kick and worry about it. Take any time when we have a succession
of rainy days, and notice how Americans growl over the continued
wet. Whatever happens that is in the least disagreeable, see
what a row we Americans raise about it."

"I imagine it's a nervous vent for the race," advanced Dave Darrin.

"But why must Americans have a nervous vent?" Dick inquired.
"In other words, what business have we with diseased nerves!
Don't you imagine that all our kicking, many times every day of
our lives, makes the need of nervous vent more and more pronounced?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," argued Tom. "I hate to hear any
fellow talk disparagingly about his own country or its people.
It doesn't sound just right. In war time, or during any great
national disaster or calamity, the Americans who do things always
seem to rise to the occasion. We're a truly great people, all
right. But I don't make that claim because I consider myself
ever likely to be one of the great ones."

"Why are we a great people?" pursued Prescott.

"We are the richest nation in the world," argued Reade. "That
must show that we are people capable of making great successes."

"Is our greatness due to ourselves, or to the fact that the United
States embraces the greatest natural resources in the world?"
demanded Dick Prescott.

"It's partly due to the people, and partly due to the resources