The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-04-24
CHAPTER TX -
ALFRED ,MEANWHILE

Air kED ,tlEAN w IlII-E
Celia might well have given more
weight than she did to that new pre-
occupied manner OF her husbands AM
she might hove taken more seriously
than she did the contrast between his
Offhand way Of announcing that his
pay had been raised from twenty-five
dollars q week. and his previous excite
Hcnt that it had been raised to twenty
five. She would have done 50, no doubt,
but for that preOccupatiOn Of her own
about which have Told you. But even
if she mad allowed speculation to run
riOt--gOne to ne infercntial ]imit,
she'd hardly have come abreast OF the
facts.
For month indeed, after Alfred
Blair had taken his ncw job. he had
just as he told her. rcvcied in the ir-
responsibility of it. He had sat over
his table from eight TO twelve. and
from one To five, doing the work be-
fore him with an almost cOntenptuOu>
ease, exercising a set OF faculties that
a long and early training had almost
transmitted into instincts. while the
inner man Of him rejricrd in long
drawn breaths and the delicious relay
alton Of rackcd nerves. He WAS like :.
man washed ashore from II wreck, eX
haustcd by the struggle with TEMPEST
nous seas, content 10 lie Tor Ii Will.
on the sua-WarmeG sands, iEsu-lo IS
as 10 what his new island domain
might have in store for him
The first STRINGS OF curiosity ne re-
pressed severely. Each time he cssU2i.E
his mind reaching ont 10 grasp the
ssenlials Of the work he VAS doing.
criticiZing the engineering Of his super
iors. deciding how the thing ongh- Il,
be done he checked the impulse y!gor-
Onsly. It vas none. Of his business
whether The job vas dom right or
wrong. economically or eyIrava gaIsi!y.
Had he eyer been as happy III his life
before as he was right now: Well then.
why spoil good thing: Hadn't he had
enough wOrry and trouble in the past
year and half to last hiui-a while
longer. anyway: He had. As Il means
Of further reassuring himself on this
point. he had talked 10 Celia about
the plea sure he was taking in the
routine nature Of his work.
But he cOIlldn't keep this up in
70 the trained athlete it is
not to- exercise. Heart
lungs and muscles cry aloud for the
tests they are accustomed to. And the
man who has made trained athletes Of
Ills judgment and Imagination can't
leave them ont Of his reckoning indef.
initcly. They'll begin taking hold some
day. in spite OF him. They won't he
ieyft Il fAS4 1,,
"dgm"nt on his part. of the possibility
or the rightness Of the things they
have pointed out to him. They'll never
let him alone until he has harneSsed
all hi, energy TO the task Of making
the possibilities they have. pointed out
come trIle. ~ mn ~
DO you remember7-I'm sure you will
if you're old cnough--thc classical
story of the young princess and her
pet tiger? 1t was either in the third
render or the fourth, can't be sure
which. At all events, the tiger was a
amiablc beast and enjoyed
the complete confidence of the princess.
the secret being that his diet was con
fined to milk and biscuits But one day.
in fit Of affection, he began licking
the princcss's hand. and his rough
tongue presently wore through the
skin, so that he tasted blood. Where
upon without rcmorsc, he proccct|I
to eat up the princess.
| don't claim perfection for my
since the princess Of my tale
is the oily, notwithstanding foreman
OF the drafting-room. whom | intro
duced to you in the act of hiring Alfred
Blair. The parallel would be closer,
too. If the tiger in the legend were
not an innocent cub. but Il reformed
who had gone upon a milk
diet voluntarily. Apart from these de-
f"ctS. however, the thing works out
pretty well. since it was purely good
Daturcd impulse to help his manifest
1y incompetent superior by showing
him how a certain detail really ought
to be managed, that led Alfred to take
his first taste of blood: that is. of
responsibility. ...s.. ...ra. ,-