riends from every state in the Union
sent her words of comfort and cheer. They praised her noble work and
called her "The Guardian Angel" of the suffering, but the little old
lady looked into the faces of those about her and said, "I know of
nothing remarkable that I have done."

She was Clara Barton, the woman who brought the Red Cross to our
country; but, being accustomed to working always for others, her
labors did not seem great or unusual to her. Today we know she is one
of the heroines of the world, for she believed in the brotherhood of
man, and her aim was to relieve suffering humanity, irrespective of
nationality or creed.

Her childhood was a happy, joyous one spent in the little village of
North Oxford, Massachusetts. She was the youngest child of a large
family, and her brothers and sisters were very proud of her because
she learned so rapidly and because she was never afraid of anything.
She would follow her oldest brother about the house with a slate,
begging him to give her hard sums to do. Out of doors she was eager
for adventure; her brother David often said, "Clara is never afraid,
she can ride any colt on the farm," and often he would throw her on
the bare back of a young horse and cry, "Hold fast to the mane," and
away she would gallop over the fields.

[Illustration: CLARA BARTON
Founder of the American Red Cross]

Winter evenings the family would gather about the great fireplace in
the living room and listen to the father tell of his experiences on
the battle fields of the Revolutionary War. He had been a soldier
under the dashing General Anthony Wayne, called "Mad Anthony" Wayne,
because of his reckless daring. Clara was thrilled by these stories of
army life, and never tired of hearing her father recount them.

When Clara was eleven years of age, her brother David had a terrible
fall, and for more than two years he was a helpless invalid. At once
she became his nurse and he relied upon her for all manner of service,
preferring her to his older sister or even his mother. "Clara is a
born nurse," said the family, as they saw the care she was giving the
boy, and indeed she was. It was a joy to her to wait upon the sick,
and she considered it no hardship to sacrifice herself.

When David was well, Clara went to school and prepared herself to
teach. Her scholars found her an able teacher and liked her ways of
instructing them. We know this to be true, because when she opened her
first school s