Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/222

186 his friends, at once. "He is too good a man to let go—we cannot afford to lose him." And at once a popular subscription was started by a Chicago newspaper, and subscriptions began to pour in from all directions. But over these McKinley merely shook his head.

"I do not want anybody to send me money," he said. "This is my debt, and I will take care of it."

"But your friends insist upon helping you," was the answer. "You should let them have their way. You must remember that you are a public character and that in a certain sense you belong to the people."

But McKinley continued to decline. Finally some friends took hold of the matter and went ahead without letting the governor know what they were doing. A fund was created, and it is said that to this there were over four thousand subscribers who subscribed the full amount needed! What a monumental showing of genuine friendship! A man with such friends could not be poor, no matter what his station in life.