“The Hero of New Orleans” was soon made Rear Admiral for this, splendid service to the country. But there was to be still another test of the courage of David Glasgow Farragut. It came two years later in Mobile Bay, which he entered with fourteen ships and four monitors, or small ironclad boats. He saw his monitor, the _Tecumseh_, sinking with all on board. [Illustration: FARRAGUT IN THE RIGGING AT THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY] “What’s the trouble?” came through his speaking trumpet to the men on the monitor nearest the sinking craft. “Torpedoes!” was the reply. What was to be done? Should he risk the whole fleet in a harbor filled with lurking mines? The good admiral sought help from above. “O God,” he whispered, “direct me what to do.” Farragut heard the answer in his heart. Without an instant’s delay he shouted to the captain of his own ship, the _Hartford_, “Go ahead! give her all the steam you’ve got.” The _Hartford_ took the lead and became the chief target of forts and batteries on shore as well as of the Southern gunboats in the harbor. As if that was not dangerous enough, the heroic admiral took his place in plain sight high above the deck, where he could better direct the battle; and so that he could still keep his commanding place if struck by a cannon-ball, his devoted men lashed him to the rigging. That is one of the heroic pictures in the history of patriotism: Admiral Farragut tied up in the rigging of his flagship and borne amid the whizzing of cannon-balls and the bursting of shells, carrying the Stars-and-Stripes through the fire and smoke of battle to one of the grandest victories ever won in naval warfare. THE STRENUOUS LIFE OF ROOSEVELT Theodore Roosevelt’s father was a well-to-do business man in New York City. His forefathers were Dutchmen from Holland, who had come over when the country was new. The Roosevelts had been wealthy and well known for two hundred years. Though Theodore’s [Illustration: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AS COLONEL OF THE ROUGH RIDERS.] father was able to give his family everything they needed or desired, he could not give this little son health and strength, for the baby was born frail and weakly. He suffered so with asthma that his anxious parents feared he could not live long. One dark night when Baby Teddy was gasping for breath, they took him driving fifteen miles into the country where he could have pure air. While yet in his childhood, Theodore Roosevelt began the long, sturdy fight to conquer his weak body and “make the most of himself.” He was a “self-made man” even more than if he had been born poor but healthy in a log cabin. As a tiny child he tried to do what he saw well, strong boys do. As soon as he could run about the house he would climb up and perform such daring feats that the neighbors were often frightened. His father fitted up a gymnasium on a porch for him so that he could have fresh air while taking his health exercises.