he lady's hoop skirt and the bearded officer to
whom she is speaking. The gun is one of the old muzzle-loaders,
and there is a mortar in the foreground.]

Above the cliff and towards the north and east of the plain is Fort
Clinton; on its east front stands a monument erected in 1828 by the
Corps of Cadets to Kosciusko, while "Flirtation Walk," on the river side
of the academy, leads to Kosciusko Garden, so named because it was much
frequented by the Polish hero. On the parade ground is Victory Monument
(78 ft. high), erected in 1874 as a Civil War memorial. The library--one
of the finest military libraries in existence--contains interesting
memorials by Saint Gaudens to J. McNeil Whistler and Edgar Allan Poe,
both of whom were cadets at the academy and both of whom were virtually
expelled.

Poe's neurotic temperament had led him into a number of
escapades, but he gave evidence of improvement after he enlisted
in the American Army at Boston in 1827. He served two years, and
was promoted sergeant-major. He was then 20 years old, and on the
basis of his army record, his uncle, John Allan, obtained for him
an appointment to West Point. As a student he showed considerable
facility for mathematics, but he incurred the displeasure of his
superiors by neglect of duty, and was expelled in 1830, one year
after he had been admitted. His temperament was of course
unsuited to West Point discipline. The military discipline of the
academy was equally odious to Whistler, the painter (1834-1903),
who was dismissed and transferred to the United States coast
survey. In his third year Whistler failed in chemistry. Col.
Larned, one of his instructors, gives the incident
thus--"Whistler was called up for examination in the subject of
chemistry, which also covered the studies of mineralogy and
geology, and given silicon to discuss. He began: 'I am required
to discuss the subject of silicon. Silicon is a gas,' 'That will
do, Mr. Whistler,' and he retired quickly to private life.
Whistler later said: 'Had silicon been a gas, I would have been a
major-general.'"

High above the academy on Mount Independence (490 ft.) still stands the
ruins of old Ft. Putnam, one of the original fortifications, from which
a magnificent view can be obtained of the academy, the river, and the
surrounding country.

Our route now lies across a peninsula called Constitutio