Gutzon had been present when the representatives of these states had met in Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Paderewski was the first speaker at this convention, and in the few minutes of his oratory he was transformed from a civilian pianist into a soaring apostle of freedom. Professor Masaryk, who followed him with what was expected to be the key speech, could barely speak at all. He threw away his prepared address because, he said, Paderewski had said it all and said it better. “I have never listened to such an inspired speech,” he said in conclusion. “I can give no explanation other than that Ignace Jan Paderewski is an artist.” Paderewski’s letter to Gutzon in San Antonio begged an immediate answer by cable, inasmuch as it was hoped to have the memorial unveiled on Wilson’s birthday the next year. Gutzon was in Georgia on another of his futile attempts to revive the Confederate memorial; so his wife sent him a telegram in care of the Venables: SIX PAGE LETTER FROM PADEREWSKI WANTS MEMORIAL TO PRESIDENT WILSON BY QUOTE THE GREATEST SCULPTOR IN THE WHOLE WORLD END QUOTE. CAN YOU GUESS WHO? WANTS CABLE ANSWER. The avowal of confidence by Paderewski, even more than his offer of the commission, was something that Gutzon appreciated. His answer was eager and quick: MRS. MASON GAVE ME YOUR MESSAGE. SEND PADEREWSKI AT ONCE BY CABLE QUOTE AM DELIGHTED TO ACCEPT DOUBLE HONOR FOR YOURSELF AND WOODROW WILSON. TIME AMPLE IF WE ACT SOON. MEANS ALSO AMPLE FOR BEAUTIFUL MEMORIAL UNQUOTE. LOVE TO YOU ALL. Paderewski’s response, grateful and sympathetic, settled the matter of the Wilson statue in a few days. Because of the early date set for the unveiling, the sculptor should first have gone to Europe to confer with the committee and to study the proposed location of the memorial. But the work on Mount Rushmore was getting critical and it was impossible for him to leave. He decided to send his son Lincoln to Europe to arrange for the casting of the bronze in Paris, Florence or Naples, and then to confer with Paderewski at his home in Morges, Switzerland. Lincoln, accompanied by his mother, went immediately. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR _TRIBUTE TO WILSON_ The travelers never forgot Paderewski as he met them at the Morges station. He was standing on the runway, a little derby hat perched on the top of his head, with his wave of hair floating out from it like a cloud. He seemed serene and happy. “Where are your trunks?” he asked in honest puzzlement. And they told him that they carried no trunks, that they were staying with him only between trains. His surprise was genuine and his disappointment obvious.