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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 
 
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THE GIRL I LOVED 
 
The 
 Girl I Loved 
 
 By 
 Tames Whitcomb Riley 
 
 Drawings by i^ 
 
 Howard Chandler Christy 
 
 Decorations by Margaret Armstrong 
 
 The Bobbs-Merrill Company 
 Publishers 
 
 C G P \ I - 
 
Copyright 
 
 1910 
 
 James Whitcomb 
 
 Riley 
 
 ^5 '^'1' ^ 
 
 ©CI.A271397 
 
 \y 
 
TO 
 JOHN J. CURTIS 
 
THE GIRL I LOVED 
 
IT'S a mystery to see me — 
 A man. o' fifty-four, 
 Who's lived a cross old bachelo^ 
 Fer thirty year' and more — 
 A-lookin' glad and smilinM 
 And they's none o' you can say 
 That you can guess the reason 
 Why I feel so good. to-day! 
 

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None o' j-ou can say 
 
 That you can guess the reason 
 
 Why I feel so good to-day ! 
 
I must tell you all about it! 
 
 But I'll have to deviate 
 
 A little, in beginnin', 
 
 So's to set the matter straight 
 
 As to how it comies to happen 
 
 That I never took a wife — 
 
 Kind o' "crawfish" from the Present 
 
 To the Springtime of my life! 
 
 I wuz brought. up in the country: 
 Of a family of five- 
 Three brothers and a sister — 
 I'm the only one alive, — 
 
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 I was brought up in the country 
 
Fer they all died little babies; 
 
 And 'tuz one o' Mother's ways. 
 
 You know, to want a daughter; 
 
 So she took a girl to raise. 
 
 The sweetest little thing she wuz. 
 
 With rosy cheeks, and fat — 
 
 We wuz little chunks o' shavers then 
 
 About as high as that! — 
 
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 We wuz little chunks o' shavers then 
 About as hig-h as that! 
 
But someway we sort o' suited-likel 
 
 And Mother she'd declare 
 
 She never laid her eyes on 
 
 A more lovin' pair 
 
 Than we wuz! So we growed up 
 
 Side by side fer thirteen year', 
 
 And every hour of it 
 
 She growed to me more dear! — 
 
 W'y, even Father's dyin'. 
 
 As he did, I do believe 
 
 Wuzn't more aiFectin' to me 
 
 Than it wuz to see her grieve! 
 
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 And ever}' hour of it 
 
 She growed to me more dear! 
 
I wuz then a lad o' twenty; 
 
 And I felt a 'flash o' pride 
 
 In thinkin' all depended 
 
 On me now to pervide 
 
 Fer Mother and fer Mary; 
 
 And I went about the place 
 
 With sleeves rolled up — and workin'. 
 
 With a mighty smilin' face 
 
 YcT sumpin else' wuz workin'! 
 
 But not a word I said 
 
 Of a certain sort o' notion 
 
 That wuz runnin' through my head, — 
 
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 Fer sumpin' else wuz workin' ! 
 
"Someday I'd maybe marry, 
 And a brother s love wuz one 
 Thing — a lover s wuz another!" 
 Wuz the way the notion run! 
 
 I remember onc't in harvest, 
 When the "cradle-in' " wuz done- 
 When the harvest of my summers 
 Mounted up to twenty-one — 
 I wuz ridin' home with Mary 
 At the closin' o' the day — 
 A-chawin' straws and thinkin'. 
 In a lover's lazy way! 
 
I remember onc't in harvest 
 
And Mary's cheeks wuz burnin' 
 Like the sunset down the lane: 
 I noticed she wuz thinkin', too, 
 And ast her to explain. 
 Well — when she turned and kissed Ti\^, 
 With her arms around 7ne — law! 
 I'd a bigger load o' heaven 
 Than I had a load o' straw! 
 
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I noticed she wuz thinkin', too, 
 And ast her to explain 
 
I don't p'tend to learnin', 
 
 But I'll tell you what's a fac', 
 
 They's a mighty truthful sayin' 
 
 Somers in a' almanack — 
 
 Er somers — 'bout "puore happiness" — 
 
 Perhaps some folks '11 laugh 
 
 At the idy — "only lastin' 
 
 Jest two seconds and a half." — 
 
 But it's jest as true as preachin' ! — 
 
 Fer that wuz a sister sV\.%^, 
 
 And a sister's lovin' confidence 
 
 A-tellin' to me this: — 
 
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 I don't p'tcnd to learnin' 
 
^^She wuz happy, be in' promised 
 
 To the son o' Farmer Brown." — 
 
 And my feelin's struck a pardnership 
 
 With sunset and went down! 
 
 I don't know how I acted — 
 
 I don't know what I said, 
 
 Fer my heart seemed jest a-turnin' 
 
 To an ice-cold lump o' lead; 
 
 And the hosses kindo' glimmered 
 
 Before me in the road, 
 
 And the lines fell from my lingers — 
 
 And that wuz all I knowed — 
 
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She wuz happ_v, bein' promised 
 To the son o' Farmer Brown 
 
Fer — well, I don't know how long! — 
 
 They's a dim rememberence 
 
 Of a sound o' snortin' bosses. 
 
 And a stake-and-ridered fence 
 
 A-whizzin' past, and wbeat-sheaves 
 
 A-dancin' in tbe air. 
 
