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 The Adventures of Polly and 
 Gilbert in Washington, D. C. 
 
B Pluribus Unum 
 
 The Adventures of Polly and 
 Gilbert in Washington, D. C. 
 
 BY 
 
 LYDIA WALDO LOCKLING 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the GOOD LITTLE PIGGIE," "TROUBLE IN THE 
 
 BARN-YARD," **BILL1E O. POSSUM SAVES THE 
 
 AMERICAN EAGLE,'* ETC, ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 THE COSMOPOLITAN PRES3 
 
 1912 
 

 Copyright, 1912, by 
 The Cosmopolitan Press 
 
 \V 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ?? 
 
 SCI.A31.2031: 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. The Journey, . . . . , 11 
 
 II. Gilbert Begins Sight-Seeing 19 
 
 III. A Climb to the Dome of the United States 
 
 Capitol 33 
 
 IV. A Trip to Mount Vernon, 43 
 
 V. A Stop in Alexandria, 57 
 
 VI. Polly Gets Into Trouble, 65 
 
 VII. Gilbert Gets Acquainted With the President, 77 
 
 VIII. From the Top of the Washington Monument, 84 
 
 IX. Arlington 91 
 
 X. A Scare in Anacostia, 97 
 
 XI. In the Navy Yard and Uncle Sam's Money 
 
 Factory 105 
 
 XII. A Day at United States Scldiers' Home, . 113 
 
 XIII. The Special Delivery Letter 120 
 
 XIV. Good-Bye, 124 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 
 "The Capitol," snowy white and majestic . Frontispiece *' 
 
 The arrival 20 t^ 
 
 "Mount Vernon," the home of Washington ... 48 "^ 
 Lost at Mount Vernon— "Do you believe in ghosts, Gil?" 56 ^ 
 The "White House," dignified and grand in its stately 
 
 simplicity 70 
 
 "0, Papa," she sobbed in a frightened voice, "Polly's 
 
 arrested!" 76 
 
 "Arlington" — once the home of Robert E. Lee . . 92 
 Picnicing in the "United States Soldiers' Home 
 
 Grounds" 116 - 
 
 A visit to Zoological Park 124 ^ 
 
 The home of Frances Scott Key 126 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In writing this book it has been the endeavor 
 of the author to please as well as instruct 
 the youthful mind; therefore all historical in- 
 formation it contains is authentic, and has been 
 written in story form to meet the end of both 
 entertainment and instruction. It is hoped 
 that every parent interested in child advance- 
 ment will appreciate the effort on the part of 
 the writer. 
 
 Lydia Waldo Lockling. 
 
THE ADVENTURES OF POLLY AND 
 GILBERT IN WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE JOURNEY 
 
 He was a heart-sick little boy with blue eyes, 
 and lips that tried hard not to tremble as he 
 gazed from a car window at the jumbled 
 mass of flowers, telegraph poles, trees, and 
 water. 
 
 He was traveling to Washington, D. C, as 
 fast as the train would carry him. He had al- 
 ways hoped, and expected, to take the trip, but 
 never for an instant thought it was going to 
 come in this way. In his joyful anticipation of 
 a visit to his Washington relatives Gilbert 
 Thompson had always included his father and 
 mother, because in all the nine years of his 
 life he had never spent a single night from 
 them. Now he was journeying alone to the 
 great city while his parents were speeding in 
 the opposite direction to a resort where, with 
 perfect freedom from even the care of her boy, 
 the doctor had assured Mr. Thompson his wife 
 would recover her health, which had been sadly 
 impaired by a severe nervous attack. 
 
12 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 ''I promised to be brave, so I must," mut- 
 tered the little fellow between his clencned 
 teeth. He rubbed his eyes with the corner of 
 his handkerchief, and leaned out of the car 
 window, for the train had stopped with a jerk. 
 
 It was almost dark, but the boy could see 
 people thronging about the great platform out- 
 side, bidding farewells or welcoming friends. 
 He wondered what the station was. From what 
 he had heard he thought it must be Baltimore, 
 but was just going to inquire of the conductor, 
 when 
 
 **Is this seat taken, young manT' asked a 
 voice behind him. 
 
 Gilbert turned to find a gentleman and little 
 girl standing in the aisle. 
 
 *^No, sir," he replied, hastily removing his 
 luggage, a lunch-box, and dress suit case from 
 the seat in front of him. 
 
 ** Traveling from a distance?" inquired the 
 gentleman, after he and the child had seated 
 themselves facing the lad. 
 
 **IVe come from York State," answered our 
 friend, *^and have been on the train since nine 
 o'clock this morning." 
 
 ''My!" ejaculated the girl, ''and all by your- 
 self ! Aren 't you lonely ? * ' 
 
 Gilbert nodded. 
 
 "Kinder," he admitted. "How long before 
 we reach Washington?" 
 
 "We are due there at nine o'clock." The 
 
THE JOURNEY 13 
 
 gentleman looked at his watch as he spoke. 
 ** You will be home in about an hour and twenty 
 minutes/* he said. 
 
 **I am not going home," replied the boy. 
 
 He then told his new-found friends about his 
 delicate mother being ordered away by her phy- 
 sician, and how he was on his wav to the Capi- 
 tal City to spend the time with relatives. 
 
 ** Besides granda I have an aunt and three 
 cousins living there," he said. *^I have never 
 seen Walter, but Aunt Alice, with Polly and 
 baby Ned, spent a summer in my home. They 
 were comina: again last year, but Uncle Charles 
 died, and that upset everything. Aunt Alice 
 got a position in the United States Treasury 
 Department, and granda, who had always made 
 her home with us, went on to Washington to be 
 with her and care for the children." 
 
 The little group was soon laughing and chat- 
 ting merrily. Gilbert found that the gentleman 
 was Dr. Rodkin, and the girl his daughter Lil- 
 lian. They were returning to their home in 
 Washington from an afternoon spent in Balti- 
 more. 
 
 *'I think you are a very brave boy." de- 
 clared Lillian. ^*I am sure I would cry my 
 eyes 'most out if anyone should tell me that T 
 had to live even a few days without my mamma 
 and papa, let alone travel by myself to a 
 strange city." 
 
 **That is because you are a girl," explained 
 
14 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 Gilbert; then he felt his cheeks burn, for he 
 remembered the tears he had shed only a short 
 while before. 
 
 '*Do you think it very cowardly in a boy to 
 cry when he leaves home for the first time?" 
 he asked the doctor. 
 
 **No, lad, most assuredly T do not. A child, 
 either boy or p^irl, would be both heartless and 
 unnatural who did not shed a few tears when 
 oblisred to lenve home nnd loved ones. T s^o 
 each year to Fndand to see my dear old father 
 and mother, and. let me tell you a secret,'' — 
 the doctor drew the boy to him and put his lips 
 close to his ear — ^*T crv like a baby when I have 
 to leave them/' he confessed. 
 
 The conversation was here interrupted by a 
 pro^on9:ed ''toot! toot!'' 
 
 Gilbert turned eagerly. 
 
 **It is only a crossing," tlie doctor informed 
 him; *'but look sharp and you will soon see the 
 city's lights." 
 
 **Papa, don't you think Paul would like to 
 meet Gilbert?" asked Lillie. 
 
 ''Yes, dear," replied her father. ''Here is 
 my card, Gilbert. You must come to see us; 
 and when Lillie 's brother returns from his va- 
 cation I hor)e you and he will be fast friends." 
 
 Gilbert thanked them both, and said as soon 
 as Polly or Walter could show him the way he 
 would call. 
 
 "But," he added, "you know I am to remain 
 
THE JOURNEY 15 
 
 some time. Maybe we will attend the same 
 school, and see each other every day.'' 
 
 *'Tliat shows how little you know about 
 Washington, ' ' said Lillie. * * Where you say 
 your auntie lives is in the North East section 
 of the city, and my home is North West — miles 
 and miles from where you will be. I do not 
 know just how many, but am sure there are at 
 least a dozen schools between the two places. 
 The city is divided into school districts, and 
 we children are sent to the nearest one. I at- 
 tend Franklin, which has a beautiful square by 
 the same name in front of it. Do you know, 
 papa says that in some cities you are not al- 
 lowed to ran on the grass of the public reser- 
 vations, but here you are, and oh, Gilbert, the 
 United States Marine Band plays every Wed- 
 nesday evening during the summer in the Capi- 
 tol grounds! You must hear it. It is consid- 
 ered the finest band in the country. It belongs 
 to Uncle Sam, you know, and everything that 
 he owns is first class.'' 
 
 **I do not suppose Gilbert is acquainted with 
 his * Uncle Sam' yet," interrupted the doctor. 
 
 But the boy surprised him. 
 
 **It is only a slang name for our United 
 States Government," he announced. 
 
 **Right! and girls should never use slang, 
 should they?" laughed the doctor. 
 
 Gilbert blushed at the question. 
 
 *'I do not believe it is slangy slang," he fal- 
 
16 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 tered, **but just a name which shows us that we 
 belong to one another, and that the people have 
 a voice in making the laws of the country.*' 
 
 *'But/' exclaimed Lillie, *'I thought Con- 
 gress made the laws, papa.'' 
 
 *^So it does, dear, but you must remember 
 that Congress is simply the mouthpiece of the 
 people, who elect its members, and send them 
 in a body to the Capital City to transact all 
 national affairs. You lake up history next year, 
 Lil, and will learn that Congress is composed 
 of two houses, the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives. The States are divided into con- 
 gressional districts, just as you explained to 
 Gilbert the city is divided into school districts. 
 The people of each district send a man to Con- 
 gress to represent them and their wishes, and 
 to make the laws accordingly. When a desire 
 of the people is first brought before Congress, 
 it is introduced in one House, and called * pro- 
 posing a bill.' If it passes the first House it 
 is then carried to the other ; from there it finds 
 its way to the ^ White House,' where the Presi- 
 dent either signs it, and it becomes a law, or 
 vetoes it, and it is killed. Now, Gilbert," he 
 asked, turning to the boy, **did I get it all 
 straight?" 
 
 **Yes, sir, only you forgot to say that the 
 Senators are elected by the State Legislature; 
 but as their members are elected by the people, 
 I suppose it amounts to about the same thing. ' ' 
 
THE JOURNEY 17 
 
 Dr. Eodldn looked at the small-sized boy in 
 astonishment. 
 
 **Lad/' he said, ^^yon surprise me. The idea 
 of a nine-year-old boy understanding such 
 things. Who has been your teacher T' 
 
 ''Professor Paul Teaiman, sir. He was grad- 
 uated from Yale, and opened a private school 
 in our State because he wasn't very strong and 
 the climate there agreed with him.'^ 
 
 **Look! look!'* cried Lillie; ^' there are the 
 city lights.*' 
 
 Just then another prolonged *^t-o-o-t!" 
 sounded, and Gilbert knew that his journey was 
 nearing its end, and soon he would be in the 
 Capital City of the United States. 
 
 **What is that?" he asked, pointing to a tall 
 square building with bluish-green lights twink- 
 ling from every window. 
 
 *'The Government Printing Office," replied 
 the doctor. **The night hands are at work. In 
 busy seasons there are three forces employed — 
 day, afternoon, and night. You must visit it, 
 my boy. It is said to be the largest printery in 
 the world. Now, as wo have reached our desti- 
 nation, we must say good-night, and remember 
 Lil and I both will expect a call from you be- 
 fore long." 
 
 The three shook hands, and Gilbert passed 
 out to wait beside the conductor, in whose care 
 he had been placed, until that official had as- 
 sisted the passengers off the train, then hurry 
 
18 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 with him up the long flight of stairs which led 
 to the great, new Union Station. 
 
 **Is it too late for girls to be up in Washing- 
 ton?'' the boy inquired. 
 
 The conductor laughed. 
 
 **I guess not, sonny,'' he replied. ^* There's 
 no * curfew' law in this city, so I reckon you will 
 find the children out in full force on their roller 
 skates." 
 
 **0h, I did not mean that. I thought if it 
 was not too late my cousin Polly might be here 
 to meet me — and she is I " cried the boy, for at 
 that moment he caught a glimpse of a dimpled 
 little face peeping at him through the bars that 
 divide the tracks from the rest of the station. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 GILBERT BEGINS SIGHT-SEEING 
 
 **I knew you the moment I spied you,'' cried 
 Polly, dancing about her cousin as soon as he 
 had wedged his way through one of the big iron 
 gates. ''Walter did not " 
 
 *'0f course not. How could I when I have 
 never seen him before?" spoke up a big boy, 
 grasping Gilbert by the hand. ''You look tired 
 to death, coz. Give me your check, and you and 
 sis wait here until I have seen about your 
 trunk. ' ' 
 
 As soon as Walter was out of sight Polly 
 caught her cousin by the arm. 
 
 "Look at that poor colored girl over there," 
 she whispered. "She has been hunting for her 
 umbrella for the past half hour. Said she just 
 laid it down for about a minute, and when she 
 turned to get it it was gone. Isn't it too bad?" 
 
 Gilbert gazed at the sorrowful-looking ne- 
 gress Polly pointed out. Her round, black 
 face shone in contrast to her white hat, with its 
 wreath of pink roses and enormous yellow bow. 
 She wore a red and white striped lawn dress, 
 
 19 
 
20 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 and a black ribbon, tied in a knot with stream- 
 ers, dangled from one sleeve. 
 
 *' That black bow means she is in mourning 
 for somebody," explained Polly. 
 
 **Poor creature!*' 
 
 The boy stooped and unfastened bis own 
 handsome umbrella from his suit case, then 
 hurried over with it to where the girl stood. 
 
 ''Take this,'' he said. ''I can buy another 
 to-morrow." 
 
 ''Tank yo', tank yo', honey," stuttered the 
 astonishf^d darkey. "I gwina hab some buddy 
 'rested ef T cotch de posson what stole dat bran 
 neew 'brella ob mine. Deed I is. You don' 
 happen t' hab a spare bite o' lunch do you, 
 darlin'? 'Cause I specks t' be pow'ful hongry 
 'fore I gets 'way f 'um dis place, deed I does," 
 — here the negress rolled her eyes and looked 
 scared — *'and I'll tell you de reason why. I 
 done miss ma train lookin' fur dat 'brella, an' 
 dere ain gwina be no odder agoin' ma way 'fore 
 three 'clock in de mawnin'." 
 
 At this junction Walter reappeared and, 
 much to Gilbert's chagrin, insisted that the um- 
 brella be returned to its former owner. The 
 girl seemed disappointed, but smiled gratefully 
 when the big boy handed her a quarter with 
 which to buy supper, and the little fellow 
 slipped a box of chocolate creams in her hand. 
 
 "You must not allow your sympathy to get 
 the better of your judgment," said Walter, as 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 21 
 
 the two made their way back to Polly. **You 
 will not need your umbrella to-night, but may 
 to-morrow. We can never tell anything about 
 Washington weather — it is sunshine one hour 
 and maybe rain the next. Wonder what ails 
 sisT' he broke off, for Polly stood just ahead 
 of them, gazing about her in apparent bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 *'I was only thinking,'' explained the little 
 girl a few moments later, *4iow easy it would 
 be to get lost here. Isn't it immense, Gil!" 
 
 Gilbert nodded. 
 
 *'It is the biggest place I have ever been in/' 
 he admitted. 
 
 *'This and the immense affair just completed 
 in New York City are considered two of the 
 largest and handsomest railroad stations in 
 the world," Walter informed the children. 
 **Have either of you any idea how many people 
 this concourse will accommodate?" he asked. 
 
 Polly and Gilbert looked at the vast sijace 
 all around them. 
 
 ** About five hundred, I should say," said the 
 girl. 
 
 **More like five thousand!" Gilbert cor- 
 rected. 
 
 WaHer laughed. 
 
 ** Forty-five thousand," he said. ''More 
 than the entire United States Army. We will 
 come down some day when you are not so tired, 
 Gil, and look over the building. The beautiful 
 
22 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 white granite of wliicli it is built came all the 
 way from Bethel, Vermont.'' 
 
 As the trio left the station Gilbert noticed 
 two great white buildmgs towering up in front 
 of him. 
 
 **What are theyT' he inquired. 
 
 **The first is the Senate Committee rooms; 
 the other is the Capitol,'' Polly answered. 
 ** Walter is a page in the House of Eepresen- 
 tatives when Congress is in session. He is paid 
 seventy-five dollars a month," she said, look- 
 ing with pride at her big brother. 
 
 '*I intend to make more than that," declared 
 Walter, **when I am old enough to take the 
 regular civil service examination." 
 
 **What do you mean by that?" asked Gil- 
 bert. 
 
 **An examination which all Government em- 
 ployes must pass in order to hold a permanent 
 clerkship." 
 
 *'I was hoping you could show me around 
 town some before school commences." 
 
 **0h, I can. CongresG does not convene un- 
 til the first Monday in December, and you see 
 that leaves us lots of time." 
 
 The three took a car, which soon landed them 
 home where grandma, Aunt Alice, and chubby 
 little five-year-old cousin Ned greeted them at 
 the door. 
 
 Oh, how glad they all were to see the visitor, 
 and what a fuss they did make over the Weary 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 23 
 
 little traveler ; but best of all, how tight grand- 
 ma held him, and how tenderly she kissed the 
 trembling lips as the boy clnng to her neck, 
 sobbms: at last for mother and dad. 
 
 *' There now, love,'' soothed the dear old lady 
 a few minutes later, ** drink this glass of milk 
 Aunt Alice has for you, and run off to bed, for 
 'granda' knows her boy is worn out from his 
 lonsr day's trip." 
 
 When Gilbert awoke next morning the sun 
 was shining brightly, and someone moving 
 softly about the room. At first the boy forgot 
 he was not in his own little bed back in New 
 York; then the voice of grandma aroused him, 
 and he remembered all that had happened the 
 day before. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. 
 
 *'Mercy, granda!" he gasped, **why didn't 
 you call me? It must be near noon." 
 
 '*No, no," rer)lied tho old lady. ^*It is but 
 a few minutes after eight. Aunt Alice has nnst 
 gone to office. You slip into your clothes while 
 I tell Peggie to cook your waffles." 
 
 Gilbert jumped out of bed, and was soon at 
 the table, enjoying his breakfast as only a 
 hunsfry boy can, for he had eaten but scantily 
 on his journey of the previous day. 
 
 The children did no sight-seeing that day, as 
 it was decided wiser to allow the little visitor 
 time to rest and get over the fatigue of his 
 journey, but the next morning, bright and 
 early, they made ready to start out. Ned 
 
24 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 wanted to go, too, and set up a wail when 
 lie found lie could not, but grandma soon 
 pacified him by a promise of some Banbury 
 tarts. 
 
 ** Where are we going first T' inquired Gil- 
 bert. 
 
 **To the Capitol, I suppose, but I would 
 rather go out to the Zoo and see the great dia- 
 mond rattler that bit its keeper,'' was Polly's 
 reply. 
 
 **I should think you would be afraid," said 
 Gilbert. 
 
 "The very idea of Polly Pae being afraid of 
 anything," chuckled Walter. "No, not even 
 of a diamond rattlesnake, the most poisonous 
 serpent of North iVmerica." 
 
