ed to stick to words that could not be misunderstood.

CHAPTER XL

FATHER TOOK ME SERIOUSLY

There was an interval of nearly five months between the time of my
election, which was in May, and the date of taking office in September.
I decided to use this time to improve my qualifications for the job. I
returned to the old home town of Sharon and took a course in a business
college. Again I walked the old familiar paths where as a boy I had
roamed the woods, fished the streams, brought the cows along the dusty
road from pasture and blacked the boots of the traveling dudes at the
hotel.

There is a great thrill for the young man who comes home with a heart
beating high with triumph, to see the love and admiration in his
parents' eyes. Father shook my hand and said. "You're a good boy, Jimmy,
and I'm proud of you. I always knew you'd make your mark."

"I haven't made much of a mark, dad," I laughed. "City clerk isn't much.
County recorder is what I'm aiming for." In fact, I had gone so far as
to dream of being auditor of the state of Indiana.

A jolly old uncle who was there and who was looked on as the sage and
wit of the Welsh settlement, began kidding me.

"From city clerk to county recorder is only a step, Jimmy," he said.
"Next you'll be governor, and then president."

Father took it seriously.

"You'll never be president, lad," he said, "because you wasn't born in
this country." He seemed to think that was the only reason. He turned
to my uncle and explained regretfully: "Of all my boys, only one has
got the full American birthright. My youngest boy, Will, is the only one
that can be president."

"Well," said the jolly old uncle, "the rest of 'em can be government
officers."

Even this joke father took as a sober possibility. I saw then the full
reason why he came to America. He wanted to give his boys boundless
opportunities. A humble man himself, he had made all his sacrifices to
broaden the chances for his children. This was a lesson to me. I could
not repay him. I could only resolve to follow his example, to stand for
a square deal for children everywhere.

Mother was as pleased with my humble success as was father. When I sat
down to the table she apologized for her cooking and said:

"After the fine food you have been eating in the big hotels, you will
find our table pretty common."

"You're wrong, mother," I said. "The best food I ever had I got right
here at your table. You've never liv