THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR 593Thus the law of compensation gave back to me, and with com-
pound interest added, that which I had lost by rendering service to
those who were dishonest.
Several years ago I had been invited to deliver a lecture before the
students of the Palmer School in Davenport, Iowa. My manager had
completed arrangements for me to accept the invitation under the
regular terms in effect at that time, which were $ 100 for the lecture
plus my travel expenses.
When I arrived at Davenport I found a reception committee
awaiting me at the depot, and that evening I was given one of the
warmest welcomes I had ever received during my public career, up
to that time. I met many delightful people from whom I gathered
many valuable facts that were of benefit to me. Therefore, when I was
asked to make out my expense account so the school could give me
a check, I told them that I had received my pay, many times over, by
what I had learned while I was there. I refused my fee and returned to
my office in Chicago feeling well repaid for the trip.
The following morning Dr. Palmer went before the two thousand
students of his school and announced what I had said about feeling
repaid by what I had learned, and he added: "In the twenty years I have
been conducting this school I have had scores of speakers address the
student body, but this is the first time I ever knew a man to refuse his
fee because he felt that he had been repaid for his services in other
ways. This man is the editor of a national magazine and I advise every
one of you to subscribe to that magazine, because such a man as this
must have much that each of you will need when you go into the field
and offer your services:'
By the middle of that week I had received more than $6,000
for subscriptions. During the following two years these same two
thousand students and their friends sent in more than $50,000 for
subscriptions. Tell me how or where I could have invested $100 as
profitably as this.