 "Well, I should rather see the men who re- 
 lieved poor Mr. Pose of his agony — Dr. Carr, 
 and Raymond L. Ditmars, the curator of rep- 
 tiles in the New York Zoo," put in grandma. 
 "He it was who sent the anti-venomous serum, 
 which could be found nowhere else, just in time 
 to save the sufferer. Listen!" The old lady 
 held up her fino^er, and counted as the clock 
 struck nine, "You little folks had better be 
 off," she said. 
 
 When the children reached First and East 
 Capitol streets Gilbert, taught as he was by a 
 learned and patriotic tutor to appreciate the 
 beauty and wonders of his own country, gazed 
 spell-bound at the grandeur about him. To the 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 25 
 
 left, dazzling white, its finial — wliich represents 
 the torch of science ever burning — solid gold 
 glistening in the morning sunlight was the 
 Congressional Library, while in front, sur- 
 rounded by magnificent grounds extending two 
 blocks on either side, stood the Capitol, snowy 
 white, and majestic in its proportions and 
 beauty of design. 
 
 ** Isn't it grand!" exclaimed, Gilbert, scarce- 
 ly above a whisper. ''Is this the front T^ 
 
 *'It was intended to be,'' explained Walter, 
 ^'because when President Washington laid the 
 corner-stone of the main building, September 
 18, 1793, it was thought that the city would 
 grow east; but land was sold so much cheaper 
 in the other direction that our town built that 
 way. The building now has two fronts, one 
 east and the other west. Some people think 
 the opposite approach the handsomer, but I 
 don't, for when you have climbed to the upper 
 court, — it has two, — it is almost like playing 
 blind man's buff to find the door. And when 
 you suddenly do come upon it, it is such a poor 
 affair that you are afraid you have made a mis- 
 take. It is nothing like this." 
 
 While the boy was talking the trio climbed 
 the broad stone steps, and at his last remark 
 they stood before Boger's famous bronze door 
 of the rotunda, which is beautifully ornamented 
 with raised carvings illustrating the nine most 
 important events in the history of Columbus. 
 
26 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 *'I know about that,'^ cried Gilbert, pointing 
 to one of the pictures. ''It's Columbus before 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, and there he is start- 
 ing on his first voyage. But what is the next 
 oner' 
 
 ''Let me see,'' Walter said. "I think I can 
 tell you. We pages have studied them all out." 
 
 To the best of his ability the boy explained 
 the wonderful lesson taught in bronze of the 
 fifteenth century. Next they went inside the 
 great rotunda and examined the eight historic 
 paintings which adorn its walls. Polly liked 
 best the bar>tism of the Indian maiden, Poca- 
 hontas, but Walter and Gilbert linsrered over the 
 si owning of the Declaration of Independence. 
 The painting is the work of John Trumbull of 
 Connecticut, an aid-de-camr) of General Wa-^h- 
 insrton, in the g-reat Eevolutionary War. The 
 scene is the hall of the Continental Congress. 
 The President of the Congress. John Hancock, 
 sits at a table, and his committee, Thomas Jef- 
 ferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, 
 Ro<?'er Shf^rman. and Eobert L. Livingston, 
 stand in front of him. 
 
 "Isn't it all splendid? It would most turn 
 a fellow's head to try ^o see evervthin<? in this 
 place in one trip. I am coming often," Gilbert 
 declared. 
 
 Just then the droning voice of a guide, who 
 with his party of tourists had paused in the 
 center of the room, reached his ear. 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 27 
 
 "By looking up you will see, at a height of 
 one hundred and eighty feet above the floor, 
 what is known as tiie 'rotunda canopy.' It 
 overhangs the dome, is sixty-five feet in 
 diameter, and allows a space of four thousand 
 six hundred and forty square feet for the alle- 
 gorical fresco by hrumidi. This superb piece 
 of workmanship may be viewed to better ad- 
 vantage from the gallery just beneath it, which 
 is reached by the dome stairway . The alle- 
 gory is of the Apotheosis of Washington. He 
 is seated in the center, with supernal beings at- 
 tending him. Freedom sits on his right, Vic- 
 tory on his left, and with their banner in- 
 scribed 'E Pluribus fJmim' about him float 
 aerial figures representing The Thirteen Origi- 
 nal States. An allegory of the Revolution en- 
 circles the base of the canopy. Directly be- 
 low Washington is represented: The Fall of 
 Tyranny ; to the right come in succession, Agri- 
 culture, Mechanics, Commerce, Marine, and 
 Arts and Science.'' 
 
 **I heard mamma say that the artist fell just 
 before he put the finishing touches to his 
 work," whispered Polly in her cousin's ear, 
 '*and no one has ever been found since who 
 could fill his place." 
 
 The children followed the guide out upon the 
 rotunda portico. 
 
 **This," he explained, ''is where a most im- 
 pressive ceremony takes place. It is the scene 
 
28 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 of the Presidential inaugurations. The newly 
 made President and the outgoing President 
 ride side by side from the Executive Mansion 
 to the Capitol The oath of office is taken by 
 the Vice President in the Senate Chamber when 
 he and those wiio participate in the ceremony 
 turn to this portico and to the grand stand 
 which has been erected for the occasion. There 
 are gathered the Chief Justice and his asso- 
 ciates, solemn and dignified in their robes of 
 office, members of the diplomatic corps, officers 
 of the army and navy, congressmen, and many 
 other dignitaries of the land; while below in 
 the grounds the spectators gather by the thous- 
 ands from all over the United States to hear 
 the new President's address and the Chief 
 Justice administer the oath of office: 'I do 
 solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute 
 the office of President of the United States, and 
 will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, 
 and defend the Constitution of the United 
 States.' The President is then driven in an 
 open carriage back up Pennsylvania Avenue 
 amid the shouts of the peo])le, who throng the 
 street all the way to the AYhite House, where 
 he reviews the vast procession of troops and 
 organizations that assemble from all over the 
 country.'' 
 
 Next the party passed into Statuary Hall. 
 
 *^Note the domed ceiling," sang out the 
 guide. **It is decorated after the manner of 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 29 
 
 the Eoman Pantheon, is lighted by a cupola, 
 and is considered one of the handsomest rooms 
 in the Capitol. The clock above the door lead- 
 ing- from the rotnnda is Franzoni^s historical 
 clock; it is known as ^History in the Car of 
 Time.' '' 
 
 Gilbert suddenly spied the statue of Frances 
 Elizabeth Willard. Remembering his mother's 
 request that he be sure to look for it, he stepped 
 closer, in order to read its inscription. 
 
 **Tliat," said the guide, *'is the founder of 
 the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and 
 is the first and only statue to a woman to be 
 given a place in Statuary Hall. The statues 
 and busts you see about the room have been 
 contributed by various States, each State being 
 allowed the privile2:e of placing two here." 
 
 *^My!" ejaculated the little boy to his cousin, 
 **I wish I could write as fast as that man talks." 
 
 *^You would have to be an expert to do that," 
 replied Walter. ^^Come on, let's strike out by 
 ourselves. We can't understand half he says, 
 anyway; besides, he will be taking up his collec- 
 tion presently, and I have only a quarter. All 
 the pay these Capitol guides get is just what 
 the sight-seers choose to give them. In the 
 Treasury Department they receive a regular 
 salary, and are not allowed to take tips." 
 
 The children continued along the main hall 
 until they suddenly came upon a swinging door 
 directly in front of them. 
 
30 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 ''This," said Walter, with pride, *'is the 
 House of Representatives, and where your 
 humble servant'' — bowing and touching himself 
 — *' holds fortli during the sessions of Congress, 
 which is from the fir^t Monday in December 
 until noon of the fourth day of March for the 
 short session; sometimes the work is not fin- 
 ished up by twelve o'clock, and as the law com- 
 pels adjournment at that hour somebody has to 
 turn the hands of the clock back. It is different 
 with the long session. We never know when 
 we are going to get away then ; sometimes it is 
 not until May, or even longer." 
 
 Gilbert, followed by the others, stepped into 
 the great room and looked around. There were 
 rows and rows of dark desks and chairs stretch- 
 ing around the room, forming a semicircle 
 about another desk of beautiful white marble, 
 which stood upon a platform in the center of 
 the south side. 
 
 *^It looks some like a church, doesn't it?" 
 said Polly. 
 
 Walter caught himself in the midst of a 
 laugh. 
 
 '^My!" he exclaimed, *'I wish it wasn't so 
 empty. Makes me feel rather chilly after see- 
 ing so much business and life in here. Do you 
 notice how the place is lighted?" 
 
 Gilbert looked around. There seemed to be 
 plenty of doors opening out into corridors, but 
 no windows. 
 
SIGHT-SEEING BEGINS 31 
 
 **The light comes from above," explained his 
 cousin. *'The ceiling is made of glass panels 
 set in a framework of iron, and the paintings 
 you see are the arms of the different States. 
 The galleries are reached from the floor above, 
 and are intended for visitors; no one, except 
 on business, is ever allowed on the House floor 
 during the session of Congress." 
 
 Before leaving the room the children exam- 
 ined its handsome paintings. 
 
 *^That one," said Walter, pausing before a 
 fresco by Brumidi, *' Washington Declining 
 Overtures From Cornwallis," '4s where the 
 British wanted to quit fighting for a couple of 
 days, but our general said 'nix.' Those life- 
 sized portraits of Washington and Lafayette 
 on either side of the Speaker's desk were given 
 to us by Lafayette daring his last visit to the 
 United States." 
 
 *'I think he was a very great man," declared 
 Gilbert, as he gazed at the handsome French- 
 man's classic features and erect figure. ''I 
 learned about him last year at school. Wasn't 
 it splendid of him not only to come over to 
 our country and fight for us all during the 
 Eevolution, but to spend so much of his fortune 
 as well?" 
 
 **Yes," assented Walter, *'and I believe we 
 Americans all appreciate what he did for us. 
 One of Washington's handsomest squares, just 
 opposite the Executive Mansion, is named for 
 
32 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 him; and there is a statue of him, and the four 
 other Frenchmen, Ecchambeau, Duportail, 
 D'Estaing, and De Grasse, who helped us so 
 much in our fight for freedom, at the southeast 
 entrance of the park. 
 
 ^'Corne on, now, I will show you the Senate 
 Chamber. It is very much like the House of 
 Eepresentatives, only smaller.'' 
 
 *^0h, Walter," cried Polly, *^tell Gil about 
 the tobacco scare." 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A CLIMB TO THE DOME OF THE UNITED STATES 
 CAPITOL 
 
 Walter's face flushed. He looked warningly 
 at his sister, and was tnankf iil to notice that she 
 had become suddenly interested in something 
 she had found in one of the desks. 
 
 '^ What does this mean?'' she asked, holding 
 out a dainty visiting card to her brother. 
 
 Walter took it and read, "Miss Elsie Brod, 
 Elkins, West Virginia. Young and beautiful. 
 Finder please write." 
 
 "It means," said the boy, "that some girl, or 
 rather young lady visitor, has left her card, and 
 invites the first man who finds it to reply to 
 the address given." 
 
 ' ' The fresh thing ! ' ' sniffed Polly. 
 
 "Oh, I don't know," Walter laughed. "I 
 once heard a Congressman tell how his cousin 
 got his wife that way. A lady addressed an 
 envelope and, after placing a lock of hair in it, 
 left it in one of these desks. The gentleman 
 who found it fell so in love with the golden ring- 
 let that he wrote to the lady and finally married 
 
 33 
 
34 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 her; but, strange to say, when he met her for 
 the hryt time lie I'aiiea to notice tnat ner liair 
 was aimosc oiacK, msLead oi goiden/' 
 
 *'What turned it darkT' asked Gilbert. 
 
 *'It had always beea so. The biond loek had 
 been cut from her niece's doll. Now i will show 
 you what the Capitol's north wing contains," 
 Waiter ended witii a llourish, glad in his heart 
 that the other subject had been forgotten. 
 
 *'But," cried iroUy, ''you have not told Gil 
 about the tobacco yet." 
 
 Her brother flopped into a chair. 
 
 *'8o I haven't," he admitted, "and as you 
 seem determined that i shall, here goes for bet- 
 ter or worse. It may save my cousin a like 
 experience some day. Who knows! Come, sit 
 close to me. I must tell my tale in whispers, 
 so that no one else in the room will hear. It is 
 terrible, terrible, terrible!" 
 
 The speaker shook his head solemnly. 
 
 Polly looked important. 
 
 ' ' I went for the doctor, ' ' she announced. 
 
 **One afternoon,'* began Walter, "just after 
 Congress had convened, tnere didn't seem to be 
 much call for us pages, so a few of us slipped 
 off to the lunch-room. T had not been here 
 more than two weeks, and was very anxious not 
 to appear green before the other boys. We 
 each bought a sandwich and a glass of ginger 
 ale. It tasted so good we wanted more, but one 
 of the fellows said we 'd better hurry back to the 
 
THE CAPITOL'S DOME 35 
 
 floor before we were >!iissed. Just outside, in 
 the Honse corridor, this same boy — I have for- 
 gotten his name; he hiisn't been here since that 
 session, and that was three years ago — pulled 
 a plug of tobacco out of his pocket, and to my 
 horror began cutting it up in little chunks and 
 passinoj it to the rest of us. When my piece 
 came to me T didn't have the courage to say I 
 had never chewed any of the stuff in my life, so 
 I did just what the others had done — put it in my 
 month. Tt tasted vile, and stung my tongue so 
 I could hardly close my lips. I was just wonder- 
 ing how I could spit it out without the fellows 
 seeing me do it, when suddenly someone slapped 
 me on the shoulder and there 1 stood face to 
 face with th^ Congressman who had had me ap- 
 pointed. ^ITere, Walter,' he exclaimed, *you 
 are just the boy for whom I am looking. Can 
 
 you take a long message over to Senator C , 
 
 or had T best write itf 
 
 **I felt my face turning red clear up to the 
 roots of my hair. What was T going to do? His 
 question called for an answer. I couldn't say a 
 word with the tobacco in my mouth, and was 
 certainly not going to spit it out before him. 
 There was only one thing left, I must swallow 
 it, — which I did with a great gulp, and imme- 
 diately began to turn deathly sick. I delivered 
 the message to the Senator, but before I re- 
 turned with his reply I had vomited 1 don't 
 know how many times, and was so ill I could 
 
36 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 scarcely stand up straight. I got excused and 
 went home, and of course grandma was so 
 frightened that she sent right off for the doctor. 
 And, what do yon reckon he didf 
 
 Walter looked quizzically at bis consin. 
 
 **Gave yon some nasty medicine/* was the 
 prompt reply. 
 
 **Yes, but first he took off his glasses and 
 rnbbed them with his handkerchief, then he 
 looked at me lying as limp as a rag across the 
 bed and laughed. *You are too young to chew 
 tobacco, boy,* he s^id. Grandma was shocked, 
 but the doctor told her he guessed my first les- 
 son would be enou.2:h to keep me from trying it 
 again. He thought T had only swallowed a little 
 of the juice, but when I told him it was the 
 whole quid his face straightened out and he 
 began dosing me up. [t was several days before 
 I was myself again, and I have never touched 
 tobacco in any form since, and don't intend to 
 until I am twenty-one years old.'* 
 
 With the last resolution Walter arose from 
 the Speaker's platform, where the three had 
 seated themselves, and led his companions from 
 the room. 
 
 **Now for the Supreme Court," he said. 
 
 After as^ain recrossing the rotunda the chil- 
 dren passed up the broad north corridor until 
 Walter stopped and pushed open a door on the 
 east side of the hall. 
 
 **The highest court in the United States/* he 
 
THE CAPITOL'S DOME 37 
 
 announced. '*It does not look very large in 
 comparison with the room we have just left, but, 
 you see, there are only nine judges — the Chief 
 Justice and his eight associates. They sit up 
 on the platform behind the railing, the next 
 space being reserved for Council, and these 
 chairs just inside the door are to accommodate 
 the public. The busts you see about the room 
 are of the former Chiei Justices.'' 
 
 The Senate Chamber, in the north wing, was 
 found, just as Walter had stated, very much 
 like the House of Representatives, only smaller. 
 Walter pointed out the seat of the President of 
 the Senate, who is al.50 the Vice President of 
 the United States. 
 
 ^'The first reception room," explained the 
 boy, *4s for the public. From there you send in 
 your card. If your Senator is in, but doesn't 
 care to see you" — Waiter winked — "he simply 
 says to the bearer, ^Out,' and the messenger 
 returns to tell you that the Senator is not in. 
 On the other hand, if you are received, most 
 likely you will be invited back into this, the 
 Marble Room." 
 
 Gilbert walked slowly about the second room, 
 with its columns and paneled walls of marble. 
 
 "Doesn't it look strong and shiny?" he said. 
 "And the ceiling is of marble, too. I don't won- 
 der there are no flies jn here." 
 
 "Wliy?" asked Polly. 
 
 "Because there is nothing to stick to." 
 
38 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 Walter laughed. 
 
 **Let us hear what you have to say of this 
 room,'' he said, ushering them into the Presi- 
 dent's private reception-room. **This is where 
 the President comes to sign the last bills before 
 Congress adjourns. The wall, you see, is deco- 
 rated with portraits of Washington and his first 
 cabinet — Jeli'erson, Hamilton, Knox, Kandolph, 
 and Osgood.'' Walter ran the names olt glibly. 
 **And over there is Jolumbus with emblems of 
 Discovery; Amerigo Vespucci (Exploration), 
 William Brewster (Religion), and Benjamin 
 Franklin (History)." 
 
 * ' Oh, do come on. I am getting so tired of all 
 this history," fretted Polly. '* Aren't you go- 
 ing up in the dome to-day!" 
 
 *'We certainly are," assured her brother; 
 *^that is, if Gil is equal to the mighty climb." 
 
 ^'Of course I am," declared the little fellow, 
 "but isn't it 'most time we were starting home? 
 We promised granda to be back in time for 
 noon lunch, you know." 
 
 *^So we did." Walter pulled out his watch. 
 **Who would have thought it!" he exclaimed. 
 "It is five minutes after eleven now." 
 
 The children hurriedly retraced their steps, 
 dodging in and out of the many groups of sight- 
 seers blocking their way, until they reached a 
 quiet-looking door just north of the rotunda. 
 Here they turned off i.nd began to climb what 
 to Gilbert now appeared a very poor and nar- 
 
THE CAPITOL'S DOME 39 
 
 row stone stairway, Willi an iron railing. There 
 were small windows all along the way that gave 
 air and light, and the long winding stretch of 
 steps was broken every now and then by a short 
 platform, or landing, which allowed one to stop 
 for a moment's rest before starting upward 
 again. Finally, after much laughing and puf- 
 fing and blowing, our little party reached the 
 Wliis-nering Gallery, jast beneath the canopy. 
 
 *^What is thatf asked Gilbert, pointing to a 
 counter which stood to the right of the head 
 of the stairs. 
 
 ^^That is a souvenir stand." 
 
