Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1916-06-23
CHAPTER v.

1t was brave and 1ustrous banquet;
and noisy one, too, because there was
an orchestra among some plants at one
end of the long dining room, and after
a preliminary stiffness the guests were
1mpelled to converse necessarily at
the tops of their voices. The whole
company of fifty sat at a great oblong
table, a continent Of damask and lace,
with shores of crystal and silver run
ming up to spreading groves Of orchids
and lilies and white roses-an inhab-
ited continent, evidently, for there
were three marvellous, cleaning build
lngs one in the center and one at each
end, white miracles wrought by some
inspired craftsman in sculptural icing.
Whey were models Ia miniature, and
they represented the Sheridan build
ing, the Sheridan apartments, and the
pump works. Nearly all the guests
recognized them without having to be
told what they were, and pronounced
the likenesses superb.
The arrangement of the table was
visibly baronial. At the head sat the
great Thane. with the flower of his
family and of the guests about him;
then on each side came the neighbors
OF the "old" house, grading down to
vassals and retainers- superintendent,
cashiers, heads of departments, and the
like-at the foot, where the Thames
lady took her place as consolation for
=, mo tt, loo
the thralls and bondmen, sat Bibbs
Sheridan, a meek Banquo, wondering
how anybody could look at him and
eat.
Nevertheless, there was a vast, con-
tinuous eating and the talk went on
with the eating, necessarily. 1t rose
over the throbbing of the orchestra and
the clatter and clinking of silver and
china and glass, and there was q
mighty babble.
And through the interstices OF this
clamoring Bibbs could hear the con-
tinual booming of his fathers heavy
voice, and once he caught the sentence,
S'Yes, young lady, that's just what did
1T for me, and that's just what ii do it
for my boys-they got to make two
blades o. grass grow where one grew
before!' 1t was his familiar flourish,
an old story to Bibbs, and now jovially
acclaimed for the ediication Of Mary
Vertrees.
1t was great night for Sheridan
the very crest Of his wave. His big.
smooth, red face grew more and more
radiant with good will and with the
simplest, happiest, most boyish vanity.
He was the picture of health, of good
cheer, and of power on holiday.
He dominated the table, shouting
jncular questions and railleries at
everyone. His idea was that when
people were having good time they
were noisy; and his own additions to
the hubbub increased his pleasure,
and, Of course, met the warmest en-
couragement from his guests. He kept
time to the music continually
his feet, or pounding on the table with
his fist, and sometimes with spoon or
knife upon his plate or a glass, with
out permitting these side products to
VIII lAC 1ChI Ooo4dCoS VI cat
ing and shouting.
'"Ten 'em to play Nancy Lee'! he
would below down the length Of the
table to his wife, while the musicians
were in the midst Of the 'Toreador"
song, perhaps ASK that fellow if
they don't know Nancy Lee'w And
when the leader would shake his head
apologetically in answer to an obedient
shrek from Mrs. Sheridan the ''Torea-
dor" continuing vehemently, Sheridan
would roar half-remembered fragments
of Nancy Lee" naturally mingling
some Bizet with the air Of that uxori-
Gus tribute.
No external bubbling contributed to
this effervescence; the Sheridan's table
had never borne wine, and, more be-
cause Of timidity about it than convic-
ton, it bore none now. And certain
Iy no wine could have inspired more
turbulent good spirits in the host. Not
even Bibbs was an alloy in this nights
happiness, for, as Mrs. Sheridan had
said, he had ''plans for Bibbs"-plans
(which were going to straighten out
some things that had gone wrong.
So he pounded the table and doomed
tjs echoes of old songs, and then, for