lunched together at the small
restaurant where it had been Sheridan's custom to lunch with Jim, and
she took this to be an encouraging sign. Bibbs went to his room as soon
as they left the table, and her husband was not communicative after
reading his paper.

She became an anxious spectator of Bibbs's progress as a man of
business, although it was a progress she could glimpse but dimly and
only in the evening, through his remarks and his father's at dinner.
Usually Bibbs was silent, except when directly addressed, but on the
first evening of the third week of his new career he offered an opinion
which had apparently been the subject of previous argument.

"I'd like you to understand just what I meant about those storage-rooms,
father," he said, as Jackson placed his coffee before him. "Abercrombie
agreed with me, but you wouldn't listen to him."

"You can talk, if you want to, and I'll listen," Sheridan returned, "but
you can't show me that Jim ever took up with a bad thing. The roof
fell because it hadn't had time to settle and on account of weather
conditions. I want that building put just the way Jim planned it."

"You can't have it," said Bibbs. "You can't, because Jim planned for the
building to stand up, and it won't do it. The other one--the one that
didn't fall--is so shot with cracks we haven't dared use it for storage.
It won't stand weight. There's only one thing to do: get both buildings
down as quickly as we can, and build over. Brick's the best and cheapest
in the long run for that type."

Sheridan looked sarcastic. "Fine! What we goin' to do for storage-rooms
while we're waitin' for those few bricks to be laid?"

"Rent," Bibbs returned, promptly. "We'll lose money if we don't rent,
anyhow--they were waiting so long for you to give the warehouse matter
your attention after the roof fell. You don't know what an amount of
stuff they've got piled up on us over there. We'd have to rent until
we could patch up those process perils--and the Krivitch Manufacturing
Company's plant is empty, right across the street. I took an option on
it for us this morning."

Sheridan's expression was queer. "Look here!" he said, sharply. "Did you
go and do that without consulting me?"

"It didn't cost anything," said Bibbs. "It's only until to-morrow
afternoon at two o'clock. I undertook to convince you before then."

"Oh, you did?" Sheridan's tone was sardonic. "Well, just suppose you
couldn't convince me."

"I can