ored during the wasting, by studying grammar if one could already
talk intelligibly to people? And why should one not revel in complicated
problems of figures and geometrical designs that really took some hard
thinking to work out, if hard thinking was just what one liked to do?

So, much to his distress he found out, as the examinations went on, that
he was decidedly unprepared in some of the required lines such as
grammar, rhetoric, etc. And even in mathematics, his favorite study and
the one in which he made his best showing, he had not been able to
cover, in his limited time for study, the whole ground required for
college entrance. He seemed doomed to be refused the coveted certificate
of admission.

But the Fates worked for him. In the first place, Professor Swain, the
examining professor--now president of Swarthmore College--was the head
of Stanford's department of mathematics. In the second place, he was a
Quaker, and a man who liked the right sort of boys. And so a candidate
who was a little weak in the languages, but was strong in arithmetic
and geometry--and was a brave Quaker boy, besides--was not to be too
summarily turned down.

This kind and wise examiner has described to me, recently, how he was
first attracted to the young Quaker in the group of candidates before
him by his evident strength of will. "I observed," said President Swain,
"that he put his teeth together with great decision, and his whole face
and posture showed his determination to pass the examination at any
cost. He was evidently summoning every pound of energy he possessed to
answer correctly the questions before him. I was naturally interested in
him. On inquiry I learned that he had studied only two books of Plane
Geometry, and was trying to solve an original problem based on the
fourth book. While he was unable to do this, he did much better; for the
intelligence and superior will he revealed in the attempt convinced me
that such a boy needed only to be given a chance. So although he could
not pass all of the tests, I told him to come to my rooms at the hotel
after the examinations, as I would like to talk with him. He came
promptly at the appointed hour with a friend of his, the son of a banker
in Salem, Oregon. The two boys invited me and Mrs. Swain to stop at
Salem to visit them, which we did. I learned there that Herbert Hoover,
for that was the boy's name, was an industrious, thoughtful, ambitious
boy earning his own living whi