"What do you want Bibbs to say ?" "You were sittin' up there tellin' me I got 'hysterical'-- 'hysterical,' oh Lord! You sat up there and told me I got 'hysterical' over nothin'! You sat up there tellin' me I didn't have as heavy burdens as many another man you knew.

I just want you to hear THIS.

Now listen!" He swung toward the quiet figure waiting in the doorway.

"Bibbs, will you come down-town with me Monday morning and let me start you with two vice-presidencies, a directorship, stock, and salaries?
I ask you." "No, father," said Bibbs, gently.
Sheridan looked at Gurney and then faced his son once more.
"Bibbs, you want to stay in the shop, do you, at nine dollars a week, instead of takin' up my offer ?" "Yes, sir." "And I'd like the doctor to hear: What'll you do if I decide you're too high-priced a workin'-man either to live in my house or work in my shop ?" "Find other work," said Bibbs.
"There! You hear him for yourself!" Sheridan cried.

"You hear what--" "Keep you hand in that sling! Yes, I hear him." Sheridan leaned over Gurney and shouted, in a voice that cracked and broke, piping into falsetto: "He thinks of bein' a PLUMBER! He wants to be a PLUMBER! He told me he couldn't THINK if he went into business--he wants to be a plumber so he can THINK!" He fell back a step, wiping his forhead with the back of his left hand.
"There! That's my son! That's the only son I got now! That's my chance to live," he cried, with a bitterness that seemed to leave ashes in his throat.