into the hands of a
receiver.

"We ought to take hold and dig a canal," was heard on all sides in the
United States. But where to dig the canal was a question. Some said the
Isthmus of Panama was the best place, while others preferred a route
through Nicaragua. The discussion waxed very warm, and at last a
Commission was appointed to go over both routes and find out which would
be the more satisfactory from every point of view.

The Commission was not very long in reaching a decision. The Panama
Canal Company was willing to sell out all its interest in the work
already done for forty millions of dollars, and it was recommended that
the United States accept this offer. President Roosevelt received the
report, and lost no time in submitting it to Congress.

At the beginning of the new year, 1902, there was a grand ball at the
White House, attended by a large gathering of people, including many of
the foreign representatives accredited to Washington. The occasion was
the introduction into society of Miss Alice Roosevelt, and the affair
was a most pleasing one from beginning to end.

One of the President's sons, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., had been sent to a
boarding school at Groton, Massachusetts. Early in February he was taken
down with a cold that developed into pneumonia. It looked as if the
youth might die, and both Mrs. Roosevelt and the President lost no time
in leaving Washington and going to his bedside. The sympathy of the
whole country was with the anxious parents, and when it was announced
that the crisis had been passed in safety there was much relief in all
quarters.

Before this illness occurred there came to the Roosevelts an invitation
which pleased them, and especially Miss Alice, not a little. The German
Emperor William was having a yacht built in this country, at Shooter's
Island. He sent his brother, Prince Henry of Prussia, over to attend the
launching, and requested Miss Roosevelt to christen the yacht, which
was to be called the _Meteor_.

The arrival of Prince Henry was made a gala day by many who wished to
see the friendship between the United States and Germany more firmly
cemented than ever, and the royal visitor was treated with every
consideration wherever he went. From New York he journeyed to
Washington, where he dined with the President. He returned to New York
with President Roosevelt and with Miss Roosevelt, and on February 25 the
launching occurred, in the presence of thousands of pe