Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/203

Rh "Oh, sir, I'll do my best!" cried the boy, eagerly. "I won't be tricky any more—I'll promise you. Just give me another chance."

McKinley talked to the lad for the best part of an hour, and then promised to see what could be done. At first nobody else wanted the boy back, but McKinley won them over to giving the lad a chance. When he did come back, McKinley kept his eye on him and continued to encourage him and give him good advice. In the end the boy became not only a good page, but also a good moral youth. He joined the church, started in to educate himself, and when McKinley became President the lad he had saved from a downward path became a minister of the gospel.

Of course as a congressman, McKinley came in contact with all sorts of people. Among those who called upon him was an old farmer who owned a farm near a little creek.

"I want to have a bill put through to have that creek dug out," said the farmer. "It's filling up more and more every year, and bime-by there won't be any creek left."