ather said, "I was very curious. I wanted to know
why things were and how they came to pass. That was why I became a
physicist. The life in me to-day is just as curious as it was in my
boyhood, and it's the being curious that makes life worth living."

Sometimes he ventured north of Market Street into the shopping and
theatre district, where he sold papers, ran errands, and opened cabs.
There, one day, closing a cab, he encountered Mr. Wickson. In high glee
father described the incident to us that evening.

"Wickson looked at me sharply when I closed the door on him, and
muttered, 'Well, I'll be damned.' Just like that he said it, 'Well, I'll
be damned.' His face turned red and he was so confused that he forgot to
tip me. But he must have recovered himself quickly, for the cab hadn't
gone fifty feet before it turned around and came back. He leaned out of
the door.

"'Look here, Professor,' he said, 'this is too much. What can I do for
you?'

"'I closed the cab door for you,' I answered. 'According to common
custom you might give me a dime.'

"'Bother that!' he snorted. 'I mean something substantial.'

"He was certainly serious--a twinge of ossified conscience or something;
and so I considered with grave deliberation for a moment.

"His face was quite expectant when I began my answer, but you should
have seen it when I finished.

"'You might give me back my home,' I said, 'and my stock in the Sierra
Mills.'"

Father paused.

"What did he say?" I questioned eagerly.

"What could he say? He said nothing. But I said. 'I hope you are happy.'
He looked at me curiously. 'Tell me, are you happy?'" I asked.

"He ordered the cabman to drive on, and went away swearing horribly. And
he didn't give me the dime, much less the home and stock; so you see, my
dear, your father's street-arab career is beset with disappointments."

And so it was that father kept on at our Pell Street quarters, while
Ernest and I went to Washington. Except for the final consummation, the
old order had passed away, and the final consummation was nearer than
I dreamed. Contrary to our expectation, no obstacles were raised to
prevent the socialist Congressmen from taking their seats. Everything
went smoothly, and I laughed at Ernest when he looked upon the very
smoothness as something ominous.

We found our socialist comrades confident, optimistic of their strength
and of the things they would accomplish. A few Grangers who had been
elected