came to
relinquish his editorial position.

He saw, on every side, the pathetic figures of men who could not let go
after their greatest usefulness was past; of other men who dropped
before they realized their arrival at the end of the road; and, most
pathetic of all, of men who having retired, but because of lack of
inner resources did not know what to do with themselves, had become a
trial to themselves, their families, and their communities.

Bok decided that, given health and mental freshness, he would say
good-by to his public before his public might decide to say good-by to
him. So, at forty, he candidly faced the facts of life and began to
prepare himself for his retirement at fifty under circumstances that
would be of his own making and not those of others.

And thereby Edward Bok proved that he was still, by instinct, a
Dutchman, and had not in his thirty-four years of residence in the
United States become so thoroughly Americanized as he believed.

However, it was an American, albeit of Dutch extraction, one whom he
believed to be the greatest American in his own day, who had set him
thinking and shown him the way.

CHAPTER XVII

THE PRESIDENT AND THE BOY

One of the incidents connected with Edward Bok that Theodore Roosevelt
never forgot was when Bok's eldest boy chose the Colonel as a Christmas
present. And no incident better portrays the wonderful character of
the Colonel than did his remarkable response to the compliment.

A vicious attack of double pneumonia had left the heart of the boy very
weak--and Christmas was close by! So the father said:

"It's a quiet Christmas for you this year, boy. Suppose you do this:
think of the one thing in the world that you would rather have than
anything else and I'll give you that, and that will have to be your
Christmas."

"I know now," came the instant reply.

"But the world is a big place, and there are lots of things in it, you
know."

"I know that," said the boy, "but this is something I have wanted for a
long time, and would rather have than anything else in the world." And
he looked as if he meant it.

"Well, out with it, then, if you're so sure."

And to the father's astonished ears came this request:

"Take me to Washington as soon as my heart is all right, introduce me
to President Roosevelt, and let me shake hands with him."

"All right," said the father, after recovering from his surprise.
"I'll see whether I can fix it." A