[Illustration]

The Story ofYoung Abraham Lincoln

By

WAYNE WHIPPLE

Author of The Story of the American Flag, The Story of the Liberty Bell, The Story of the White House, The Story of Young George Washington, theStory of Young Benjamin Franklin, etc. 

Illustrated

PHILADELPHIA

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS

COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

 INTRODUCTION 9

 I. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FOREFATHERS 15

 II. ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FATHER AND MOTHER 24

 III. THE BOY LINCOLN'S BEST TEACHER 33

 IV. LEARNING TO WORK 40

 V. LOSING HIS MOTHER 52

 VI. SCHOOL DAYS NOW AND THEN. 62

 VII. ABE AND THE NEIGHBORS 77

 VIII. MOVING TO ILLINOIS 94

 IX. STARTING OUT FOR HIMSELF 102

 X. CLERKING AND WORKING 115

 XI. POLITICS, WAR, STOREKEEPING, AND STUDYING LAW 126

 XII. BUYING AND KEEPING A STORE 140

 XIII. THE YOUNG LEGISLATOR IN LOVE. 147

 XIV. MOVING TO SPRINGFIELD 162

 XV. LINCOLN & HERNDON 184

 XVI. HIS KINDNESS OF HEART 194

 XVII. WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS STEPBROTHER 208

XVIII. HOW EMANCIPATION CAME TO PASS 215

 XIX. THE GLORY OF GETTYSBURG 226

 XX. "NO END OF A BOY" 234

 XXI. LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN, PATRIOT 248

INTRODUCTION

LINCOLN FROM NEW AND UNUSUAL SOURCES

The boy or girl who reads to-day may know more about the real Lincolnthan his own children knew. The greatest President's son, RobertLincoln, discussing a certain incident in their life in the White House, remarked to the writer, with a smile full of meaning:

"I believe you know more about our family matters than I do!"

This is because "all the world loves a lover"--and Abraham Lincoln lovedeverybody. With all his brain and brawn, his real greatness was in hisheart. He has been called "the Great-Heart of the White House, " andthere is little doubt that more people have heard about him than thereare who have read of the original "Great-Heart" in "The Pilgrim'sProgress. "

Indeed, it is safe to say that more millions in the modern world areacquainted with the story of the rise of Abraham Lincoln from a poorlybuilt log cabin to the highest place among "the seats of the mighty, "than are familiar with the Bible story of Joseph who arose and stoodnext to the throne of the Pharaohs. 

Nearly every year, especially since the Lincoln Centennial, 1909, something new has been added to the universal knowledge of one of thegreatest, if not _the_ greatest man who ever lived his life in theworld. Not only those who "knew Lincoln, " but many who only "saw himonce" or shook hands with him, have been called upon to tell what theysaw him do or heard him say. So hearty was his kindness toward everybodythat the most casual remark of his seems to be charged with deep humanaffection--"the touch of Nature" which has made "the whole world kin" tohim. 

He knew just how to sympathize with every one. The people felt this, without knowing why, and recognized it in every deed or word or touch, so that those who have once felt the grasp of his great warm hand seemto have been drawn into the strong circuit of "Lincoln fellowship, " andwere enabled, as if by "the laying on of hands, " to speak of him everafter with a deep and tender feeling. 

There are many such people who did not rush into print with theirobservations and experiences. Their Lincoln memories seemed too sacredto scatter far and wide. Some of them have yielded, with realreluctance, in relating all for publication in THE STORY OF YOUNGABRAHAM LINCOLN only because they wished their recollections to benefitthe rising generation. 

Several of these modest folk have shed true light on important phasesand events in Lincoln's life history. For instance, there has been muchdiscussion concerning Lincoln's Gettysburg Address--where was itwritten, and did he deliver it from notes?

Now, fifty years after that great occasion, comes a distinguishedcollege professor who unconsciously settles the whole dispute, whetherLincoln held his notes in his right hand or his left--if he used them atall!--while making his immortal "little speech. " To a group of veteransof the Grand Army of the Republic he related, casually, what he sawwhile a college student at Gettysburg, after working his way through thecrowd of fifteen thousand people to the front of the platform on thatmemorable day. From this point of vantage he saw and heard everything, and there is no gainsaying the vivid memories of his firstimpressions--how the President held the little pages in both handsstraight down before him, swinging his tall form to right, to left andto the front again as he emphasized the now familiar closing words, "_of_ the people--_by_ the people--_for_ the people--shall not perishfrom the earth. "

Such data have been gathered from various sources and are here given forthe first time in a connected life-story. Several corrections of storiesgiving rise to popular misconceptions have been supplied by Robert, Lincoln's only living son. One of these is the true version of "Bob's"losing the only copy of his father's first inaugural address. Otherswere furnished by two aged Illinois friends who were acquainted with"Abe" before he became famous. One of these explained, without knowingit, a question which has puzzled several biographers--how a young man ofLincoln's shrewd intelligence could have been guilty of such amisdemeanor, as captain in the Black Hawk War, as to make it necessaryfor his superior officer to deprive him of his sword for a single day. 

A new story is told by a dear old lady, who did not wish her namegiven, about herself when she was a little girl, when a "drove oflawyers riding the old Eighth Judicial District of Illinois, " came todrink from a famous cold spring on her father's premises. She describedthe uncouth dress of a tall young man, asking her father who he was, andhe replied with a laugh, "Oh, that's Abe Lincoln. "

One day in their rounds, as the lawyers came through the front gate, acertain judge, whose name the narrator refused to divulge, knocked downwith his cane her pet doll, which was leaning against the fence. Thelittle girl cried over this contemptuous treatment of her "child. "

Young Lawyer Lincoln, seeing it all, sprang in and quickly picked up thefallen doll. Brushing off the dust with his great awkward hand he said, soothingly, to the wounded little mother-heart:

"There now, little Black Eyes, don't cry. Your baby's alive. See, sheisn't hurt a bit!"

That tall young man never looked uncouth to her after that. It was thissame old lady who told the writer that Lawyer Lincoln wore a new suit ofclothes for the first time on the very day that he performed theoft-described feat of rescuing a helpless hog from a great deep hole inthe road, and plastered his new clothes with mud to the great merrimentof his legal friends. This well-known incident occurred not far from herfather's place near Paris, Illinois. 

These and many other new and corrected incidents are now collected forTHE STORY OF YOUNG ABRAHAM LINCOLN, in addition to the best ofeverything suitable that was known before--as the highest patrioticservice which the writer can render to the young people of the UnitedStates of America. 

 WAYNE WHIPPLE. 

THE STORY OFYOUNG ABRAHAM LINCOLN

CHAPTER I

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FOREFATHERS

Lincoln's grandfather, for whom he was named Abraham, was a distantcousin to Daniel Boone. The Boones and the Lincolns had intermarried forgenerations. The Lincolns were of good old English stock. When he wasPresident, Abraham Lincoln, who had never given much attention to thefamily pedigree, said that the history of his family was well describedby a single line in Gray's "Elegy":

"The short and simple annals of the poor. "

Yet Grandfather Abraham was wealthy for his day. He accompanied Boonefrom Virginia to Kentucky and lost his life there. He had sacrificedpart of his property to the pioneer spirit within him, and, with thekilling of their father, his family lost the rest. They were "landpoor" in the wilderness of the "Dark-and-Bloody-Ground"--the meaning ofthe Indian name, "Ken-tuc-kee. "

Grandfather Lincoln had built a solid log cabin and cleared a field ortwo around it, near the Falls of the Ohio, about where Louisville nowstands. But, in the Summer of 1784, the tragic day dawned upon theLincolns which has come to many a pioneer family in Kentucky andelsewhere. His son Thomas told this story to his children:

HOW INDIANS KILLED "GRANDFATHER LINCOLN"

"My father--your grandfather, Abraham Lincoln--come over the mountainsfrom Virginia with his cousin, Dan'l Boone. He was rich for them times, as he had property worth seventeen thousand dollars; but Mr. Boone hetold Father he could make a good deal more by trappin' and tradin' withthe Injuns for valuable pelts, or fur skins. 

