Page:Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley (Bobbs-Merrill, 1916) Volume 1.djvu/55

Rh (A bad name to rhyme,

But I reckon that I'm

Not goin' back on a Smith! nary time!)

'At hadn't a soul of kin nor kith,

And more money than he knowed what to do with,—

So he comes a-ridin' along one day,

And he says to Brown, in his offhand way—

Who was trainin' some newfangled vines round a bay-

Winder—"Howdy-do—look-a-here—say:

What'll you take fer this property here?—

I'm talkin' o' leavin' the city this year,

And I want to be

Where the air is free,

And I'll buy this place, if it ain't too dear!"—

Well—they grumbled and jawed aroun'—

"I don't like to part with the place," says Brown;

"Well," says Smith, a-jerkin' his head,

"That house yonder—bricks painted red—

Jest like this'n—a purtier view—

Who is it owns it?" "That's mine too,"

Says Brown, as he winked at a hole in his shoe,

"But I'll tell you right here jest what I kin do:—

If you'll pay the figgers I'll sell it to you."

Smith went over and looked at the place—

Badgered with Brown, and argied the case—

Thought that Brown's figgers was rather too tall,

But, findin' that Brown wasn't goin' to fall,

In final agreed,

So they drawed up the deed