Page:Lives of the presidents in words of one syllable (1903).djvu/80

 in the midst of one of his fights with the Mex-i-cans the balls came close to the place where he stood with some of his staff. To duck the head when the balls went by was what all, save the Gen-er-al, did. "Don't dodge! Brave men should not dodge!" said the great man. At last a ball came close to the old man's nose, and it made him start back. His men had a good laugh at this. Tay-lor felt a flush of shame on his face, but a smile came, and he said, "I fear you will have to dodge the balls. Dodge—but don't run."

The grand work that Tay-lor had done all through his life for the good of his own land led folks to make him Pres-i-dent in 1848. With him, in the next place, was Mil-lard Fill-more of New York.

Tay-lor was of the side which went by the name of Whig. He gave posts as the worth of the men led him to give them. He was a true, sound man, a "down-right man" as one who could well judge of him said.

As a Pres-i-dent his heart was true, his zeal for his own land, great. He had strong, good sense to guide him in his new field, and if he could have been in the chair long he would have put a stamp of his own on work for the good of all.

A good wife, who came from Ma-ry-land stock, and boys and girls of his own, who were, at times, with him in camp, made a good sort of home life for the Gen-er-al when on the field. His wife was a great help with the sick and those who had had wounds at the camp. At Tam-pa Bay, and more places her work was well known. But when Gen. Tay-lor took the chair his wife did not care for the gay life of the White House, but gave her place to her