FIGHTING THE INSECTS 



"But," I said, "I am not dressed. I am taking a train in an 

 hour. It would be very simple for me to creep up to the window 

 and listen." 



"I understand your feelings perfectly, sir. I sympathize with 

 you deeply. I'd feel just the same way if my wife were singing. 

 But you see I have strict orders. I'll tell you what to do. The 

 Captain is somewhere down there" (pointing indefinitely to the 

 south). "Hunt him up and put the case to him." The Captain 

 was too far away, and of course would never have given me 

 permission. But the incident shows the extraordinary tact and 

 sympathy of at least one of the President's guard. 



We all had very pleasant expectations when William H. Taft 

 was elected President. He and Roosevelt had been warm friends, 

 and we quite expected that Roosevelt's policies would be followed. 

 But President Taft, while a most admirable person, and greatly 

 liked by those who knew him best, had a different sort of mind. 

 He was a big, broad, genial man, but his was a legal mind. I 

 had hailed his election on account of his high standing, and, 

 incidentally, felt a bit of family pride, since it was the first time 

 in the history of the republic that a man of Howard blood had 

 reached this high office. I had met him and chatted with him at 

 Mr. Gardiner Hubbard's before he went out to the Philippines 

 as Governor-General, and I liked him enormously. 



Shortly after his inauguration, I went to Europe, and on my 

 return to Washington, in late August, I was invited to a dinner 

 at the Chevy Chase Club in honor of Mr. Wickersham, who had 

 just been appointed Attorney-General. The hostess was Mrs. 

 John D. Patten, a girlhood friend of Mrs. Wickersham. Almost 

 every one was out of town at that time of the year, and Mrs. 

 Patten was the only lady at the table. Mr. Wickersham sat at 

 her right, and I on his right. I chatted with Mr. Wickersham 



[246] 



