ires and fireworks at night.
Happy college days were they, never to be forgotten.

[Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AT GRADUATION, 1880.]

While a student at Harvard, Theodore Roosevelt had become intimately
acquainted with Miss Alice Lee, of Boston, a beautiful girl who was a
member of an aristocratic family of that city. The young college student
was a frequent visitor at the home of the Lees, and on September 23,
1880, the two were married.

It had been decided that Theodore Roosevelt should travel in Europe
after graduating. His father had left the family well provided for, so
there was no rush to get into something whereby a living might be
earned. Yet Theodore Roosevelt had long since determined not to be an
idler. He would travel and improve his mind, and then settle down to
that for which he seemed best fitted.

To Europe then he went, accompanied by his bride, to study a little and
to visit the art galleries and museums, the palaces of kings and queens,
and the many great cities of that continent. He travelled through
Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, and the British Isles, taking note
of everything he saw and comparing it with what he had seen in his own
country. When in lower Europe, the spirit of adventure seized him, and
he climbed those lofty mountains of the Alps, the Jungfrau and the
Matterhorn, and for those deeds of daring was made a member of the
Alpine Club of London. It may be mentioned here that climbing the
mountains mentioned is a very difficult feat, and that more than one
traveller has lost his life in such attempts. The peaks are covered with
snow and ice; the path from one cliff to the next is narrow and
uncertain, and a fall into some dark and fearful hollow usually means
death. But the danger only urged Theodore Roosevelt on, and added zest
to the undertaking.

He was intensely interested in all he saw, both in Europe proper and in
the British Isles, but wrote that he was glad to get back home again,
among his own people. To him there was no country like America, the land
of _Golden Opportunity_, as one of our most noted writers has called it.
In Europe there was more or less a lack of personal liberty; here a man
could try to make what he pleased of himself, be it cobbler or
President.

The young college graduate had an uncle in New York, named Robert B.
Roosevelt, who was a well-known lawyer. On his return to this country
Theodore Roosevelt entered his uncle's office, and likew