I have always been in mischief, restless, and eager for anything that
would bring quick action; and when I got into deep water Hobart would
come along, pluck me out and pull me to shore and safety. Did you ever
see a great mastiff and a fox terrier running together? It is a homely
illustration; but an apt one.
We were boys together, with our delights and troubles, joys and sorrows.
I thought so much of Hobart that I did not shirk stooping to help him
take care of his baby sister. That is about the supreme sacrifice of
a boy's devotion. In after years, of course, he has laughed at me and
swears I did it on purpose. I do not know, but I am willing to admit
that I think a whole lot of that sister.
Side by side we grew up and into manhood. We went to school and
into college. Even as we were at odds in our physical builds and our
dispositions, so were we in our studies. From the beginning Hobart has
had a mania for screws, bolts, nuts, and pistons. He is practical; he
likes mathematics; he can talk to you from the binomial theorem up
into Calculus; he is never so happy as when the air is buzzing with
a conversation charged with induction coils, alternating currents,
or atomic energy. The whole swing and force of popular science is his
kingdom. I will say for Hobart that he is just about in line to be king
of it all. Today he is in South America, one of our greatest engineers.
He is bringing the water down from the Andes; and it is just about like
those strong shoulders and that good head to restore the land of the
Incas.
About myself? I went into the law. I enjoy an atmosphere of strife and
contention. I liked books and discussion and I thought that I would like
the law. On the advice of my elders I entered law college, and in due
time was admitted to practice. It was while studying to qualify that
I first ran into philosophy. I was a lad to enjoy quick, pithy,
epigrammatic statements. I have always favoured a man who hits from the
shoulder. Professor Holcomb was a man of terse, heavy thinking; he spoke
what he thought and he did not quibble. He favoured no one.
I must confess that the old white-haired professor left his stamp upon
me. I loved him like all the rest; though I was not above playing a
trick on the old fellow occasionally. Still he had a wit of his own and
seldom came out second best, and when he lost out he could laugh like
the next one. I was deeply impressed by him. As I took course after
course under him I was convinced that for all of his dry philosophy the
old fellow had a trick up his sleeve; he had a way of expounding that
was rather startling; likewise, he had a scarcely concealed contempt for
some of the demigods of our old philosophy.
What this trick was I could never uncover. I hung on and dug into great
tomes of wisdom. I became interested and gradually took up with his
speculation; for all my love of action I found that I had a strong
subcurrent for the philosophical.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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