OUAIPTEIK 



>JJIS 



WHEN one of those ordinary little wretches, a 

 human baby, is born, it may be interesting to two, 

 four, six, or even a few more people ; but, fairly con- 

 sidered, it doesn't amount to very much. A choice 

 specimen might weigh eight or nine pounds, but the 

 material is rather mushy, and of questionable value. 

 It isn't quite so wrinkled as a decent puppy, nor so 

 pink as a new-born rabbit, nor so agile as a young 

 mud-turtle when turned upon its back. In fact, 

 only strongly prejudiced folk can see anything in it. 

 While the ordinary babe may ripen into a President, 

 or some old thing like that, it requires a heap of 

 time and teaching before it can learn its own name, 

 let alone its politics and their possibilities. 



Young Robert White, however, was a marked ex- 

 ception. An American, the first act of his little life 

 was a blow for freedom, for when he came to him- 

 self, he was in prison. He never knew it, but he 

 had been shut up for nearly thirty days, and that for 

 no crime. For all we know to the contrary, he may 

 have chafed under the yolk, but in any event he 

 gradually overcame that difficulty, and decided to 

 break jail. As the cell in which he was confined 

 was so small as to effectually prevent free move- 

 ment, and one part of the wall jwas as easy as an- 

 other, he attacked that section which lay directly 



300 