"You know, Dan'l Boone he had lived among the Injuns. He was a sure shotwith the rifle so's he could beat the redskins at their own game. Theytook him a prisoner oncet, and instead of killin' him, they was aboutready to make him chief--he pretended all the while as how he'd likethat--when he got away from 'em. He was such a good fellow that themInjuns admired his shrewdness, and they let him do about what hepleased. So he thought they'd let Father alone. 

"Well, your grandfather was a Quaker, you see, and believed in treatin'them red devils well--like William Penn done, you know. He was a man forpeace and quiet, and everything was goin' smooth with the tribes of whatwe called the Beargrass Country, till one day, when he and my brothers, Mordecai--'Mord' was a big fellow for his age--and Josiah, a few yearsyounger--was out in the clearin' with the oxen, haulin' logs down to thecrick. I went along too, but I didn't help much--for I was only six. 

"Young as I was, I remember what happened that day like it was onlyyesterday. It come like a bolt out of the blue. We see Father drop likehe was shot--for he _was_ shot! Then I heard the crack of a rifle and Isaw a puff of smoke floatin' out o' the bushes. 

"Injuns!" gasps Mord, and starts on the run for the house--to get hisgun. Josiah, he starts right off in the opposite direction to theBeargrass fort--we called it a fort, but it was nothin' but a stockade. The way we boys scattered was like a brood o' young turkeys, orpa'tridges, strikin' for cover when the old one is shot. I knowed I'dought to run too, but I didn't want to leave my father layin' there onthe ground. Seemed like I'd ought to woke him up so he could run too. Yet I didn't feel like touchin' him. I think I must 'a' knowed he wasdead. 

"While I was standin' still, starin' like the oxen, not knowin' what todo, a big Injun come out o' the brush, with a big knife in his hand. Iknowed what he was goin' to do--skelp my father! I braced up to 'im tokeep 'im away, an' he jist laffed at me. I never think what the devillooks like without seein' that red demon with his snaky black eyes, grinnin' at me!

TOM LINCOLN CHASED BY INDIANS

"He picked me up like I was a baby an set me on the sawlog, an' wasturnin' back to skelp Father, when--biff!--another gun-crack--and Mr. Big Indian he drops jist like your grandfather did, only he wriggles andsquirms around, bitin' the dust--like a big snake for all the world!

"I was standin' there, kind o' dazed, watchin' another puff o' whitesmoke, comin' out between two logs in the side of our house. Then Iknowed 'Mord' had shot my Injun. He had run in, got the gun down off'nthe wall, an' peekin' out through a crack, he sees that Injun takin'hold o' me. Waitin' till the ol' demon turns away, so's not to hit me, 'Mord' he aims at a silver dangler on Mr. Injun's breast and makes himdrop in his tracks like I said. Your Uncle 'Mord' he was a sureshot--like Cousin Dan'l Boone. 

"Then I hears the most blood-curdlin' yells, and a lot o' red devilsjump out o' the bushes an' come for me brandishin' their tomahawks an'skelpin' knives. It was like hell broke loose. They had been watchin'an', of course, 'twas all right to kill Father, but when 'Mord' killedone o' their bucks, that made a big difference. I had sense enough leftto run for the house with them Injuns after me. Seemed like I couldn'trun half as fast as usual, but I must 'a' made purty good time, fromwhat 'Mord' an' Mother said afterward. 

"He said one was ahead o' the rest an' had his tomahawk raised to brainme with it when--bing!--an' 'Mord' fetches _him_ down like he did thefellow that was goin' to skelp Father. That made the others mad an' theytook after me, but 'Mord' he drops the head one jist when he's goin' tohit me. But all I knowed at the time was that them red devils wasa-chasin' me, and I'd got to 'leg it' for dear life!

"When I gits near enough to the house, I hears Mother and 'Mord'hollerin' to make me run faster and go to the door, for Mother had itopen jist wide enough to reach out an' snatch me in--when the thirdInjun was stoopin' to grab me, but 'Mord' makes him bite the dust likethe others. 

"My, but wasn't them Injuns mad! Some of 'em sneaked around behind thehouse--they had to give 'Mord's' gun a wide berth to git there!--but hecould only protect the front--and was a-settin' fire to our cabin tosmoke us out or roast us alive, jist when the soldiers come with Josiahfrom the fort and saved our lives. Then the Injuns made 'emselvesscurce--but they druv off the oxen and all our other stock. 

"MORD" LINCOLN, INDIAN FIGHTER

"That was the breaking up of our family. None of us boys was old enoughto take Father's place, an' Mother she was afraid to live there alone. Accordin' to the laws o' Virginia--Kentucky belonged to Virginiathen--the oldest son got all the proputty, so 'Mord' he gets it all. Hewas welcome to it too, for he was the only one of us that could takecare of it. 'Mord' he wasn't satisfied with killin' a few Injuns thatday to revenge Father's death. He made a business of shootin' 'em onsight--a reg'lar Injun stalker! He couldn't see that he was jist assavage as the worst Injun, to murder 'em without waitin' to see whetherMr. Injun was a friend or a foe. 

"Oncet when I told 'im there was good an' bad red men like they wuz goodan' bad white men, he said I might jist as well say 'good _devil_' as'good Injun!' He says 'the only good Injun's the dead Injun!'

"Well, the settlers must 'a' 'greed with 'Mord, ' for they made himsheriff o' the county--he was sech a good shot, too--an' they 'lectedhim to the Legislatur' after Kentucky come in as a State. He stood highin the county. Folks didn't mind his shootin' an' Injun or two, more orless, when he got the chancet. They all looked on redskins like theywas catamounts an' other pesky varmints. 

"Your grandmother Lincoln an' Josiah an' me moved over into WashingtonCounty, but she had hard scrabblin' to git a livin'. Josiah he stayedwith her, an' between him an' 'Mord, ' they helped her along, but I hadto git out and scratch for a livin'. From the time I was ten I was hiredout to work for my 'keep, ' an' anything else I could git. I knockedaroun' the country, doin' this, that an' t'other thing till I picked upcarpenterin' o' Joseph Hanks, a cousin o' mine, an' there I met hissister Nancy, an' that's how she come to be your mother--an' 'bout how Icome to be your father, too!"

Little is known today of Mordecai Lincoln, and there would be lessinterest in poor Thomas if he had not become the father of AbrahamLincoln, the sixteenth President of the United States. Mordecai Lincolnwas a joker and humorist. One who knew him well said of him:

"He was a man of great drollery, and it would almost make you laugh tolook at him. I never saw but one other man whose quiet, droll lookexcited in me the disposition to laugh, and that was 'Artemus Ward. '

"Mordecai was quite a story-teller, and in this Abe resembled his 'UncleMord, ' as we called him. He was an honest man, as tender-hearted as awoman, and to the last degree charitable and benevolent. 

"Abe Lincoln had a very high opinion of his uncle, and on one occasionremarked, 'I have often said that Uncle Mord had run off with all thetalents of the family. '"

In a letter about his family history, just before he was nominated forthe presidency, Abraham Lincoln wrote:

"My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguishedfamilies--second families, perhaps I should say. My mother was of afamily of the name of Hanks. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 1781 or 2, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians--not in battle, butby stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. Hisancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Berks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family ofthe same name ended in nothing more definite than a similarity ofChristian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solomon, Abraham, and the like. 

