, voyaging to the far
north, and even crossing the Atlantic and visiting South America. He was
always deeply interested in strange lands; he loved the thrill of any
adventure, and at the sight of an act of injustice or cruelty nothing
could keep him from going at once to the rescue.

When he was in South America he heard that the Italians were rising
against their foreign masters and were planning to fight for freedom. He
sailed for home instantly, and no sooner did he land than he was leading
a company of friends to join the Italian army. He was fearless,
generous, and as open-hearted as a child; wherever he went men flocked
to his command; within a few months the young man was virtually general
of an army, and fighting and winning battle after battle in the Alps. At
the end of a year his fame had crossed Europe.

The freedom of Italy, however, was not won in a single campaign.
Although Garibaldi's troops were victorious, some of the other Italian
armies were not, and before long that first war of independence came to
an end. For a time the Austrians' hold over the cities of Italy seemed
stronger than ever, and Garibaldi and many of his friends were forced to
leave their homes and seek refuge in other countries. Again Garibaldi
crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and this time he went to New York, and took
up the trade of candle-maker, living in a small frame house on Staten
Island. He liked Americans; they understood him and his burning desire
for Italian freedom better than any other foreigners he met.

He stayed on Staten Island until the chance came for him to go to sea
again as captain of a merchantman, and after that it was only a short
time before he was again in the Alps, his sword drawn, his devoted
volunteers behind him.

It was long before the dream of Italian patriots came true and Rome
became the capital of a united country, but during those years Garibaldi
led crusade after crusade. He wore the simple costume of an Italian
peasant, with a red shirt which was copied by all his men. This
red-shirted army swept the enemy out of Sicily and Naples, drove them
back through the Alps, won so continually that the superstitious
Neapolitans believed that their leader must be in league with the Evil
One. But the people of Italy worshiped this general beyond all their
other heroes.

Even their praises could not spoil the simplicity of Garibaldi's nature.
When his work was done he went home to live quietly with his family