For one thing， he did not know what to do with his hands.
He thrust one of them nervously over the counter and shookhands with Joe Kane. “How- de-do，” he said. Joe Kane puthis newspaper down and stared at him. Father’s eye lightedon the basket of eggs that sat on the counter and he began totalk. “Well，” he said hesitatingly， “well， you have heard ofChristopher Columbus， eh？” He seemed to be angry. “ThatChristopher Columbus was a cheat，” he declared emphatically.
“He talked of making an egg stand on its end. He talked， hedid， and then he went and broke the end of the egg.”
My father seemed to his visitor to be beside himself at theduplicity of Christopher Columbus. He muttered and swore.
He declared it was wrong to teach children that ChristopherColumbus was a great man when， after all， he cheated at thecritical moment. He had declared he would make an egg standon end and then when his bluff had been called he had donea trick. Still grumbling at Columbus， father took an egg fromthe basket on the counter and began to walk up and down.
He rolled the egg between the palms of his hands. He smiledgenially. He began to mumble words regarding the effect tobe produced on an egg by the electricity that comes out of thehuman body. He declared that without breaking its shell and byvirtue of rolling it back and forth in his hands he could standthe egg on its end. He explained that the warmth of his handsand the gentle rolling movement he gave the egg created a newcentre of gravity， and Joe Kane was mildly interested. “I havehandled thousands of eggs，” father said. “No one knows moreabout eggs than I do.”
He stood the egg on the counter and it fell on its side. Hetried the trick again and again， each time rolling the eggbetween the palms of his hands and saying the words regardingthe wonders of electricity and the laws of gravity. When aftera half hour’s effort he did succeed in making the egg stand fora moment he looked up to find that his visitor was no longerwatching. By the time he had succeeded in calling Joe Kane’sattention to the success of his effort the egg had again rolledover and lay on its side.