Page:Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley (Bobbs-Merrill, 1916) Volume 1.djvu/48

28 With a regular dash

"Swung on to the reins," and went "slingin' the cash."

As old Flash himself, in his office one day,

Was shaving notes in a barberous way,

At the hour of four

Death entered the door

And shaved the note on his life, they say.

And he had for his grave a magnificent tomb,

Though the venturous finger that pointed "Gone Home,"

Looked white and cold

From being so bold,

As it feared that a popular lie was told.

Young Philiper Flash was a man of style

When he first began unpacking the pile

Of the dollars and dimes

Whose jingling chimes

Had clinked to the tune of his father's smile;

And he strewed his wealth with such lavish hand,

His rakish ways were the talk of the land,

And gossipers wise

Sat winking their eyes

(A certain foreboding of fresh surprise).

A "fast young man" was Philiper Flash,

And wore "loud clothes" and a weak mustache,

And "done the Park,"