James A. Gar-field was our choice in 1881. A great shock was felt in the land, just two months from the time he came to the White House, when we heard he had been shot while on his way to take a train for the North. A man by the name of Gui-teau, who had some sort of strange craze, was the one who did the black deed. They bore Gar-field at once to his home in the White House, and for a long time he lay there in great pain. Day by day the news would flash on the wires that told his state, how his pulse beat, how he had slept, and what hope there was for his life. All would seize the news and read it each day, with the wish that he might yet live. They took him to Long Branch in the hope that the sea breeze might help him; but though his life held out for near the space of three months, it came to an end, and his last breath was drawn in that sweet home by the sea, Sep-tem-ber 19, 1881. Great grief was felt at his death, and all lands strove to say a kind word. The Court of Eng-land put on black for him, and the Queen sent a wreath for his grave. Gui-teau was hung for his crime. Ches-ter A. Ar-thur is now our Pres-i-dent. We are at peace with all the world. The same flag, with the old stars and stripes, floats now in the South as in the North. Long may it wave, "On the land of the free and the home of the brave." [Illustration] End of Project Gutenberg's History of the United States, by Helen Pierson