After that, he led the quiet life of a student until the Florida war broke out.

That commenced in 1835; so Arthur must have spent just twenty years at school.

By the way, it's a great pity that he didn't devote a portion of his time to geography and natural history, for then he would have known that there are no icebergs and polar bears in India, or Arabs and burning sands in Patagonia, or wild lions and tigers in Europe.

If he spent twenty years at school, and was fifteen years old when he had those terrible battles with the Algerians, he must have been thirty-five years old when the Florida war broke out." "Did you go through the war ?" Johnny asked.
"I did." "How long did it last ?" inquired Frank, "and what was the cause of it ?" "It continued nearly two years, and was brought about by the hatred the Choctaws cherished toward the white people." "Three mistakes there," thought Archie.

"The war lasted seven years, and cost our Government forty millions of dollars.