The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-02-08
JAMES wHIrCoMB RILEY
Tells Newspaper Man a Couple of Pa
thetic and Humorous stories.
New York Sun.

New lOLk ouus
Mr.. Riley, who was dining at an Italian
restaurant, bit the end off one of those
crowbars of bread that are served in those
caravs nsaries, while his listener begged
him 20 emit story. He finally consented
TO tell this combination of humor and
paihos:
II was wandering up one OF the princi-
pal stree-s If Indianapolis one Decoration
day, when l met rugged old farmer from
the interior who seemed TO have lost his
way. AS he wandered aimlessly along [
approached him and asked: DO you en-
Joy the exel cises OF the day| Wall,
so So he answered; but L amt
here for fun. 1 come up to GO to the
buryin' ground up there on the hill.
My boys buried up there. He was in the
army, you know. He lad to lie about his
sge to get in, but the angels II forgive that
one lie. Lord how be id fight! I've
heErn the other soldiers tell about It. Wall,
he went into the battle o. the Wilderness
an got wounded awful They telegraphted
to me, an 1 went right down. He wanted
to be took home an / fetched him. On
the way up he grew worse, an he said TO
me II he could live to get home an see his
ma be would be satisfied. He KEEP gettin'
weaker an weaker, but he held on till 1
got him home. His ma tried to muse him
back to life. but he KEEP on ruuhin' down.
He called me up to his bed one night
bout sundoW n, an said, So he, Pa, wsn-
ter be buried up in town (meanln' here in
II gisnapolisl an want you to keep my
grave green
Here the old iavmer wiped the tears
from his cheeks with his big brown hand,
and then brought it down on my shoulder
in determIr ed manner, and exclaimed:
'Ah,' mister, I'm sgoin' to keep that grave
green If have ter paint itP "
One OF the most affecting stories that Mr..
Riley tells IS that which gave him the In
SEPARATION for his pathetic poem, "'Cause
I've got curvature OF the spine." Ii voices
the boestful, CHEEKY sentiments OF a little
deformed child who glories in his defOrm-
ity, and whose only fear is inst mis- auuty
will not know, him when she gets to
heaven, where he is, because there, as she
has told him. he will be erect and free from
deformity like the other angles.
THE idea for that poem" said Mr.. Ri
ley, twas suggested by rough, rugged
man that met on one,of my tours had
been occurring IN q little interior town,
and had to get up a. daylight one cold
morning to ride to the nearest railway sta
ton. The man who drove me over was one
of those rugged characters that you meet
in the rural reglons-one OF those men who
deem sentimentality a weakness and tears
something to be ashamed of. AS we rode
along over the cTeaklL g snow he said, L
hearn you talk last night l remarked,
'Indeedl 1 hope you enjoyed it, Yes
said he, 'fust rate. My little girl was there.
She likes that sort o. thing. She's great on
po'try. You may hev seen her. She sat
en- the front row. She's a littl
girl, not very tall. You must a-noticed
her. l told him that 1 did not re-:
call having seen her, and he continued:
she amt very big. She don't weigh
morn fifty pounds, You see, she's got
curv ture of the spine. Her mother died
when she was a little thing, and havin' no
one TO look out fer her as a mother can,
she fell down stairs one day an hurt her.
SELF. She never got over it. l hev took
| care o. her the best knew how, but she's
never glowed. Sometimes l think she'll
never be no bigger The tears welled to
| bis eyes as he talked. He was ashamed to
show the evidences of his grief and turned
aside his head. Seeing that l was looking
at him and had discovered his emotion, he
dashed away the moisture from his eyes
with one of the heavy leather mittens that
| he wore and said: Il dunno what's the
matter with my eyes. One o. my bosses
| is lame, an put some liniment on his leg
this mornin'. l must a got some of il on
this yer mitten o. mine. )"