He knew where our dark
spots were, cleared up the field of vision, and left us
unconfused. This discernment of our needs, and this power of
enlightening and pleasuring his reader, sprang from seeds
native in him. They were, as we say, gifts; for he always had
them but did not make them. He was a national figure at
twenty-three. He KNEW HOW, before he began.
Youth called to youth: all ages read him, but the young men
and young women have turned to him ever since his precocious
fame made him their idol. They got many things from him, but
above all they live with a happier bravery because of him.
Reading the man beneath the print, they found their prophet
and gladly perceived that a prophet is not always cowled and
bearded, but may be a gallant young gentleman. This one
called merrily to them in his manly voice; and they followed
him. He bade them see that pain is negligible, that fear is a
joke, and that the world is poignantly interesting, joyously
lovable.
They will always follow him.
THE FIRST GLIMPSE OF DAVIS
BY CHARLES DANA GIBSON
Dick was twenty-four years old when he came into the smoking-
room of the Victoria Hotel, in London, after midnight one July
night--he was dressed as a Thames boatman.
He had been rowing up and down the river since sundown,
looking for color.
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