"My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age; and hegrew up, literally without education. "

CHAPTER II

ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S FATHER AND MOTHER

While Thomas Lincoln was living with a farmer and doing odd jobs ofcarpentering, he met Nancy Hanks, a tall, slender woman, with dark skin, dark brown hair and small, deep-set gray eyes. She had a full forehead, a sharp, angular face and a sad expression. Yet her disposition wasgenerally cheerful. For her backwoods advantages she was considered welleducated. She read well and could write, too. It is stated that NancyHanks taught Thomas Lincoln to write his own name. Thomas wastwenty-eight and Nancy twenty-three when their wedding day came. Christopher Columbus Graham, when almost one hundred years old, gavethe following description of the marriage feast of the Lincoln brideand groom:

"I am one of the two living men who can prove that Abraham Lincoln, orLinkhorn, as the family was miscalled, was born in lawful wedlock, for Isaw Thomas Lincoln marry Nancy Hanks on the 12th day of June, 1806. Iwas hunting roots for my medicine and just went to the wedding to get agood supper and got it. 

"Tom Lincoln was a carpenter, and a good one for those days, when acabin was built mainly with the ax, and not a nail or a bolt or hinge init, only leathers and pins to the doors, and no glass, except in watchesand spectacles and bottles. Tom had the best set of tools in what wasthen and is now Washington County. 

"Jesse Head, the good Methodist minister that married them, was also acarpenter or cabinet maker by trade, and as he was then a neighbor, theywere good friends. 

"While you pin me down to facts, I will say that I saw Nancy HanksLincoln at her wedding, a fresh-looking girl, I should say over twenty. Tom was a respectable mechanic and could choose, and she was treatedwith respect. 

"I was at the infare, too, given by John H. Parrott, her guardian, andonly girls with money had guardians appointed by the court. We had bearmeat; venison; wild turkey and ducks' eggs, wild and tame--so commonthat you could buy them at two bits a bushel; maple sugar, swung on astring, to bite off for coffee; syrup in big gourds, peach and honey; asheep that the two families barbecued whole over coals of wood burned ina pit, and covered with green boughs to keep the juices in. Our tablewas of the puncheons cut from solid logs, and the next day they were thefloor of the new cabin. "

Thomas Lincoln took his bride to live in a little log cabin in aKentucky settlement--not a village or hardly a hamlet--calledElizabethtown. He evidently thought this place would be less lonesomefor his wife, while he was away hunting and carpentering, than thelonely farm he had purchased in Hardin County, about fourteen milesaway. There was so little carpentering or cabinet making to do that hecould make a better living by farming or hunting. Thomas was very fondof shooting and as he was a fine marksman he could provide game for thetable, and other things which are considered luxuries to-day, such asfurs and skins needed for the primitive wearing apparel of thepioneers. A daughter was born to the young couple at Elizabethtown, whomthey named Sarah. 

Dennis Hanks, a cousin of Nancy, lived near the Lincolns in the earlydays of their married life, and gave Mrs. Eleanor Atkinson thisdescription of their early life together:

"Looks didn't count them days, nohow. It was stren'th an' work an'daredevil. A lazy man or a coward was jist pizen, an' a spindlin' fellerhad to stay in the settlemints. The clearin's hadn't no use fur him. Tomwas strong, an' he wasn't lazy nor afeer'd o' nothin', but he was kindo' shif'less--couldn't git nothin' ahead, an' didn't keer putickalar. Lots o' them kind o' fellers in 'arly days, 'druther hunt and fish, an'I reckon they had their use. They killed off the varmints an' made itsafe fur other fellers to go into the woods with an ax. 

"When Nancy married Tom he was workin' in a carpenter shop. It wasn'tTom's fault he couldn't make a livin' by his trade. Thar was sca'celyany money in that kentry. Every man had to do his own tinkerin', an'keep everlastin'ly at work to git enough to eat. So Tom tuk up someland. It was mighty ornery land, but it was the best Tom could git, when he hadn't much to trade fur it. 

"Pore? We was all pore, them days, but the Lincolns was porer thananybody. Choppin' trees an' grubbin' roots an' splittin' rails an'huntin' an' trappin' didn't leave Tom no time. It was all he could do togit his fambly enough to eat and to kiver 'em. Nancy was turribleashamed o' the way they lived, but she knowed Tom was doin' his best, an' she wa'n't the pesterin' kind. She was purty as a pictur' an' smartas you'd find 'em anywhere. She could read an' write. The Hankses wassome smarter'n the Lincolns. Tom thought a heap o' Nancy, an' he was asgood to her as he knowed how. He didn't drink or swear or play cyards orfight, an' them was drinkin', cussin', quarrelsome days. Tom waspopylar, an' he could lick a bully if he had to. He jist couldn't gitahead, somehow. "

"NANCY'S BOY BABY"

Evidently Elizabethtown failed to furnish Thomas Lincoln a living wagefrom carpentering, for he moved with his young wife and his baby girl toa farm on Nolen Creek, fourteen miles away. The chief attraction of theso-called farm was a fine spring of water bubbling up in the shade of asmall grove. From this spring the place came to be known as "Rock SpringFarm. " It was a barren spot and the cabin on it was a rude and primitivesort of home for a carpenter and joiner to occupy. It contained but asingle room, with only one window and one door. There was a widefireplace in the big chimney which was built outside. But that rude hutbecame the home of "the greatest American. "

Abraham Lincoln was born to poverty and privation, but he was never apauper. His hardships were those of many other pioneers, the wealthiestof whom suffered greater privations than the poorest laboring man has toendure to-day. 

After his nomination to the presidency, Mr. Lincoln gave to Mr. Hicks, aportrait painter, this memorandum of his birth:

 "I was born February 12, 1809, in then Hardin County, Kentucky, at a point within the now county of Larue, a mile or a mile and a half from where Hodgen's mill now is. My parents being dead, and my memory not serving, I know no means of identifying the precise locality. It was on Nolen Creek. 

 "A. LINCOLN. "JUNE 14, 1860. "

The exact spot was identified after his death, and the house was foundstanding many years later. The logs were removed to Chicago, for theWorld's Columbian Exposition, in 1893, and the cabin was reconstructedand exhibited there and elsewhere in the United States. The materialswere taken back to their original site, and a fine marble structure nowencloses the precious relics of the birthplace of "the first American, "as Lowell calls Lincoln in his great "Commemoration Ode. "

Cousin Dennis Hanks gives the following quaint description of "Nancy'sboy baby, " as reported by Mrs. Eleanor Atkinson in her little book on"Lincoln's Boyhood. "

"Tom an' Nancy lived on a farm about two miles from us, when Abe wasborn. I ricollect Tom comin' over to our house one cold mornin' inFeb'uary an' sayin' kind o' slow, 'Nancy's got a boy baby. '

"Mother got flustered an' hurried up 'er work to go over to look afterthe little feller, but I didn't have nothin' to wait fur, so I cut an'run the hull two mile to see my new cousin. 

"You bet I was tickled to death. Babies wasn't as common as blackberriesin the woods o' Kaintucky. Mother come over an' washed him an' put ayaller flannel petticoat on him, an' cooked some dried berries with wildhoney fur Nancy, an' slicked things up an' went home. An' that's all thenuss'n either of 'em got. 

