Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1916-04-06


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
a mystery to both parents; the mother
was nOnplused, failed to trace and
connect; and the father regarded his
son as a stubborn and mysterious fool,
an impression not efaced as the years
went by.
At twenty-five Bibbs was physically
no more than the outer scaffolding of
a man, waiting for the building to be-
gin inside-a g-Shanked, IOng-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 a disappointment" to his
father. At least thai 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 "Degin at the bottom and
learn from the ground up in the ma
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-
dan 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
guess | know what I'm dom 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 ID be bad for my own flesh
and blood? He makes me tiredr'
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, to
some profound shiftlessness or slyness.
Look at me-" he said Look at
what l did at his age, Why, when
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 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 it like a 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.
this is too much for him, why, he amt
fit for anything. It's nine-tenths mag
nation, 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
onr'
Gibbs didn't want the DOCTOR" said
Mrs Sheridan. ut was when he was
here to dinner that night, and l 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
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 ann
Honey she said again. drowsily
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 a 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 dyspepsiar 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 l put up the
new house for you and Edie.'
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
girl" he continued, alphabetically, "as
l 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! I tell you I'm mighty
proud o. them three children! But
Bibbs-" He paused, shaking his