The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1916-07-20

The rooster Is a dependent; ne depends
upon the farmer and the weather. Midas
Is a dependent; he depends upon the
farmer and the weather. The rooster
thinks only OF the moment; Midas pro-
vides for tomorrow. What does he pro-
vide for tomorrow Nothing that the
rooster will not rave without providing.
The rooster and the prosperous worker:
they are bosr. ts6y Yrub. they love; they
grub and love grubting. U-s Grub and
they die. Neither knows beauty; neither
knows knowledge. And after all. when
Midas and the rooster dies. there is one
thing Midas has had and rooster has not.
| Midas has had the excitement of accumu-
latins what he has grubbed. and that has
J been his life and his love and his god. He
cannot take that god with him when he
dies. 4 Yonder II t;e worthy gods are
| thoss we can take with us.
l Midas must teach all to be as Midas:
the young tmIst be raised In his religion
The manuscript ended there, and
Sheridan was not anxious for more. He
crnmpled the sheets into a ball, depos-
iting 1t with visor in a wastebasket
beside him; then. rising, he consulted a
C~yclopedia of Names, which a book
agent had somehow sold to him years
before; a volume now first put to use
for the location Of Midas" Having
read the legend, Sheridan walked up
and down the spacious office. exhaling
the breath Of contempt Dam fool!'
he mumbled.
He felt very lonely, and this was,
daily, his hardest hour. For a long
time he and Jim had lunched together
hRbitually 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.
sonaIly the most-the voice and eyes
and handshake, all brisk and alert. all
~businesslike. But Sheridan's sense Of
loss went far deeper. Jim was the n
who would have been surest to keep
the great property growing greater,
year by year. Sheridan had fallen
asleep, night after night, picturing
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 a question he
had In mind to ask Roscoe. 1t was a
question Sheridan considered of no
present Importance. but his wife had
suggested Though vaguely-and he
had meant to speak to Roscoe about it.
However, Roscoe had not come into
his fathers office for several days, and
when Sheridan had seen his son at
home there had been no opportunity.
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 a lower floor.
He found several men waiting for bust
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 ar. C.
Sheridan. Private" Roscoe was there
alone.
he was sitting with his back to the
door, his feet on a 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-
tnctly, not moving.
"Well, I guess that's all Fight. too.
l let 'em wait sometimes myself! I
just wanted to ask you q question, but
expect it'll keep, If you're workin'
something out in your mind"
Roscoe made no reply; and his IA
Their, who had turned to the door.
paused with his hand on the knob,
staring ~curiously at the motionless
figure in the chair. Usually the son
seemed pleased and eager when he
came to the office. You're all right.
amt your" said Sheridan. "Not sick.
IRE your"
"No."
Sheridan was puzzled; then, abrupt
", he decided to ask his question. 81
wanted to talk to you about that young
Lamhorn." he said. ST guess your
mother thinks he's comm to see Edith
pretty often. and you know him longer
n any of us. so--"
81 won't" said Roscoe, thickiy-"I
won't say q dam thing about himr'
Sheridan uttered an exclamation and
walked quickly to a position near the
| window where he could zee his sons
face. Rosc0e'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-
| coe!"
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-the
steady old wheel-horse-in this condi-
tion. How'd you get this way?" he
demanded. You caught cold and took
too much for 1T"
For reply Roscoe laughed hoarseiy.
"Yeuh! Cold! I been drinkun all time.
lately. FRS you notice it?"
by Georger cried Sheridan. al
| fh0u0ht Td srao1t n an vov . ~~o -,