Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-08-31


connect; and the father regarded his
son as stubborn and mysterious fool,
an impression not effaced as the years
went by.
At twenty-five Bibbs was physically
no more than the outer scaffOlding Of
man, waiting for the building to be
gin inside-a long-shanked, long-faced,
rickety youth, sallow and hollow and
haggard, dark-haired and dark-eyed.
with a peculiar expression of counte-
nance; indeed, at first sight of Bibbs
Sheridan he seemed upon the point Of
tears. To a slightly longer gaze, not
grief, but mirth, was revealed as his
emotion; but Bibbs never, on any oc-
casion In his life, either laughed aloud
or Wept.
He was disappointment" TO his
father. At least that was the parents
WOrd-a confirmed and established
word after his first attempt to make
business man" of the boy. He sent
Btbbs to "begin at the bottom and
learn from the ground up in the ma
chine shop of the Sheridan Automatic
Pump works, and at the end Of six
months the family physician sent
Bibbs to begin at the bottom and learn
from the ground up in a sanitarium.
you needn't worry, mamma" Sher-
idan told his wife. There's nothin'
the matter with Bibbs except he hates
work so much it makes him sick.
put him In the machine shop, and l
| guess l know what I'm doin' about
| as we'll as the next man. Ole Doc Cur
| ney always was one O. them nutty
alarmists. Does he think I'd do any
thing d be bad for my own flesh
and blood? He makes me tiredv'
Anything except perfectly definite
health or perfectly definite disease was
| incOmprehensible to Sheridan. He
| had a genuine conviction that lack Of
physical persistence in any task In
yolving money must be due to some
subtle weakness of character itself, to
| some profound shiftlessness or slyness.
Look at me-" he said. Look at
what | did at his age! Why, when l
was twenty years old, wasn't l up ev-
! cry morning at four o'clock chopin
woOd-yes! and out in the dark and
SnOW-tO build q fire in a country gro
| Gerry store? And here Bibbs has to go
| and have a doctor because he can't
| Pho! 1t makes me tired. If he'd gone
| at 1t like q man he wouldn't be sick"
| He paced the bedroom-the usual
| setting for such parental discussions
in his night gown, shaking his big,
| rPT.izr 1o6 1lo4 20 bSe,
| bedded spouse. my Lordp' he said
''If the little, teeny bit O. work like
this is too much for him, why, he amt
| fit for anything! It's nine-tenths mag
| inatiOn, and the rest of tt-well, /
won't say it's deliberate, but I would
! like to know just how much Of it's put
ont"
"Bibbs didn't want the DOCTOR" said
| Mrs. Sheridan. SIT was when he was
here to dinner that night, and noticed
how he couldn't eat anything. Honey,
| you better come to bed"
"Eatr' he snorted. "EatI It's work
! that makes men eat! And there's an
other thing you'll notice about good
! health, if you'll take the trouble to
look around you, Mrs. Sheridan; busy
| men haven't got time TO be sick, and
| they don't get sick. You just think
it over, and you'll find that 80 per
| cent of the sick people you know are
| either women or loafers. Yes, ma'amr'
Honey" she said again, drowsily,
| you better come TO bed
''Look at the other boys her hus-
| band bade her. Look at Jim and Ros-
| coe. Look at how they work. Right
| now there isn't harder-workin',
| brighter business man in this city than
jim. I've pushed him, but he give me
| something to push against. You can't
push nervous dyspepsiap And look
at Roscoe; just look at what that boys
| done for himself, and barely twenty
seven years old-married, got fine
wife, and ready to build for himself
with his own money when I put up the
| new house for you and Eide"
"Papa, you'll catch cold in your bare
feet" she murmured. You'd better
| come to bed"
And I'm just as proud of Edie, for
a girl" he continued, emphaticalIy, "as
| | am of Jim and Roscoe for boys.
She'll make some man a mighty good
wife when the time comes. She's the
| prettiest and talentedest girl in the
United States! l tell you I'm mighty
| proud O. them three children! But
Btbbs-" He paused. shaking his
head. Honest, mamma, when l talk
to men that got all their boys dom
we'll and worth their salt, why, l have
to keep my mind on Jim and Roscoe
| and forget about Bibbs."
Mrs. Sheridan tossed her head fret
| fully upon the pillow. You did the
best you could, papa" she said, impa-
tiently, $50 come to bed and quit re
| proachin' yourself for it,
He glared at her Indignantly. "Re
| proachin' myselfr' he snorted. Il amt
| dom anything of the kind! What in
| the name O goodness would l want to
reproach myself for? And 1t wasn't
the best l could either. 1t was the
| best anybody could. I was givin' him
a chance TO show what was in him and
make man Of htmself-and here, he
goes and gets nervous dyspepsia on
| mer'
He went TO the old-fashioned gas
| fixtura turned ont the LIGHT and mIIt-