 **Is it? I think I shall buy something to take 
 home to mother. '* 
 
 The boy surveyed the small assortment of 
 silverware, miniature figures of Government 
 buildings, and post cards. Finally he decided 
 upon a silver spoon, with a picture of ''Uncle 
 Sam'* in the bowl and one of the Capitol carved 
 on the handle. 
 
 '*T'll take that," he said, but when the man 
 held out his hand for the price — one dollar and 
 a half — the boy was obli2:ed to admit he had not 
 that TTonrh monev with him. 
 
 ''That's all riQ:ht," spoke ur> Polly, ''pay in 
 thirty davs is considered cash here in Wash- 
 in o:t on. We can bring the money up to-mor- 
 row." 
 
 The salesman smiled. 
 
 "I will lay it aside for you, young man," he 
 
40 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 said, *'and if you live near yon might bring the 
 price this afternoon/' 
 
 ^^What, climb these steps twice in one dayT' 
 cried Walter. ''Not for all the spoons on your 
 table, my friend. Here, Gil, buy this illuminated 
 picture of the Capitol. It lights up beautifully, 
 and only costs fifty cents." 
 
 After the purchase the children turned their 
 attention to the rotunda canopy, which now 
 looked imm^ense to them. Suddenly Gilbert felt 
 his cousin tugging at his coat. 
 
 ''Don't say a word, but just look at Polly," 
 he whispered. 
 
 The little girl was leaning as far over the 
 railing as she dared, gazing at the rotunda 
 floor, nearly one hundred and eighty feet be- 
 neath her. 
 
 "Slip around to the other side of the railing," 
 directed Walter, in a low tone, "and when I 
 raise my hand whisper 'Polly,' real sharp, and 
 see what happens." 
 
 Gilbert did as instructed, and was amazed to 
 see his cousin jump back into the arms of her 
 brother, who had grasped firmly her dress skirt. 
 
 "Aren't you ashamed of yourself?" asked 
 Walter. "Suppose the guard had noticed what 
 you were doing." 
 
 Polly's face flushed. 
 
 "I wasn't spitting at anybody's head," she 
 faltered. "I only wanted to see if I could hear 
 it smack when it strucK the floor." 
 
THE CAPITOL'S DOME 41 
 
 The child was so crestfallen that both boys 
 laughed heartily. 
 
 ** Never mind, sis," said Walter, patting her 
 cheek, *Hhat wasn't half so bad as the time you 
 threw the rotten apple over. Now let's take Gil 
 up a little higher, so he can get a view of the 
 city from the balustrade just below the lan- 
 tern." 
 
 A few minutes later the children, nearly three 
 hundred feet above the earth, stood gazing 
 at the city below them. 
 
 **This," said sixteen-year-old Walter, look- 
 ins^ east, '4s the section of the city known as 
 * Capitol Hill.' Can you tell me what building 
 that is, Gilbert?" 
 
 He pointed directly In front. 
 
 ''Yes," was the prompt reply. "It is the 
 Library of Congress, but what are those on 
 either side of the Capitol?" 
 
 '*The one on the ri^ht is an office building for 
 the use of the House of Representatives; that 
 one on the left helonQ:s, for the same purpose, to 
 the Senate. Both buildings are of white marble, 
 and look exactly alike from the outside, but the 
 House building has four hundred and ten rooms, 
 while that of the Senate has but ninetj^-nine. 
 The buildinsfs are connected with the Capitol by 
 underground passages, or subways, and when 
 completed will have cost the Government five 
 million dollars. South you see the Potomac 
 Elver, which supplies the city with water. Now 
 
42 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 look away over northwest. Do you see a tiny 
 white speck? Well, that is Arlington, the Na- 
 tional Cemetery. It once belonged to the chil- 
 dren of General Robert E. Lee, the Commander- 
 in-Chief of the Confederate Army. Wlien their 
 father, with his family, went to Richmond to 
 live, where he was soon after given charge of 
 the Virginia troops, the Union took possession 
 of the old home and, at first, made it the head- 
 quarters of the army. It must have made the 
 Lees feel awfully bad. but I guess it lightened 
 the sting somewhat to have the first man buried 
 there a Confederate soldier; he was a prisoner 
 and died in our hospital. I was reading about 
 it in one of the newspapers the other evening. 
 The article stated that to-day there are over 
 twenty thousand buried in the cemetery. Of 
 course they are not all our men, for a portion 
 of the grounds is reserved for the Confederate 
 dead.*' 
 
 **Hum!'' commented Polly, *^I should think 
 that was quite a number to bury in one day." 
 
 **I didn't mean they were all put away in one 
 day," lausfhed Walter. *'I should have said, 
 during and since the Civil War. There goes 
 the twelve o'clock whistle. We must start for 
 home right away." 
 
r 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A TRIP TO MOUNT VERNON 
 
 Upon reaching home the children were de- 
 lighted to find a telephone message from Mrs. 
 Rae awaiting them. Sne wanted no plans made 
 for the morrow, as she had gotten excused for 
 the day and intended taking the entire party to 
 visit the home of Washington. 
 
 "Fine!'^ exclaimed Walter, tossing Ned. 
 * * I suppose I must order a chicken to put in the 
 lunch baskef 
 
 ** Maybe,'' replied grandma, **but we had bet- 
 ter wait and see what mother's arrangements 
 are first." 
 
 This was very wisely said, for when Mrs. Rae 
 got home that evening they found that she had 
 planned to stop over in Alexandria on their way 
 home from Mount Vernon, and after taking 
 dinner in a cafe spend the rest of the afternoon 
 seeing the sights of tli^ famous old town. 
 
 The next morning they took the ten o'clock 
 boat, Charles McCalasier, and started on their 
 trip down the historic I'otomac. The first thing 
 of interest they passed was the United States 
 Arsenal. Gilbert noticed its long stretch of 
 
 43 
 
44 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 handsome buildings, officers' quarters, along 
 the river front; next came the War College, 
 with its statue of Frederick the Great guarding 
 the entrance. Then the boat stopped to take 
 on freight at the Alexandria wharf. 
 
 **Is it possible that ^his sleepy old place can 
 be forty-two years older than Washington T' 
 Gilbert inquired in dismay. 
 
 *^ Yes, and at one tine considered itself thrif- 
 tier than our beautiful city,'' sneered Walter. 
 
 *^It was, son," replied his mother. ^'In the 
 year 1846 it was allowed by Congress to with- 
 draw from the Federal jurisdiction and once 
 more attach itself to Virginia because it, Alex- 
 andria, the thriving city, was unwilling to furth- 
 er assist the debt-ridden Washington." 
 
 *^Hum!" grunted Gi'bert. *'I bet she would 
 be glad enough to open up the old compact." 
 
 *^You are right, cousin, but maybe we are 
 something like the bull pup — better oif, when 
 the wound has healed, to have our tail end sev- 
 ered," answered the other boy. ^^But come 
 on, let us get seats over on the Maryland side. 
 I want to show you how the British sneaked up 
 on Fort Washington in 1814. Here we are! 
 See the gray walls of the fort and the American 
 flag?" 
 
 *^Yes, and doesn't our flag wave out beauti- 
 fully? I wonder how it happens that our coun- 
 try's flag is handsomer than that of any other 
 nation?" 
 
MOUNT VERNON 45 
 
 ''You remind me of the German mother 
 father used to tell about,'' said Walter. *'He 
 met her on one of his voyages to Germany. You 
 know, he was sent there twice in Government 
 service. It seems that the old lady and her hus- 
 band — Ens^el was their name — had left the 
 Fatherland years before to make a fortune in 
 fairyland America. Well, with fortune made 
 and partner laid away in the cemetery, the wife 
 suddenly determined tnat her daughter should 
 see and know her relatives across the ocean. 
 After landing, father lost track of them, but 
 one day ran across the two in Berlin, and that 
 afternoon took them oat driving. The old lady 
 had become such a thorough American that she 
 both interested and amused him. When the car- 
 riage suddenly swung around a corner and 
 stopped before the American Legation she 
 grasped the girl by the shoulder and shouted, 
 frantic with joy: * Daughter, daughter! Look, 
 look! don't you see your countr^^'s flag! Wave 
 to it, chiM! It's de grandest ting I've seen 
 since we've been here.' Hey!" the boy inter- 
 rupted himself, ^^I got so interested in my yarn 
 that I forgot what I wanted to show you, but 
 it was around a bend in the river just the other 
 side of the fort that tbe ^redcoats' sneaked up 
 and surprised our men." 
 
 '*I bet no outsider would catch the American 
 forces napping to-day," ventured Gilbert. 
 
 **I should say not. Why, boy, this old Po- 
 
46 POLLY AND GILBEKT 
 
 tomac River is mined for I don't know how far 
 down. AVe could blow anybody who bothered us 
 on it into smithereens in a jiffy. There goes 
 the bell. It always sounds when a boat passes 
 Mount Vernon, and if there is a band on board 
 a patriotic air is played. Listen! Hear itT' 
 And Gilbert almost held his breath, while the 
 brass band struck up ^^My County, 'Tis of 
 Thee." swelling in volume as it progressed. 
 
 ** Mamma says for vou boys to come over with 
 the rest of us, row. We are going to land, and 
 she wants us all together." 
 
 Polly's voice came weakly through the great 
 blare of music. 
 
 Althouo-h the big excursion boat was crowded, 
 scarcely fifty neople left it with our friends at 
 the little landing at the foot of the hill. The 
 others were all sfoins: to Marshall Hall, a sum- 
 mer resort farther down the river. 
 
 There are two ways up to the Washington 
 Mansion, one by way cf a long, though easily 
 climbed, flight of stairs, the other a winding 
 road. 
 
 **We will take the steps," said grandma, be- 
 ginning briskly to climb. * * It is much the nearer 
 way." 
 
 The first building they reached was the barn 
 and coach house. 
 
 **Here," s^id Aunt Alice, '*is where Wash- 
 ington's coach and saddle horses were stabled. 
 His famous traveling coach, * White Chariot,' 
 
MOUNT VERNON 47 
 
 was kept in the coach house there/* 
 
 ''Is that itf" asked Gilbert, peeping in the 
 door inaicated. 
 
 ''No, but it is said to be one of the many- 
 owned by Washington. You must know/' con- 
 tinned grandma, "that when the Mount Vernon 
 Ladies Association first purchased this prop- 
 erty from Mr. John A. Washington, Jr., they 
 found the Mansion and out- buildings unfur- 
 nished and greatly out of repair. As the years 
 have passed they liave gotten hold of first one 
 thing and tlien another, until now many pieces 
 of the original furniture and personal effects 
 of the Washingtons have been recovered.'' 
 
 "At one time milk was sold here in the little 
 white kitchen, but now there is nothing for sale 
 except souvenirs of the place, and they don't 
 do your stomach much good when you are hun- 
 gry," pouted Polly. "You are not allowed to 
 eat on the premises ; if you bring a picnic basket 
 along you are compelled to leave it outside the 
 grounds." 
 
 Gilbert purchased a cute little compass, which 
 was cut in a bean that had grown on a tree 
 planted by LaFayette during one of his visits 
 to Washington. 
 
 As grandma had often been through the his- 
 toric old home she offered to remain outside to 
 entert'^in Ned on the east portico, which 
 extends the full length of the building, while 
 the others saw the interesting things within. 
 
48 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 To Gilbert's surprise he found the house was 
 frame, 
 
 **It looks just like stone/' he declared. 
 
 **Its foundation walls are of stone and brick,'* 
 Aunt Alice told him, ''but all the rest is wood; 
 the sheathing is of North Carolina pine, finished 
 in such a manner as to resemble stone." 
 
 In the east end room, which was Washing- 
 ton's banquet hall, the first thing to catch the 
 boy's eye was a large equestrian portrait, 
 * * AVashington before Yorktown." He was 
 studying it when Walter called his attention 
 to the model of the Bastile. 
 
 *'It was sent over by our friend Lafayette, 
 and was made of stone taken from the famous 
 old French prison." 
 
 ** Isn't it a dreadful-looking place?" ex- 
 claimed Polly. ''Tell us more about it, brother." 
 
 "There isn't much more to tell, sis. I have 
 read that it held from seventy to eighty pris- 
 oners. That doesn't seem many, but when you 
 take into consideration that they were most al- 
 ways of high rank, it puts another light upon 
 it." 
 
 ''Mr. Tealman," said Gilbert, ''once told us 
 that often the prisoners were entirely forgotten 
 by the outside world, and that in many cases the 
 cause of their imprisonment was never known." 
 
 "Mercy!" Polly cried. "I am glad things 
 do not go on like that in our country." 
 
 "It is all over now, dear," assured Mrs. Eae. 
 
MOUNT VEENON 49 
 
 **Tlie old Bastile was destroyed by the people 
 in the year 1789, and Lafayette sent the key 
 here to Washington. France is now a republic, 
 you know/' 
 
 **I am glad I am an American, anyway, '' 
 argued the little girl. 
 
 *^Good for you, Pol ! No other land has such 
 a place as this to visit, nor a George Washing- 
 ton, either,*' Walter declared. 
 
 Among the many other relics that our friend 
 stopped to admire in the banquet hall were two 
 quaint silver bracket lamps, the fireplace with 
 its white marble mantel, a gift to our first 
 President from one of his English admirers, 
 Mr. Samuel Vaughan; and a number of inter- 
 esting articles in an old-fashioned cabinet. 
 There was also a silk banner bearing the British 
 coat-of-arms said to have been captured by 
 Washington. 
 
 In the library many of the shelves were found 
 nearly empty, as most of Washington's books 
 are now tbe property of the Boston Athenaeum. 
 
 It was at the door of the music-room of Nellie 
 Custis, Washington's adopted daughter, that 
 the little party lingered. 
 
 * ^ Isn 't the harpsichord quaint-looking ? ' ' asked 
 Polly, peering through the wire gate which 
 guards the room from relic hunters. 
 
 *'Yes. Just imagine Miss Custis in ner wide, 
 flowing skirts and with powdered hair sitting 
 in front of it," said Walter. 
 
60 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 **With General Washington standing by her 
 side, playing his flute/' added Gilbert, eyeing 
 the long instrument, which lay upon the harpsi- 
 chord. ^'My, it must have been line music!'' 
 
 **What makes you think so, dear?" asked 
 Mrs. Eae. 
 
 **I don't know, only I imagine everything 
 that Washington did was done well. I have the 
 history of his early life, and it says even from 
 a little boy he aimed to do the best he could 
 in all of his undertakings. That is why he 
 grew to be such a great man and was selected 
 for our first general, as well as President." 
 
 The next room was the west parlor, and held 
 many interesting things. 
 
 Its ceiling decorations, mantel, and wall pan- 
 els are all original, Gilbert was told. 
 
 * * Is that the Washington coat-of -arms carved 
 over the mantel?" the boy asked. 
 
 **Yes, and his crest and initials are cast in 
 the heavy iron fireback just beneath it," re- 
 plied Walter. 
 
 *^I think the rug is the handsomest article 
 this room contains," observed Mrs. Rae. ^^Look 
 at it, children. Louis XVI had it woven and 
 sent as a present to General Washington. See, 
 it has our country's emblem, — the spread eagle 
 holdins: the American shield, and our motto, 
 *E Pluribus Unum.' It is a wonderful piece of 
 work." 
 
MOUNT VERNON 51 
 
 **Wliat did you say the motto reads in Eng- 
 lish, mamma?" asked Polly. 
 
 ** *In one many/ or, if you prefer, ^Many in 
 one,' '' whispered her brother in her ear, **and 
 for goodness* sake, sis, do not display your 
 ignorance next time in so loud a tone.'' 
 
 **0h, Walter," admonished his mother, ^*she 
 is just a little girl, and there is lots and lots of 
 time for her to learn." 
 
 But Polly was chagrined, and sedately left 
 the others. She was tired, she said, and wanted 
 to play ball with grandma and Ned out on the 
 green. 
 
 There were but two rooms left on the first 
 floor to look through. They were the family 
 dining-room and Mrs. Washington's sitting- 
 room. In the first few pieces of the original 
 furnishings were found. The sideboard be- 
 longed to the Washingtons, as did also the cut- 
 glass decanter and cutlery cases. In the last 
 room Mrs. Rae pointed to a handsome mahog- 
 any secretary. 
 
 **That," she said, reading the card attached 
 to it, *'once stood in Washington's headquarters 
 at Cambridge." 
 
 *'And, see here, aunty, is a beeswax candle 
 that was moulded in 1776, to be used at York- 
 town. Think! It is over a hundred years old. 
 It seems almost impossible that a little thing 
 like that could be kept through all these years 
 
52 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 when the great people who once owned it have 
 been s;or\e so lons^, doesn't itT' 
 
 **Yes. dear, hut T have older relics than that. 
 In onr little miisenm at home are several bean- 
 tifnl stones taken from the walls of a temple in 
 the bnried city of Pompeii, the ancient city that 
 for more than one thousand six hundred years 
 lay hidden beneath the ashes and cinders of an 
 eruption from terrible old Mount Vesuvius, 
 waitino^ for a man, who was digging a well on 
 the fertile land which during the centuries had 
 formed above the ruins, to strike the tip of one 
 of the steeples, and thus start its unearthing.'' 
 
 '*May T see the stones when we get home?" 
 
 '*Yes. T will give you one for a ring setting, 
 because T believe you will ar)"nreciate the gift 
 enough to take care of it. Now before we go 
 upstairs I want you to notice the three swords 
 hanging here in the main hall. They are the 
 only ones, among those willed by Washington 
 to his five nephews, that are preserved here." 
 
 Just before they started on their tour of the 
 second floor Gilbert was glad to have Polly re- 
 join the party. 
 
 ^^I want to see what you think of the funny 
 things upstairs," she whispered to him. 
 
 In the upper hall they stopped to examine a 
 set of fire buckets made of leather. In the cabi- 
 net with them were a number of other relics. 
 
 *^ There is a powder horn that was used by 
 the * minute men' at Concord," exclaimed Gil- 
 
MOUNT VERNON 53 
 
 bert. ^^Jiist imagine our soldiers of to-day 
 dressed up in a thing like that." 
 
 *'It would be a joke, wouldn't it!" 
 
 AValter chuckled at the idea. 
 
 The children thought Nellie Custis' bed the 
 queerest they had ever seen. 
 
 **The idea of having to climb steps to get 
 into bed," remarked Polly. 
 
 "Miss Nellie must have gotten a terrible 
 bump if she ever rolled out," observed her 
 cousin. 
 
 Thus laughing and commenting, Mrs. Rae led 
 the happy trio for a peep through the wire gates 
 of the various other rooms, until they stood 
 before the open door of General Washington's 
 room. Here all mirth was laid aside, for the 
 bed, as the card fastened to it reads, is the 
 same in which our beloved first President passed 
 away. The four sturdy posts, with their spot- 
 lessly white curtains and the snowy coverlids 
 of the bed, make it both solemn and impressive. 
 Close at hand stands the General's old military 
 trunk and a few of his camp equipments. There 
 are also two chair cushions worked by his wife's 
 thrifty fingers. 
 
