t. But it is absolutely essential that this spirit
be proven. I am going to stick by this from the beginning down to the
very end because, in my opinion, we have got to create to-day the
impression all over the country on which this organization will carry
on and serve a great purpose for years to come."

Again there were outbursts of applause for the Colonel. "We want
Teddy!" "We want Teddy!" the crowd cried again and again. Men ran to
the stage from the orchestra seats and even from the second balcony.

"Take it, Colonel. You ought to take it," they urged.

What the Colonel answered couldn't be heard but the jaw was working
and the head was shaking vigorously.

A couple of newspaper men dashed up to him.

"You oughtn't to take it, Colonel," one of them whispered. "If you
don't, it will give the lie to those who are saying the Legion is
being conducted for your special political benefit."

"I haven't the slightest intention of taking it," he answered back.

He didn't take it and he nailed the lie that the Legion was started to
further his own selfish ends.

On motion of Colonel E. Lester Jones of the District of Columbia the
nominations were reopened again.

Sergeant Haines of Maine put up the name of Colonel Henry D. Lindsley,
a banker of Dallas, Texas, and a prominent Southern Democrat, for
permanent chairman. Think of it! A man from Maine nominating a
Southern Democrat! One of the Ohio delegation seconded the nomination.
Think of that too! Colonel Claud Birkhead of San Antonio, Texas,
leader of the Texas delegation "thirded" the nomination. He told
Colonel Lindsley's record. The Colonel had been Mayor of his home
city, and during the war had served his country so well in France that
he had been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. He and Major
Willard Straight, now dead, had started the War Risk Insurance Bureau
abroad and, at the time of the caucus, Colonel Lindsley was the head
of the Bureau under the Treasury Department in Washington.

Minutes of a meeting usually are dry but here I am going to quote
directly from them because they tell the story in the most vivid way.
Fancy between the lines, please, dozens of cheers, a couple of rebel
yells, a great deal of talking and shouting for "T.R.!" "T.R.!" and a
Babelous babble that ebbed or flowed according to the strength Colonel
Roosevelt used in wielding his gavel.

COLONEL JONES (of Washington, D.C.): "Mr. Chairman, I personally feel,
and I think I