Page:Cartoons by Bradley.djvu/26

 He illumined these from the inexhaustible batteries within him. He did not seem to need the artificial light that came from other minds. As the years went by he was relieved more and more of the strain of executive work, although when an emergency arose he always seemed to be on the spot. "I am responsible," he would insist. He carried this feeling of responsibility into all his relations with the art staff. He was their bulwark, stimulus, and companion. More and more he adopted the fatherly role toward his young men. He liked to celebrate their successes, to advise them about vacations, and to hear about their new babies.

With all this—his cartoon, his frequent visits "upstairs" to see what the wires were bringing, his long and eager talks with associates, the correspondence with admirers (and cranks)—his days were full. This made him happy. There were to be no more wanderings. He was satisfied with the privilege, enjoyed every morning, of facing big tasks to be done before evening. And at evening, perhaps remarking, "Well, I 'm afraid to-morrow's cartoon won't set the world on fire," he would put on his undistinguished overcoat and hat and go away into another world.

HIS private world of his had come to be peopled, in his late middle age, with a wife and four children who entirely absorbed him. He hated to be away from them even for an evening; so that he dreaded long journeys without them, and rarely accepted a social engagement.

During his second Evanston residence he had met Miss Agnes Smith, daughter of the Rev. Daniel F. Smith, who founded St. Luke's Episcopal Church, in Evanston. Miss Smith enjoyed outdoor life and many other things that Mr. Bradley liked. She became his friend, then his betrothed, and in October, 1901, they were married. Their first months of married life were passed in a tent on the shore of a lonely bay of Catalina Island, where they reveled in their wild surroundings. One morning, for example, they were awakened by the blowing of whales and rose to see the water of the bay black with the great creatures which were disporting themselves