f thick
brown hair clustered above a broad open forehead. His features were
regular, his mouth firm, and his expression when silent had a certain
undertone of sadness, which instantly vanished when he spoke. But it
was the clear, blue-gray eye and the low, soft, and very distinct voice
that left the most lasting impression on the memory of the man who had
seen and spoken with Charles Gordon--an eye that seemed to have looked
at great distances and seen the load of life carried on many shoulders,
and a voice that, like the clear chime of some Flemish belfry, had in
it fresh music to welcome the newest hour, even though it had rung out
the note of many a vanished day."

IMPORTANT DATES IN GORDON'S LIFE

1833. January 28. Charles George Gordon born.
1849. Entered Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
1852. Commissioned second lieutenant of engineers.
1854. Sent to the Crimea, to construct huts and trenches.
1862. Sent as major to explore Great Wall of China.
1863. Took command of "Ever-Victorious Army" in China.
1864. Crushed native rebellion and given highest rank in
Chinese army.
1874. Sent on first expedition to Egypt and the Soudan, as colonel.
1881. Made major-general.
1884. Sent in command of expedition to the Soudan.
1885. January 24. Lost his life in the massacre at Khartoum.

ROBERTS

THE WEAK BOY WITH THE STRONG WILL

When one is picking out soldiers, one usually chooses big men. You see a
strapping fellow going by in regimentals, and you say, "My, what a dandy
soldier!"

Well, there have been some big men in stature who have been big
soldiers--such as Washington--but it is interesting to note that many of
our great generals have been undersized. Such were Grant, Wellington,
and Napoleon. Such was Lord Roberts who became Earl and Marshal, and was
one of the best-loved leaders that England has produced. He was
associated with two great campaigns to extend the British Empire--in
India and South Africa--and passed away in the midst of the great World
War, within a few months of Kitchener.

And yet, as a boy, no one would have picked him out as destined to become
a famous soldier. One recent biographer (Wheeler) calls him "a weak boy
with a strong will," and we cannot do better than repeat this as giving
some sort of key to his career. Roberts himself has left an entertaining
story of his life in "Forty-One Years in India," which shows that a
soldi