liking as well as a mutual
understanding on the part of both men of the other's good qualities.
He saw him in the White House at all hours of the day and night; saw
him with his family and his children about him; noted their fondness
for their father and his devotion to them. It was a quality so marked
in Lincoln, so strong in most great men {60} of the sound, calm,
fearless, administrative sort. Wood himself has exhibited the same
quality in his own family. And in those days the perfect understanding
of the father and his children, the simple family life that went on in
the splendid old house in Washington which combined the dignity of a
State and the simplicity of a home unequaled by any great ruler's
house upon this earth--all tended to bring out this native quality in
the President's medical adviser.

It was at the conclusion of Cleveland's second term that Wood was
assigned to this position. On one of the President's trips for
recreation and rest--a shooting expedition on the inland waters near
Cape Hatteras--he was one of the party which included also Admiral
Evans and Captain Lamberton. The hours spent in shooting boxes or in
the evenings in the cabin of the lighthouse tender gave opportunity
for him to study Cleveland off duty when the latter liked to sit
quietly and talk of his early life, of his political battles, of
fishing, shooting, and of the urgent questions which beset him as
President. And Wood brought away with him a profound respect for the
{61} combination of simplicity and unswerving love and devotion to his
country, coupled with rugged uncompromising honesty which seem to have
been the characteristics of Grover Cleveland.

This particular trip was immediately after the inauguration ceremonies
of President McKinley, and Cleveland was not only tired from the
necessary part which he himself had taken in them, but also from the
first natural let-down after four years of duty in the White House.
Wood has given a little sketch of the man:

"I remember very well his words, as he sat down with a sigh of relief,
glad that it was all over. He said: 'I have had a long talk with
President McKinley. He is an honest, sincere and serious man. I feel
that he is going to do his best to give the country a good
administration. He impressed me as a man who will have the best
interests of the people at heart.'

"Then he stopped, and said with a sigh: 'I envy him to-day only one
thing and that was the presence of