The Washington times., 1936-11-25
BY LYDIA CALVERT
CHAPTER 3

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missary. Done in smart modern
style it has telephone plugs on
the wall by every table.
Telephone for you, Mr.. Tay-
lOr."
Isn't this SWELL" says Bob,
Having your phone brought to
you? get a thrill every time
it happens"
With his ear to the receiver,
his eyes alight with excitement
at the message.
"YOu say I'm third at the box
office! Gee, that's swell.
TRIALS TEAM
The latest national returns of
box office popularity place the
young star after a famous dancing
team and a little girl with curly
hair. Only they outrank him for
topnotch rating.
"YOu know, I just thought of
something" says Robert, still
smiling and handing the phone
back to the attendant, 81 love
to hear a telephone ring. When
I'm home in the evening IL it
doesn't ring at least Once-even
if it's only a bill collector, I'm
unhappy"
You can't blame him for that
when he gets messages!
The waitress, an elderly woman
with a merry Irish face, hovers
around her handsome customer
like mother hen with her IA
vorite chick. Proudly, she places
before him a large flambuoyant
plate of salmon salad garnished
with sliced tomatoes and CHER
kins. He tackles it with zest.
BACK TO STORY
'"Well to get back to the
story" says Bob, between mouth
fulS. "Let'S See-I had just
been born, hadn't II"
He had been born and for
year his mother had been ill to
the point of death. But the little
one getting merrier and roster and
more like young colt seemed to
transfer some of his vitality to
her and gradually she began to
mend. She felt the threads Of
life slack in her fingers and for
her beloved husband and this
marvellous little child she pulled
herself back to health.
The voice that had been stilled
by weakness spoke again and glad
dened the heart of the young
father and the small son who was
beginning to grasp but vaguely
the trial they had been through.
Robert remembered his mother
telling him when he grew up
what had happened after that.
RETURNS TO STUDY
Eve went back to Kirksville
and took you with us. Your
father picked up the medical
course where he had left off hut
/ couldn't join him this time.
Many times 1 couldn't even
take care of you and he had to
sit you to classes with him. You
loved that and you used to sit
very quietly and listen to the
big words and medical terms
as il you understood everything
the professors were saying"
Meantime the family had
taken a little farm in the coun-
try near KirkSville and there
little Bob lived out of doors all
day, learning to love the big leafy
trees, the moods of the prairies,
the birds. He loved animals
especially dogs.
dogs came and went" he
says, 81 only owned them in
termittently. They knew they
could always get fed and have
warm place to sleep and then
the went on. There was always
one on the String-and a lot Of
extras"
He never h a d any bad en-
counters with snakes or bees or
insects for some reason. Through
his childhood he was a sort of
Achilles, impervious to the hurts
of nature.
Last week." laughs Robert,
II had my first run-in with a
bee. 1 was driving into a hot
dog stand and he got to me-
WheW-ShOuld have seen me
jump out of that carl"
PARENTS NEVER CROSS
The influence that both mother
and father had on the child flour
ished in the freedom that they
gave him. They were never cross.
They loved each other and they
loved him more than life and
they trusted him and made him
place his trust in himself. "Forti-
tude" was the word father used
for a motto and by living up to
it he taught the boy the meaning
of the word before the little mouth
could even shape it for utterance.
A book which his father read
to him constantly was titled For
titude" and through Robert Tay-
lor's life the opening lines have
come back to him again and
again, first in his fathers voice
reading them aloud to small boy
with bare legs, then later in his
own voice as he said them aloud
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