The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1913-07-31
CHAPTER XVII.
Daddy Withers, Poet

OaQOy "lSneTSJ Voos'
IN ELL, we had pork and greens
M fur dinner that day, with the
V best corn bread ever eat any
where's. and buttermilk and
sweet potato pie. We got ,'em at the
house Of Teller named Withers-old
Daddy Withers. Which If they was
ever a nicer old man than him or a
nicer old woman than his wife I never
run acrost 'em yet.
They lived all alone. them Witherses.
with only a couple of niggers to help
them run their farm. After we eats
our dinner and Sam gets his'n out to
the kitchen we sets out in front Of the
house and gets to talking with them
and gets real we'll acquainted. Which
we soon found out the secret of old
Daddy Withers' life-that there inno-
cent looking old jigger was poet. He
was kind Of proud Of it and kind of
shamed Of it both to oncet. The way
it come out was when the doctor says
one Of them quotations he is ways
getting off. and the old man he looks
pleased and says the rest Of the piece
it dropped out of straight through
Then they had great time quoting
it at each other, them two, and l seen
the doctor is good to loaf around there
the rest Of the day like as not. Purity
soon the old lady begins to get mighty
proud looking over something or other.
and she leans over and whispers to the
old man:
shall l bring it out, Lemuel%
The old man he shakes his head no.
But she slips into the house anyhow
and fetches out little book with a
pale green cover to it and hands it to
the doctor.
"Bless my SOUL" says DR.. Kirby.
looking at the old man. you don't
mean to say you write verse yourself?'
The old man be gets red all over his
face.
Mother" he says. "yo' shouldn't
have done that" They had had a
boy years before. and he had died, but
he always called her mother the same
as If the boy was living. But he looks
at DR.. Kirby out Of the corner Of his
eyes and can't keep from getting sort
of eager and trembly with his pipe.
and could see he was really anxious
over what the doctor was thinking Of
them poems he wrote. The doctor
reads some Of 'em out loud.
Well. it was kind Of homemade
poetry, old Daddy Withers' was. 1t
wasn't like no other poetry / ever
struck. And could tell the doctor
was thinking the same about it. 1t
sounded somehow ike it hadn't been
tointed together right. But DR.. Kirby
he let on like be thought it was fine
poetry, and he read them pieces over
and over agin out loud, and the old
man and the old woman was both
mighty tickled with the way he done
it. Hs wouldn't Of had 'em know fur
anything he didn't believe it was the
finest poetry ever wrote. DR.. Kirby
wouldn't.
They was four little books Of it alto
they hadn't had enough to eat, like a
stray cat whose ribs is rubbing to-
gether. 1t had cost Daddy Withers
$500 apiece to get 'em published. A
teller in Boston charged him that
much. he said. 1t seems he would go
along fur years raking and scraping
OF bis money together so as to get
enough ahead to get out another book
Each time he had his hopes the big
newspapers would mebby pay some
attention to it and he would get recog
nized.
But they never did," said the old
man, kind of sad. 1T always fell fat"
why, father!-the old lady begins
and finishes by running back into the
house agin. She is out in minute
with clipping from a newspaper and
hands it over to DR.. Kirby, as proud
as kid with copper toed boots. The
doctor reads it all the way through.
and then he hands it back without
saying a word. The old lady goes
away to fiddle around about the house
work purity soon, and the old man
looks at the doctor and says:
'Well, you see, don't you?"
YES" says the doctor, very gentle.
II wouldn't have her know for the
world" says Daddy Withers. Il know
and you know that newspaper piece is
Just simply poking fun at my poetry
and making a fool Of me the whole
way through. AS soon as read it over
careful l saw it wasn't really praise.
though there was minute or two l
thought my recognition had come. But
she don't know It amt serious from
start to finish. She was almighty
pleased when that piece come out in
print. And don't intend she ever
shall know it amt real praise"
Well, they was mighty nice old
couple, and the doctor done heap Of
pretending fur both their sakes-they
wasn't nothing else to do.
How'd you come to get started at
it," he asts. ~ ..-
Daddy Withers says he don't rightly
know. Mebby, he says it was living
there all his life and watching things
fyrnuinp-wa fchinp tho cOttDn grow