King at the Century 



than tranquillity, though it never lost 

 equipoise in exuberance. Even his 

 invalidism was characterized by ac- 

 tivity. It left him essentially un- 

 touched. For his energy, in spite 

 of what he accomplished with it, 

 was essentially a state of mind even 

 more markedly than it was an agent 

 of accomplishment. And to us in 

 the Century it was exhibited mainly, 

 perhaps, in the guise of an extraor- 

 dinary alertness. 



He was alertness incarnate. His 

 senses seemed sharpened to a degree 

 seldom exemplified in persons con- 

 fined largely — as was necessarily his 

 lot — to the society of their inferiors 

 in interest, experience and capacity. 

 Any material served him to file the 

 edge of an appreciation that little 

 escaped and nothing dulled. His per- 

 ceptions seemed never to sleep. It 

 was interesting to observe him ob- 

 serve. He always detected your do- 

 216 



