preparation for
the great feat that awaited him there. He was always eager to work,
and when he was a little boy in New York City he earned his first
money by doing errands. At that time he was eleven years of age, but
by the time he was fifteen he was the cashier and bookkeeper in a
market. Other boys spent their time playing ball, but he worked after
school and every Saturday. He was paid five dollars a week. His first
hope was to be a physician, but the steady indoor work had weakened
his health and he decided to become a soldier. He thought the
excellent military training would make him well and strong, so he
passed the examinations for West Point Military Academy.

As he knew no one there, George Goethals' entry into the famous school
was but little noticed. However, as the months and years passed, every
one there was proud to claim him as a pupil or classmate.

There are three great honors to be won at West Point. Any man who wins
one of these is called an honor man, and the entire school looks up to
him. The first honor is to have the highest grade as a student. The
second is to be named a leader and an officer over all the rest of the
class. The third is to be chosen for an office by one's classmates
because they like him. George W. Goethals won all three of these. He
was an honor man in his studies; his teachers chose him as one of the
four captains taken from his class; and this same class elected him
president in his senior year.

With such a school record it is not at all surprising that Colonel
Goethals made steady progress in the army and so was considered by
President Roosevelt to be the one person who could build the canal.
Since its completion, this able soldier has continued to serve his
country, and when President Wilson declared we were in a state of war
with Germany, Colonel Goethals was among the first persons summoned to
help plan and supervise the great war program; for at the root of his
success lies loyalty,--loyalty to his work, to his fellow men, and to
the Government of the United States.

* * * * *

_CHILDREN'S PLEDGE_

_I pledge allegiance to my Flag
And to the Republic for which it stands;
One Nation indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all._

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

On one of the more modest streets of Indianapolis there lived, in
1916, an