The Ordway new era., 1916-10-13

farmer and the weather.
thinks only of the moment; Midas pro-
vidns for tomorrow. What does he pro-
vide for tomorrow? Nothing that 'le
rooster will not have without pfoViuins
The rooster and the prosperous Woihei
they are born, they Erub, tney ioNe, u'o,
grub and love grubbing; they sruo anu
they die, Neither knows beauty: neither
Lnovs knowIeayc And after nll, when
Midas and the rooster dies, there Is one
thing Midas has had and rooster has not
Midas has had the excitement OF hccuhu-
lnting what he has grubbed. ana that nus
been his life and his love and his god. he
cannot take that god with him when he
dies. I wonder II the worthy 9oes a''
those We can take with us.
Midas must teach all TO be as Midas;
the young must be raised In his religion
The manuscript ended there, and
Sheridan was not anxious for more. He
crumpled the sheets into ball, depos-
iting 1t with vigorl in wastebasket
beside him: then. rising, he consulted n
Cyclopedia OF Names, which book
agent had somehow sold to him years
before; volume now first put to use
for the location OF Midas" Having
read the legend Sheridan walked up
and down the spacious office, exhaltng
the breath of contempt Dam fool!'
he mumbled.
He felt very lonely. and this was.
daily. his hardest hour. For long
time he and Jim had lunChed together
habitually at a small restaurant near
the Sheridan building, where they
spent twenty minutes in the cOnsump-
ton of food, and twenty in talk, with
cigars. But now Sheridan remained
alone in his office; he had not gone out
to lunch since Jim's death, nor did he
have anything sent to him-he tasted
until evening.
1t was the time he missed Jim per,
sonally the most-thc voice and eyes
and handshake, all brisk and alert. all
busincsslIke. But Sheridan's sense Of
loss went far deeper. Jim was the one
who would have been surest to keep
the great property growing greater
year by year. Sheridan had fallen
asleep night after night, plcturing
what the growth would be under Jim.
He had believed that Jim was abso-
lutely certain to be one Of the biggest
men in the country. Well, 1t was all
up to Roscoe now!
That reminded him OF question he
had in mind to ask Roscoe. 1t was
question Sheridan considered of no
present Importance, but his wife had
suggested it-though vaguely-and he
had meant TO speak to Roscoe about 1t.
However. Roscoe had not come into
his fa TIERS office for several days, and
when sheridan had seen his son at
Iarpn fhnrn hn tu
He waited until the greater part OF
his days work was over. toward four
o'clock. and then went down to Ros-
GOES office, which was on lower floor.
He found several meu waiting for busi-
ness interviews In an outer room of
the series Roscoe occupied; and he sup
posed that he would find his son busy
with others, and that his question
would have to be postponed, but when
he entered the door marked "R. c.
Sheridan. Private" Roscoe was there
alone.
He was sitting with his back to the
door. his feet on n window-sill, and he
did not turn as his father opened the
door.
Some pretty good men out there
waitin' to see you. my boy" said Sheri-
dan. whats the matter?"
Nothing" Roscoe answered indis-
tinctly, not moving.
"Well, l guess that's all right. too.
I let 'em wait sometimes myself! l
Just wanted to ask you question. but
l expect it'll keep. II you're workin'
something out in your mind"
Roscoe made no reply; and his IA
ther, who had turned to the door,
paused with his hand on the knob,
staring curiously at the motioness
figure in the chair. Usually the son
seemed pleased and eager when he
came to the office. You're all right,
amt you?" said Sheridan. Not sick.
are youT"
NO"
Sheridan was puzzled; then, abrupt
iy, he decided to ask his question. II
wanted to talk to you about that young
Lamhorn." he said. II guess your
mother thinks he's comm to see Edith
pretty often and you know him longer
n any OF us, so"
Il WON'T said Roscoe, thickly-"I
won't say dam thing about him!"
sheridan uttered an exclamation and
walked quickly to position near the
window where he could see his sons
face. Roscoe's eyes were bloodshot
and vacuous; his hair was disordered,
his mouth was distorted. and he was
deathly pale. The father stood aghast.
BY George!' he muttered. "Ros-
coew
MY name" said Roscoe. Can help
that"
"Roscoe! Blank establishment was
Sheridan's first sensation. Probably
nothing In the world could have more
amazed him than to find Roscoe. <tse
steady old wheel-horse-in this condi-
ton. How'd you get this way?" he
demanded. You caught cold and took