"I rolled up in a b'ar skin an' slep' by the fireplace that night, so'sI could see the little feller when he cried an' Tom had to get up an'tend to him. Nancy let me hold him purty soon. Folks often ask me if Abewas a good lookin' baby. Well, now, he looked just like any other baby, at fust--like red cherry pulp squeezed dry. An' he didn't improve noneas he growed older. Abe never was much fur looks. I ricollect how Tomjoked about Abe's long legs when he was toddlin' round the cabin. Hegrowed out o' his clothes faster'n Nancy could make 'em. 

"But he was mighty good comp'ny, solemn as a papoose, but interested ineverything. An' he always did have fits o' cuttin' up. I've seen himwhen he was a little feller, settin' on a stool, starin' at a visitor. All of a sudden he'd bu'st out laughin' fit to kill. If he told us whathe was laughin' at, half the time we couldn't see no joke. 

"Abe never give Nancy no trouble after he could walk excep' to keep himin clothes. Most o' the time he went bar'foot. Ever wear a wet buckskinglove? Them moccasins wasn't no putection ag'inst the wet. Birch barkwith hickory bark soles, strapped on over yarn socks, beat buckskin allholler, fur snow. Abe'n me got purty handy contrivin' things that way. An' Abe was right out in the woods about as soon's he was weaned, fishin' in the creek, settin' traps fur rabbits an' muskrats, goin' oncoon-hunts with Tom an' me an' the dogs, follerin' up bees to findbee-trees, an' drappin' corn fur his pappy. Mighty interestin' life fura boy, but thar was a good many chances he wouldn't live to grow up. "

When little Abe was four years old his father and mother moved from RockSpring Farm to a better place on Knob Creek, a few miles to thenortheast of the farm where he was born. 

CHAPTER III

THE BOY LINCOLN'S BEST TEACHER

At Knob Creek the boy began to go to an "A B C" school. His firstteacher was Zachariah Riney. Of course, there were no regular schools inthe backwoods then. When a man who "knew enough" happened to come along, especially if he had nothing else to do, he tried to teach the childrenof the pioneers in a poor log schoolhouse. It is not likely that littleAbe went to school more than a few weeks at this time, for he never hada year's schooling in his life. There was another teacher afterward atKnob Creek--a man named Caleb Hazel. Little is known of either of theseteachers except that he taught little Abe Lincoln. If their pupil hadnot become famous the men and their schools would never have beenmentioned in history. 

An old man, named Austin Gollaher, used to like to tell of the days whenhe and little Abe went to school together. He said:

"Abe was an unusually bright boy at school, and made splendid progressin his studies. Indeed, he learned faster than any of his schoolmates. Though so young, he studied very hard. "

Although Nancy Lincoln insisted on sending the children to school, whenthere was any, she had a large share in Abe's early education, just asshe had taught his father to write his own name. She told them Biblestories and such others as she had picked up in her barren, backwoodslife. She and her husband were too religious to believe in telling theirchildren fairy tales. 

The best thing of all was the reading of "The Pilgrim's Progress" duringthe long Winter evenings, after the wood was brought in and Father Tomhad set his traps and done his other work for the night. Nancy's voicewas low, with soft, southern tones and accents. Tom and the childrenenjoyed the story of Christian's pilgrimage from the City of Destructionto the Celestial City the more because of her love for the story she wasreading to them, as they lay on bearskin rugs before the blazing fire. 

Abe was only six, but he was a thoughtful boy. He tried to think of someway to show his gratitude to his mother for giving them so muchpleasure. While out gathering sticks and cutting wood for the bigfireplace, a happy thought came to him--he would cut off some spicewoodbranches, hack them up on a log, and secrete them behind the cabin. Then, when the mother was ready to read again, and Sarah and the fatherwere sitting and lying before the fire, he brought in the hiddenbranches and threw them on, a few twigs at a time, to the surprise ofthe others. It worked like a charm; the spicewood boughs not only addedto the brightness of the scene but filled the whole house with the"sweet smelling savour" of a little boy's love and gratitude. 

No one can fathom the pleasure of that precious memory throughout thosefour lives, as the story of Great Heart and Christiana followedChristian along the path that "shineth more and more unto the perfectday. " While the father and sister were delighted with the crackle, sparkle and pleasant aroma of the bits of spicewood, as Abe tossed themupon the fire, no one could appreciate the thoughtful act of the boy somuch as his mother. It would be strange if her eyes did not fill, as sheread to her fascinated family, but that was not the sort of thing thefondest mother could speak of. 

Little did Nancy dream that, in reading to her son of the devotion ofGreat Heart to his charges, she was fostering a spirit in her little sonthat would help him make the noble pilgrimage from their hovel to thehighest home in the land, where another President of the United Stateswould refer to him as "the Great Heart of the White House. " If any onecould have looked ahead fifty years to see all this, and could have toldNancy Hanks Lincoln, she would not have believed it. After her own lifeof toil and hardship it would have seemed to her "too good to be true. "But in the centuries following the humble yet beautiful career of "theBackwoods Boy" from the hut to the White House, history keeps the wholeworld saying with bated breath, "the half was never told!"

AN OLD MAN'S STORY OF SAVING ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S LIFE

Austin Gollaher, grown to manhood, still living in his old log cabinnear the Lincoln house in Knob Creek nearly twenty years afterLincoln's assassination, and gave the following account of an adventurehe had with the little Lincoln boy:

"I once saved Lincoln's life. We had been going to school together oneyear; but the next year we had no school, because there were so fewscholars to attend, there being only about twenty in the school the yearbefore. 

"Consequently Abe and I had not much to do; but, as we did not go toschool and our mothers were strict with us, we did not get to see eachother very often. One Sunday morning my mother waked me up early, sayingshe was going to see Mrs. Lincoln, and that I could go along. Glad ofthe chance, I was soon dressed and ready to go. After my mother and Igot there, Abe and I played all through the day. 

"While we were wandering up and down the little stream called KnobCreek, Abe said: 'Right up there'--pointing to the east--'we saw a coveyof partridges yesterday. Let's go over. ' The stream was too wide for usto jump across. Finally we saw a foot-log, and decided to try it. It wasnarrow, but Abe said, 'Let's coon it. '

"I went first and reached the other side all right. Abe went about halfway across, when he got scared and began trembling. I hollered to him, 'Don't look down nor up nor sideways, but look right at me and hold ontight!' But he fell off into the creek, and, as the water was aboutseven or eight feet deep (I could not swim, and neither could Abe), Iknew it would do no good for me to go in after him. 

"So I got a stick--a long water sprout--and held it out to him. He cameup, grabbing with both hands, and I put the stick into his hands. Heclung to it, and I pulled him out on the bank, almost dead. I got him bythe arms and shook him well, and then I rolled him on the ground, whenthe water poured out of his mouth. 

"He was all right very soon. We promised each other that we would nevertell anybody about it, and never did for years. I never told any one ofit till after Lincoln was killed. "

Abraham Lincoln's parents were religious in their simple way. The boywas brought up to believe in the care of the Father in Heaven over theaffairs of this life. The family attended camp meetings and preachingservices, which were great events, because few and far between, in thoseprimitive days. Abe used afterward to get his playmates together andpreach to them in a way that sometimes frightened them and made themcry. 

No doubt young Lincoln learned more that was useful to him in after lifefrom the wandering preachers of his day than he did of his teachersduring the few months that he was permitted to go to school. But hisbest teacher was his mother. She would have been proud to have her boygrow up to be a traveling minister or exhorter, like Peter Cartwright, "the backwoods preacher. "

Nancy Hanks Lincoln "builded better than she knew. " She would have beensatisfied with a cabin life for her son. She little knew that by her ownlife and teaching she was raising up the greatest man of his age, andone of the grandest men in all history, to become the ruler of thegreatest nation that the world has ever seen. She did her duty by herlittle boy and he honored her always during her life and afterward. Nowonder he once exclaimed when he thought of her:

"All I am or hope to be I owe to my sainted mother. "

And out of her poor, humble life, that devoted woman

"Gave us Lincoln and never knew!"