 **A1I that seems lacking is for the General 
 to step forward and shake hands," whispered 
 Walter. 
 
 ** Mercy!" almost shrieked Polly. "I'd go 
 out of that window head foremost if anything 
 
54 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 so ghostly should happen. But I don*t wonder 
 Mrs. Washington loved her husband so much." 
 
 *'Nor I/' replied the little girl's mother. 
 **Let us show Gilbert a mark of her devotion." 
 
 The boy was led to the little attic room, the 
 only one of any interest on the third floor, and 
 was asked if he could guess why the heart- 
 broken widow had chosen this apartment in 
 preference to any other after the death of her 
 husband. Of course he did not know. 
 
 ^^It was because," replied his aunt, **from 
 its only window she could see the tomb where 
 the body of her husband lay." 
 
 **And," spoke up Polly, pushing her brother 
 out of the way, ^ ' she shut herself up here away 
 from everybody except her pet cat. See," she 
 pointed to the open door, ^'here is the hole she 
 had cut so it could go in and out at will." 
 
 Gilbert looked doubtfully at his aunt. 
 
 **That is the story we are told," she affirmed. 
 
 Scarcely had the group joined grandma and 
 Neddie on the lawn below when a bell began 
 ringing. 
 
 ** There is the boat's first call — fifteen min- 
 utes before it leaves. I will see grandma and 
 Ned safely on deck, son, while you hurry with 
 the children to the tomb. Now, do not tarry 
 lono:." 
 
 Off went Walter on a trot, with Polly and 
 Gilbert close behind. A sudden turn brought 
 them in sight of the hallowed spot. 
 
MOUNT VERNON 55 
 
 ** Remember,'^ said Walter, *'tliis is not the 
 original, or old tomb. That is on the edge of the 
 hill down toward the wharf. General Wash- 
 ington, believing it to be insecure, selected this 
 site for a new tomb only a few months before 
 he died; but it was not until years later, after a 
 grave ro])ber had broken into the old one and 
 stolen a skull and number of bones which he 
 believed to be part of Washington's body, — 
 but fortunately were not, — that the new tomb 
 was built.'' 
 
 Gilbert stepped in front of the brick structure 
 and read the marble slab above its arched gate- 
 way: '^Within this inclosure rest the remains 
 of General George Washington." The boy 
 looked in through the double iron portals at the 
 two marble sarcophagi. The one on the right 
 bore simply the word, ^^ Washington.'' Gilbert 
 knew it belonged to the General, for across it 
 was draped the American flag, and chiseled in it 
 was the United States coat-of-arms. The other 
 was that of his wife, and was inscribed, 
 '* Martha, Contort of Washington. Died May 
 21, 1801, aged 71 years." 
 
 ** About fort}^ bodies of other members of 
 the Washington family are buried in that inner 
 chamber," Walter said, pointing to a door in 
 the rear of the large vault. *'When the old 
 tomb was abandoned this one was locked and 
 the key thrown into the Potomac. Now, there 
 goes the boat's whistle again," he exclaimed. 
 
66 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 ''I expect it is blowing for us. We had better 
 hustle/' 
 
 *^ Yo' hns zactly five minutes t' catch et," an- 
 nounced a venerable old darkey whose sole duty 
 apparently was to guard the sacred spot. 
 
 Upon reaching the steps Walter paused. 
 
 '^Mother may come to hurry us along,'' he 
 said, *^so you two better go one way and I the 
 other m order to head her off." 
 
 *^We will take the road," cried Polly, and 
 hastened off in that direction with her cousin. 
 
 *^My, it seems a long way!" presently panted 
 Gilbert. ^'Why, Pol!" he exclaimed, '*we are 
 not on the right road. Look! the. river is al- 
 most behind us." 
 
 The children gazed about them in alarm. At that 
 moment another *^toot! toot!" sounded some 
 distance off. The s^irl srrasped her cousin's arm. 
 
 *^Do you — do you think they have left us?" 
 she s:asped. 
 
 ^^I don't know." 
 
 '^Wliatever shall we do, Gil?" 
 
 ^* Don't know about that, either. Sleep out 
 here under the trees, maybe. But come on ; we 
 can't stop here. We had better go back the 
 way we came." 
 
 Presently Polly shivered. 
 
 ^*Do you believe in ghosts, Gil?" she inquired 
 as they sped along the circling path. 
 
 **No. Do you?" 
 
 The girl was silent. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A STOP IN ALEXANDRIA 
 
 **I wouldn't be a ^ scare cat,' Pol," sniffed 
 the boy. 
 
 *'I didn't think nntil now that I was," ad- 
 mitted the girl. **But, oh, Gil, I really and 
 truly believe it will frighten me to death if we 
 are obliged to stay out here all night." 
 
 Instantly the little fellow's arm was around 
 his cousin's waist. 
 
 '^ Never mind, deary," he soothed. ^^We will 
 keep on hunting until we find the Mansion." 
 
 ^^What?" shrieked the child. ^^ Sleep up 
 there in that dead place? Never in this world. 
 My hair would be white by morning. Just to 
 think, Gilbert, suppose they were to put me in 
 Martha Washington's bed. I could never climb 
 the steps intj Nellie Cus " 
 
 *^Hush!" warned her companion. *^ Some- 
 one is coming." He listened a moment, then: 
 ** Hello!" he shouted. 
 
 The next instant there appeared around the 
 curved path a familiar figure. 
 
 *'Tbe old man of the tomb!" exclaimed Polly. 
 
 The boy hastened toward him. 
 
 57 
 
58 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 ** Quick, uncle/' he cried. ^^ Direct us to the 
 boat, please. We have lost our way.'' 
 
 **Yo' don' say? An' yo' big brudder don' 
 run off an' lef yo', too?" queried the darkey. 
 
 **0h," wailed the girl, "do hurry and tell us 
 what w^e want to know. Maybe if the boat isn't 
 too far off the captain will see us waving and 
 turn back." 
 
 "Dat boat ain't lef yo', honey. It ain' gwina 
 lef yo,' either," the old man added, with a nod. 
 Turning about he headed the two in the opposite 
 direction, mumbling to himself as he led the 
 way. Suddenly he stopped and planted his cane 
 firmly in the gravel road. 
 
 ** 'Tain never lef nobudy when dey knows 
 dey ain' aboa'd. Yo' can take ma word fur it, 
 'cause ain' ma po' ole father 'longed to de 
 Washini>:tons all he nat'ral life, an' me arter he 
 gone! Yas, sur, ma daddie an' de Gen'ral was 
 des lek brodders one time." 
 
 "Oh," exclaimed Gilbert, for a moment for- 
 getting his plight, "maybe your father was the 
 boy that George Washington's father came near 
 licking about the cherry tree hack?" 
 
 "Licked fur dat cherry tree hack?" The 
 old darkey was hobbling up the road once more. 
 "No. chi^e, ain' neber heard tell of ma dad get- 
 tin' licked fur nuffin'," he grunted. "He was 
 de onliest one wha' could handle de horses to 
 dat vehicle, an' de very man wha' driv' dat 
 hack." 
 
IN ALEXANDRIA 59 
 
 There was no time for questions nor argu- 
 ment, for the steps were reached, and with a 
 good-by wave to their rescuer the children tore 
 down them as fast as their legs would carry 
 them. 
 
 **It is a lucky thing for you,'' declared the 
 good-natured purser of the boat, when the tru- 
 ants were safely over the gangplank, "that your 
 ma insisted you were not on board, or I'd have 
 been gone fully ten minutes ago.'' 
 
 Now thrit the anxiety was over, both Polly 
 and Gilbert enjoyed immensely relating their 
 experience to the other members of their party, 
 and Walter laughed until his sides ached over 
 the George Washington yarn. 
 
 When the boat reached Alexandria Mrs. Rae 
 led the way to a cafe on King Street, and after 
 all had been refreshed by a hearty dinner they 
 started olf to visit Christ Church, Washington's 
 church, on Cameron and W^ashington streets. 
 
 The edifice was found locked, but the sexton 
 was on hand to open it obligingly to visitors. 
 
 The strangers were told that the Washington 
 pew remains unaltered, and is to-day just as it 
 was when ihe General and his family occupied 
 it over a century ago. It contains three benches, 
 two facing each other, and the third a cross seat 
 against the wall. 
 
 Gilbert thought it a very queer arrangement 
 to have the back of one bench turned toward 
 the minister, but Polly whispered that slie uon- 
 
60 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 sidered it quite wise, as that way the preacher 
 would be unable to see when you yawned or 
 got fidgety during service. 
 
 '*The chancel rail and the mural tablets of 
 the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer are 
 the same as were used in Washington's time,'^ 
 tiie sexton informed them, *'as is also the 
 communion table and reading desk. And this," 
 — the speaker turned reverently to the pew 
 across from Washington's, — "was, as its silver 
 plate tells you, once occupied by General Rob- 
 ert E. Lee. It also remains unaltered." 
 
 **1 sup[)Ose," said Mrs. Rae, "your State is 
 very proud to be able to claim two such noble 
 men as Washington and Lee?" 
 
 The man's face lit up with love and pride. 
 
 **We Virginians," he answered, in a low tone, 
 ** consider them our country's greatest generals, 
 and," he added gently, "we love them alike." 
 
 He turned and walked slowly down the aisle. 
 
 ** Excuse me, but haven't you forgotten to tell 
 us about that crystal chandelier?" asked Wal- 
 ter. "It is the oddest-looking one I have ever 
 seen." 
 
 The guide smiled. 
 
 "That," he replied, "is likewise a relic of 
 Washington days. It is solid brass, and its 
 twelve candlesticks — you know candles were 
 used at that time — are typical of the twelve 
 apostles. Now notice these pillars. The marks 
 
IN ALEXANDEIA 61 
 
 you see beneath the surface are those of the 
 sconces and tinder-box.'* 
 
 When leavins: the church 2:randma insisted 
 that, as Neddie was getting tired and fretful, he 
 and she return home on the electric cars and 
 leave the others to finish their sight-seeing. 
 
 *^We have had a delightful time,'' declared 
 the old lady, ^M3ut any more of it would, I fear, 
 tire us both out." 
 
 After seeing: the two off the others started 
 for the Carlyle House on the corner of Fairfax 
 and Cameron streets. 
 
 *^My!" exclaimed Gilbert, gazing at the 
 sturdy oM house, with its high gable roof and 
 prison-like basement entrance. ^'Tt seems 
 strange to be visiting these old places that were 
 put up so many years ago." 
 
 *'Yes," responded his aunt, ^'this building 
 has been standing since the year 1752. And, 
 oh, how many tales of secret meetings and con- 
 spiracies against our country we would hear 
 if only these old walls could speak!" 
 
 **This is where General Braddock had quar- 
 ters when he came to take charge of the British 
 forces," Walter informed his cousin. ^*And 
 where he summoned Washington to offer him a 
 commission as major in the British Army." 
 
 ^*What would we have done for a 'Father of 
 Our Country' if he had accepted?" inquired 
 Polly, with a serious face. 
 
 **The Lord would have raised us another 
 
62 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 Washington, just as He did a Lincoln and a 
 McKinley when they were needed/' answered 
 her mother. 
 
 It pleased the lady to note with what interest 
 the three children entered into the historic sio^ht- 
 seeino^. On the steps of the old City Hotel, where 
 General Washin2:ton made his farewell ad- 
 dress, Walter suddenly threw up his arms and 
 cried : 
 
 ** 'Give me liberty, or give me death!' '' 
 
 ^'PoHy might return the speech you made to 
 her at Mount Vernon," laughed Mrs. "Rae. '^ 'Do 
 not disyjlay your ignorance in so loud a tone.' " 
 
 Her son flushed. 
 
 **I know Washington didn't say that, mom, 
 but for the life of me I cannot recall who did," 
 he confessed. "Can you enlighten me, Gill" 
 
 The boy shook his head. 
 
 * ' I ought to know, ' ' he admitted. ' ' It is very, 
 very familiar. I think it was Patrick Henry." 
 He looked inquiringly at his aunt. 
 
 But she only placed a finger on her lips. 
 
 **Look it up when we get home, and the one 
 who first brings me the correct answer receives 
 the prize," she promised. 
 
 "I know," put in Polly. ''It was one of the 
 great men who lived during Washington's life." 
 
 "Good for sis. She gets the reward." 
 
 Her brother placed a brand-new Lincoln pen- 
 ny in her palm. 
 
 The Marshall House, where the Ellsworth 
 
IN ALEXANDEIA 63 
 
 tragedy occurred, at the begmning of the Civil 
 War, was the last place our friends visited. 
 Here the children were shown the door from 
 which James Jackson, proprietor of the tavern, 
 emerged just in time to kill daring Colonel E. E. 
 Ellsworth, who had torn the Confederate flag 
 from the roof of the inn and, with a few of his 
 New York Zouaves, was boisterously descending 
 the stairs. 
 
 ** Couldn't Jackson have bought a new flag?" 
 Polly asked, after hearing the tale. 
 
 *^Not very well," replied Walter. ^* How- 
 ever, he was shot down himself by one of the 
 Colonel's followers before his double-barreled 
 shotgun could do further damage." 
 
 Once more out on the rough brick pavement 
 for which Alexandria is also famous, Gilbert 
 suggested that they buy some buns. 
 
 **May we eat on the street for just this once, 
 mamma?" begged Polly. 
 
 **Make it fruit instead of bread, and promise 
 to finish it up before the car comes and 1 will 
 not object," the lady assured her hungry party. 
 
 A few minutes later, comfortably seated in 
 one of the big electric cars which run between 
 Washington and Mount Vernon, the little group 
 found themselves speeding toward the Capital 
 City. 
 
 *'Our next outing will be — where?" 
 
 Mrs. Rae looked at her nephew as she asked 
 the question. 
 
64 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 **Will we be too tired for the Congressional 
 Library to-night T' the boy inquired eagerly. 
 **I have not been in it yet, because you said you 
 were sure I would appreciate it more if I made 
 my first visit when it was lighted up.'' 
 
 ^^ We shall go to-morrow evening — you, Polly, 
 and I, while AValter is at night school,'' his 
 auntie promised. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 POLLY GETS INTO TEOUBLE 
 
 **I think/' said Gilbert softly, ^'tliat I must 
 be in fairyland. The building is grand enough 
 outside, but when you get in its beauty almost 
 takes your breath away.'' He rubbed his hands 
 together and gazed in delight about him. 
 ^'Motlier has often told me of it, but never once 
 did I dream it could be as beautiful as it really 
 is." 
 
 The trio — Aunt Alice, Polly, and Gilbert — 
 were standing in the central stair hall of the 
 National Library, whicli is not surpassed in 
 magnificence by any other entrance hall in the 
 world. Throughout it is lined with highly pol- 
 ished marble. Lofty columns, with beautiful 
 carved capitals, rise on all sides, while delicate 
 designs of rosettes and palm leaves adorn the 
 arches. It was no wonder as our friend Gilbert 
 viewed it for the first time, illuminated by its 
 many electric lights, the brilliancy of which is 
 mellowed by thousands of tiny crystal globes, 
 that he should be bewildered. As he followed 
 Aunt Alice through corridor after corridor he 
 asked few questions, but appeared, child though 
 
66 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 he was, to drink in all the beauty that surround- 
 ed him. The mosaic work impressed him great- 
 ly. He could not understand how such lovely 
 pictures could be built with tiny colored stones. 
 In the public reading-room they stopped long 
 enough for the children to be shown how to fill 
 out a card when calling for a book. 
 
 ** There are two copies of every book pub- 
 lished in the United States kept here,'' the 
 librarian told them. **So, you see, if one has 
 time it is an easy matter to come here and read 
 anything he may fancy." 
 
 After a visit to the Representatives ' and Sen- 
 ators ' private reading-rooms, the children were 
 led down the main steps, through the north cor- 
 ridor, to the room set apart for the blind. It 
 was explained that this room is on the ground 
 floor so that the sightless may enjoy it as much 
 as possible. Many of them visit it unattended, 
 which would be impossible were there steps to 
 climb. 
 
 The children were very much interested with 
 the books in this room, which were printed in a 
 system of tiny raised lettering. They closed 
 their eyes and tried to read, but to their uncul- 
 tivated sense of touch the pin pricks meant 
 nothing. 
 
 **I want you to remember," said Aunt Alice 
 on the way home, ^Hhat the architects, painters, 
 and sculptors of the wonderful building through 
 which you have just passed are all American 
 
POLLY IN TEOUBLE 67 
 
 citizens, and that its design and execution are 
 true productions of your countrymen's talent 
 and workmanship." 
 
 **I think," replied Gilbert thoughtfully, 'Hhat 
 while my memory is fresh I had better write to 
 Mr. Tealman and tell him all about it." . 
 
 '*No letter to-night," sang Polly, as the little 
 party came in sight of home. 
 
 The light in the parlor was burning brightly, 
 and through the lace curtains could be seen 
 grandma, with Ned on her lap, entertaining 
 two strangers. 
 
 ** Company," said Mrs. Eae; '*but who are 
 they?" 
 
 *'I am sure I don't know," replied Polly. 
 
 '*I think I do," cried Gilbert joyfully. *^It 
 is Lillian Eodkin and her brother Paul." 
 
 **We have been here nearly ever since you 
 left," Lillian informed them after the introduc- 
 tions were over, ^^but as your grandma said 
 you would be home some time to-night we de- 
 termined to wait and see if we could not have the 
 pleasure of showing you through the White 
 House to-morrow afternoon." 
 
 Gilbert was delighted. 
 
 ** Indeed you may!" he exclaimed. 
 
 ** Polly is invited to come, too," continued the 
 little girl. 
 
 **Our carriage will call for you about eleven 
 o'clock in the morning. That will give you time 
 to take lunch with us and get acquainted with 
 
68 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 mamma," put in Paul. '^Slie loves to meet all 
 of our friends, you know.'* 
 
 It is needless to say that the Eodkin car- 
 riasfe found both children awaiting it when it 
 arrived next morning promptly on the hour. 
 
 The driver, a good-natured Irishman, was 
 ready and willing to answer any questions to the 
 best of his ability that might be asked of him. 
 So by the time the children had reached their 
 destination they had seen Admiral Evans' — 
 ** Fighting Bob" — home; were shown the City 
 Hall, and had pointed out to them the door 
 through which Guiteau, the assassin of Presi- 
 dent Garfield, had passed to be tried for the 
 murder of the President. They were driven 
 through Judiciary Square and around the big 
 red brick Pension Office, where the inaugura- 
 tion balls are held, at which eighteen thousand 
 people have been known to gather. They also 
 saw the Government Patent Office, a massive 
 white building of granite and marble, and were 
 told that the Boston House and Palais Royal, 
 which they next passed, were the two first of the 
 many handsome apartment stores in the city. 
 
 Polly and Gilbert did not tarry long in the 
 home of their friends, for after luncheon Mrs. 
 Rodkin said it was time to start if they expected 
 to reach the White House by twelve-thirty 
 o'clock. 
 
 **What park is that?" asked Gilbert, just 
 
POLLY IN TROUBLE 69 
 
 after the carriage had turned from H Street 
 into Madison Place. 
 
