THE LONG TRAIL 



easily they fog over, and how hopeless 

 they are in the rains. It was a continual 

 source of amazement to see how skilfully 

 father had discounted this handicap in 

 advance and appeared to be unhampered 



by it. 



Another serious threat lay in the leg 

 that had been injured when the carriage 

 in which he was driving was run down by 

 a trolley car, and the secret service man 

 with him was killed. In September, 1908, 

 he wrote me from Washington: "I have 

 never gotten over the effects of the trolley- 

 car accident six years ago, when, as you 

 will remember, they had to cut down to the 

 shin bone. The shock permanently dam- 

 aged the bone and, if anything happens, 

 there is always a chance of trouble which 

 would be serious. Before I left Oyster 

 Bay, while riding, I got a rap on the shin 

 bone from a branch. This was either the 

 37 



