.

 

"Never mind, he'll come again this afternoon," said Mrs. Bobbsey, who saw how keenly Nan was disappointed.

 

On her desk in school Nan found two valentines from her schoolmates. One was very pretty, but the other was home-made and represented a girl running away from a figure labeled ghost. Nan put this out of sight as soon as she saw it.

 

All that day valentines were being delivered in various ways. Freddie found one in his cap, and Bert one between the leaves of his geography. Flossie found one pinned to her cloak⁴, and Nan received another in a pasteboard box labeled Breakfast Food. This last was made of paper roses and was very pretty.

 

The letter man came that afternoon just as they arrived home from school. This time he had three valentines for Nan and several for the others. Some were comical, but the most of them were beautiful and contained very tender verses⁵. There was much guessing as to who had sent each.

 

"I have received just as many as I sent out," said Nan, counting them over.

 

"I sent out two more than I received," said Bert.

 

"Never mind, Bert; boys don't expect so many as girls," answered Nan.

 

"I'd like to know who sent that mean thing that was marked ghost," went on her twin brother.

 

"It must have come from Danny Rugg," said Bert, and he was right. It had come from Danny, but Nan never let him know that she had received it, so his hoped-for fun over it was spoilt.

 

In the evening there was more fun than ever. All of the children went out and dropped valentines on the front piazzas⁶ of their friends' houses. As soon as a valentine was dropped the door bell would be given a sharp ring, and then everybody would run and hide and watch to see who came to the door.

 

When the Bobbsey children went home they saw somebody on their own front piazza⁷. It was a boy and he was on his knees, placing something under the door mat.

 

"I really believe it is Danny Rugg!" cried Nan.

 

"Wait, I'll go and catch him," said Bert, and started forward.

 

But Danny saw him coming, and leaping over the side rail of the piazza, he ran to the back garden.

 

"Stop," called Bert. "I know you, Danny Rugg!"

 

"I ain't Danny Rugg!" shouted Danny in a rough voice. "I'm somebody else."

 

He continued to run and Bert made after him. At last Danny reached the back fence. There was a gate there, but this was kept locked by Sam, so that tramps⁸ might be kept out.

 

For the moment Danny did not know what to do. Then he caught hold of the top of the fence and tried to scramble⁹ over. But there was a sharp nail there and on this his jacket caught.

 

"I've got you now!" exclaimed Bert, and made a clutch¹⁰ for him. But there followed the sound of ripping¹² cloth and Danny disappeared into the darkness, wearing a jacket that had a big hole torn in it.

 

"Was it really Danny?" questioned Nan, when Bert came back to the front piazza.

 

"Yes, and he tore his coat—I heard it rip¹¹."

 

"What do you think of that?"

 

Nan pointed³ to an object on the piazza, half under the door mat. There lay a dead rat, and around its neck was a string to which was attached a card reading, "Nan and Bert Bobbsey's Ghost."

 

"This is certainly awful," said Bert.

 

The noise on the piazza had brought Mrs. Bobbsey to the door. At the sight of the dead rat, which Freddie had picked up by the tail, she gave a slight scream.

 

"Oh, Freddie, leave it go!" she said.

 

"It won't hurt you, mamma," said the little boy. "The real is gone out of it."

 

"But—but—how did it get here?"

 

"Danny Rugg brought it," said Bert. "Look at the tag."

 

He cut the tag off with his pocket-knife and flung¹³ the rat into the garbage can. All went into the house, and Mrs. Bobbsey and her husband both read what Danny Rugg had written on the card.

 

"This is going too far," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I must speak to Mr. Rugg about this." And he did the very next day. As a result, and for having torn his jacket, Danny received the hardest thrashing he had got in a year. This made him more angry than ever against Bert, and also angry at the whole Bobbsey family. But he did not dare to do anything to hurt them at once, for fear of getting caught.

 

Winter was now going fast, and before long the signs of spring began to show on every hand.

 

Spring made Freddie think of a big kite that he had stored away, in the garret, and one Saturday he and Bert brought the kite forth¹⁴ and fixed¹⁵ the string and the tail.

 

"There is a good breeze blowing," said Bert. "Let us go and fly it on Roscoe's common."

 

"I want to see you fly the kite," said Flossie. "Can I go along?"

 

"Yes, come on," said Bert.