 *^ Lafayette Square,'^ replied Paul. **It is 
 one of the finest parks in Washington.'' 
 
 ** There is the Belasco Theatre," said the doc- 
 tor, who had accompanied the children. * ' It is 
 built upon ground which was once owned by 
 Henry Clay. He traded it to Commodore Rod- 
 gers for an imported pedigreed jackass." 
 
 **Hum!" sniffed Polly, "jackasses must have 
 been rare in those days, but I think there were 
 two in that deal, instead of one." 
 
 Everybody laughed, but before there was time 
 to make reply the carriage rolled into Pennsyl- 
 vania Avenue and the Executive Mansion, dig- 
 nified and grand in its stately simplicity, ap- 
 peared in view. 
 
 "Isn't it quiet?" was Gilbert's first com- 
 ment. "It seems as though from the heart of 
 the city we had suddenly been landed in some 
 beautiful spot in the country." 
 
 The doctor nodded. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "many of these trees are 
 centuries old. Now, would you children like to 
 drive about the grounds before entering the 
 building?" 
 
 "Yes, indeed," answered Lillian. "T want 
 Gilbert to see where we roll eggs on Easter 
 Monday." 
 
 Mike drove around to the rear of the mansion, 
 and the little Washingtonians explained to the 
 
70 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 visitor how once a year the children are allowed 
 to gather by the thousands and litter up the 
 beautiful green lawns of the White House with 
 their highly colored Easter eggs, and listen to 
 the music of the United States Marine Band, 
 which at certain hours plays in the ellipse just 
 south of the Executive grounds. 
 
 * ^ Sometimes, ' ' said Lilly, *'the President, if 
 he is not too busy, comes out on the porch and 
 makes a speech to us children. *' 
 
 * ^ Yes, ' ' nodded her father, * * everything is for 
 the little folk on that day. The ^ grown ups ' are 
 not even allowed across the portals unless they 
 have a child accompanying them. For that 
 reason many a fashionably dressed lady or gen- 
 tleman is accosted a square from the grounds 
 by a smuggy urchin and the eager information, 
 *P11 git yer through de gates fur a dime.' Thus 
 the elegant one, holding tight to the grimy little 
 hand, is piloted, with scarcely a second glance 
 from the guards, into the good time behind the 
 great iron railing. There he is suddenly de- 
 serted, for the 'friend in need' must hurry off to 
 swell the amount in his ragged little jeans and 
 play the *good Samaritan' to someone else. 
 That great building to the east houses the 
 United States Treasury Department. You will 
 be interested in its Secret Service Division, 
 where there is a collection of plates and dies 
 used by counterfeiters, and a Rogues' Gallery, 
 which contains the photographs of the most 
 
J 
 
 i ' 
 
 T »'. 
 
 ■ill 
 
 51 
 
 1 
 
 ' rn: : 
 
 ./fl 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 §r 
 
 i i 
 
 
 u 
 
 li ' 
 
POLLY IN TEOUBLE 71 
 
 noted criminals of this sort. On the main floor 
 is the cash room, which is said to be the most 
 costly room of its kind in the world. The cash- 
 ier's office is at one end, and at the other end is 
 the vault room. In the basement are the money- 
 issuing rooms and destruction division. The 
 redemption room, as Paul can tell you, does a 
 good work also.'' 
 
 **Yes," affirmed the boy. '*0n my last birth- 
 day r>apa made me a -present of a five-doHar bill, 
 which I thouirht I had put safely away. Imasfine 
 my surprise when I went to s:et it to find it miss- 
 ing. We searched ever;<.^where for it, but not 
 until the clothes came home from the laundry 
 and I felt a lump in one of the pockets of my 
 duck trousers did T find it — a little piece of 
 pulp. I thought its days of usefulness were 
 over, but father came with me down here to the 
 Treasury, and, if you will believe me, after pok- 
 ing at the little wad and examining it through 
 a glass, I had handed over to me a crisp new 
 five-dollar bill, and was told by an expert ex- 
 aminer to be more careful next time." 
 
 **Look, Gil," cried Polly, pointing directly 
 south of the White House. * ^ Do you know what 
 that is?" 
 
 **Yes; it is the Washington Monument." 
 
 **We will go up in it when we finish with the 
 White House," the doctor said. **It is open 
 until four- thirty o'clock. This place is closed 
 
72 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 to the public at two o'clock. So we had better 
 get inside if we expect to see everything.'* 
 
 *Must think/' said Gilbert, as the party was 
 again driven around to the front of the Execu- 
 tive Mansion, *Hhe man who is the head of this 
 house was once a little boy like us, Paul." 
 
 ^^And stood no better chance of being leader 
 of the land than you do, lad," finished the doc- 
 tor. ^*With Paul it is different. He can never 
 be President of the United States." 
 
 Both bovs looked surprised. 
 
 ''Why, father?" asked Lillian. 
 
 ''Because he was born in Europe, daughter, 
 and one of the requirements of our President 
 is that he be a natural-born American citizen." 
 
 "Don't worry about it, sister, dear. I shall 
 be satisfied to be Gilbert's family physician 
 when he is President of the United States, and 
 the man who keeps his body strong, and mind 
 clear, so that he will be in good shape to attend 
 to his duties as he-^d of our nation," laughingly 
 assured her brother. 
 
 "Good enough, son." The doctor patted his 
 boy on the head. "It would never do for all of 
 our men to aspire to the same office ; but, chang- 
 ins: the subject, can you tell Gilbert why this 
 building is cabled the White House?" 
 
 "Yes, sir. AA^ien the house was fired, in 1814, 
 by the British nothing was left standing but the 
 walls ; after being repaired it was found neces- 
 sary to paint the stone white in order to hide 
 
POLLY IN TROUBLE 73 
 
 the fire marks, and ever since that time it has 
 bepn known as the White House.'' 
 
 The party left the carriage at the pnblic en- 
 trance, which is through a colonnade on the east, 
 leading to the basement corridor. On the walls 
 Gilbert noticed many handsome paintings of 
 some of the mistresses of the White House, — all 
 the work of famous artists. Specimens of his- 
 toric Wliite House china, among which were 
 Lincoln's punch bowl and a cup and saucer from 
 which the beautiful Dolly Madison at one time 
 drank her tea, were seen in glass cases near by. 
 
 Following his friends up one of the broad 
 stairways to the main floor of the building, the 
 boy soon found himself in the great East Room, 
 or State Parlor. He seemed suddenly abashed, 
 and even uttered a low exclamation of alarm 
 when Polly and Lillian, who were in the lead, 
 stepped carelessly over its threshold on to the 
 highly polished floor. 
 
 **What is the trouble?" inquired Paul. 
 
 Gilbert hesitated. 
 
 **0h, nothing," he faltered. ''Only I feel a 
 little out of place here — like a fish out of water, 
 you know." 
 
 *'You need not, lad," replied the doctor. 
 ''This beautiful place belongs to our Govern- 
 ment, so, you see, we Americans all have a 
 claim in it. Notice this richly decorated instru- 
 ment," he continued, pointing to a handsome 
 piano. "It was presented by a New York piano 
 
74 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 firm, and was made at a cost of fifteen thousand 
 dollars. What do you think of thatr' 
 
 The boy vshrngged his shoulders. 
 
 **I don't believe I would keep it if it were 
 mine/' he said. 
 
 *^Whyr' 
 
 **Well, a cheaper one would do me, and I 
 could put the rest of the money in a Wright's 
 flying machine. ' ' 
 
 **Have you seen the airship yet?" 
 
 '*Yes; Walter and I were at Fort Myer when 
 it sailed to Alexandria." 
 
 ^'That was the final test. The machine cov- 
 ered ten miles in fourteen minutes and sixteen 
 seconds." 
 
 ** Wasn't it twenty-five thousand dollars the 
 United States paid for the aeroplane, father?" 
 Paul asked. 
 
 '*Yes, and a bonus in the thousands beside." 
 
 **I am glad the inventors are Americans," 
 said Gilbert. **It is so nice to have our own 
 people do great things." 
 
 "You are right, lad," replied the doctor, "but 
 we must stop thinking of our gifted country- 
 men and take in the sights about us. We have 
 onlv three-quarters of an hour left in which to 
 do it." 
 
 As Dr. Rodkin had a pass, he was allowed to 
 lead his little group from the East Room, the 
 only one on the main floor open to the general 
 public, into the other four handsome apartments 
 
POLLY IN TEOUBLE 75 
 
 extending along the south front of the mansion. 
 The Green Room Gilbert thought was beautiful, 
 but when he passed from it into the Blue, or 
 President 's Reception-Room, the walls of which 
 are covered with rich blue corded silk, with win- 
 dow hangings of blue, with golden stars shin- 
 ing in the upper folds, the child began once 
 more to move about on tip-toe. 
 
 **That gold clock you see on the mantel,'' ex- 
 plained the doctor, *'was a gift from Napoleon 
 I. to Lafayette, who passed it on to Washington; 
 the bronze vases on either side of it were pre- 
 sented to our first President at the same time/' 
 
 *asn't it all grand ?^' breathed the little 
 stranger, scarcely above a whisper. *^It was 
 so kind of you folks to invite Polly and me to 
 come along to-day.'' 
 
 *^The trip is made especially for your bene- 
 fit,'* declared the doctor, who was enjoying the 
 boy's enthusiasm as much as the little fellow 
 was the sights he was seeing. 
 
 In the Red Room there were many things to 
 interest the children. The girls lingered near 
 a cabinet of mahogany and gold, which held 
 seven exquisitely dressed Japanese dolls. 
 
 '^Aren't they darlings?" cried Polly, **and 
 wouldn't you love to have one just like this little 
 lady in pink?" 
 
 The boys laughed at the girl's delight, but 
 their attention was soon called to a portrait of 
 George Washington. 
 
76 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 **It is sometimes called tlie ^Lansdowne 
 Stuart,' '' the doctor told them, ** because the 
 original of which this is a copy was painted for 
 the Marquis of Lansdowne. Another interest- 
 ing fact about it is that in the year 1814, during 
 the British invasion, Mrs. Dolly Madison, fear- 
 ing the valuable painting might be destroyed, 
 had it taken from its frame and carried across 
 the Potomac into safety. And this,'' he con- 
 tinued, leading the way to the next room, *4s 
 the State Dining-Room. Its massive mahogany 
 table will seat one hundred guests." 
 
 ^* Where are the girls T' asked Paul a few 
 minutes later, when the three turned to leave 
 the room. 
 
 They looked about in astonishment, for both 
 Lillian and Polly were nowhere to be seen. 
 
 ''Since I think of it," said Gilbert, ''I do not 
 believe they were with us when we came in 
 here." 
 
 At that moment the doctor caught sight of his 
 little daughter, flushed and excited, making her 
 way hastily to him. 
 
 ''Oh, papa," she sobbed, in a frightened voice, 
 "Polly's arrested!" 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 GILBERT GETS ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRESIDENT 
 
 The doctor and the boys followed Lillian back 
 into the Red Room and over to the corner, where 
 her friend sat demurely by the side of a big man 
 in gray clothes. 
 
 *^Is this your child f inquired the man. 
 
 **The little girl is under my care," the physi- 
 cian reyjlied. **What has happened?" 
 
 *^You have not been paying much attention 
 to her during the past ten minutes, have you?" 
 
 *^I was not aware that the girls had become 
 separated from the rest of the party until just 
 before my daughter sought me in the next room. 
 Be kind enough to tell me what is wrong." 
 
 The doctor was becoming irritated, for the 
 few other people in the room had commenced to 
 get interested and were gazing at the group in 
 bold suspicion. 
 
 **I cauQ:ht her picking a lock," the man an- 
 nounced 2:rimly. 
 
 Instantly Polly was upon her feet, her eyes 
 flashins: and face aflame. 
 
 **It is not so, doctor," she cried. **Ask Lil- 
 lian if it is/' 
 
 77 
 
78 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 But poor little Lilly was too frightened to 
 answer. 
 
 **Look at the lock on this cabinet. It tells 
 the tale for itself.'' 
 
 As he spoke the man pointed to the prison 
 of the Japanese dolls. 
 
 A horrible idea passed through Gilbert's 
 mind. He had heard his cousin wish for one 
 of the babies. What if she really had attempted 
 to get possession of it! 
 
 The culprit must have read the suspicion in 
 his face, for she made her confession directly 
 to him. 
 
 **I was only going to turn one of the dolls 
 around so I could see how its queer-looking 
 dress was fastened," she admitted, in a low 
 voice. '* Lillian wanted to know as much as I, 
 and loaned me her glove buttoner to try and 
 open the door with." 
 
 ^* There," cried the doctor, **I knew there was 
 a mistake somewhere. The child did not realize 
 the wrong she was doing." 
 
 '*That may be," replied the man, who had 
 quietly opened his coat, disclosing his police- 
 man's badsre, **but the contents of that cabinet 
 are valuable. Those dolls were presented to 
 Mrs. Eoosevelt when she was mistress of the 
 White House by the Japanese Minister. I shall 
 be obliged to hold the young lady until the mat- 
 ter can be investigated. ' ' 
 
 The doctor was nonplused. 
 
WITH THE PRESIDENT 79 
 
 Paul plucked at his sleeve. 
 
 **Tell him who you are, father," he whis- 
 pered. 
 
 The gentleman took a card from his pocket 
 and passed it on to the officer. 
 
 ** Perhaps you have heard the President men- 
 tion my name, ' ' he said. * ^ I am one of his phy- 
 sicians. ' ' 
 
 The man hesitated a moment, then, shaking 
 his head, motioned to a blue-coated guard. 
 
 * ^ Do you know this party T ^ he inquired, hand- 
 ing him the slip of paper. 
 
 But the policeman did not. 
 
 * * Then there is but one thing left to do. Pre- 
 sent my card to the President and tell him it is 
 important that I see him. ' ' 
 
 **Did I hear my name mentioned?" asked a 
 genial voice behind the excited little group. 
 
 And all hands turned, suddenly to come face 
 to face with the ^^ Leader of the Land." 
 
 ** Good-afternoon, doctor," he said, smilingly 
 extending his hand. *^I was passing through 
 the corridor and thought I recognized 
 your " 
 
 Doctor Rodkin caught the President by the 
 arm before he could complete his sentence and, 
 leading him to one side with less dignity than he 
 would otherwise have done, soon explained the 
 distressing situation. 
 
 In the meantime Gilbert took the opportunity 
 
80 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 to slip up to Polly ^s side and whisper in her 
 ear: 
 
 ** Don't be afraid, Pol. Yon are the pluckiest 
 girl I ever knew. I'll stick by you, and see you 
 through. ' ' 
 
 The two gentlemen stepped over to the cabi- 
 net and examined its tiny gold fastenings. When 
 the President looked up there was a twinkle in 
 his eye. Resting his good-sized double chin on 
 his chest he studied the little girl's downcast 
 countenance. 
 
 *' Picking a White House lock is rather a se- 
 vere accusation to be brought against so small 
 a maid," he at last said. Then seeing the dim- 
 pled face before him flush a deeper red he con- 
 tinued, *^But as this is the first offense, and I 
 am sure one which will never be repeated, Dod, 
 you may let the prisoner go." 
 
 With a salute of his hand and a dignified bow 
 the gentleman in gray withdrew. 
 
 *'And now," suggested the President, ** sup- 
 pose we forget the disagreeable part of our 
 meeting and get acquainted." 
 
 The children were duly introduced. Then 
 the physician, placing his hand upon Gilbert's 
 shoulder, said: 
 
 **This young man, Mr. President, is visiting 
 Washington for the first time. You would be 
 surprised to hear how much he knows for a 
 nine-year-old boy, and see how much American- 
 ism there is in him." 
 
WITH THE PRESIDENT 81 
 
 '*So, so!'' The great man took the boy by 
 the hand. **It is a pleasure to meet you, lad,'* 
 he said. *^Do you expect to be in our city this 
 winter ? ' ' 
 
 Gilbert was in an ecstasy of delight. He had 
 never imagined the President of the United 
 States anything but an august somebody with 
 only time to notice those of the highest rank, 
 and here he was talking as naturally as any 
 plain, ordinary man could to a poor country 
 boy who had never even been to the Capital City 
 before in his life. 
 
 ''Yes, sir. I am to attend school here this 
 term,'' he managed to get out. 
 
 ''Better still. Then you will have a chance to 
 join the 'T. Y. A.'s.' " 
 
 Both boys looked mystified. 
 
 "Never heard of it?" questioned the host. 
 "Well, here let me introduce you to your cap- 
 tain. I shall give him your names as charter 
 members as soon as he arrives in town." 
 
 As he spoke the President took an envelope 
 from his vest pocket and, selecting two buttons 
 from it, pinned one on the coat of each lad. 
 
 "Why, it's your son!" exclaimed Walter. 
 
 "Good guess," chuckled the jovial leader of 
 the land. "He is going to organize a company 
 of 'True Young Americans,' and drill them 
 himself. It is his own idea, and I think a wise 
 one. Now we must shake hands all around and 
 say good-by, for. although I have been back two 
 
82 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 whole days from my summer vacation, there is 
 still lots and lots of work piled up in the Execu- 
 tive Office for the President to look over. ' ' 
 
 The President withdrew, and the boys, in a 
 heaven of delight, turned with the doctor to de- 
 part for the Washington Monument.. 
 
 As the party was being driven through the 
 grounds to the monument Gilbert asked: 
 
 *^Why is it that some of the guards at the 
 White House have uniforms and others have 
 notr' 
 
 ^'The ^ plain clothes men' are the President's 
 guard. They are mixed in the crowd wherever 
 he is,'' Paul replied. 
 
 *^And since the assassination of our beloved 
 President McKinley their force has been 
 strengthened," put in the doctor. ^^They are 
 to be found sprinkled all about the Executive 
 Mansion, and especially in the vicinity where the 
 President is likely to be." 
 
 ''As I found out to-day," said Polly mourn- 
 fully. '*I am so sorry I disgraced you all. I 
 would not have done it for anything ; but, really, 
 I did not think I was doing any harm. ' ' 
 
 ' ' Never mind, little girl, ' ' the doctor returned 
 in a sympathetic tone. ''The same thing might 
 have occurred to anyone, and you have the con- 
 solation of knowing that in all probability we 
 would not have had the delightful visit we did 
 had it not been for your episode. I will say, 
 however," he continued, "were I in your place 
 
WITH THE PEESIDENT 83 
 
 I would tell mamma all about it before I went to 
 bed to-night, then, with the determination to be 
 more thoughtful next time, forget it/^ 
 
 ^' Yes," said Paul, in a doleful voice, ^* * forget 
 it.' '' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 FROM THE TOP OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT 
 
 The little party found upon reaching the 
 monument they had fifteen minutes to wait for 
 the elevator to make its three-thirty o'clock 
 trip. 
 
 **How often does the elevator go upf Gil- 
 bert inquired. 
 
 * * Every half hour, ' ' the doctor replied. * ' The 
 first trip is at nine o'clock and the last at four. 
 Come, let us go outside and look around a bit 
 while we are waiting." 
 
