THE CALL OF A DISTANT PAST 283 



young men here in the office." And then we both 

 waited for the bolt to strike. It came swiftly 

 enough, and when it was delivered one man's 

 career in this world was settled. 



WILLIAM M. SMITH was one of the big men of 

 his day in the state of Illinois, prominent in politi- 

 cal and financial circles, an inveterate joker and 

 retailer of good stories, beloved by everybody. His 

 laugh was worth going blocks to hear, so hearty and 

 so brimming with good nature. I suppose that the 

 comment he made that morning in the office of the 

 "National Live Stock Journal" in the old Honore 

 Block pulled down years ago to make room for 

 the beautiful Marquette Building on the corner of 

 Adams and Dearborn Streets should perhaps not 

 here be put on record. It meant nothing much at 

 the time it was uttered to anybody but a poor boy, 

 wavering as to what he should do with himself. It 

 is of no consequence now to anybody, and yet it 

 may serve to demonstrate anew the power of an 

 appreciative word, spoken at a psychological moment. 

 It may possibly lead someone else to turn on the 

 inexpensive current of a kindly encouragement at 

 some crucial period in some other boy's life. Such 

 situations, as a matter of fact, are not infrequent 

 in the lives of most of us as we journey through 



