two hundred
dollars in cash.

This inventory does not take into account my new friends, my new
mental and spiritual outlook upon life, or my enhanced self-respect.
Such things cannot be calculated.

That first year was, of course, the important year--the big year. It
proved what could be done, and nothing remained now but time in which
to do it. It established the evident fact that if a raw, uneducated
foreigner can come to this country and succeed, a native-born with
experience plus intelligence ought to do the same thing more rapidly.
But it had taught me that what the native-born must do is to simplify
his standard of living, take advantage of the same opportunities, toil
with the same spirit, and free himself from the burdensome bonds of
caste. The advantage is all with the pioneer, the adventurer, the
emigrant. These are the real children of the republic--here in the
East, at any rate. Every landing dock is Plymouth Rock to them. They
are the real forefathers of the coming century, because they possess
all the rugged strength of settlers. They are making their own
colonial history.

CHAPTER XVI

DICK FINDS A WAY OUT, TOO

When school closed in June, Dick came to me and said:

"Dad, I don't want to loaf all summer."

"No need of it," I said. "Take another course in the summer school."

"I want to earn some money," he said, "I want to go to work."

If the boy had come to me a year ago with that suggestion I should
have felt hurt. I would have thought it a reflection upon my ability
to support my family. We salaried men used to expect our children to
be dependent on us until they completed their educations. For a boy to
work during his summer vacation was almost as bad form as for the wife
to work for money at any time. It had to be explained that the boy was
a prodigy with unusual business ability or that he was merely seeking
experience. But Dick did not fall into any of these classes. This was
what made his proposal the more remarkable to me. It meant that he
was willing to take just a plain every-day plugging job.

And underlying this willingness was the spirit that was resurrecting
us all. Instead of acting on the defensive, Dick was now eager to play
the aggressive game. I hadn't looked for this spirit to show in him so
soon, in his life outside of school. I was mighty well pleased.

"All right," I said, "what do you think you can do?"

"I've talked with some of the fellows," he said, "and