 ** Isn't it immense?" commented Lillian. 
 
 '*I should say so," Polly responded. ^*And 
 yet mamma has told me that a cat once climbed 
 to the top and jumped to the ground without 
 beino: hurt." 
 
 ^'Nonsense, Pol," pooh-poohed her cousin. 
 *^ Auntie must have been jesting." 
 
 **No. young man, she is right. I remember 
 the circumstances, ' ' affirmed Dr. Kodkin. ' ' The 
 cat was a pet, and had been missing for three 
 or four days. No one can account for the way 
 it got into the monument without being noticed, 
 nor where it stayed while in there. All we do 
 
 84 
 
THE MONUMENT 85 
 
 know is that one day it was seen to make the 
 mighty jump and light upon its feet on the 
 ground, where it started to run away; but be- 
 fore it couid get its breath ^nd make off it was 
 seized by a dog and torn to pieces.'' 
 
 **0h, how dreadful. It ought to have had a 
 tombstone erected," sighed Paul. 
 
 ^*I suppose when it jumped was its eighth 
 life,'' explained Polly, ^^and when the dog 
 pounced upon it was its ninth ; so, of course, the 
 poor thing had to die." 
 
 Gilbert looked up. 
 
 **How tall did you say it was, doctor?" he 
 asked. 
 
 *' Which, the cat or the dog I" 
 
 *^ Neither. I mean the monument," laughed 
 the boy. 
 
 *'0h, you do. AVell, the monument from floor 
 of entrance to tip is five hundred and fifty-five 
 feet, five and one-eighth inches in height. At 
 the base its walls are fifteen feet in thickness, 
 but taper u]) until they are only eighteen inches 
 at the top of the shaft. It is the highest piece 
 of masonry in the world, and in height is ex- 
 ceeded only by the Eiffel Tower, Paris, which 
 is of iron, and rises nine hundred and eighty- 
 four feet." 
 
 Here the elevator was announced, and Gilbert 
 soon found himse'f , with a crowd of other people 
 hustled into it, moving slowly upward. 
 
86 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 ** Wouldn't it be dreadful if the car should 
 falir' he presently whispered to Paul. 
 
 ^ ' Can 't ! Father says the manufacturers over- 
 haul it thoroughly every month, and the safety 
 clutches are examined each day; besides, it is 
 built in such a way that it could not fall even 
 if both wire cables should break.'' 
 
 ^^You seem to know lots about it " 
 
 **0h, yes, I've been up so often with friends, 
 you see. But at first, until it was explained, I 
 was a bit skittish myself about its tumbling. 
 Say," continued the little Washingtonian, 
 squeezing closer to his friend's side, "can you 
 see the engraving on the stones as we pass?" 
 
 Gilbert craned his neck. 
 
 "Yes," he answered, "but don't seem able 
 to read any of them." 
 
 ^ ^ Never mind, lad. You and I will walk down 
 the steps and examine some of the inscrip- 
 tions," promised the doctor. 
 
 "How long before we reach the top!" was 
 the boy's next question. 
 
 "Fifteen minutes to ascend, a five-minute 
 stay, and ten minutes to make the trip down, I 
 think is the scheduled time," he was told. 
 
 A few moments later the elevator door was 
 pulled open and its occupants stepped out upon 
 the upper landing, five hundred and four feet 
 above the ground. 
 
 "My!" exclaimed the little New Yorker, gaz- 
 ing at the eight port-holes that pierce the walls, 
 
THE MONUMENT 87 
 
 two on each side, * * I had no idea when I looked 
 up awhile ago that these windows were so 
 large." 
 
 ^'Let lis see if we can see our house, Gil," 
 said Polly, gazing to the northeast. 
 
 **You might if we had a field-glass," Paul 
 replied. ^^On a clear day there is a twenty-mile 
 view to be had from up here in all four direc- 
 tions." 
 
 '^Oh, don't the Capitol and Library look 
 beautiful?" cried Gilbert. ''And what is that 
 great white building with the tower and the 
 American flag over there in the northeast ? " he 
 questioned. 
 
 ''That/' answered the doctor, following the 
 direction of the boy's finger, "is the United 
 States Soldier's Home. Its seven hundred acres 
 of cultivated land afford one of the handsomest 
 drives about Washington. That odd-looking 
 building you notice beyond the Home is the 
 monastery of the Franciscan monks. This reli- 
 gious order is one of the most self-denying be- 
 longing to the Koman Catholic Church. Its 
 monks live in poverty, wearing the coarsest kind 
 of clothing, and spend their entire time in 
 prayer and devotion. It is really very inter- 
 esting to go through their home. They have 
 on exhibition several articles that they claim 
 existed during the time of Christ. There are 
 also a true reproduction of the kitchen of Mary, 
 the mother of Christ, Joseph's carpenter shop, 
 
88 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 and an exhibit of the horrors of purgatory. 
 One of the guides, a saintly-faced lad of about 
 seventeen years, says he intends to join the 
 order as soon as he is old enough. The gray 
 building still farther east is 'Kendall Green,' 
 the deaf and dumb asylum. It was named for 
 its founder, Amos Kendall, President Jackson's 
 Postmaster General. It is endowed to the 
 amount of four hundred thousand dollars, and 
 is the only institution of the same grade in the 
 world. Away off there, almost directly in front 
 of you, is the workhouse, the jail, and Wash- 
 ington Asylum, a hospital for the pauper sick; 
 the big red brick building next to it was the 
 almshouse, but that has been moved across the 
 river. ' ' 
 
 ''The insane asylum, 'St. Elizabeth,' is over 
 there too," said Lillian. "Have you been 
 through it, Polly?" 
 
 "Yes, to my sorrow," was the reply, "and 
 I made up my mind it would be my first and 
 last trip there. An old man took it into his 
 head that I was his long-lost Evelyn and tried 
 his best to hug me. I went home and cried for 
 an hour, thinking that perhaps Evelyn re- 
 sembled her father, and that in that way I 
 looked like a lunatic. Walter told me not to 
 bother about my looks; as long as I didn't act 
 like the old fellow, I was all right." 
 
 "See here, lad." The doctor drew Gilbert to 
 the west windows as he spoke. ' ' Over there on 
 
THE MONUMENT 89 
 
 the Virginia side of the Potomac is Arlington, 
 the National Cemetery, and to the northwest the 
 Naval Observatory/* 
 
 *'I intended to go to Arlington, but had not 
 thought about the Observatory,'* said the boy. 
 
 **I should think you would be immensely in- 
 terested in its great equatorial telescope,** the 
 gentleman answered. ^'It weighs over six tons 
 and cost forty-seven thousand dollars.** 
 
 ^'My!** ejaculated the little fellow, '^it must 
 be worth seeing.** 
 
 *^lt is made of steel, in three sections, and 
 has an object glass of twenty-six inches clear 
 aperture. The instrument's position is regu- 
 lated by water power, and it stands under an iron 
 dome forty-five feet high. There is an electric 
 conaection between the United States Navy De- 
 partment and the Observatory, and exactly at 
 noon the time ball drops from the Navy De- 
 partment; from this is regulated the time all 
 over the United States.** 
 
 **The elevator is about to start down for its 
 four o'clock crowd, father. Had I better take 
 charo-e of the girls?** inquired Paul. 
 
 *^Yes, son. Gilbert and I will follow afoot — 
 that is, if he would rather walk down the nine 
 hundred steps and read some of the inscrip- 
 tions.** 
 
 * ' Indeed I would, * * came the quick reply. 
 
 And without a moment's hesitation the en- 
 
90 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 thused boy started on his long trip back to 
 mother earth. 
 
 Of course they did not read the words on all 
 of the hundred and seventy-nine stones which 
 have been contributed from various sources as 
 a mark of love and respect to the memory of 
 our beloved first President, but they did jpause 
 on each of the hundred and fifty landings, or 
 platforms, and by means of the electric light 
 with which the interior of the monument is 
 lighted studied many of them, and noticed their 
 elaborate carvings. When the foot was at last 
 reached they found Paul and the girls waiting 
 impatiently. 
 
 *^You have been over half an hour, papa," 
 complained Lillian. 
 
 **And could have remained that much longer 
 in there with this boy, daughter, had I the time 
 to spare. I wish you could see his notebook. 
 It is nearly filled already with items of what 
 he has seen and heard in our city. I would not 
 be a bit surprised one of these days to hear he 
 had written a book entitled, ^My Trip to the 
 Capital of the United States'; and, who knows, 
 we all may be in it.*' 
 
 '^Well, there is one incident I shall see he 
 leaves out of his yarn," pouted Polly. 
 
 To this remark no one made reply, but I am 
 sure all hands understood, and sympathized 
 with the speaker. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 AELINGTON 
 
 ^^Aunt Alice!" Gilbert caught the lady's 
 hand. ^^I almost wish I had not come/' he 
 whispered. 
 
 *^Why, dear?'' inquired Mrs. Rae, in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 '^Because," faltered the little fellow, ^4t 
 makes me feel so dreadfully sad to think of the 
 many brave soldiers who are buried here." 
 
 ^^Yes," answered Walter, who had accom- 
 panied his mother and cousin on their Sunday 
 afternoon trip to the National Cemetery, *4t 
 seems as though we cannot honor their memory 
 too much when we remember they gave their 
 lives that our country might live." 
 
 *^I often wonder," said Mrs. Eae, *^if they 
 can look down from heaven and see their last 
 beautiful camping ground or the loving hands 
 and loyal hearts that gather here by the thous- 
 ands on Decoration Day to cover the graves with 
 flowers and in many ways do reverence to our 
 soldier dead. On that day every cemetery in 
 the city is visited by a squad of veterans who 
 work patiently on through the day, until the 
 
 91 
 
92 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 grave of every departed comrade is marked by 
 an American flag and decorated with flowers.'* 
 
 **Is there preaching here on Decoration 
 DayT' Gilbert asked. 
 
 **No, dear,'' Mrs. Eae replied, *^but there is 
 a very impressive service for all those who 
 have loved ones, friends, or comrades buried 
 here. Come, now, let us go inside the mansion 
 and register before taking our walk through 
 the grounds." 
 
 In the room to the left of the hall Gilbert 
 found the immense book and wrote his name 
 among thousands of others. On the walls he 
 noticed hanging sketch plans of the cemetery; 
 also copies of addresses by famous orators, all 
 of whom had passed away. Among these, and 
 the only one that the boy read through, was 
 President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, d. 
 livered November 19, 1863, at the dedication of 
 the Gettysburg Cemetery: 
 
 ** Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers 
 brought forth on this continent a new nation, 
 conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo- 
 sition that all men are created equal. Now we 
 are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether 
 that nation, or any nation so conceived and so 
 dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a 
 great battle-field of that war. We have come to 
 dedicate a portion of that field as a final rest- 
 ing-place for those who here gave their lives 
 
AELINGTON 93 
 
 that that nation might live. It is altogether 
 fitting and proper that we should do this. But, 
 in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we can- 
 not consecrate — we cannot hallow this ground. 
 The brave men, living and dead, who struggled 
 here have consecrated it far above our poor 
 power to add or detract. The world will little 
 note nor long remember what we say here, but 
 it can never forget what they did here. It is 
 for us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to 
 the unfinished work which they who fought here 
 have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather 
 for us to be here dedicated to the great task re- 
 maining before us; that from these honored 
 dead we take increased devotion to that cause 
 to which they gave the last full measure of 
 devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these 
 dead shall not have died in vain; that this 
 nation, under God, shall have a new birth of 
 freedom; and that government of the people, 
 by the people, for the people, shall not perish 
 from the earth.'' 
 
 Gilbert was glad to find when they left the 
 mansion house that a party of noisy tourists 
 who had so annoyed him were left behind. 
 
 ** Please, now,'' he said softly, ^^I would like 
 to see the Tomb of the Unknown Dead. Mr. 
 Tealman has told us about it, and said he wished 
 all of his pupils could see it." 
 
 *'It is heart-breaking," said Aunt Alice, as 
 
94 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 a few minutes later they stood before the mas- 
 sive granite block and read its inscription ; 
 
 ** Beneath this stone repose the bones of two 
 thousand one hundred and eleven unknown sol- 
 diers, gathered after the war from the fields of 
 Bull Run and the route to the Rappahannock. 
 Their remains could not be identified, but their 
 names and deaths are recorded in the archives 
 of their country, and its grateful citizens honor 
 them as of their noble Army of Martyrs. May 
 they rest in peace.'' 
 
 *'I was over here several years ago/' con- 
 tinued Mrs, Rae, ^^when the Confederate vet- 
 erans decorated the graves of their dead. You 
 know, there are over three hundred of their men 
 buried here, and noticing a delegation leave the 
 others and march off with their floral offering in 
 another direction, I was inquisitive enough to 
 follow. And ' ' — turning to her nephew — ' ' what 
 do you think they did, dear?" 
 
 Gilbert shook his head. 
 
 **I can't imagine," he replied solemnly. 
 
 '^With bared heads, while their bugler softly 
 sounded Haps,' they laid it here above all that 
 remains of some of their one-time enemies." 
 
 **It must have made you feel sad, mother," 
 said Walter. 
 
 **It did," responded the lady. **I shall never 
 forget it, for it showed, far plainer than words, 
 what is a true soldier's spirit of forgiveness." 
 
ARLINGTON 95 
 
 The three strolled slowly through the beau- 
 tiful cemetery, looking here and there at first 
 one and then another handsome shaft or slab 
 erected by loving hands to the memory of their 
 soldier dead. They were standing before the 
 tall white monument which is a tribute of the 
 Colonial Dames to the memory of the Spanish 
 War victims, when suddenly from far away 
 came the muffled sounds of music. 
 
 *^ It is a funeral/^ exclaimed Walter; ^'a mili- 
 tary funeral. You have never seen one, have 
 you, Giir' 
 
 **No,'' answered the boy, *^but I should like 
 to.'' 
 
 Nearer and nearer came the sad procession, 
 passing the little group, who silently followed 
 it on its winding way, and from a distance 
 watched while heart-broken loved ones, com- 
 rades of the Grand Army of the Republic and 
 those of a Masonic Lodge, gathered about the 
 new-made grave while the casket, draped in 
 the American flag, was solemnly lowered into 
 its last resting-place. All through the long and 
 impressive ceremony of both organizations Gil- 
 bert noticed that an escorting company of regu- 
 lars stood like statues only a short distance 
 away. He wondered how they could remain so 
 motionless, and was somewhat startled when 
 the services were ended to hear an officer's 
 quick command: 
 
 ''Load! Ready! Aim! Fire!" 
 
96 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 The order was repeated three times, and with 
 each there rang out a sharp report from the 
 soldiers* rifles. As the sound of the last volley- 
 died away softly upon the summer air came the 
 plaintive notes of a bugle. 
 
 **Taps," whispered Walter. 
 
 ** Fours right! Forward! March!" 
 
 It was all over, and the little New Yorker 
 walked away between his aunt and cousin. As 
 they were about leaving the grounds Gilbert 
 noticed some writing on a bronze tablet just 
 inside the cemetery gate. 
 
 ''What is it, aunty T' he asked. 
 
 Mrs. Rae drew near and read in a low, though 
 distinct voice the first two verses of Colonel 
 Theodore O'Hara's famous poem, ''The Bi- 
 vouac of the Dead": 
 
 ** 'The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 
 The soldier's last tattoo; 
 No more on life's parade shall meet 
 That brave and fallen few. 
 
 On fame's eternal camping-ground 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And Glory guards, with solemn round, 
 
 The bivouac of the dead.' " 
 
 For some minutes the boy remained silent, 
 then the other two heard him remark to him- 
 self: 
 
 *'It is a grand thing to be President of the 
 United States, but I believe — I believe I would 
 rather be a soldier.'' 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 A SCARE IN ANACOSTIA 
 
 As the days passed all were glad to notice 
 that the little New Yorker was overcoming his 
 homesickness, and after the Friday evening 
 letter to mother, which he dutifully wrote each 
 week, would return to the sitting-room without 
 the usual red eyes and wistful expression. 
 
 One morning as he sat on the railing of the 
 back porch whittling a stick, Polly appeared 
 around the corner of the house swinging her 
 hat by its elastic, the way it was generally 
 worn by her, as she danced along. 
 
 **Do you want to go with me, GilT' she 
 called. 
 
 ^^Wheref^' 
 
 **Come out here where we will not be dis- 
 turbed and 1*11 tell you,'' was the mysterious 
 reply. 
 
 The boy climbed down from his perch and fol- 
 lowed his cousin to the woodshed step. 
 
 **I am going to get lost,'' she announced. 
 
 ''Lost?" Gilbert looked puzzled. ''What 
 for?" he asked. 
 
 "Oh, I am tired of the old city," exclaimed 
 
 97 
 
98 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 the little girl. **And I am so warm I don't 
 know what to do." She gave her curls a toss 
 as she eoniinued : *'So I have made up my mind 
 to take a long walk out into the country where 
 there 're plenty of trees and dirt roads." 
 
 '' Wouldn't it be just as nice to ask Peggie to 
 t^ke us on a picnic to Lincoln Park?" the boy 
 interrupted. 
 
 *'No, never! I haven't been out of town since 
 I was at your house two years ago, and I am 
 just pining for the sight of a farmhouse and a 
 nice cool drink of milk from the spring, and 
 some homemade bread with jam on it like Aunt 
 Eleanor used to give us. Don't you remember 
 how good it tasted?" 
 
 * ^ Guess I do. Mamma always kept blackberry 
 jam on hand for me. But why must we be lost 
 in order to get it?" 
 
 *^ Because," Polly hesitated. ''Well, maybe 
 we won 't if you have any money, ' ' she said. ' ' I 
 haven't a cent, so my idea was to keep on walk- 
 ing and turning into new roads until I really 
 didn 't know the way back home ; then go up to 
 the first farmhouse I came to and tell them I 
 was lost. You know country people are always 
 big-hearted, so of course the lady would say, 
 ^Poor little thing! I know you are hungry,' and 
 set me down to a nice countrj^ dinner while her 
 husband hitched up the buggy to bring me 
 home." 
 
 Gilbert laughed. 
 
ANACOSTIA 99 
 
 **That is all very fine, but what if it does 
 not happen the way you have planned and the 
 woman should tell you after you have eaten 
 your dinner to go out and milk the cows to pay 
 for it, or feed the pigs, or something like thatf 
 he asked. 
 
 The little girl's face grew long. 
 
 '*I hadn't thought of it that way,'' she ad- 
 mitted. *'I would be in a fix, for I couldn't 
 milk a cow if my life depended on it, but — here 
 a bri2:ht thought struck her — ^^you can, can't 
 you?" 
 
 H^r cousin shook his head. 
 
 '* Never did it in my life," he answered. '*I 
 have seen the hired man about it, but believe I 
 would rai^her pay for our dinner than have the 
 job. Will fifty cents be enough? It is all I have 
 left until I hear from pop." 
 
 Polly clapped her hands. 
 
 *'The greatest abimdance," she exclaimed. 
 **We can ride over to Anacostia, buy our din- 
 ner, and be back before grandma and Neddie 
 get home from their all-day visit uptown." 
 
