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head of his orchestra, in the drawing rooms of elite society, or in the solitude of his study, his brain vibrates with the harmony of his own grand usefulness.
I have a friend who holds the position of first book-keeper in a leading bank, and he is master of the situation because he is able to add four columns of figures at once with absolute accuracy. He commands a first-class salary for first-class work, and it is pleasurable to watch the pride, the dignity, and the evident enjoyment with which he performs the duties of his station. On one occasion I went into the bank to settle an account of long standing, and at the request of the cashier, my friend, the book-keeper, made out the account and added it up in his usual quick way. The cashier, being desirous of preventing any possible mistake, said, "Mr. B----, will you please add that up again and see that your figures are correct." The book-keeper was insulted. The idea that he might make a mistake was not to be tolerated. With an expression of lofty dignity that I shall never forget, he handed back the account without looking at it, saying, "The account is correct, sir." And as the cashier laboriously added it one column at a time he found that it was. The book-keeper was master of the situation, and he was able to humiliate anybody who dared to question his work. And as I saw his satisfaction in the discomfiture of the cashier, I said to myself, Verily the enjoyment of a man's business is a legitimate part of the profits.
The enjoyment of my own business is a large share of the profits. I enjoy lecturing, and I enjoy examinations, because I know when I examine a head that I know more about it than the man who wears it, and that what I am about to say will do him more good than anything he ever heard in his life if he will heed it. And when some young man comes up to me in Texas, and shakes hands and thanks me for something he heard me say in a lecture in California, and another shows me his prosperity in Colorado, and draws out a chart