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Show . .............. . . . . 1 1 1 1 TtTtTTTTTtTTTTT T T T I w ... I i HOW GREAT MEN J MAKE LOVE J t AS REVEALED BY THEIR t T LOVE LETTERS t By JOSEPH KAYE J '0 by 'U't)lor S iitJu ute, Inc.) JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY AND ELIZABETH KAHLE OEND1NG a "tlnlype" of himself to Elizabeth Kahle, James Whltcomb Itiley, America's beloved poet, accompanied accom-panied it with the following lines: I send you a Bhudow ghost of a face. To haunt you forever with eyed. That loolc In your own with the ton-dereiit ton-dereiit icruce Affectionate urt can devise. And had they the power to sparkle and speak In the language of smiles and teara, The rainbow of love would illumine the cheek. And banish the gloom that appears. The heart correspondence between Klley and Miss hJtihle lasted five years, two of which were passed without their having seen eaeh other. The end cume when Miss Kahle became -Mrs. Brunn and thought It Improper to continue the correspondence. The actual facts of the romance are little known as yet and one can only guess at the story underlying Riley's love letters. From Greenfield. In August 23, 1S79, Riley wrote Miss Kahle: "Your letter Is so kind so very kind and good that I must write at once to ! thank you for It and grab your two I warm hands close In my own and I wring them fervently. Only you must I not be concerned about my health or j welfare anything 'cause I don't deserve de-serve such Interest from anyone so I good as you. I do smile though when you say T want to ask like I do of children when they cry, wlut Is the matter? Tell me!' "Surely, If you feel like that, and Indeed you comprehend me just as I am a little helpless child who would thank God with all his boyish heart if you just would now, this minute put your hands over my eyes and say, "Now. you must sleep,' only only I want to be strong enoOgh to bear my burden and your dear words make me weak. You don't know you can't know what a weight it Is and how heavier It grows each weary step I take. "Forgive me, but you mustn't be so good to me, because I want you to be happy not like me, who cannot even lift my empty hands at times and ask God's help. Y'ou make me want to call you 'little girl.' You make me want to come to you, creeping on my face and hands, to get away from all the world and rest rest. . . ." After Riley's death Mrs. Brunn became be-came addicted to spiritualism and sought and obtained through the kindness kind-ness of mediums spirit messages from the poet. One of these messages was obtained ob-tained in 1921. produced by a medium In pencil, In Riley's autograph. Here It is: With the selfsame sunlight upon us, I am writing, dear love, somewhere. He you would honor, he that you wish for. Thy king, thy loved one, "over there." It seems an Insult to- the memory of a genius to associate such a verse as the above with his name, even though the association Is made in private. The doggerel, however, has the merit of being be-ing up-to-date, for note the popular war phrase, "over there." |