The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-10-08


to teach school.
At one time she was located in
Talbot, and she boarded in the
which gentleman the poet held long
cred certain PHILOSOPHERS OF life, t
vatlOns.
On another bit from an early poem
OF Mr.. Rileys you get his philosophy
of his life, his brotherly feeling for
all people, and can know the key
which opened hearts to him. Also
YOU see that he was familiar with
last days and Friday afternoons of
schools, which familiarity could
come to him only through the oc-
cupation of the girl for whom he
cared so much.
One stanza of the poem follows:
when all had been recited,
And the teachers bell is heard,
And visitors invited,
Had dropped kindly word,
A hush of holy feeling
Falls down upon us here,
AS tho the day were kneeling,
And the twilight was prayer
Riley Tries Lecturing
A poem by my sister known as
storm" might readily accompany
this poem of Riley's.
1t follows:
rs it deep midnight on the rag
ing sea?
Is the world all black? Do the
mad winds moan
And the rain beat down pitilessly
On the upturned face? Have the
waters grown
So cold and the beacon lights so
dim
And the surging waves so wild
and high,
So lurid flames of lightning flash
In the purple face of an angry
sky?
Bend lower! Lower! Let the with
ing mass
OF darkness pass! The storm will
pass
I am not certain about the ocCu-
patton of the poet through these
years, whether it was past his tin
Crancy and signpainting time. l
think it was along in here that he
tried leCturing, giving entertain
ments, but he suffered from a dis
ability which in his day was COM
mon to temperamental men and to
palmer ones as we'll.
Robert j. Burdett was equally
brilliant and equally SubmerSlble, SO
that either of them, when it came
to take the platform were likely
to be found incapacitated FOR pub
lie appearance and their managers
we're in despair After this the fam
lily of the dark-eyed girl tried to
help. They took council, the oldest
brother, who had been 10 at the
time of his fathers death, and was
now 20 some, and the rest Of the
young people.
Financed First Efforts
They offered what they could
manage to do without, of the COM
mon fund, and financed one of his
first two efforts at getting public
recognition as a writer. l am not
sure whether it was The Old
Swimmin' Hole" or THE Boss
Girl" l think it was the latter,
which ended in failure as they both
did, for his time was not yet. The
one Serves now as a rallying point,
the othu" is forgotten.
About this time is was that the
young brother one day having gone
part way with Mr.. Riley to the rail-
road station. came close TO the
grown-up sister and said almost in
n whisper You don't know what
he told me. He said the one thing
in all the world he wanted was to
succeed at something so that you
and he could be married"
She answered smiling, And was
It news? I've known that for long
time"
In all poetic justice, they should
have married and been happy; but
poesy was never known to take &C
count of that which men call JUS
tice. and the element of chance,
which so sorely afflictS mankind,
may be, to the gods, opportunity.
Who knows?
Brother Makes Protest
Time went on and heightened
out. Success seemed no nearer and
unhappiness crept in until all of
the family of the girl were within a
cloud. With encouragement and
uncertainty, the poets propensity
for following Bobby Burns in his
best known characteristic, grew
stronger. until he did that which,
a few years earlier, would have hurt
himself more than any one.
He came to our nome when he
should have stayed away This nap
pened several times, and then our
brother. who held himself the man
of the family. with the thought of
helping his sister, that had provided
the money sacrifice, made protest
that was tangible, and told him he
needn't come back, and shut the
door.
Finally came the end of the love
story. 1t broke the girls heart, All
the family suffered. particularly
the oldest brother and the youngest
sister.
Only with the passing of years.
with the death of the girl and the
poet, and recently of the brother,
can this sister now, knowing much
of life's storms and Gains, of its
passions, griefs and limitations feel
more of understanding and some
thing of forgiveness toward the
past.
Some years afterward the girl
married and was the mother of two
children, a little girl who died at
the age of three, and son who,
very early became soldier, WAS
wounded in the Philippines. reached
home to die. and was buried in his
country's flag.
If the dark-haired girl were now