 ''Hadn't we better tell Peggie we are going? 
 You know we were left in her care to-day." 
 
 *'No," the girl replied stubbornly. ''She is 
 sure {o object. Walter has gone fishing, and 
 9ll the rest of them are having a good time. 
 Even mamma has gotten off from office to at- 
 tend missionary meeting at the church, and 
 
100 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 there is no reason why we should not go as well 
 as stay in this hot hole all the afternoon.'^ 
 
 That settled it. The children took a car and 
 rode over the great new Anacostia bridge, 
 which is made of concrete and iron, and spans 
 the eastern branch of the Potomac Piver. Some 
 distance the other side of ^^St. Elizabeth,'' the 
 Government hospital for the insane, they 
 touched the electric button and got out. 
 
 ^^This is very much country,'' shouted Gil- 
 bert, as they ran merrily down a shady lane 
 leadino: into a forest. ^'We might be able to 
 find a fern here for granda. I heard her say the 
 other day she would like to have one." 
 
 They searched for awhile, but, as there was 
 no water near, found none. Tramping joyously 
 on they came out of the woods into the high- 
 way, and, spying a cornfield just across the 
 road, were soon playing hide-and-seek among 
 the tall green stalks. All at once the boy heard 
 a scream, and Polly came running toward him. 
 
 **0h, Gil!" she cried, her fat little face white 
 with fright. She got no farther, for the next 
 instant an ugly face leered at them through the 
 waving^ corn. 
 
 At first Gilbert thought the man was drunk, 
 for his eyes looked so fierce and his mouth 
 twitched in such an odd manner — just as if he 
 were trying to talk, but could not. 
 
 The girl clutched her cousin's arm. 
 
 **0h, what shall we do?" she wailed. 
 
ANACOSTIA 101 
 
 Then Polly whispered something in Gilbert's 
 ear that caused his heart to flutter. 
 
 The next moment there flashed through his 
 mind a speech he remembered hearing the doc- 
 tor make when his mother was most ill. 
 
 * * Never cross her, ' ' he had instructed. ^ * Agree 
 with her, no matter how foolish it may seem to 
 do so. In nervous and mind troubles the patient 
 must be humored.'' So — 
 
 *^Good morning," the lad ventured, with a 
 sickly smile. 
 
 At sound of the voice the man crouched. 
 
 ** Cease your clatter," he commanded. 
 ** Don't you see that the enemy has surrounded 
 us. We shall all meet in paradise within an 
 hour. I am too weary to fight any longer." 
 
 A bright idea struck the boy. 
 
 **You rest," he said, "while we go out and 
 meet the foe." 
 
 The lunatic looked grateful. 
 
 "Brave knight," he whispered, "I will in- 
 trust with you my magic sword." 
 
 And to the children's horror and surprise 
 he reached under his coat and drew forth a 
 long sharp carving knife, which Gilbert was 
 glad to get in his own hand. 
 
 "Now, Pol," he whispered, grasping the girl 
 by her wrist, "run, run for your life before he 
 finds we are false to him." 
 
 And run they did — their feet fairly flew over 
 the hard, uneven ground. Scarcely had they 
 
102 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 climbed through the barbed-wire fence when 
 they detected the sound of approaching wheels 
 and a light wagon appeared around a bend in 
 the road. 
 
 * * Take us in, take us in, oh, please take us in ! ' ' 
 they both screamed together as thej rushed 
 toward the vehicle. 
 
 The driver drew up with a jerk. 
 
 '* What's the trouble, youngsters?' ' he called. 
 
 Without answering Polly clambered into the 
 ba<?k of the wagon, but Gilbert held up the knife. 
 
 **W"e have just disarmed a crazy man," he 
 panted, *'and are afraid he is after us." 
 
 ^^Good heavens!" ejaculated a blue-coated, 
 brass-buttoned man; and jumping to the ground 
 he quickly relieved the holder of his savage 
 weapon. 
 
 **How in thunder do you reckon he got this?'* 
 he inquired of his companion, who had sprung 
 to his side. 
 
 '^Ran by the kitchen as lie made his escape, I 
 suppose, but don't stop to ask questions. Pitch 
 it up to Jack and come on. We may miss him 
 yet," was the hurried rejoinder. *' Which way 
 did you say he went!" The speaker turned to 
 the frightened pair. 
 
 They gave the directions as well as they could, 
 then climbed up on the seat by the driver to 
 await the return of the insane asylum attend- 
 ants with their prisoner. 
 
 **You needn't be afraid now," the man con- 
 
ANACOSTIA 103 
 
 soled. '*The next time you kids see him he'll 
 be in a straitjacket, bagged up to his head, poor 
 fellow! Let me tell you something, lad.'* The 
 man placed his hand upon Gilbert's shoulder. 
 *^I've known that man since he was about your 
 age, and a smarter, brighter chap our country 
 never had; but he got to fooling with racing, 
 betting on horses, and losing heavily. That led 
 him to whisky and opium, and together they all 
 brought him to where you see him to-day. 
 There's no one cares two cents for him except 
 his poor old mother, and even she is afraid to 
 have him around." 
 
 **Will he never be well again?" asked the 
 boy. 
 
 ^^I am afraid not, although the doctors say if 
 they can keep him from whisky two years he 
 will be safe that way ; it is the other habit that is 
 hard to get control of. Listen!" he broke off. 
 ^^ They've got him. Here they come." 
 
 And so they were, carrying their burden be- 
 tween them. At first glance Polly thousrht the 
 man was wrapped in a cloth, but when he had 
 been laid full-length in the body of the wagon 
 she saw that he was in a heavy bag, which was 
 tied under his chin. 
 
 Going: home one of the attendants changed 
 places with the driver and tried to divert the 
 minds of the children by asking them all kinds 
 of questions about themselves — ^Who were they? 
 Where did they live ? What were they doing so 
 
104 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 far from home ? He laughed heartily when told 
 the true state of affairs. 
 
 **And you didn't get your *real country milk,' 
 after all,'' he said. **Well, you shall have it, 
 and a ^real country' dinner, besides. Just come 
 up to the hospital with me." 
 
 But the runaways politely declined the invi- 
 tation. In fact, they did not feel entirely out 
 of danger until the street cars had landed them 
 safely home, and in granda's and mamma's 
 arms their awful tale was told. 
 
 The next day Mrs. Eae read aloud an account 
 in the newspaper of how two "Washington chil- 
 dren, Polly Rae and Gilbert Thompson, while 
 in Anacostia in search of *'real country milk," 
 had captured and disarmed an escaped lunatic, 
 one of the most dangerous inmates of St. Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 *'Just to think," grandma said, in a tremb- 
 linor voice, ^^vou both might have been slashed to 
 death." 
 
 Gilbert was silent, but Polly replied with a 
 thoughtful little face: 
 
 *' Isn't it strange how the Lord protects some 
 children in their nau2fhtiness ! " 
 
CHAPTEE XI 
 
 IN THE NAVY YAKD AND UNCLE SAM's MONEY 
 FACTORY 
 
 Mrs. Eae, who was always the first one down 
 to breakfast, smiled next morning when she 
 found a note under her plate. 
 
 *^Eead it out loud, mother," she said. ^^You 
 see it is addressed to both of us." 
 
 So the old lady took the paper and read : 
 
 * * Dear Granda and Aunt Alice : 
 
 *'I am sorry I ran away yesterday, and prom- 
 ise never to do such a wicked thing again. 
 *^ Please try to forgive me. 
 
 **Your loving grandson, and nephew, 
 
 * ' Gilbert Rollins Thompson. * ' 
 
 **Dear boy, he is such a conscientious little 
 fellow," declared grandma. ^'Who could help 
 loving him?" 
 
 **He is without doubt the best child I ever 
 knew," the daughter replied. *'I know yes- 
 terday's trip was all Polly's doings, and feel 
 
 105 
 
106 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 that she should be punished for it; and yef — 
 she paused and looked hopefully at her mother 
 — **I do not believe that that jaunt was planned 
 through sheer naughtiness, do youT* 
 
 The old lady shook her head emjjhatically. 
 
 '^I certainly do not/' she answered. *^It was 
 just as the child admitted. She was warm and 
 disgusted with the hot old town and longed for 
 a sight of the country. If I had been home she 
 would have asked my permission. As it is, it is 
 my opinion she has already received ample pun- 
 ishment in the fearful scare that lunatic gave 
 her. It must have been awful to come face to 
 face with him all alone. I fear for the conse- 
 quences even now.'' 
 
 Grandma's words proved true. The next 
 three weeks Polly spent in bed, so ill that part 
 of the time Ned's bouquets of buttercups and 
 clovers remained unnoticed by the little patient, 
 whose curly head tossed upon the pillow in wild- 
 est delirium for days. When at last, pale and 
 emaciated, she was able to join the family once 
 more, it was to find herself unceremoniously 
 packed off to spend a fortnight with one of her 
 mamma's friends in Virginia in order to re- 
 cuperate. 
 
 In the meantime Gilbert continued his sight- 
 seeing with Walter. Together they visited the 
 Navy Yard and were shown through the gun 
 shops, and watched at the gate of the testing- 
 pool, where the speed of every battle-ship and 
 
NAVY YARD AND MINT 107 
 
 torpedo boat to be made by the United States 
 Government is tested. This is done by means 
 of a model of the ship's hull, which is con- 
 structed for the purpose. Chief among the 
 other relics, and one that the boy examined with 
 interest, was the "Long Tom.'' The old forty- 
 two pound, cast-iron gun, now over a hundred 
 and twenty-four years old, belonged originally 
 to France, but was captured by the British dur- 
 ing the French invasion of Ireland in the year 
 1798, and bought by America. When condemned 
 by the United States it was sold to Hayti, to be- 
 come the enemy of its first master, France. In 
 America once more the old gun did good work, 
 forming one of the battery of the armed brig 
 General Armstrong^ when off Fayal, one of the 
 Azores, single-handed the battle-ship engaged 
 in a fight with three ships of the British squad- 
 ron, and so disabled the fleet that it failed to 
 reach its destination, New Orleans, in time for 
 the great fight when Jackson won the day. In 
 order to save her from the enemy the Arm- 
 strong was sunk ; but the Portuguese recovered 
 the Long Tom and presented it to the United 
 States. Now, its fighting days over, it rests 
 peacefully on its wooden frame by the side of 
 one of the main avenues of the United States 
 Navy Yard. 
 
 The boys walked among and examined many 
 other old guns, which are arran2:ed in a circle 
 in front of the Commandant's office. Near the 
 
108 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 Museum, which contains a collection of relics 
 and naval equipments, Walter pointed out a 
 beautiful weeping willow tree that was grown 
 from a slip taken from one of the trees over 
 Napoleon's grave at St. Helena. 
 
 After leaving the Navy Yard the lads took a 
 car which landed them near the Bureau of En- 
 graving and Printing, a branch of the United 
 States Treasury, where Gilbert watched in 
 amazement the printing of the United States 
 bonds and national currency. From room to 
 room he followed, close by the side of the guide, 
 listening with interest while she explained the 
 different stages of money making. 
 
 **I should think, '* he ventured, as he watched 
 the expert counters who give the final count to 
 the valuable piles of greenbacks before they are 
 carried over to the United States Treasury, 
 ^Hhat it would be a very great temptation to 
 these people to help themselves to a few bills 
 when there are so many stacked about. Surely 
 they would never be missed.'' 
 
 The guide shook her head. 
 
 *'No, my man," she answered. *^ There are 
 one thousand four hundred employees in this 
 Bureau, and each piece of work goes through 
 the hands of thirty different people ; at the clos- 
 ing hour if the counts do not tally, or a note is 
 lost, the doors are locked and no one allowed 
 to leave the building until it is accounted for. 
 There have been times when employees have 
 
NAVY YARD AND MINT 109 
 
 stolen from the Government, but it is more than 
 risky to do so, as the thief is always run down 
 by Uncle Sam's secret service men, — though it 
 sometimes takes years to do it, — and is sooner 
 or later brought to justice. However, the temp- 
 tation is not so great here as in the Treasury 
 Department, as, before the money is ready for 
 circulation, it must be sent there for the signa- 
 ture of the United States Treasurer and final 
 seal of the Registrar, which last office, by the 
 way, is held by a negro, and has been since the 
 term of B. K. Bruce, who was appointed under 
 President Garfield." 
 
 On their way home Walter told his cousin an 
 interesting tale of an old colored woman who 
 until recently was a trusted employee of the 
 United States Treasury Department. 
 
 ** Years ago,'' he said, **she was appointed 
 messenger in the Treasurer's Office of the 
 Treasury Department, and while cleaning the 
 room after office hours one afternoon she came 
 UT^on a packasre of bills, all readv for circulation, 
 lying carelessly on the floor under one of the 
 desks. Instead of being overjoyed with her rich 
 find and hiding it about her person, as many 
 another would h^ve done, the poor creature was 
 scared nearly to de^^th. She was afraid to start 
 out of the room with it for fear one of the watch- 
 men might accuse her of stealing, nor could she 
 run the risk of leaving it for one less honest 
 than herself to find. For awhile she was in a 
 
110 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 quandary, until she hit upon the plan of sitting 
 on it, which she did. All night she remained 
 there, and the next morning when the clerks 
 came in at nine o'clock there they found her 
 patiently holding down her treasure." 
 
 *^Was she rewarded for her honesty T' Gil- 
 bert asked. 
 
 **0h, yes, her position was made lifelong in 
 the Treasurer's office, where she served faith- 
 fully, respected by all, until she died, a few 
 years ago. 
 
 ** Here's another case," continued the boy. 
 ^*In the redemption division, where old bills are 
 cut and pieced out, a nice little woman, liked 
 and respected by all her fellow-clerks, was 
 cauQfht stealing. No one even suspected her 
 until she sent her son off to one of the leading 
 colleges and began buying up real estate and 
 riding to office in a carriage instead of on a 
 street car. Then the Department began a still 
 hunt, but not until the net was all about her 
 did she confess that for years she had been 
 stealing pieces of notes and pasting them to- 
 gether." 
 
 **0h, how dreadful the son must have felt!" 
 gasped the horror-stricken listener. 
 
 Walter shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 **I don't suppose he ever knew of it," he 
 said. *^It was found out in time to save the 
 woman from the penitentiary. She was simply 
 dismissed, and the matter hushed up. But I 
 
NAVY YARD AND MINT 111 
 
 can tell you of another case where the culprit 
 was less fortunate. He was a naval officer, and 
 when the detectives went to his home to make 
 the arrest they were met at the door by his 
 daughter, who asked that they allow her father 
 time to finish his bath. They politely consented, 
 and while they waited for their prisoner in the 
 parlor he was making his escape through the 
 back way.'' 
 
 *^Was he ever caught T' 
 
 *'0h, yes ; but not for a long time. You know 
 when Uncle Sam really wants you, you might 
 as well give up, for he never will. He keeps 
 up a still hunt until he has 'bagged his bird.' 
 Years later news came that the man, under an 
 assumed name, was keeping a second-hand book 
 store in another city. Officers in citizen's clothes 
 went in, and after innocently examining some 
 books on a shelf, one of them suddenly slapped 
 the fellow on the back, at the same time calling 
 him by his right name. It took the man so by 
 surprise that he collapsed right there, and was 
 brought back to serve a long term in the peni- 
 tentiary." 
 
 The little New Yorker was silent for a long 
 time. Finally: 
 
 ^'I believe I would rather be a farmer than a 
 Government clerk,." he said thoughtfully. 
 
 *SSo wouM I — on such a farm as your father 
 has; but Washington isn't such a bad place in 
 which to live. No other city in the United 
 
112 POLLY AND GILBEET 
 
 States has its broad, clean streets, its beauti- 
 ful shade trees and many parks. Just wait until 
 Polly gets back next week and we visit the * Sol- 
 diers ' Home ' ; then you will see that Uncle Sam 
 is loyal to his own when they are to him. ' ' 
 
CHAPTEE XII 
 
 There was not a happier home in Washington 
 than that of our friends on Capitol Hill when 
 Polly, with rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, 
 came bouncing in one afternoon. Walter and 
 Gilbert went to the depot to meet her, but the 
 little girl skipped into the house a half a square 
 ahead of them. 
 
 ^*I tried to have her return to the fold as a 
 young miss should,'' laughed the big brother, 
 *^but there is too much of the frolicsome lamb 
 in her. When we reached the corner there was 
 no holding her back.'' 
 
 Mrs. Eae embraced the little girl, then held 
 her off at arms' length. 
 
 ^^ Darling," she said, ^^I am so glad you have 
 come back to us your own robust self." 
 
 ^^ Thanks to *real country milk,' " was Polly's 
 roguish reply. 
 
 Ned was delighted to have ^^Tister" home 
 again. He danced about and seemed bursting 
 with anxiety to tell her something. 
 
 **Now mind, young sir," cautioned Walter, 
 *'no * merry widow' cone of ice cream for you 
 
 113 
 
114 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 if yon let the cat out of the bag.'' 
 
 *'0h, speaking of bags reminds me/' cried 
 Polly. "Mrs. Palmer said she put a box of 
 country good things and a dozen nice, fresh 
 eggs in my suit case. ' ' 
 
 "Eggs !" yelled Walter. "Why in the world 
 didn't you tell me sooner, sis? I am afraid 
 everything in the valise is turned to gold by this 
 time." 
 
 Polly began to cry. 
 
 "Never mind, dear," consoled grandma. 
 "They are all wash clothes, and a little soap 
 and water will soon bring the stains out." 
 
 "It isn't that," whimpered the child, "but all 
 the good country eating is spoiled, and I wanted 
 you people to get a taste so much." 
 
 "It is all right, Pol," shouted Gilbert, from 
 the hall. "Everything else is floating in a sea 
 of yellow, but the lunch is packed in a tin box. 
 We will eat, drink, and be merry, after all." 
 
 "We had better save it for to-morrow," sug- 
 gested Walter. "It will make a fine pic " 
 
 He slapped his hand over his mouth just in 
 time. 
 
 "I am going to bet a treat around that our 
 secret will not keep until to-morrow," Mrs. Eae 
 laughingly announced, as she spread out the 
 soda biscuits, fried chicken, and chocolate cake 
 Mrs. Palmer had sent. 
 
 But it did. for the next morning when Lillian 
 and Paul Rodkin drove up in a large spring 
 
THE SOLDIERS' HOME 115 
 
 wagon, and Polly was told that all hands were 
 going on a picnic to the United States Soldiers' 
 Home Grounds, there was not a more astonished 
 nor delisfhted little girl anywhere. 
 
 Lillian told her friends what a time her father 
 had had to get the permit. 
 
 * * The Governor of the Home wonld not issue 
 it until papa promised that his party would 
 clean up all the dirt they made, and not break 
 a branch nor a flower," she said. 
 
 '*The trouble is this," Paul told them. *^The 
 inmates of the Home do all of the work on the 
 place and keep it in perfect condition, so of 
 course it would be discouraging to them to have 
 a lot of picnickers come out and litter up the 
 grounds in which they take so much pride." 
 
 "Are you sure there are no women domestics 
 there, Paul?" asked Mrs. Rae. 
 
