Life at Alexandria began very much like that at Stratford. Robert continued to love the out-of-doors, and his new surroundings were as beautiful as the old homestead; they had left. When he was a grown man, Lee returned to Alexandria for a visit. He was found gazing over I the fence at the garden in which he used to play. “I am looking,” he said, “to see if the old snow-ball trees are still here. I should have been sorry to miss them.”

But suddenly the carefree days ended. Robert’s father was forced to leave his family and go to the West Indies for his health. The brave mother stayed at home to watch over her children, although she was an invalid much of the time herself. More and more Mrs. Lee turned to her small son. And when the boy’s father died, she was able to depend entirely upon young Robert, although he was only eleven years old. His older brothers were away at school, and his sister was too small to be of any help.