Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1924-12-26
Labels Stick to
a Man
BY M. and R. M. TERRELL
%. Doubleday, Page . co..

RINGo DICKERSON was the town
underdog Of Stony Point. The
role had been wished upon him by his
fellow citizens as much as by face
tious fate. Hard luck had consistent
ly logged his trail ever since he had
left his cradle. He was only thirty,
but he had lived sixty years of ups
and downs, mostly downs. Now he
was Stony Points best utility. When
In doubt, blame 1t on shat good-for-
nothing" Bingo Dlckerson, had become
a town maxim. Such is the drift Of
human nature. Label some innocent
duffer and underdog, and soon he
wouldn't be known by any other name.
Then one day he disappeared The
earth had opened up and apparently
swallowed him. He became nine-day
mystery in Stony Point until Seth Gar
rison, who owned the Elite restaurant,
received marked copy of the Slerre
Blanca Longhorn News from cousin
In far-away Texas. The newspaper
carried the information that Mr.. b.
lingo Dickerson, q resident Of Stony
Point, had arrived in Sierra Blanca
to take over the 6.O00-acre ranch of his
late uncle, old Buck Dickerson, up In
the Guadalupe mountain country near
the Salt lakes.
Five thousand acres The news
spread all over Stony Point In an hour.
OF all people-Bingo Dickerson, who
now called himself b. lingo. One of
the greatest ranches In Texas. Wow
Three months passed. Then one day
Bingo Dickerson got OFF the train at
Stony Point. He was the same old
Bingo; II anything little more the
same. He wasn't dressed like a mill
lionaire, and he certainly didn't act
like one. He Just resumed his old
place In the towns daily life-or rath-
er, tried to. His fellow citizens hadn't
been born the day before; you couldn't
hoodwlnk them that easily Bingo
had a mint behind him and those Boil
sheviklan days 1t paid rich men to keep
that fact camou1aged. d. lingo couldn't
fool them No Stree When he
would confess that he had left half oe
the money in Texas they would be his
boon companions.
Whereupon b. lingo Dlckerson auto
matically resigned his position as town
underdog. That action. too, was
wished upon him, for old Blngo went
about his business in his same old mat
ter-of-fact way. He never had been
q bad sort, and now that fact became
apparent even to Ike Tlmmons, the
one-eyed barber. Back on Helrs Half
Acre he farmed away contentedly and
without disclosing any of his future
plans. To all Inquiries, adrOlt or 9th
erwlse, about his 5,000-acre ranch, he
remained as mute as he was good
naturedly patient.
Label a man as a good citizen, and
he soon becomes one, or apparently APP
pears to have become one. Frequently
the change Is only In the labelling y.
lingo Dickerson thrlved under his new
role. His fellow citizens made 1t their
pleasure to go out Of their way to do
favors for him. Not that he asked
them. Principally, they spoke well Of
him and acted, when they met him, as
though he was a fellow human being.
Old Bingo smiled and plugged away at
his farm work. The place, once
reputed to be the worst patch In the
county, began to take on d look Of pros
perity. Bart Kestler, the banker, in
sisted upon extending the mortgage,
and good old p. lingo did nothing TO
dissuade him. In six months he had
Legun to pay some Of II off.
In a year Il. lingo Dlclerson was pnrt
ard parcel Of tn tn' Ms pride. In one
short year he had reyolutlOnlzcd that
miserable little half-lcre farm that
once caught your cynical eyes as You
drove Into town. Now II was II place
10 be proud Of; the little house had
been rebuilt and With the new fence,
painted. NelghbOrs, who would be in
right on the finish Of this crazy-qullt
comedy, had helped much In this trans
GguratIon.
The farm wasn't all that hn6
changed d. lingo was "A different
man. True his easy-gOing happy-go-
lucky manner hadn't changed, but MS
appearance had. Not so much bis
clothes, which don't count MS much as
they're popularity supposed to In the
making Of n man, but his face He |
iooked ton vears Younger and twenty
,,,,.a hon,to. ana not ia lnfectlous
se"i9 "apP'e.' ~" ,'''' ~,
some OF MS fflenhs Dcsah 10 LOOK IKE
him. An epld 'hlic Of sunnlness and |
cordIaIltv s,ycpt the town. People |
went out Of III. r. say 70 see that no |
crouch remained IN Stoly Point Clouds |
with silver llnin 81 Tsge the only ones |
nermissIbIe