When President Roosevelt was in Idaho, shortly after the
publication of his book, “The Winning of the West,” he entered
a book-store one day and saw a copy of his book lying on
the counter. “Who is this author, Roosevelt?” he asked the
proprietor. “Oh, he is a ranch-driver up in the cattle country,”
was the answer. “Indeed,” said Mr. Roosevelt, “and what do you
think of his book?” “Waal,” said the dealer, thoughtfully, “I’ve
always had the idea that I’d like to meet that author and tell
him that if he’d stuck to running ranches, and not tried to
write books, he’d cut a heap bigger figure at his trade, and
been a bigger man.”
The ranchman’s judgment was doubtless defective, but it is often well
to see ourselves as others see us.
(1700)