Democratic Sentinel, Volume 13, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1890 — OLD MRS. BLIVINS OF POKE. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OLD MRS. BLIVINS OF POKE.

BY KIL COURTLAND

Old Mrs. Blivins lav all alone Under a neat gray marble stone. Carved thereon was a broken rose, 1 And a sweet little angel with stubby nose. The gossips of Poke aU said, “Poor dear! She has passed the news for many a year; And such tales, too” (here they’d nod and' frown), “When you think of the very small size of the town.” Then they flew over field, they flew over brier. They passed the depot, they passed the spire,. They crossed the bridge and climbed the hill,. To be at the reading of Blivins* will. They met in the office of Lawyer Brown, One of the smartest men in the town ; Who cleared his throat and jerked his head. And then these very strange words he read : “The gossips of Poke, without fear or fright. Must visit my grave in the lone midnight; And when I’ve been gone a year and a day, Must bivouac there and have a soiree.

Then, if I’m feeling like having the blues, ’Twill cheer me to hear them all passing the news.” Old Mrs. Blivins’ grave wes green. The hour was twelve, the night was serene, The moonbeams danced in the April air, When the gossips of Poke, each bearing a chair,. To the rendezvous came. And down they all sat, To have ajdelightful neighborly chat. They talked the choice bits over and over, Sometimes stopping their breath to recover.. And then thoy’d sigh, and say: “Poor dear I Oh, how she’d enjoy this tale about Spear And this awful sad thing about Rosa Key; How she’d like it, along with muffins and tea.” And now and again they’d stop and they’d? squeal. “Dear good Mrs. Blivins, oh, how do you feel?” You’d have thought, with such a harvest to reap, They’d have let Mrs. Blivins eternally sleep. But no. As time flew and scandals gaive out, They pitched into the dead, though ’twas pain--ful, no doubt, As Miss Flipps told the partyand'then they.' began. (Flipps sat next the angel, and as her tongue ran She prodded his legs with her Japanese fan.) “She married first. Did you know it, Miss : Hodge ?

A very low man, his name was Mick Dodge, And afterwards Blivins ; and Blivins, they say, Died at last in a very mysterious way. Now, all of a sudden a rumble was heard, The ground underneath them seemed to be stirred; A broad flash of light, a big cloud of smoke, And into the midst of the gossips of Poke, O’er the tall, the short, o’er the fat, the lean, Hopped the ugliest goblin ever was seen; His face was black, his eyes were red, And a horn curled over the top of his head. The gossips of Poke they screamed, they ran, And last came Flipps, with the Japanese fan; The imp laughed loud and clanked his chains, Then grabbed their sashes and trod on their, trains, And seemed to be having, the brimstony elf, A nice little circus, all planned by himself. They flew over field, they flew over brier. They passed the depot, they passed the spire, And when the clock in the church struck five, They reached their homes more dead than alive. And this is the end—you may think it’s a joke— Of the story of Old Mrs. Blivins of Poke. —Chicago Ledger.

“MUST VISIT MY GRAVE IN THE LONE MIDNIGHT."

"HOPPED THE UGLIEST GOBLIN EVER WAS SEEN.”