uch of his time was spent at Albany as Executive, Theodore
Roosevelt had not given up the old homestead at Oyster Bay on Long
Island, and thither he went for rest and recreation, taking his entire
family, which, as has been said, consisted of his wife and six children,
with him.

The old Roosevelt homestead is on a hill about three miles distant from
the village. The road to the house winds upward through a wilderness of
trees and brushwood. At the top of the hill, where the house stands, is
a cleared space, free to the strong breezes of Long Island Sound. It is
on the north shore, about twenty-five miles from City Hall, New York.

The house is a large, three-story affair, with crossed gables, and a
large semicircular veranda at one end. Inside there is a wide hall, and
all the rooms are of good size, with broad windows and inviting open
fireplaces. One room is fitted up as Mr. Roosevelt's "den," with many
bookcases filled with books, and with rare prints of Washington,
Lincoln, and other celebrities on the walls, and with not a few trophies
of the hunt added. In this room Mr. Roosevelt has done much of his work
as an author.

It is said that Abraham Lincoln not only chopped wood for a living, but
that he rather enjoyed the outdoor exercise. Be that as it may, it
remains a fact that Mr. Roosevelt frequently goes forth into the woods
on his estate to fell a tree, or split one up, just for the exercise
thus afforded. This he did while he was governor of New York, and once
astonished some newspaper men who had come to see him on business by the
dexterity with which he cut a large tree trunk in two. He even invited
his visitors to "take a hack at it" themselves, but they respectfully
declined.

He still kept up his athletic exercise, and one of his favorite
amusements was to go on long horseback rides, either alone, or with some
relative or friend. At other times he would go deep into the woods with
his young sons, showing them how to bring down the nuts from the trees,
or how to use their guns on any small game that chanced to show itself.
His family life was then, as it has always been, a happy one; but of
this let us speak later.

[Illustration: THE ROOSEVELT HOMESTEAD AT OYSTER BAY.

(_Photograph by Pach Bros., N.Y._)]

CHAPTER XX

GREAT RECEPTION TO ADMIRAL DEWEY--GOVERNOR ROOSEVELT'S INCREASED
POPULARITY--LAST ANNUAL MESSAGE AS GOVERNOR--VISIT TO CHICAGO--REMARKABLE
SPEECH ON THE STRENUOUS LIFE

Al