CHAPTER IV

LEARNING TO WORK

The little Lincoln boy learned to help his father and mother as soon ashe could, picking berries, dropping seeds and carrying water for the mento drink. The farm at Knob Creek seems to have been a little morefertile than the other two places on which his father had chosen tolive. 

Once while living in the White House, President Lincoln was asked if hecould remember his "old Kentucky home. " He replied with considerablefeeling:

"I remember that old home very well. Our farm was composed of threefields. It lay in the valley, surrounded by high hills and deep gorges. Sometimes, when there came a big rain in the hills, the water would comedown through the gorges and spread all over the farm. The last thing Iremember of doing there was one Saturday afternoon; the other boysplanted the corn in what we called the big field--it contained sevenacres--and I dropped the pumpkin seed. I dropped two seeds in everyother row and every other hill. The next Sunday morning there came a bigrain in the hills--it did not rain a drop in the valley, but the water, coming through the gorges, washed the ground, corn, pumpkin seeds andall, clear off the field!"

Although this was the last thing Lincoln could remember doing on thatfarm, it is not at all likely that it was the last thing he did there, for Thomas Lincoln was not the man to plant corn in a field he was aboutto leave. (The Lincolns moved away in the fall. )

Another baby boy was born at Knob Creek farm; a puny, pathetic littlestranger. When this baby was about three years old, the father had touse his skill as a cabinet maker in making a tiny coffin, and theLincoln family wept over a lonely little grave in the wilderness. 

About this time Abe began to learn lessons in practical patriotism. Oncewhen Mr. Lincoln was asked what he could remember of the War of 1812, hereplied:

"Nothing but this: I had been fishing one day and caught a little fishwhich I was taking home. I met a soldier on the road, and, having beentold at home that we must be good to the soldiers, I gave him my fish. "

An old man, Major Alexander Sympson, who lived not far from the Lincolnsat this period, left this description of "a mere spindle of a boy, " inone of his earliest attempts to defend himself against odds, whilewaiting at the neighboring mill while a grist was being ground. 

"He was the shyest, most reticent, most uncouth and awkward-appearing, homeliest and worst-dressed of any in the crowd. So superlativelywretched a butt could not hope to look on long unmolested. He wasattacked one day as he stood near a tree by a larger boy with others athis back. But the crowd was greatly astonished when little Lincolnsoundly thrashed the first, the second, and third boy in succession; andthen, placing his back against the tree, he defied the whole crowd, andtold them they were a lot of cowards. "

Evidently Father Tom, who enjoyed quite a reputation as a wrestler, hadgive the small boy a few lessons in "the manly art of self-defense. "

Meanwhile the little brother and sister were learning still betterthings at their mother's knee, alternately hearing and reading storiesfrom the Bible, "The Pilgrim's Progress, " "Ęsop's Fables, " "RobinsonCrusoe, " and other books, common now, but rare enough in the backwoodsin those days. 

There were hard times, even in the wilderness of Kentucky, after the Warof 1812. Slavery was spreading, and Thomas and Nancy Lincoln heartilyhated that "relic of barbarism. " To avoid witnessing its wrongs whichmade it harder for self-respecting white men to rise above the classreferred to with contempt in the South as "poor white trash, " TomLincoln determined to move farther north and west--and deeper into thewilds. 

It is sometimes stated that Abraham Lincoln belonged to the indolentclass known as "poor whites, " but this is not true. Shiftless andimprovident though his father was, he had no use for that class of whiteslaves, who seemed to fall even lower than the blacks. 

There was trouble, too, about the title to much of the land in Kentucky, while Indiana offered special inducements to settlers in that newterritory. 

In his carpenter work, Thomas Lincoln had learned how to build aflatboat, and had made at least one trip to New Orleans on a craftwhich he himself had put together. So, when he finally decided in thefall of 1816 to emigrate to Indiana, he at once began to build anotherboat, which he launched on the Rolling Fork, at the mouth of Knob Creek, about half a mile from his own cabin. He traded his farm for whatmovable property he could get, and loaded his raft with that and hiscarpenter tools. Waving good-bye to his wife and two children, hefloated down the Rolling Fork, Salt River, and out into the Ohio River, which proved too rough for his shaky craft, and it soon went to pieces. 

After fishing up the carpenter tools and most of his other effects, heput together a crazy raft which held till he landed at Thompson's Ferry, Perry County, in Southern Indiana. Here he unloaded his raft, left hisvaluables in the care of a settler named Posey and journeyed on footthrough the woods to find a good location. After trudging about sixteenmiles, blazing a trail, he found a situation which suited him wellenough, he thought. Then he walked all the way back to the Kentucky homethey were about to leave. 

He found his wife, with Sarah, aged nine, and Abraham, aged seven, readyto migrate with him to a newer wilderness. The last thing Nancy Lincolnhad done before leaving their old home was to take the brother andsister for a farewell visit to the grave of "the little boy that died. "

OVER IN INDIANA

The place the father had selected for their home was a beautiful spot. They could build their cabin on a little hill, sloping gently down onall sides. The soil was excellent, but there was one seriousdrawback--there was no water fit to drink within a mile! Thomas Lincolnhad neglected to observe this most important point while he wasprospecting. His wife, or even little Abe, would have had more commonsense. That was one reason why Thomas Lincoln, though a good man, whotried hard enough at times, was always poor and looked down upon by histhrifty neighbors. 

Instead of taking his wife and children down the three streams by boat, as he had gone, the father borrowed two horses of a neighbor and "packedthrough to Posey's, " where he had left his carpenter tools and the otherproperty he had saved from the wreck of his raft. Abe and Sarah musthave enjoyed the journey, especially camping out every night on theway. The father's skill as a marksman furnished them with temptingsuppers and breakfasts of wild game. 

On the horses they packed their bedding and the cooking utensils theyneeded while on the journey, and for use after their arrival at the newhome. This stock was not large, for it consisted only of "one oven andlid, one skillet and lid, and some tinware. "

After they came to Posey's, Thomas Lincoln hired a wagon and loaded itwith the effects he had left there, as well as the bedding and thecooking things they had brought with them on the two horses. It was arough wagon ride, jolting over stumps, logs, and roots of trees. Anearlier settler had cut out a path for a few miles, but the rest of theway required many days, for the father had to cut down trees to make arough road wide enough for the wagon to pass. It is not likely that Abeand Sarah minded the delays, for children generally enjoy newexperiences of that sort. As for their mother, she was accustomed to allsuch hardships; she had learned to take life as it came and make thebest of it. 

Nancy Lincoln needed all her Christian fortitude in that Indianahome--if such a place could be called a home. At last they reached thechosen place, in the "fork" made by Little Pigeon Creek emptying intoBig Pigeon Creek, about a mile and a half from a settlement which wasafterward called Gentryville. 

As it was late in the fall, Thomas Lincoln decided not to wait to cutdown big trees and hew logs for a cabin, so he built a "half-facedcamp, " or shed enclosed on three sides, for his family to live in thatwinter. As this shed was made of saplings and poles, he put an ax inAbe's hands, and the seven-year-old boy helped his father build theirfirst "home" in Indiana. It was Abe's first experience in the work thatafterward made him famous as "the rail splitter. " It was with the ax, asit were, that he hewed his way to the White House and became Presidentof the United States. 

