The Press., 1888-02-02
JAMES sw4l1coas slLeY
Tells Newspaper Man Couple of Pa
 thctic anta Humorous Stories.

Tells . Newspaper Man Couple of Pa thctic &nd Humorous Stories. 1 Mir. Riley, who was dining at an Italian
 restaurant, bit the end off one of those crow bars of bread that are served in those cara vanSaries, while his listener begged him to emit & story: He finally consented to tell 1 this combination of humor and pathos: "I was wandering up one of the principal streets of Indianapolis one Decoration day, when met rugged old farmer from the in terior who seemed to have lost his way. As
 he wandered aimlessly along I approached
 him and aelEedss no yov enjoy tho exercises of tho dayF Wall, so so,' he answered; but ain't heTe nnr fun. come mp to go to the
 buryin' gr0and up there on the hill
 My boy's- bntisa E1pg there. Hes was
 in the army, you know. He had to
 lie about his age to git in,s but the angels
 il forgive that one lie. Lord how he did flghtI I've hearn the other soldiers tell
 about it. Wall, he went into the Battle O
 the Wilderness aa' got wounded awful They telegraphted to me, am went right down. He wanted to be took home an fetched him On the way uphe grews worse, an he said to me if he could live to get home an see his ma he would bo satisfied. He kep gittin' weaker an weaker, but he held on till l got him home. His ma tried to nu'se him back to life, but be kep' on runnin' down. He called me up to hiw bed one night bout sundown, an said, sez he, Pa, wanter be buried up in town tneanin' here in Ingian- apolisl 'an' want you to keep my grave green.s A 2
 ''Here tho old farmer wiped the tears from his cheeks with his big brown hand, and then brought it down on my shoulder in a determined manner, and exclaimed: An,
 
 have ter paint itv"
 One of the most affecting stories that MT. Riley tells is that which gave him the inspi- ration for his pathetic poem, '''Cause I've got curvature of the Spinen It voices the boastfnl, cheery sentiments of a little de formed child who gloriss in his deformity, and whose only fear is that his aunty will not know him when sho gets to heaven, where he is because Ahere, as she has told him, he will be erect and free from deformi- ty like the other angels
 ''The idea for that poem, said Mir. Riley, twas suggested by rough, rugged man that I met on one of my tours | had been lec- turing in q little interior. town, and had to get up at daylight one cold morning to ride to the nearest railway station. Tho man who drove me overawas one of those rugged char acters that you meet in the rural regions Oa1o O1 CQOSo men WQO Oe91Xl> SenClI000GalCY a weakness and tears something to be ashamed of. As we rode along over the creaking snow he said, T hearn you talk last night remarked, Indeed! I 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 hey seen her. She sat on the front row. She's little girl, not very tall You must a-noticed her. told him that did not re- call having seen her, and he continued: She sin't very big She don't weigh morn fifty pounds. You see, she's got curvature of the spine. Her nlotherd died when she was a lit- tie thing, and havfn' no one to look out fer her as a mother can, she fell down stairs one day an hurt herself. She never got over it. I hey took care O her. the best knew how, but she's never growed. Sometimes I think sbe'n neyerbs no bigger. f The tears welled to his eyes as he talked. He was ashamed to show,the evidences Of his grief, and turned aside his head. Seeing that 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 :"E dunno what's the matter with my eyes. One O my hosses is lame, an put some liniEnent on his leg thismornin! I must "a got some of it on thisyer mitten O mine.'" New York Evening Sun. - ....t. ..---.