The Interlude

--Holding Two Telegrams And A Plea--


I.


When the word came that
James Whitcomb Riley was Dead
this Telegram was sent to a near
Relative an astute Man of Affairs
who with the Head of a Great Publishing
House--a Prime Favorite from
his early Boyhood of the Poet--held
his well-placed Confidence in all
matters concerning the necessary
material Things of Life.


The mightiest Monarch of the Indiana Forest
lies prone upon his Native Soil!
This Man From Down On The Farm,
Reverently, sends this humble Spray of Kentucky Pine,
as a Symbol, ever-green, of his Lasting Love, for the Dead Poet:
as a Symbol, made manifest, of his deep Sympathy,
for You, for Yours.