Of course, little Abe Lincoln had no idea of the White House then. Hemay never have heard of "the President's Palace, " as it used to becalled--for the White House was then a gruesome, blackened ruin, burnedby the British in the War of 1812. President Madison was living in arented house nearby, while the Executive Mansion was being restored. The blackened stone walls, left standing after the fire, were _paintedwhite_, and on that account the President's mansion came to be known as"the White House. "

Little Abe, without a thought of his great future, was getting ready forit by hacking away at poles and little trees and helping his father inthe very best way he knew. It was not long, then, before the "half-facedcamp" was ready for his mother and sister to move into. 

Then there was the water question. Dennis Hanks afterward said: "TomLincoln riddled his land like a honeycomb" trying to find good water. Inthe fall and winter they caught rainwater or melted snow and strainedit, but that was not very healthful at best. So Abe and Sarah had to goa mile to a spring and carry all the water they needed to drink, and, when there had been no rain for a long time, all the water they used forcooking and washing had to be brought from there, too. 

When warmer weather came, after their "long and dreary winter" ofshivering in that poor shed, the "camp" did not seem so bad. ThomasLincoln soon set about building a warmer and more substantial cabin. Abewas now eight years old, and had had some practice in the use of theax, so he was able to help his father still more by cutting and hewinglarger logs for the new cabin. They got it ready for the family to moveinto before cold weather set in again. 

They had to make their own furniture also. The table and chairs weremade of "puncheon, " or slabs of wood, with holes bored under each cornerto stick the legs in. Their bedsteads were poles fitted into holes boredin logs in the walls of the cabin, and the protruding ends supported bypoles or stakes driven into the ground, for Tom Lincoln had not yet laidthe puncheon floor of their cabin. Abe's bed was a pile of dry leaveslaid in one corner of the loft to which he climbed by means of a ladderof pegs driven into the wall, instead of stairs. 

Their surroundings were such as to delight the heart of a couple ofcare-free children. The forest was filled with oaks, beeches, walnutsand sugar-maple trees, growing close together and free from underbrush. Now and then there was an open glade called a prairie or "lick, " wherethe wild animals came to drink and disport themselves. Game wasplentiful--deer, bears, pheasants, wild turkeys, ducks and birds of allkinds. This, with Tom Lincoln's passion for hunting, promised goodthings for the family to eat, as well as bearskin rugs for the bareearth floor, and deerskin curtains for the still open door and window. There were fish in the streams and wild fruits and nuts of many kinds tobe found in the woods during the summer and fall. For a long time thecorn for the "corndodgers" which they baked in the ashes, had to beground by pounding, or in primitive hand-mills. Potatoes were about theonly vegetable raised in large quantities, and pioneer families oftenmade the whole meal of roasted potatoes. Once when his father had "askedthe blessing" over an ashy heap of this staple, Abe remarked that theywere "mighty poor blessings!"

But there were few complaints. They were all accustomed to that way ofliving, and they enjoyed the free and easy life of the forest. Theironly reason for complaint was because they had been compelled to live inan open shed all winter, and because there was no floor to cover thedamp ground in their new cabin--no oiled paper for their one window, andno door swinging in the single doorway--yet the father was carpenter andcabinet maker! There is no record that Nancy Lincoln, weak and ailingthough she was, demurred even at such needless privations. 

About the only reference to this period of their life that has beenpreserved for us was in an odd little sketch in which Mr. Lincoln wroteof himself as "he. "

"A few days before the completion of his eighth year, in the absence ofhis father, a flock of wild turkeys approached the new log cabin, andAbraham, with a rifle gun, standing inside, shot through a crack andkilled one of them. He has never since pulled a trigger on any largergame. "

Though shooting was the principal sport of the youth and their fathersin Lincoln's younger days, Abe was too kind to inflict needlesssuffering upon any of God's creatures. He had real religion in hisloving heart. Even as a boy he seemed to know that

 "He prayeth best who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God that loveth us, He made and loveth all. "

CHAPTER V

LOSING HIS MOTHER

In the fall of 1817, when the Lincoln family had moved from the shedinto the rough log cabin, Thomas and Betsy Sparrow came and occupied the"darned little half-faced camp, " as Dennis Hanks called it. BetsySparrow was the aunt who had brought up Nancy Hanks, and she was now afoster-mother to Dennis, her nephew. Dennis became the constantcompanion of the two Lincoln children. He has told most of the storiesthat are known of this sad time in the Lincoln boy's life. 

The two families had lived there for nearly a year when Thomas and BetsySparrow were both seized with a terrible disease known to the settlersas the "milk-sick" because it attacked the cattle. The stricken uncleand aunt died, early in October, within a few days of each other. Whilehis wife was ill with the same dread disease, Thomas Lincoln was atwork, cutting down trees and ripping boards out of the logs with a longwhipsaw with a handle at each end, which little Abe had to help him use. It was a sorrowful task for the young lad, for Abe must have known thathe would soon be helping his father make his mother's coffin. Theyburied the Sparrows under the trees "without benefit of clergy, " forministers came seldom to that remote region. 

Nancy Lincoln did not long survive the devoted aunt and uncle. She hadsuffered too much from exposure and privation to recover her strengthwhen she was seized by the strange malady. One who was near her duringher last illness wrote, long afterward:

"She struggled on, day by day, like the patient Christian woman she was. Abe and his sister Sarah waited on their mother, and did the little jobsand errands required of them. There was no physician nearer thanthirty-five miles. 

"The mother knew that she was going to die, and called the children toher bedside. She was very weak and the boy and girl leaned over herwhile she gave them her dying message. Placing her feeble hand on littleAbe's head, she told him to be kind and good to his father and sister. 

"'Be good to one another, ' she said to them both. While expressing herhope that they might live, as she had taught them to live, in the loveof their kindred and the service of God, Nancy Hanks Lincoln passed fromthe miserable surroundings of her poor life on earth to the brightnessof the Beyond, on the seventh day after she was taken sick. "

To the motherless boy the thought of his blessed mother being buriedwithout any religious service whatever added a keen pang to thebitterness of his lot. Dennis Hanks once told how eagerly Abe learned towrite:

"Sometimes he would write with a piece of charcoal, or the p'int of aburnt stick, on the fence or floor. We got a little paper at the countrytown, and I made ink out of blackberry juice, briar root and a littlecopperas in it. It was black, but the copperas would eat the paper aftera while. I made his first pen out of a turkey-buzzard feather. We hadn'tno geese them days--to make good pens of goose quills. "

As soon as he was able Abe Lincoln wrote his first letter. It wasaddressed to Parson Elkin, the Baptist preacher, who had sometimesstayed over night with the family when they lived in Kentucky, to askthat elder to come and preach a sermon over his mother's grave. It hadbeen a long struggle to learn to write "good enough for apreacher"--especially for a small boy who is asking such a favor of aman as "high and mighty" as a minister of the Gospel seemed to him. 

It was a heartbroken plea, but the lad did not realize it. It was ashort, straightforward note, but the good preacher's eyes filled withtears as he read it. 

The great undertaking was not finished when the letter was written. Thepostage was a large matter for a little boy. It cost sixpence (equal totwelve-and-a-half cents today) to send a letter a short distance--up tothirty miles. Some letters required twenty-five cents--equal to fifty inmodern money. Sometimes, when the sender could not advance the postage, the receiver had to pay it before the letter could be opened and read. On this account letters were almost as rare and as expensive astelegrams are today. When the person getting a letter could not pay thepostage, it was returned to the writer, who had to pay double to get itback. 

In those days one person could annoy another and put him to expense bywriting him and forcing him to pay the postage--then when the letterwas opened, it was found to be full of abuse, thus making a man pay forinsults to himself!