 And Mary screamin' '* Murder!" 
 
 And a-runnin' up to wbere 
 
 / wuz layin' by the roadside, 
 
 And the wagon upside down 
 
 A-leanin' on the gate-post, 
 
 With the wheels a-whirlin' roun'l 
 
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And Mary screamin' "Murdei 
 
And I tried to raise and meet her, 
 But I couldn't, with a vague 
 Sorto' notion comin' to me 
 That I had a broken leg. 
 
 Well, the women nussed me 
 
 through it; 
 But many a time I'd sigh 
 As I'd keep a-gittin' better 
 Instid o' goin' to die, 
 

 
Well, the women missed me throut2:h it 
 
And wonder what wuz left me 
 Worth livin' fer below, 
 When the girl I loved wuz married 
 To another^ don't you know! 
 
 And my thoughts wuz as rebellious 
 As the folks wuz good and kind 
 When Brown and Mary married — 
 Railly must a -been my mind 
 Wuz kindo' out o' kilter! — 
 Fer I hated Brown, you see, 
 Worse'n pizen — and the feller 
 Whittled crutches out fer me- — 
 
Fer I hated Brown, you see. 
 Worse'n pizen — and the feller 
 Whittled crutches out fer me 
 
And done a thousand little ac's 
 O' kindness and respec' — 
 And me a-wishin' all the time 
 That I could break his neck! 
 My relief wuz like a mourner's 
 When the funeral is done 
 When they moved to Illinois 
 In the fall o' Forty-one. 
 
 Then I went to work in airnest— 
 I had nothin' much in view 
 But to drownd out rickollections- 
 And it kep' me busy, too! 
 
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I had nothin' much in view 
 
 Rut to drownd out rickollections 
 
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But I slowly thrived and prospered, 
 
 Tel Mother used to say 
 
 She expected yit to see me 
 
 A wealthy man some day. 
 
 Then I'd think how little riches wuz, 
 
 Compared to happiness — 
 
 And who'd be left to use it 
 
 When I died I couldn't guess! 
 
 But I've still kep' speculatin' 
 
 And a-gainin' year by year, 
 
 Tel I'm pay in' half the taxes 
 
 In the county, mighty near! 
 

 Tel I'm pa_vin' half the taxes 
 In the county, mighty near 
 
Well! — a year ago er better, 
 A letter comes to hand 
 Astin' how I'd like to dicker 
 Fer some Illinois land! 
 **The feller that had owned it," 
 It went ahead to state, 
 ''Had jest deceased, insolvent, 
 Leavin' chance to speculate," 
 

 The feller that had owned it 
 
And then it closed by sayin' 
 That I'd ''better come and see."- 
 I'd never been West, anyhow — 
 A' most too wild fer me^ 
 I'd alius had a notion; 
 But a lawyer here in town 
 Said I'd find myself mistakened 
 When I come to look aroun'. 
 So I bids good-bye to Mother, 
 And I jumps aboard the train, 
 A-thinkin' what I'd bring her 
 When I come back home again- 
 
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I'd never been West, anj-how- 
 A'most too wild fer me 
 
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And ef she'd had an idy 
 What the present wuz to be, 
 I think it's more'n Hkely 
 She'd a-went along with me! 
 
 Cars is awful tejus ridin', 
 Fer all they go so fast! 
 But finally they called out 
 My stoppin' -place at last: 
 And that night, at the tavern, 
 I dreamp' / wuz a train 
 O' cars, and skeered at sompin', 
 Runnin' down a country lane! 
 
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Cars is awful tejus ridin' 
 Fer all they go so fast! 
 
Well, in the morning airly — 
 After huntin' up the man — 
 The lawyer who wuz wantin' 
 To swop the piece o' land — 
 We started fer the country; 
 And I ast the history 
 Of the farm- — its former owner — 
 And so-forth, etcetery! — 
 
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Well, in the morn in' airl}^- 
 After huntin' up the man 
 
And — well — it wuz interestin — 
 I su'prised him, I suppose. 
 By the loud and frequent manner 
 In which I blowed my nose! — 
 But his su' prise wuz greater, 
 And it made him wonder more. 
 When I kissed and hugged the widder 
 When she met us at the door! — 
 // wuz Mary: they's a feelin' 
 A-hidin' down in here — 
 Of course I can't explain it, 
 Ner ever make it clear. — 
 
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It wuz Marv 
 
It wuz with us in that meetin', 
 I don't wa;nt you to fergit! 
 And it makes me kind o' nervou'^ 
 When I think about it yit! 
 
 I bought that farm, and deeded it, 
 Afore I left the town. 
 With ** title clear to mansions 
 In the skies," to Mary Brown! 
 And fu'thermore, I took her 
 And the childern — fer, you see. 
 They'd never seed their Grandma- 
 And I fetched 'em home with me= 
 

^ The3''d never seed their Grandma- 
 And I fetched 'em home with me 
 
So now you've got an idy 
 
 Why a man o' fifty-four. 
 
 Who 's Uved a cross old bachelor 
 
 Fer thirty year' and more, 
 
 Is a-lookin' glad and smilin' ! — 
 
 And I've jest come in to town 
 
 To git a pair o' license 
 
 Fer to ma7'ry Mary Brown. 
 
To git a pair o' license 
 Fer to marrv Alarv Brown