cost a good deal of money, and besides, what would keep it from getting covered with mud on rainy meeting days? None of the roads around Poland were paved, and when it was wet, the shoes and boots of the members often became thickly covered with mud.
"We'll get a carpet," said the young president. "Let us all save up and contribute what we can, and when we've got it, we'll find some way to keep it clean."
So the society began to save up, and at last had enough money to purchase the carpet. A committee of the girls was appointed, and they went to a local store, where they selected a durable ingrain carpet having a groundwork of green, with red flowers and yellowish wreaths. When the carpet was tacked down, it looked so new and beautiful that hardly anybody dared to step upon it.
"The boys will spoil the carpet with their muddy hobnailed boots," said one of the girl members.
"I move we make slippers for the boys to wear while attending the meetings," said another girl.
This motion was seconded and carried, and all the girls set to work to knit or embroider slippers for the male members of the society. But alas! by the time the next meeting took place the slippers were far from ready, and it rained in torrents. The boys came as usual, but stood outside in their muddy boots and shoes, not daring to venture a step farther, for fear of spoiling that nice new carpet.
"Let's take off our boots and shoes!" cried one boy. "We can hold the meeting in our stocking feet just as well!" And in a twinkling off came the muddy foot coverings, which the boys placed wherever it was convenient. And thus, in his stocking feet, William McKinley took the chair, and the business of the debating society proceeded.
In his younger years William McKinley had loved not only to go fishing and bathing, but also to go horseback riding, and a story is told of how he once won a race between another boy and himself on horseback between Poland and Youngstown. But as he grew older this love of outdoor sports diminished, although he loved horses and driving as long as he lived. More and more of his time was devoted to reading and studying, until some of his chums got to calling him "The studious William." Whenever there was a case to be tried in court, and he could get there, he went, and sitting in a corner, would drink in every word uttered by the lawyers and the judge.
"Well, what did you think of the case. William?" asked one of the lawyers of him, one day, after court was over.
"I thought it went the wrong way," was the quick answer.
"The wrong way? Why?"
"The defendant didn't bring out his evidence strong enough. He had a good case, it seemed to me. The goods he bought were not as good as they were represented to be, and it wasn't fair to make him pay the full price for them."
At this the lawyer smiled. "I think you are right, William," he said, "and I shouldn't be surprised to see the case appealed."
The case was appealed, and when tried in a higher court the verdict was for the defendant, just as William McKinley said it ought to be. This shows well how judicial was his turn of mind even when a youth.
CHAPTER III
McKinley enters Allegheny College — A Close Student — Sickness and Return Home — Becomes A School Teacher — The Mutterings of Civil War.
William McKinley was blessed with the best of mothers, a kind, loving woman, who could still be firm when the occasion demanded it, and who did all she could to bring him up a sober, upright, God-fearing, Christian man. We have seen how he attended Sunday School regularly and how he was rarely absent from the McKinley pew in church. When between fifteen and sixteen years of age he joined the Methodist Church, and in this faith he remained to the day of his death. But, as becomes a great statesman, he was broad in his views, and in later life numbered among his friends people of all religious beliefs.
It was a great day for William McKinley when he graduated from the Union School of Poland. He had studied hard to acquit himself well, and if he was not at the head of the class he was very close to it, and he was one of the youngest of the boys and girls at that. It had been decided by his father and his mother, after a long conference, to send him to Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, and when the youth was examined for admission it was found he had done so well that he was placed in the junior class, thus cutting off a year and more of the regular course.
In those days Allegheny College, which now boasts of Hulings Hall, Wilcox Hall, and other fine structures, consisted of but two buildings worth mentioning — Bentley Hall and Ruter Hall. The first of these, a neat building of brick, located on a hill north of the town, was built in 1820, and the second, also of brick, was built in 1855. Close to the college were a series of rocks and a deep ravine, and not far away was the Cussewago and French Creek, where the students used to boat and bathe to their hearts' content. The college campus embraced sixteen acres, only a small portion of which was cleared.
To this institute of learning went William McKinley, accompanied by two boy companions. The young students were all earnest fellows, and each was determined to pass through college with the highest possible honors. This was especially true of McKinley; for he knew what sacrifices his parents and his sisters had made to place him there, and he felt that it was his sacred duty to make the most of his opportunity.
"I'm going to do my best, mother," he said. "I know what you expect of me, and I'll try not to disappoint you."
"I know you will do your best, William," she answered. "But remember, your health is not of the best, and you must take care of yourself, or you will break down."
"Oh, I am going to take more outdoor exercise after this, mother. That will make me strong again, I am sure."
So spoke the young student, and he kept his word, taking a long walk every morning before settling; down to his studies. This habit of an early morning walk remained with him even while in the White House, and he was frequently seen "taking his constitutional" long before many other officials were astir.
But "all work and no play" will not do for anybody, and the mental strain to which McKinley subjected himself soon began to tell upon him. His cheeks grew pale and thin, and he occasionally complained of violent headaches and pains in the chest. When he came home on a few days' vacation, both his mother and his sisters were greatly alarmed.
"He has been studying too hard," said Annie McKinley. "He needs a rest. If he doesn't get it, he will surely break down."
She knew William better than did any of the other brothers and sisters, and the mother agreed that she was right, and that, for the present at least, the young student must give up his studies. So, much against his will, William McKinley bade adieu to Allegheny College, where he had been for less than a year. When he left, he fully expected to return in a short while, but this was not to be.
A vacation of a few months around home did wonders for the youth, and at the end of that time he announced that he felt as well as ever. In the meantime, however, hard times had come upon the country, wages went down, and many were thrown out of employment entirely. The McKinley family suffered with the rest, and Mr. McKinley, with his large family, had often all he could do to make both ends meet, even though he still kept his position as the manager of the iron works.
"I think it is about time that I earned something," said William McKinley, one day. "Father, Annie, and the others are working, and I feel that I ought to work, too."
"But
