his
Indian work is a fair return of what he accomplished, for this Medal
of Honor, the then only prize for personal bravery and high fighting
qualities which his country could give him, has always been the rare
and much coveted award of army men.

It was in Wood's case the mark of conspicuous fighting qualities,
conspicuous bravery and marked attention to duty--a sign of success of
a high order for a New England doctor of twenty-five.

{49}

THE OFFICIAL

{50}

{51}

III

THE OFFICIAL

Chance no doubt at times plays an important part in the making of a
man. Yet perhaps Cassias' remark, through the medium of Shakespeare,
that "The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are
underlings," has the truer ring. Chance no doubt comes to all of us
again and again, but it is the brain that takes the chance which
deserves the credit and not the accidental event, opportunity or
occasion offering.

It was not chance that sent Leonard Wood to Arizona to fight Indians.
It was the result of long hours of meditation in Boston when, as a
young doctor, he decided finally to leave the usual routine of a
physician's career and strike out in another and less main-traveled
road. There was nothing of luck or chance in this decision, the
carrying out of which taught him something that he used later to the
advantage of himself and his country.

Out of the Indian experiences came to him in {62} the most vigorous
possible way through actual observation the necessity for bodily
health. No man could ride or walk day in and day out across waterless
deserts and keep his courage and determination, to say nothing of his
good common sense, without being in the best of physical condition. No
man could get up in the morning after a terrific night's march, and
collect his men and cheer and encourage them unless he was absolutely
fit and in better condition than they.

He learned, too, that all matters of outfit, care of person, of
equipment, of horses required the most constant attention day by day,
hour by hour. He had to deal with an enemy who belonged to this
country, who knew and was accustomed to its climatic conditions as
well as its topography, and he had to beat him at his own game, or
fail.

He learned that preparation, while it should never delay action, can
never be overdone. This must have been drilled into the young man by
the hardest and most grueling experiences, because it has been one of
the gospels of his cr