The Days of a Man 1:1896 



commission broke up, with the understanding, how- 

 ever, that it would meet in Bering Sea the next 

 summer for the special purpose of making a relative 

 comparison of the two seasons, and also of visiting 

 the Russian rookeries. 

 J tempting Reaching home, I found a letter written by 

 °^^'' Gardiner G. Hubbard on behalf of the board of 

 trustees of the Smithsonian Institution, offering 

 me, as successor to Dr. Goode, the (combined) 

 positions of assistant secretary and director of the 

 United States National Museum, over which the 

 Smithsonian has control. It was also understood 

 that on the retirement of Dr. Samuel P. Langley 

 the new incumbent would succeed him in the secre- 

 taryship. This offer of the most honorable position 

 in American Science was very tempting, but in view 

 of my obligations toward Stanford University and 

 my faith in its future, I felt obliged to decline. 

 Afterward it was suggested by one of the Smith- 

 sonian trustees that I might perhaps later see my 

 way clear to accept, and the matter was accordingly 

 held in abeyance for ten years, Rathbun meanwhile 

 becoming assistant secretary. But in 1906 I again 

 declined for the same reasons, intensified by the 

 calamity of the great earthquake which left me no 

 question as to my duty. Dr. Charles D. Walcott 

 was now chosen for the post, while Rathbun re- 

 mained as executive assistant. 



Within the week which followed my return to 

 Stanford I received another pleasant surprise in 

 the form of a book by myself almost ready for 

 publication without my having written a line of 

 it. This came about in an interesting way. For 

 a year or two I had been telling a good many stories 



C 568 : 



