Page:Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley (Bobbs-Merrill, 1916) Volume 1.djvu/49

Rh For an "afternoon lark,"

With a very fast horse of "remarkable dash."

And Philiper handled a billiard-cue

About as well as the best he knew,

And used to say

"He could make it pay

By playing two or three games a day."

And Philiper Flash was his mother's joy,

He seemed to her the magic alloy

That made her glad,

When her heart was sad,

With the thought that "she lived for her darling boy."

His dear good mother wasn't aware

How her darling boy relished a "tare."—

She said "one night

He gave her a fright

By coming home late and acting tight."

Young Philiper Flash, on a winterish day,

Was published a bankrupt, so they say—

And as far as I know

I suppose it was so,

For matters went on in a singular way;

His excellent mother, I think I was told,

Died from exposure and want and cold;

And Philiper Flash,

With a horrible slash,

Whacked his jugular open and went to smash.