American Boys Life of Theodore Roosevelt | Page 8

As he grew older his love of natural history was supplemented by a
love for the history of nations, and particularly by a love of the history
of his own country. The war of 1812 interested him intensely, and
before he graduated he laid plans for writing a history of this war,
which should go into all the details of the memorable naval conflicts.
It was while in his third year at Harvard that Theodore Roosevelt
suffered the first heavy affliction of his life. On February 9, 1878, his
father died. It was a cruel blow to the family, and one from which the
faithful wife scarcely recovered. The son at Harvard felt his loss greatly,
and it was some time before he felt able to resume his studies. The
elder Roosevelt's work as a philanthropist was well known, and many
gathered at his bier to do him honor, while the public journals were

filled with eulogies of the man. The poor mourned bitterly that he was
gone, and even the newsboys were filled with regret over his taking
away. In speaking of his parent, President Roosevelt once said: "I can
remember seeing him going down Broadway, staid and respectable
business man that he was, with a poor sick kitten in his coat pocket,
which he had picked up in the street." Such a man could not but have a
heart overflowing with goodness.
While at college Theodore Roosevelt often showed that self-reliance
for which he has since become famous. To every study that he took up
he applied himself closely, and if he was not at the head of the class, he
was by no means near the foot. When he was sure of a thing, no amount
of argument could convince him that he was wrong, and he did not
hesitate at times to enter into a discussion even with some of the
professors over him.
Although a close student, and also a good all-round athlete, Theodore
Roosevelt did not forget his social opportunities. Boston was but a
short distance from his rooms in Cambridge, and thither he often went
to visit the people he had met or to whom he had letters of introduction.
He was always welcome, for his manner was a winning one, and he
usually had something to tell that was of interest--something of what he
had seen or done, of the next foot-ball or base-ball game, of the coming
boat races, of his driving or exploring, or of how he had added a new
stuffed bird to his collection, or a new lizard, and of how a far-away
friend had sent him a big turtle as a souvenir of an ocean trip in the
South Seas. There is a story that this big turtle got loose one night and
alarmed the entire household by crawling through the hallway, looking
for a pond or mud-hole in which to wallow. At first the turtle was
mistaken for a burglar, but he soon revealed himself by his angry
snapping, and it was hard work making him a prisoner once more.
CHAPTER III
MARRIES MISS ALICE LEE--TRAVELS IN EUROPE--BOLD
MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING--STUDYING LAW IN NEW
YORK--ELECTED TO THE ASSEMBLY--PERSONAL

ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY
It was a proud and happy day for Theodore Roosevelt when, in the
summer of 1880, he was graduated from Harvard. He took scholarly as
well as social honors, and came forth a Phi Beta Kappa man. His
fellow-students wished him well, and his family greeted him most
affectionately.
Yet with it all there was just a bit of melancholy in this breaking away
from a place that had been as a second home to him for four long years.
The students were scattering to the four points of the compass, and he
might never see some of them again. But others were there whom he
was to meet later, and who were destined to march under him up the
bullet-swept slopes of San Juan in far-away Cuba. But at that time there
was no thought of war and carnage, only good-fellowship, with
addresses and orations, music, flying flags, and huge bonfires and
fireworks at night. Happy college days were they, never to be forgotten.
[Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AT GRADUATION, 1880.]
While a student at Harvard, Theodore Roosevelt had become intimately
acquainted with Miss Alice Lee, of Boston, a beautiful girl who was a
member of an aristocratic family of that city. The young college student
was a frequent visitor at the home of the Lees, and on September 23,
1880, the two were married.
It had been decided that Theodore Roosevelt should travel in Europe
after graduating. His father had left the family well provided for, so
there was no rush to get into something whereby a living might be
earned. Yet Theodore Roosevelt had long since