The Savannah morning news., 1903-03-15
THE GENTLEMAN
FROM INDIANA
BY BOOTH HARRINGTON
Copyrighted by Mcclure Phillips & Co.

| over both ears, and held some scrib-
! bled sheets in his hand.
| Il done a good deal down there" he
| announced, cheerfully. drawing up a
| chair to the desk. It thought up a
! heap of things I've heard lately, and
! they'll fill up mighty well. That there
| poem of Miss Seliny's was a kind Of
| an inspiration to me, and / tried one
| myself, and it didn't come hard at II.
/ When I got started once, ii Jest SEEM
| ed to flow from me. l didn't set none
of it up" he added, modestly, but
with evident consciousness of having
| unearthed genius in himself and an
| elate foreknowledge Of the treat IN
store for his companions. Il thought
I'd ort to see how you liked it first"
! He offered the papers to Mr. Parker.
! bur the foreman shook his head
You read it, Ross" he said. st
don't believe 1 feel hearty enough to-
day. Read the items first-we can
/ bear the waiting"
What waiting?" inquired Mr.. Scho-
! field.
For the poem" replied Parker,
! grimly.
With vague but not heeting smile.
Ross settled the sheets in order, and
exhibited tokens of that pleasant ner-
Vousnests incident to appearing before
a critical audience, armed with lit
erature whose merits should delight
them opt of the critical attitude.
Il run across a great scheme down
| there" he volunteered, amiably, by
way of preface; II described every
thing in full, in as many words as 1
could thinIL up; it's mighty filling.
and it'll please the public, too: it gives
em lot more information than they
usllY git. l reckon there's two sticks
of jest them extry words alone"
ominoNsly.
Ross began to read, matter neces-
stating a puckered brow and at times
an amount of hesitancy and rumInat-
ing, as lis result had already cooled
a little, md he found his hand diff
cult to decipher. Here's the first"
he said:
The barge and handsome, fawn-,
colored, two years and one-half year
old Jersey of Frederick Ribshaw Jones,
Esquire
The foreman interrupted him: "EV-
cry reader of the Herald will be glad
to know that Jerseys age and color!
But go on"
Frederick Ribshaw Jones, Es-
quire," pursued his assistant, with
some discontinue, "'-Esquire, our
popular and well-dressed fellow-citi-
You're right; Rib Jones is a heavy
swell" said PARKER, in a pleasing voice.
Citizen, can be daily seen wan
dering from the far end of his pasture
lot to the other far end of it."
" Hist" exclaimed Parker. His
pasture-lot?' The Jersey's?"
NO" returned the other, meekly,
RIB jones'"
"Oh" said Parker. as that the end
of that item? 1t is! You want to get
out of Plattville, my friend; it's too
small for you; you go to Rouen and
you'll be city editor of the Journal
inside of a week. Let's have another''
Mr.. Schofield looked up blankly:
however he felt that there was enough
live, legitimate news in his other
items to redeem the somewhat tame
quality of the first, and so, after hav-
ing crossed out several of the extra
words which had met so poor a recep-
ton, he proceeded:
whit Upton's pigs broke out last
Wednesday and rooted UP a fine Patch
of garden truck! Hard luck Whit
Jerusalem Hawkins took a drive
yesterday afternoon. He had the hay
to his side-bar. Jees buggy has been
recently washed. Congratulations,
Jee.'"
There's thrilling information!"
shouted the foreman. "That'll touch
the gentle reader to the marrow. The
copy himself, but he never got as low
as that. But we'll use it; oh, We'll
use it; If we don't get her out le'll
have a setback but if they show
her to him it's kill him. If it doesn't,
and he gets well. he'll kill us. But
we'll use it. Ross. Don't read any
more to us, though; feel weaker than
] did, and l wasn't strong before.
Go down and set it all up"
Mr.. Schofeld rejoined with an I'm
jured air. and yet hopefully: I'D like
to see what you think of the poetry
it seemed all right to me, but l reckon
you amt ever the best judge of your
own work, Shall 1 read it," The
foreman only glanced at him in ST.
lence, and the young man took this
for assent. II haven't made up any
name for it YETI
"'O. the orphan boy stood on the hill,
The wind blew cold and very chill"
CHANGING at his auditors, he was a
trifle abashed to observe a glaze upon
the eyes of Mr.. Parker, while a pur-
pie tide rose above his band end
unnaturally distended his throat and
temples. With placative little laugh,
Mr.. Schofield remarked: II git the
swing of her all right, 1 reckon, but
somehow it doesn't sound so kind of
good as when l was writing it." There
was no response, and he went on hur-
riedly:
" But there he saw the little rill--'"
The poet paused to say, with another
amiable laugh: It's sort of hard to
git out of them i'll, hill, chill rhymes
once you strike 'em. 1t runs on like
this:
Little rill
That curved and splattered around the
HILL"