There was a great general who had suffered in this way, so he made arule that he would receive no letters unless the postage was prepaid. One day there came to his address a long envelope containing what seemedto be an important document. But it was not stamped, and the servant hadbeen instructed not to receive that kind of mail. So it was returned tothe sender. When it came back it was discovered that it had been mailedby mistake without a stamp. That letter announced to General ZacharyTaylor that he had been nominated by a great convention as candidate forPresident of the United States!

All this seems very strange now that a letter can be sent around theworld for a few cents. Besides, the mails did not go often and werecarried on horseback. For a long time one half-sick old man carried themail on a good-for-nothing horse, once a week, between New York andPhiladelphia, though they were the largest cities in the country. 

So it was many months before Abe received an answer to his letter. Elder Elkin may have been away from home on one of the long circuitscovered by pioneer preachers. As the days and weeks went by without thelad's receiving any reply he was filled with misgivings lest he hadimposed upon the good man's former friendship. 

At last the answer came and poor Abe's anxiety was turned to joy. Thekind elder not only said he would come, but he also named the Sundaywhen it would be, so that the Lincoln family could invite all theirfriends from far and near to the postponed service--for it oftenhappened in this new country that the funeral could not take place formonths after the burial. 

It was late in the following Summer, nearly a year after Nancy's death, that the devoted minister came. The word had gone out to all the regionround about. It was the religious event of the season. Hundreds ofpeople of all ages came from twenty miles around on horseback--a father, mother and two children on one horse--also in oxcarts, and on foot. Theysat in groups in the wagons, and on the green grass, as at the feedingof the multitudes in the time of the Christ. But these people broughttheir own refreshments as if it were a picnic. 

They talked together in low, solemn tones while waiting for the poorlittle funeral procession to march out from the Lincoln cabin to thegrass-covered grave. Pioneer etiquette required the formalities of afuneral. Elder Elkin was followed by the widowed husband, with Abrahamand Sarah and poor Cousin Dennis, also bereaved of his foster-parents, and now a member of the Lincoln family. 

There were tender hearts behind those hardened faces, and tearsglistened on the tanned cheeks of many in that motley assemblage ofeager listeners, while the good elder was paying the last tribute ofearth to the sweet and patient memory of his departed friend of otherdays. 

The words of the man of God, telling that assembled multitude what alovely and devoted girl and woman his mother had been, gave sweet andsolemn joy to the soul of the little Lincoln boy. It was all for herdear sake, and she was, of all women, worthy of this sacred respect. Ashe gazed around on the weeping people, he thought of the hopes and fearsof the months that had passed since he wrote his first letter to bringthis about. 

"God bless my angel mother!" burst from his lonely lips--"how glad I amI've learned to write!"

THE COMING OF ANOTHER MOTHER

All that a young girl of twelve could do, assisted by a willing brotherof ten, was done by Sarah and Abraham Lincoln to make that desolatecabin a home for their lonesome father, and for cousin Dennis Hanks, whose young life had been twice darkened by a double bereavement. But"what is home without a mother?" Thomas Lincoln, missing the balance andinspiration of a patient wife, became more and more restless, and, aftera year, wandered back again to his former homes and haunts in Kentucky. 

While visiting Elizabethtown he saw a former sweetheart, the Sally Bushof younger days, now Mrs. Daniel Johnston, widow of the county jailerwho had recently died, leaving three children and considerable property, for that time and place. Thomas renewed his suit and won the pityingheart of Sarah Johnston, and according to the story of the county clerk:

"The next morning, December 2, 1819, I issued the license, and the sameday they were married, bundled up, and started for home. "

Imagine the glad surprise of the three children who had been left athome for weeks, when they saw a smart, covered wagon, drawn by fourhorses, driven up before the cabin door one bright winter day, and theirfather, active and alert, spring out and assist a pleasant-looking womanand three children to alight! Then they were told that this woman was tobe their mother and they had two more sisters and another brother!

To the poor forlorn Lincoln children and their still more desolatecousin, it seemed too good to be true. They quickly learned the names oftheir new brother and sisters. The Johnston children were called John, Sarah and Matilda, so Sarah Lincoln's name was promptly changed to Nancyfor her dead mother, as there were two Sarahs already in the combinedfamily. 

Mrs. Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln lost no time in taking poor Abe andNancy Lincoln to her great motherly heart, as if they were her own. Theywere dirty, for they had been neglected, ill-used and deserted. Shewashed their wasted bodies clean and dressed them in nice warm clothingprovided for her own children, till she, as she expressed it, "madethem look more human. "

Dennis Hanks told afterward of the great difference the stepmother madein their young lives:

"In fact, in a few weeks all had changed; and where everything had beenwanting, all was snug and comfortable. She was a woman of great energy, of remarkable good sense, very industrious and saving, also very neatand tidy in her person and manners. She took an especial liking foryoung Abe. Her love for him was warmly returned, and continued to theday of his death. But few children love their parents as he loved hisstepmother. She dressed him up in entire new clothes, and from that timeon he appeared to lead a new life. He was encouraged by her to study, and a wish on his part was gratified when it could be done. The two setsof children got along finely together, as if they all had been thechildren of the same parents. "

Dennis also referred to the "large supply of household goods" the newmother brought with her:

"One fine bureau (worth $40), one table, one set of chairs, one largeclothes chest, cooking utensils, knives, forks, bedding and otherarticles. "

It must have been a glorious day when such a splendid array of householdfurniture was carried into the rude cabin of Thomas Lincoln. But best ofall, the new wife had sufficient tact and force of will to induce hergood-hearted but shiftless husband to lay a floor, put in a window, andhang a door to protect his doubled family from the cold. It was aboutChristmas time, and the Lincoln children, as they nestled in warm bedsfor the first time in their lives, must have thanked their second motherfrom the bottoms of their grateful hearts. 

CHAPTER VI

SCHOOL DAYS NOW AND THEN

Lincoln once wrote, in a letter to a friend, about his early teachers inIndiana:

"He (father) removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time theState came into the Union. It was a wild region with many bears andother wild animals still in the woods. There I grew up. There were someschools, so-called; but no qualification was ever required of a teacherbeside readin', writin', and cipherin' to the Rule of Three (simpleproportion). If a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened tosojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There wasabsolutely nothing to excite ambition for education. "

Abe's first teacher in Indiana, however, was Hazel Dorsey. The schoolhouse was built of rough, round logs. The chimney was made of poles wellcovered with clay. The windows were spaces cut in the logs, and coveredwith greased paper. But Abe was determined to learn. He and his sisterthought nothing of walking four miles a day through snow, rain and mud. "Nat" Grigsby, who afterward married the sister, spoke in glowing termsof Abe's few school days:

"He was always at school early, and attended to his studies. He lost notime at home, and when not at work was at his books. He kept up hisstudies on Sunday, and carried his books with him to work, so that hemight read when he rested from labor. "

Thomas Lincoln had no use for "eddication, " as he called it. "It willspile the boy, " he kept saying. He--the father--had got along betterwithout going to school, and why should Abe have a better education thanhis father? He thought Abe's studious habits were due to "pure laziness, jest to git shet o' workin'. " So, whenever there was the slightestexcuse, he took Abe out of school and set him to work at home or for oneof the neighbors, while he himself went hunting or loafed about thehouse. 

This must have been very trying to a boy as hungry to learn as AbeLincoln was. His new mother saw and sympathized with him, and in herquiet way, managed to get the boy started to school, for a few weeks atmost. For some reason Hazel Dorsey stopped "keeping" the school, andthere was a long "vacation" for all the children. But a new man, AndrewCrawford, came and settled near Gentryville. Having nothing better to doat first, he was urged to reopen the school. 

One evening Abe came in from his work and his stepmother greeted himwith:

"Another chance for you to go to school. "

"Where?"

