Page:American Boy's Life of William McKinley.djvu/242

202 saw McKinley coming toward him with outstretched hand.

"I am glad to see you, sergeant," he said, remembering fully the soldier's rank. "Come in and tell me how you have been." And shaking hands heartily, he led the way to a side apartment where they would not be disturbed. Here the veteran was offered a chair and a cigar, and the President asked him about his personal affairs, about his wife and his brother who had gone to California, and half a dozen other matters, making the visitor feel perfectly at home. Of course the Grand Army man came away more than pleased.

"He's a gentleman, every inch of him," said the veteran, in telling his friends of the visit afterward. "I thought the interview was going to be downright straightlaced, but I soon got that knocked out of me. He talked to me like a brother, and he hasn't forgotten a one of us, even if he is President. He talked to me almost half an hour, and if that Cabinet got together, it had to wait, that's all."

There is also another story, told by an old colored woman, which I think is worth