 '*I know the only women employed are the 
 nurses in the hospital, and they are Eoman 
 Catholic Sisters. I heard the Governor tell 
 father when we went to get the permit, that the 
 only hirpd men were for the work done on the 
 farm and in the dairy, and th^t the Home prizes 
 a medal it was awarded for having the most 
 sanitary and strictly up-to-date dairy." 
 
 Just then the wa<ron entered the grounds 
 throus-h the main carriacreway, and soon the 
 children were romping about on the grass and 
 playinor h^e-and-^eek amono: the shrubbery. 
 An old soldier, sitting contentedly with his pipe 
 
116 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 on one of the benches, appeared highly amused 
 at the antics of the young people. 
 
 *^You run, sonny boy, and invite the gentle- 
 man to our picnic dinner/' Mrs. Rae said to 
 Neddie, when the contents of Peg's basket had 
 been spread out on the grass. 
 
 Smiling like a pleased child, the old army 
 veteran joined the merry little group, and, being 
 an interesting talker, soon had the entire party 
 listening attentively to tales of his fighting days 
 before, as he termed it, he had been set aside 
 for his country to look after. 
 
 **But,'' he admitted, thoughtfully rubbing the 
 palms of his hands together, *'we worthless old 
 fellows have a mighty pleasant time here, thanks 
 to our friend and comrade, the late General 
 Winfie^d Scott.'' 
 
 ''What did he have to do with it?" asked Gil- 
 bert eagerly. 
 
 *'The Home was founded at his suggestion 
 by an act of Consrress, with the pillage money 
 taken during the Mexican War," was the old 
 man's reply. *'I can tell you quite an interest- 
 ins: story about it if you care to listen," he 
 added. 
 
 Of course all hands were anxious for him to 
 commence, which he presently did. 
 
 *'It was this way," he began. ''When the 
 American Army, under General Winfield Scott, 
 was besieQ:ing the City of Mexico a detachment 
 of our forces overtook the fleeing Emperor and 
 
THE SOLDIERS' HOME 117 
 
 a number of his high officials, and captured not 
 only them, but a large amount of pillage money, 
 including the strong-box containing several hun- 
 dred thousand dollars of Mexican treasure. 
 When the money was turned over to the United 
 States Government it was found that Congress 
 would not accept it, as it was considered bounty 
 and pillage money as a result of conquest. Then 
 it was our friend, General Scott, came forward 
 and suggested that the money be used to estab- 
 lish a national home for soldiers of the regular 
 army. His advice was taken, and this the re- 
 sult.'' As lie finished speaking the old veteran 
 arose stiffly and waved a hand toward the sev- 
 eral magnificent structures about him. ^'Our 
 principal building is named, in memory of the 
 General, the 'Scott Building.' " 
 
 ''Do all of these different houses have 
 names?" Polly inquired. 
 
 "Oh, yes. The others are the Sherman, the 
 Sheridan, the Anderson, and King buildings," 
 the old man informed them. "The one you see 
 just going up over there," — he pointed to an 
 immense white marble structure nearing com- 
 pletion, — "is the new dormitory and mess hall; 
 when finished and furnished it will have cost 
 two miPion dollars, and be considered the best 
 equipped dininof-room in the country." 
 
 "I should think it would, at that price," said 
 grandma, rubbing up her gold spectacles that 
 
118 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 she might see the better this wonderful piece of 
 workmanship. 
 
 ^*How is the Home supported T' Walter in- 
 quired. 
 
 The veteran chuckled. 
 
 ** There used to be a tax upon the pay of every 
 regular soldier, but as we now have more than 
 four million dollars, for which the United States 
 Government pays three per cent, interest, that 
 has been done away with, and only money from 
 court-martials and other extraordinary sources 
 from the regular army comes to us. Now, I 
 reckon you would like to look through some of 
 our buildings, wouldn't you?' ^ 
 
 A chorus of ^'Yes," '^Yes indeed," and ** De- 
 lighted," greeted this proposition. So leaving 
 instructions with Jim, the grinning negro 
 driver, to pick up every scrap of paper and crust 
 of bread when he had finished his lunch, the 
 party trooped off with their new-found friend. 
 
 ** First let me tell you," said the guide, *' there 
 are seven hundred acres of land out here; and 
 the valuation of our property exceeds ten mil- 
 lion dollars." 
 
 **Is it possible?" exclaimed Paul. ^^How 
 many inmates are there, sir?" 
 
 ** Guests, if you please," corrected the old 
 man. *^We never call ourselves inmates." 
 
 *^I beg your pardon," the boy apologized, '^I 
 didn't mean to offend you." 
 
 ** That's all right, young man. You didn't 
 
THE SOLDIERS' HOME 119 
 
 know, but will next time. Tliere are twelve hun- 
 dred names on the roll, but only about one 
 thousand of the boys are here all the time. You 
 smile when I say 'boys,' but really that is what 
 we are, and will always be to each other. And, '' 
 — the old soldier shook his head sadly, — ''when 
 you think about it, I guess you will find the term 
 not far from right, for many of us are in, or 
 nearing, the second childhood mark.'' 
 
 In one building the party looked out of a win- 
 dow and saw about eight or ten blue-coated vet- 
 erans busily shelling green peas. They ap- 
 peared to be enjoying themselves immensely, 
 ?nd upon seeing the amusement of the visitors 
 jokingly invited the girls to come down and 
 assist them in their job. They answered that 
 they would love to some other day, but time was 
 too precious just then. 
 
 ** Don't forget the spook's castle, Rodgers," 
 called one old gray-headed "boy," as the little 
 group moved off. 
 
 I won't, comrade," was the shouted reply. 
 
 I am saving the best for the last, you know." 
 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE SPECIAL DELIVERY LETTER 
 
 After a thorough tour of all of the buildings 
 and a peep in the door of the handsome little 
 opera house, where the soldiers are often enter- 
 tained with vaudeville, music, or a theatrical 
 performance. Captain Rodgers led the way to 
 what was the original farmhouse. 
 
 ^'This,'^ he said, ^4s what some call the 
 'Spook's Castle.' I admit it very ungracious of 
 them, and am sure that you will consider the 
 work it contains most beautiful and wonderfully 
 wrought. ' ' 
 
 The children, thoroughly awed and mystified 
 by the old gentleman's words, hung timidly be- 
 hind the two ladies when they were ushered into 
 the building, but when they found with what it 
 was filled there were expressions of delight and 
 surprise from all hands. 
 
 '*It is an art gallery," exclaimed Mrs. Rae. 
 
 '*I don't see the sense of calling it * Spook's 
 Castle,' " blurted out Gilbert. 
 
 **No, no more than saying the Corcoran Art 
 Gallery is Ghost's Hall," put in Paul. 
 
 120 
 
A SPECIAL LETTER 121 
 
 **Wait a bit, youngsters,'' cautioned the cap- 
 tain. ^'Whi'e you are enjoying the pictures I 
 will tell you something that will astonish you. 
 These paintings, four hundred in all, are the 
 
 work of one of my comrades. Captain 
 
 — — , who was once a Confederate captain, but 
 later joined the Union Army. The strangest 
 part of the story is this. The artist, who is a 
 great spiritualist, did not begin to paint until 
 after he was sixty years old. He declares the 
 work is not his, but that of his spirit friends, 
 who used his hands for their own pleasure.'' 
 
 ^^ Maybe his mind is alfected," suggested 
 Grandma. 
 
 Captain Eodi^ers shook his head. 
 
 *^I cannot bring myself to think so," he re- 
 plied slowly. ''He seems to be as clear-minded 
 as any of us. What strikes us all as being 
 queer, is, the painting is done during the night 
 in a dark room."* 
 
 ''Mercy!" whispered Lillian, sidling up close 
 to Paul. "I don't like it very much in here, 
 brother. Let us get out." 
 
 Everybody laughed, but after the party 
 passed out into the sunshine once more all of 
 its members felt more or less awed by the weird 
 tale they had just heard. 
 
 ♦The history of the gallery was told the writer by a soldier 
 of Intel igence and integrity, who for a number of years was 
 a guest of the Home.| 
 
122 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 As Gilbert was anxious to hear the Soldiers' 
 Home Band concert, which was to take place 
 about four o'clock, it was quite late in the after- 
 noon when our friends climbed into the wagon 
 for the homeward trip. Their acquaintance of 
 the day rode with them to the gate, and had 
 Jim stop at a certain turn in the road in order 
 that the visitors might enjoy the *' Capitol 
 Vista.'' Through a long, well-trimmed forest 
 vista may be seen the great, white structure 
 fully three miles away. 
 
 **I hope Peg will have supper ready when 
 we get there," Polly exclaimed, '^for I feel as 
 if I haven't had anything to eat to-day." 
 
 **I am astonished, sis," teased Walter, ** after 
 the picnic lunch you ate." 
 
 **You forget, brother mine, that I have just 
 returned from the country, where there are no 
 Government clerks to regulate the two-meal-a- 
 day system. I am hungry down to my toes, 
 and am not ashamed to tell it," laughingly ad- 
 mitted the little girl. 
 
 When the wagon at last stopped in front of 
 the Rae home, and the '^Capitol Hill" folk had 
 bidden their ** uptown" friends good-by, Polly 
 found awaiting them something of far greater 
 imriortance than supper. It even took all appe- 
 tite from the small-sized maiden and caused her 
 to sob herself to sleep that night when she went 
 to bed. 
 
 Not so with Gilbert, though. The house could 
 
A SPECIAL LETTER 123 
 
 hardly hold him when he heard the good news. 
 His mother's health was so greatly improved 
 that it was decided she could return home, where 
 once more her boy could be with her. His 
 father was coming to Washington the follow- 
 ing Saturday, to thank the relatives in person 
 for the interest they had taken in his little son 
 and accompany him home to mother, who, the 
 letter stated, was counting the days until she 
 could once again have her boy in her arms. 
 
 **Ah done feel som' missgibens 'bout dat 
 'special liberty letter, kause deys in generally 
 de befo '-runners ob some bad news; but Ah 
 sure am glad Ah don' misscaculate dis oncest," 
 declared Peg, her honest black face wreathed 
 in smiles for the jubilant boy and eyes filled 
 with tears of thankfulness for the sick mother 
 made well again. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 GOOD-BYS 
 
 The next few days were busy ones, indeed. 
 There were good-bys to be said and a number 
 of places yet to be visited, besides an eclipse of 
 the moon to get up in the night to watch and a 
 leper's camp to gaze upon from a distance. 
 
 A whole day was spent at the National Zoolo- 
 gical Park among the animals and birds. Polly 
 nearly had hysterics when they entered the 
 monkey house and one of the funny little fel- 
 lows tried his best to stretch a long hairy arm 
 out of his grated cage far enough to shake 
 hands with Walter. And when they went down 
 to the bear cave Mrs. Rae showed them where 
 she and her sister Eleanor, Gilbert's mamma, 
 used to wade in Bock Creek when they were 
 little girls. 
 
 Polly had asked if they could not go in the 
 water a little while, and mamma had given her 
 consent; even Neddie's pantaloons were rolled 
 up high above the knees and he allowed to 
 paddle out into the stream, so Walter could 
 take a group picture of the three with his pocket 
 camera as a souvenir for Gilbert to take back to 
 New York with him. 
 
 124 
 
< : 
 
GOOD-BYS 125 
 
 Tlien there were the Smithsonian Institute, 
 the National Museum, and the Fish Commission 
 to go tlirough. True, the Medical Museum is 
 among the group, but after Walter had named 
 over a few of the horrible things it contains, 
 such as sawed-off limbs, diseased bones, and 
 deformed bodies, Gilbert decided he would 
 prefer to skip it. 
 
 The Agriculture Department is just west of 
 the Smithsonian Institute, and, as the little boy- 
 declared it was right in his father \s line of busi- 
 ness, his cousin took him through its museum, 
 and really was surprised himself at the inter- 
 esting display of agricultural products to be 
 seen there. The boys left Mr. Thompson's 
 name and address for garden seed, and Walter 
 gave his own for fancy grass seed, which he 
 said he intended to plant in the back yard if 
 Polly and Ned could be kept otf of it long 
 enough for it to take root and grow. 
 
 Friday evening, after Peg had cleared the 
 dishes from the table and the family gathered 
 around it to chat and play games, all agreed 
 that the little New Yorker had seen about all 
 the sights the Capital City contains, and that 
 his Washino^ton kin had enjoyed his visit as 
 much as he had himself. 
 
 The next afternoon Mr. Thompson arrived. 
 Gilbert thouo:ht he seemed taller and thinner 
 than when he last saw him, but 
 
 * ^ Oh, daddy, ' ' he cried, after a hearty kiss and 
 
126 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 hug, **yoii are so good to look at, and I'm so 
 glad to see you!'' 
 
 With much urging Uncle Jack was persuaded 
 to remain until Tuesday, in order that two very 
 historic places, the house in which Lincoln died 
 and the Francis Scott Key mansion, which it 
 was discovered at the last minute had been over- 
 looked in the sight-seeing, might be visited. 
 
 The brick house on Tenth Street, across from 
 Ford's old Opera House, is a plain-faced, three 
 story and basement dwelling, which no one 
 wouM give a second glance toward were it not 
 for the placard above the parlor window and 
 sign over the basement entrance that tell it to 
 be the house in which our martyred President 
 Lincoln passed away. In it Gilbert saw the 
 Bible in which Lincoln wrote his name in boy- 
 hood; a stand made from logs of the house in 
 which he lived in 1832; a log split by Lincoln 
 and John Hanks in 1830; the hat worn r)y the 
 President on the night of April 14, 1865; the 
 cliair occupied by him in the theater when he 
 was so cruelly assassinated, and many other 
 articles held sacred as belonging to our beloved 
 Lincoln and his family. 
 
 At the corner Mr. Thompson and his party 
 boarded a Georgetown car, which soon landed 
 them at the house once occupied by Francis 
 Scott Key. the author of our famous **Star 
 SpauQ^led Banner." Polly, the only one not 
 familiar with the history of the thrilling story, 
 
THE HOME OF FKAM i .s SCOTT KEY 
 Facing Page 126 
 
GOOD-BYS 127 
 
 listened attentively while her uncle told how 
 Mr. Francis Scott Key, September 13, 1814, 
 under the most thrilling and trying circum- 
 stances, watched from a British vessel the at- 
 tack upon Fort McHenry, the chief defense of 
 the city of Baltimore. Sent to the squadron in 
 order to effect the release of a friend who was 
 held prisoner by the British, Mr. Key had been 
 placed in a small vessel and detained until the 
 attack was over. All day he watched anxiously, 
 and when night came on restlessly paced the 
 deck peering through the gloom and smoke, 
 waiting for a gleam from a bursting shell to 
 show him whether the flag of his country was 
 still waving. 
 
 **Just imagine how he felt,'* exclaimed Gil- 
 bert, *'when morning came and he saw our ban- 
 ner still floating out on the breeze and heard 
 the cheers coming from the fort.'' 
 
 **That," replied his father, ^*may easily be 
 done by reading Mr. Key's beautiful poem, 
 *The Star-Spangled Banner,' which has become 
 national." 
 
 **By the way, son, have you been to Cabin 
 John Bridge?" inquired the gentleman on the 
 way home. 
 
 *^Yes, when I first came. Walter says it is 
 claimed to be the longest single span of masonry 
 in the world. And, oh, pop, he showed me 
 where Jefferson Davis' name had been erased 
 from one side of the bridge after the Civil War, 
 
128 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 and just put back a few years ago by order of 
 the Secretary of War.'' 
 
 **I can tell you of an occurrence which to me 
 was of far greater importance than that, my 
 boy, that took place on that old stone bridge. I 
 will tell you all about it when we get to the 
 house," Mr. Thompson answered musingly. 
 
 That evening just as the family were leaving 
 the dinner table Polly remembered the promise. 
 
 ^^Oh, uncle," she cried, "you have not told 
 us your Cabin John Bridge tale." 
 
 *^That is so," admitted Uncle Jack, pulling 
 his little niece down upon his lap. "A long 
 time ago," he said, "when your aunt Eleanor 
 and I were young I took her for a drive, and 
 just as we were crossing Cabin John Bridge I 
 chanced to peep out of the corner of my eye at 
 her, and she looked so sweet in her pink mull 
 dress, with a tiny rosebud in her hair, that I 
 could not resist the temptation to steal my arm 
 slyly about her waist," — Mr. Thompson hugged 
 Polly close to him for illustration, — "and whis- 
 per something in her ear." 
 
 "I know, I know what you said." shouted a 
 chorus of voices. "You asked her to be your 
 wife. ' ' 
 
 "Ho!" chuckled the tale-teller, "that wasn't 
 the important part, though. ' ' 
 
 "And she said yes," squealed the little girl. 
 
GOOD-BYS 129 
 
 giving liim a hearty smack on the cheek. ' * She 
 showed her sense, too." 
 
 Jumping up, Uncle Jack danced Polly about 
 the room, then clapping her hat on her head 
 declared : 
 
 **Pol has earned an ice cream treat for all 
 hands, so I guess she and I had better go and 
 order it right away. By the way, Gilbert, if 
 Aunt Alice and grandma have no objections, 
 what do you say about me telephoning up and 
 inviting the Eodkin children down this evening? 
 They have been so kind to you I believe I should 
 like to know them." 
 
 Of course there were no objections, so the 
 message was duly sent from the nearest drug 
 store, and joyfully accepted from the other end 
 of the phone. 
 
 Walter and Gilbert hurriedly hung Japanese 
 lanterns in the grape arbor, while Mrs. Rae and 
 Peggie brought out the company dishes and set 
 the table under the arbor. Everything was in 
 readiness when the automobile steamed up and 
 Lillian and Paul stepped out. Imagine the de- 
 light and surprise, however, when it was found 
 that their parents had accompanied them. 
 
 **We couldn't help coming," apologized the 
 doctor. *'We have taken such a fancy to your 
 boy, Mr. Thompson, we felt like we must get 
 acquainted with his father also." 
 
 It was after ten o'clock when the friends 
 separated, Gilbert giving a parting injunction 
 
130 POLLY AND GILBERT 
 
 to Paul not to forget to tell the captain of the 
 ''T. Y. A.'s*' he was sorry at not being able to 
 join his company. 
 
 We will not dwell upon the good-bys spoken, 
 nor the tears shed, when our little friend started 
 next morning on his homeward trip, happy with 
 the thought that soon he was to see and be with 
 the dear mother, but sad at heart to think of 
 the many dear ones he was leaving behind. Suf- 
 fice it is to say that when Uncle Jack bade Polly 
 good-by he put a parcel in the little girPs hand. 
 
 * * Something to help you not to miss this val- 
 uable cousin of yours," he whispered. 
 
 It turned out to be a book of beautiful fairy 
 tales, which Polly and Neddie both spent many 
 enjoyable hours listening to grandma read 
 aloud. 
 
 THE EISD 
 
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 BINDERY INC. 
 
 ^^ AUG 89 
 
 N. MANCHESTER, 
 Sfe^ INDIANA 46962 
 
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