The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1918-07-05
Loves
Messenger
~
~ VIRGINIA LEE

tcopyrisht 1917. Western Newspaper union-J
Matt Burns stepped from a wood
land path. past the edge Of a little bush
guarded covert and deposited upon the
greensward a basket, well filed. He
chuekled and grunted with evident
self-satIsfacfion. Then his eyes rested
with quick. tender light upon a boy
ish-faced. invalld-looIZing man, many
years his junior. who sat with his back
TO tree. doing.
Beside the latter was pad Of blank
upper and a pencil, and alongside OF
these was folded sheet. Both Matt
and his friend, or rather charge Of his.
were tattered as 20 raiment, and a
smoIdering wood fire. some handy
utensils. made the whole presentment
trampiIke In It's suggestiyeness.
"Poor feliowr soliloquized Matt.
AT the rhymes again. suppose. Hi
say-famous luckr' he added. with
q kind Of hilarious cheer to his tones.
for the other had suddenly awakened.
ErIck Doane glanced lingeringiy at
the basket and then inquIsitiyely at the
face Of the other.
you sold the pOemT' he questioned
eagerly.
Il did. and no trouble at all. Oswald
& Ewing just exactly grabbed 1t, and
sayi ordered another one for a big
sale they've got on for Saturday.
got two dollars. and we're fitted out
with yiands for three days. hap
pened to mention about you and our
fx. and the head OF the firm got quite
interested. and said he'd double the
price II you made the poem funny
one
sNow. Isn't that Bnei" cried Erick.
his wan face aglow with pleasure.
Cheap, too cheap" declared Matt,
wagging his head sapientiy. .why. II
we were fixed 50 you were comfortable
and easy In your mind. you could turn
out regular hlgh-up magazine stun. or
get out a book and al that, and make
a fortune In q year"
That's dream. Matt" said Erich.
sorrowfully. You overestimate me.
dear old fellow that you are. can
Jingle together a few simple rhymes,
but real poetry takes genius. and I'm
long way from having that"
is that soy vOciferated Matt storm
ny. Il know better. What did we 20
at the last town, where you wrote
dedication poem on new city hall
they were putting upf Five dollars
from the orator Of the occasion. And
the little two-line rhymes you got up
for = party Of some young folks Ten
cents apiece. and forty OF them. Say,
Albert Tennyson would have dotted on
you. and Lord Byron would have made
you his close pail
Erick smiled indulgently. and then
the two fell to discussing the edibIes
the basket contained. They were
tramps. homeless, friendless. but one
was a poet in q way. and the other
had a great purpose in view and they
were by no means Of the ordinary drift
| Of hoboes-
Matt Burns. true professional. had
picked up Enck Doane. who was the
poorly paid clerk Of a cheap lodging
house. The latter was frail. sickly. I'M
able TO do mans work. and a physi
clan had told him that he could not
live long unless he located permanent
" in a warm climate
BIg-hearted Matt took fancy to the
young fellow He grew proud of his.
poetic efforts. he experienced a certain
satisfaction In becoming --the patron
Of man Of genius"
I've adopted you. Erick.- he said
one day. I'm going to get you to Flor
ida before the cold sets in, and bunk
down In some snug spot there. and you
shall develop your literary abilities
while work the roads. seer And
now they were carrying out the pro-
gram
whats the new screed. ErickT'
inquired Matt. as he noticed the folded
sheet lying on the grass.
-Oh. that is a set Of rhymes Of the
love SORT" answered Erick casually.
Il never was In love. but that's the
kind OF Luff would write II WERE
-Sepd II TO some magazine, Erick.-
suggested Matt. -and maybe you'll
catch on
But Erick smiled obviously, for he
knew that he was simply a rhymester
and not q poet. And when next he
sought TO show his love verses to Matt
later on. the wind had blown them
away or something else was respOn-
zibIe for their mysterious disappear
ance- >
This was responsible: a dog. smart
little fox terrier. trained by its indul-
gent master to carry small packages In
fits teeth Unnoticed by either OF the
tramps. little Gyp had seurried across
the grass. picked up the folded SHEET.
and holding II daintily. scampered back
to the side Of its strolling master.
Waldron Rossiter noticed that his
canine favorite was carrying scrap
OF paper In his mouth. but that was not
uncommon. and he bestowed only cas-
ual attention upon the circumstance
He was thinking Of Meta Brice. and a
certain trace Of self-conscionsness was
apparent In stride and manner as he
Il - y - - n