No answer--then; but up the slope,
With broken gait, and hands in clench,
A toiler came, bereft of hope,
And sank beside him on the bench.

[Illustration: CHILDREN ON THE BORGLUM STATUE]

Wendell Phillips Stafford, son of Frank and Sarah (Noyes) Stafford,
born at Barre, Vermont, May 1, 1861. Educated at Barre Academy and St.
Johnsbury Academy. Studied law and attended Boston University Law
School, graduating therefrom in 1883. Admitted to the bar in 1883.
Practiced law in St. Johnsbury until 1900. Was then appointed to the
Supreme Court of Vermont. Appointed to the Supreme Court of the
District of Columbia in 1904, which position he still holds.

Married February 24, 1886, to Miss Florence Sinclair Goss of St.
Johnsbury. Has contributed to the _Atlantic Monthly_ and other
magazines. Publications: _North Flowers_ (poems), 1902; _Dorian Days_
(poems), 1909; _Speeches_, 1913.

ONE OF OUR PRESIDENTS

(_See page 80_)

He sits there on the low, rude, backless bench,
With his tall hat beside him, and one arm
Flung, thus, across his knee. The other hand
Rests, flat, palm downward, by him on the seat.
So AEsop may have sat; so Lincoln did.
For all the sadness in the sunken eyes,
For all the kingship in the uncrowned brow,
The great form leans so friendly, father-like,
It is a call to children. I have watched
Eight at a time swarming upon him there,
All clinging to him--riding upon his knees,
Cuddling between his arms, clasping his neck,
Perched on his shoulders, even on his head;
And one small, play-stained hand I saw reached up
And laid most softly on the kind bronze lips
As if it claimed them. These were the children
Of foreigners we call them, but not so
They call themselves; for when we asked of one,
A restless dark-eyed girl, who this man was,
She answered straight, "One of our Presidents."

"Let all the winds of hell blow in our sails,"
I thought, "thank God, thank God the ship rides true!"

[Illustration: HEAD OF LINCOLN

This medal was struck for the Grand Army of the Republic in
commemoration of the 100th an