Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-06-21


found himself stuck. 1t wouldn't do to
admit 1t, and SO he said:
$50 many beautiful thoughts come
rushing in on me that l hardly know
which to use. Just for the fun Of the
thing let me ask how you would end
this verse:
II wander alone. with my soul at peace;
muse in the truculent dell;
My lubricant soul. like a golden BOWL
II should end it," replied Mrs. Bow
ser. with making deli rhyme with
the bad place.
by thunder, woman, but do you
mean to insult me to my faceW
"Of course not. You asked me how I
would end it, and told you. There are
one or two other things want to
speak of. You refer to a 'truculent
dell Do you mean peaceful one7"
"Any idiot could tell that do"
'Well, If you will turn to the die
tionary. you will find that 'truculent'
means wild-fierce- savage"
what in the name of seven bobtail-
ed cats do care for what the diction-
airy says? Was old Webster a poet?
Did he know poetry from pumplins?"
perhaps not, but lie tells us how to
pronounce words and gives us the
meaning of them What do you mean
when you speak Of your lubricant
soul?'"
"None Of your business"
1,,br n nil
You lubricate the machinery Of a saw
MILL When you grease a bucksaw
with pork rind you lubricate it. That
verse would read beautifully as:
II wander alone. with my soul at peace;
muse In the truculent dell;
MY lubricant soul, like a golden bowl,
1t slips on its way with yell"
"By John" gasped Mr.. Bowser as he
sat and stared at her while the red
flushed his face.
"If l am disturbing you beg par
dom she answered.
"By John, by John. But the idea of
your talking to me like that! Am I
awake or dreaming? Woman
Il don't see anything to get excited
about she interrupted. Il simply re-
ferred you to the dictionary to show
you that you had misused word or
two If your lubricant soul had gone
into the Burns club it might have af-
fected your standing there. l should
change it to innocent SOUL for you
have an innocent soul, Mr.. Bowser."
Mr. Bowser got up and choked and
gasped and coughed. but the words he
was fishing for would not come. The
cat had returned after his victorious
scrap; but, though he offered fair
mark, he was not kicked at. There was
q long minute of direst suspense. and
then Mr.. Bowser flung himself down
the hall and out of doors, taking his
two incompleted verses with him. He
didn't know who to go to, but he was
determined to find out about that "lu-
bricant soul" Fortune favored him.
He met his coal man almost at the
gate, and, after salutations had passed,
he asked:
"say, Jones, did you ever write any
poetry?'
lions ana IOuS VI ~, Dut AeNcA
gave more than 1880 pounds for a
tom
"And you are up on words?"
"Clear to the top"
"Well, what is the meaning OF q lu-
bricant so,ll!'
"a lubricant soul? That's dead easy.
1t means soul that has just been
creased up with lard"
You are an Internal old liarw shout
ed Mr.. Bowser.
"And you are jackass! Good night!'
Half an hour later Mrs. Bowser went
to the front window and saw Mr.. Bow
ser huddled up on the steps. Two old
tramps stood at the gate looking at him
and wondering whether he was drunk
or asleep, but his lubricant soul needed
them not-heeded not the March winds,
the cold stone steps, the truculent peo-
pie who hurried OH their turgid way.
He had come down with a thud.
NJ. QUAD.