Like His Mother Used to Make. BY JAMES WHITCOMH RILEY.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2033, 18 July 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

Like His Mother Used to Make. BY JAMES WHITCOMH RILEY.

" I waa born in Indiany," says a stranger, lank and slim, As us fellers in the restaurant was kind o' guyin 'him, And Uncle Jake wai slidin' him another pun kin pie And a' extra cup of coffee, wich a twinkle in bis eye— " I waa born in Indiany— more'n forty year' ago— And I hain't been back in twenty — and I'm workin' back'ards slow ; But I've et in every restaurant 'fcwixt here and Santy Fee, And I want to state this coffee tastes like giltin' home to me 1 " Pour us out another, daddy," say 3 the feller, warmin' up, A-speakin' 'crosii a saucerful, aa uncle tuck his cvp — " When I seed your sicjn outyondar," he went on, to Uncle Jake — " ' Come in and git soma ooffee like your mother used to make' — I thought of my old mother, and the Posey County farm, And me a little kid agin', a-hangin' in her arm, As she set the pot a bilin'— broke the eggs an' poured 'em in "—" — And the tGller kind o' halted, with a trimble in his chin. And Uncle Jake he fatched the feller's coffee back, and stood As solemn ; for a minute, aa an undertaker would ; The he sort o1o 1 turned and tiptoed to'rds the kitchen door — and next, Here cornea his old wife out with him, a-rubbin' of her specs — And she rushes for thi stranger, and she hollera out " it's him 1 Thank God we've met him comin 1 Don't you know your mother, Jim ?" And the feller, as he grabbed her, says : " You bet I hain't forgot " — But, wipin' of his eyea, says he: "Your coffee's mighty hot!"