Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-03-19
to be allowed to exchange names '

went down into the cellar and re.
manned there the rest Of that day. And
the cook. descending toward dusk. re.
ported that he had vanished; but a
search revealed that he was in the
coal-pile. completely covered and still
burrOwing. Removed by force and
carried upstairs, he maintained a cryp-
tic demeanOr, refusing to utter a syl-
liable of explanation, even under the
lash. This obvious thing was wholly
Il mystery to both parents; the mother
was nonpused, failed to trace and
connect; and the father regarded his
son as a stubborn and mysterious fool,
an Impression re- eTraccd as the years
went by.
At twenty-five Bibbs was physically
no more than the outer scaffolding OF
Il man. waiting for the building to be-
gin inside-a long shanke1, long faced.
rickety youth. salow and hollow and
haggard, dark-haircd and dark-eycd,
with peculiar expression Of counte-
nance: indeed, at first sight Of Bibbs
Sheridan he seemed upon the point OF
tears. 70 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 a disappointment" to his
father. At least that was the parents
wOrd-a confirmed and established
word after his first attempt to make
a "business man" OF the boy. He sent
Bibbs 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 sanitarium.
you needn't worry, mamma" Sher-
idan told his wife. "rhere's nothin'
the matter with Bibbs except he hates
work so much 1t makes him sick.
put him in the machine. shop, and /
guess I know WHIT TN dom tairj6ute
as well as the next man. Ole Doe 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 tiredw
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
volving money must be due to some
subtle weakness of character itself. tc
some profound shiftlessness or slyness
look at me-" he said. Look at
what 1 did at his age! Why, when
was twenty years old, wasn't up ev.
cry morning at four o'clock chopin
wood-yes! and out in the dark anG
snow--to build fire in country gro
Gerry store? And here Bibbs has to &C
and have doctor because he can't
Pho! 1t makes me tired! If he'd gone
at it like man he wouldn't be sick"
He paced the bedroom-the usual
setting for such parental discussions
in his night gown, shaking his big.
grizzled head and gesticulating to his
bedded spouse. "My Lord"' he said.
eff the little, teeny bit o. work like
this is too much for him, why. he amt
fit for anything! It's ne-tenths imag.
inatiOn. and the rest Of it-well, !
won't say it's deliberate, but l would
like to know just how much Of it's put
On!'
"Bihbs didn't want the DOCTOR said
Mrs. Sheridan. ut was when he was
here to dinner that night, and noticed
how he couldn't eat anything. Honey,
you better come to bed
"Eat.' he snorted. Eat! 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 90 per
cent of the sick people you know are
either women or loafers. Yes, ma'am"
Honey" she said again, drowsiy,
'you better come to bed"
''Look at the other boys" her hus-
band babe 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 dyspepsia And look
at Roscoe; just look at what that boys
done for himself, and barely twenty
seven years old-married, got a fine
wife, and ready to build for himself
with his own money when put up the
new house for you and Edie."
"Papa, youth catch cold in your bare
fee..," she murmured. you'd better
come to bed"
"And I'm just as proud of Edie, for
GIRL he continued, emphatically, cas-
I 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 Pm mighty
proud O. them three children! But
Bibbs-" He paused, shaking bis