 

Flossie had been playing with the kitten and hated to leave it. So she went down to the common with Snoop in her arms.

 

"Don't let Snoop run away from you," said Bert. "He might not find his way back home."

 

The common was a large one with an old disused barn at one end. Freddie and Bert took the kite to one end and Freddie held it up while Bert prepared to let out the string and "run it up," as he called it.

 

Now, as it happened, the eyes of Snoop were fixed on the long tail of the kite, and when it went trailing over the ground Snoop leaped from Flossie's arms and made a dash for it. The kitten's claws caught fast in the tail, and in a moment more the kite went up into the air and Snoop with it.

 

"Oh, my kitten!" called out Freddie. "Snoop has gone up with the kite!"

1 sitting-room   

n.（BrE）客厅，起居室

参考例句：

• The sitting-room is clean.起居室很清洁。
• Each villa has a separate sitting-room.每栋别墅都有一间独立的起居室。

2 soberly   

adv. 清醒地，严肃地，素净地

参考例句：

• We must be soberly aware that there is still a long way ahead of us. 我们一定要清醒地认识到我们的前面还有一段漫长的道路。
• She walked on more soberly now, and she was lonely. 她一个劲往前走去，这时头脑更加清醒了，感到自己格外孤单。

3 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

4 cloak   

n.斗蓬，披风，掩饰，幌子；vt.掩盖，掩饰

参考例句：

• The snow covered up the fields with a white cloak.积雪给田野盖上了一件白色的外衣。
• She threw a heavy woollen cloak over her shoulders.她把一件厚重的羊毛斗篷披在肩上。

5 verses   

诗( verse的名词复数 )； 韵文； 诗节； (的)节

参考例句：

• He quotes a few verses from Tennyson in his paper. 他在论文中引用了英国诗人丁尼生的几行诗句。
• Tom sang the verses and everybody joined in chorus. 汤姆唱独唱部分，然后大家一起唱合唱部分。

6 piazzas   

n.广场，市场( piazza的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In the cities of Italy, piazzas are the acknowledged centers of local activity. 在意大利的城市里，广场是公认的群众活动中心。 来自互联网
• Alleyways wind through the city like a maze, opening up into surprising, sunny fountained piazzas. 小巷子像迷宫一般蜿蜒穿过这座城市，出现在令人惊讶、绚烂的喷泉广场上。 来自互联网

7 piazza   

n.广场；走廊

参考例句：

• Siena's main piazza was one of the sights of Italy.锡耶纳的主要广场是意大利的名胜之一。
• They walked out of the cafeteria,and across the piazzadj.他们走出自助餐厅,穿过广场。

8 tramps   

n.重步声( tramp的名词复数 )；长途跋涉；游民；荡妇

参考例句：

• Tramps are from the lowest stratum of society. 流浪汉来自社会最下层。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They think all backpackers are tramps. 他们认为所有背包的人都是徒步旅行者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

9 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

10 clutch   

v.（牢牢地）抓住，抓紧，紧握；n.离合器

参考例句：

• She released the clutch and the car began to move.她放开离合器，汽车就动了。
• A drowning man will clutch at a straw.即将溺死的人连一根草也要去抓。

11 rip   

n.拉裂，破绽，激流，浪荡子；vt.撕裂，激昂地说，贬损；vi.裂开，仓促地冲过...

参考例句：

• He had seen the rip in the book.他看到了书里的裂缝。
• I tried not to rip the paper as I unwrapped it.我把纸打开的时候，尽量不把它撕破。

12 ripping   

adj.撕的，劈的，折的adv.极妙地，非凡地v.扯破，撕坏( rip的现在分词 )；撕成；锯；猛地扯开

参考例句：

• A special news program exposed underhanded auto repair shops that are ripping off senior citizens. 一个特别新闻节目揭露了一家敲榨老年人的卑鄙的汽车维修店。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Look at that man in the blouse, isn't he ripping! 看那个穿着宽罩衫的男人，他多么漂亮！ 来自辞典例句

13 flung   

（尤指生气地）扔( fling的过去式和过去分词 )； 猛动（身体或身体部位）； 粗暴地（向某人）说； 气势汹汹地（对某人）说

参考例句：

• expeditions to the far-flung corners of the world 去世界偏远地方的探险
• Someone had flung a brick through the window. 有人把一块砖扔进了窗户。

14 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

15 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。