"That man Crawford that moved in a while ago is to begin school nextweek, and two miles and back every day will be just about enough for youto walk to keep your legs limber. "

The tactful wife accomplished it somehow and Abe started off to schoolwith Nancy, and a light heart. A neighbor described him as he appearedin Crawford's school, as "long, wiry and strong, while his big feet andhands, and the length of his legs and arms, were out of all proportionto his small trunk and head. His complexion was swarthy, and his skinshriveled and yellow even then. He wore low shoes, buckskin breeches, linsey-woolsey shirt, and a coonskin cap. The breeches hung close to hislegs, but were far from meeting the tops of his shoes, exposing 'twelveinches of shinbone, sharp, blue and narrow. '"

"Yet, " said Nat Grigsby, "he was always in good health, never sick, andhad an excellent constitution. "

HELPING KATE ROBY SPELL

Andrew Crawford must have been an unusual man, for he tried to teach"manners" in his backwoods school! Spelling was considered a greataccomplishment. Abe shone as a speller in school and at thespelling-matches. One day, evidently during a period when young Lincolnwas kept from school to do some outside work for his father, he appearedat the window when the class in spelling was on the floor. The word"defied" was given out and several pupils had misspelled it. Kate Roby, the pretty girl of the village, was stammering over it. "D-e-f, " saidKate, then she hesitated over the next letter. Abe pointed to his eyeand winked significantly. The girl took the hint and went on glibly"i-e-d, " and "went up head. "

"I DID IT!"

There was a buck's head nailed over the school house door. It proved atemptation to young Lincoln, who was tall enough to reach it easily. Oneday the schoolmaster discovered that one horn was broken and he demandedto know who had done the damage. There was silence and a general denialtill Abe spoke up sturdily:

"I did it. I did not mean to do it, but I hung on it--and it broke!"The other boys thought Abe was foolish to "own up" till he had to--butthat was his way. 

It is doubtful if Abe Lincoln owned an arithmetic. He had a copybook, made by himself, in which he entered tables of weights and measures and"sums" he had to do. Among these was a specimen of schoolboy doggerel:

 "Abraham Lincoln, His hand and pen, He will be good-- But God knows when!"

In another place he wrote some solemn reflections on the value of time:

 "Time, what an empty vapor 'tis, And days, how swift they are! Swift as an Indian arrow-- Fly on like a shooting star. The present moment, just, is here, Then slides away in haste, That we can never say they're ours, But only say they're past. "

As he grew older his handwriting improved and he was often asked to "setcopies" for other boys to follow. In the book of a boy namedRichardson, he wrote this prophetic couplet:

 "Good boys who to their books apply Will all be great men by and by. "

A "MOTHER'S BOY"--HIS FOOD AND CLOTHING

Dennis Hanks related of his young companion: "As far as food andclothing were concerned, the boy had plenty--such as itwas--'corndodgers, ' bacon and game, some fish and wild fruits. We hadvery little wheat flour. The nearest mill was eighteen miles. A hossmill it was, with a plug (old horse) pullin' a beam around; and Abe usedto say his dog could stand and eat the flour as fast as it was made, _and then be ready for supper_!

"For clothing he had jeans. He was grown before he wore all-wool pants. It was a new country, and he was a raw boy, rather a bright and likelylad; but the big world seemed far ahead of him. We were all slow-goin'folks. But he had the stuff of greatness in him. He got his rare senseand sterling principles from both parents. But Abe's kindliness, humor, love of humanity, hatred of slavery, all came from his mother. I amfree to say Abe was a 'mother's boy. '"

Dennis used to like to tell of Abe's earliest ventures in the fields ofliterature: "His first readin' book was Webster's speller. Then he gothold of a book--I can't rickilect the name. It told about a feller, anigger or suthin', that sailed a flatboat up to a rock, and the rock wasmagnetized and drawed the nails out of his boat, an' he got a duckin', or drownded, or suthin', I forget now. (This book, of course, was 'TheArabian Nights. ') Abe would lay on the floor with a chair under hishead, and laugh over them stories by the hour. I told him they waslikely lies from end to end; but he learned to read right well in them. "

His stock of books was small, but they were the right kind--the Bible, "The Pilgrim's Progress, " Ęsop's Fables, "Robinson Crusoe, " a history ofthe United States, and the Statutes of Indiana. This last was a strangebook for a boy to read, but Abe pored over it as eagerly as a lad to-daymight read "The Three Guardsmen, " or "The Hound of the Baskervilles. " Hemade notes of what he read with his turkey-buzzard pen and brier-rootink. If he did not have these handy, he would write with a piece ofcharcoal or the charred end of a stick, on a board, or on the under sideof a chair or bench. He used the wooden fire shovel for a slate, shavingit off clean when both sides were full of figures. When he got hold ofpaper enough to make a copy-book he would go about transferring hisnotes from boards, beams, under sides of the chairs and the table, andfrom all the queer places he had put them down, on the spur of themoment. 

Besides the books he had at hand, he borrowed all he could get, oftenwalking many miles for a book, until, as he once told a friend, he "readthrough every book he had ever heard of in that country, for a circuitof fifty miles"--quite a circulating library!

"THE BEGINNING OF LOVE"

"The thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts. " It must have been aboutthis time that the lad had the following experience, which he himselfrelated to a legal friend, with his chair tilted back and his knees"cocked up" in the manner described by Cousin John Hanks:

"Did you ever write out a story in your mind? I did when I was littlecodger. One day a wagon with a lady and two girls and a man broke downnear us, and while they were fixing up, they cooked in our kitchen. Thewoman had books and read us stories, and they were the first of the kindI ever heard. I took a great fancy to one of the girls; and when theywere gone I thought of her a good deal, and one day, when I was sittingout in the sun by the house, I wrote out a story in my mind. 

"I thought I took my father's horse and followed the wagon, and finallyI found it, and they were surprised to see me. 

"I talked with the girl and persuaded her to elope with me; and thatnight I put her on my horse and we started off across the prairie. Afterseveral hours we came to a camp; and when we rode up we found it was onewe had left a few hours before and went in. 

"The next night we tried again, and the same thing happened--the horsecame back to the same place; and then we concluded we ought not toelope. I stayed until I had persuaded her father that he ought to giveher to me. 

"I always meant to write that story out and publish it, and I beganonce; but I concluded it was not much of a story. 

"But I think that was the beginning of love with me. "

HOW ABE CAME TO OWN WEEMS'S "LIFE OF WASHINGTON"

Abe's chief delight, if permitted to do so, was to lie in the shade ofsome inviting tree and read. He liked to lie on his stomach before thefire at night, and often read as long as this flickering light lasted. He sometimes took a book to bed to read as soon as the morning lightbegan to come through the chinks between the logs beside his bed. Heonce placed a book between the logs to have it handy in the morning, anda storm came up and soaked it with dirty water from the "mud-daubed"mortar, plastered between the logs of the cabin. 

The book happened to be Weems's "Life of Washington. " Abe was in a saddilemma. What could he say to the owner of the book, which he hadborrowed from the meanest man in the neighborhood, Josiah Crawford, whowas so unpopular that he went by the nickname of "Old Blue Nose"?

The only course was to show the angry owner his precious volume, warpedand stained as it was, and offer to do anything he could to repay him. 

"Abe, " said "Old Blue Nose, " with bloodcurdling friendliness, "bein' asit's you, Abe, I won't be hard on you. You jest come over and pullfodder for me, and the book is yours. "

"All right, " said Abe, his deep-set eyes twinkling in spite of himselfat the thought of owning the story of the life of the greatest ofheroes, "how much fodder?"

"Wal, " said old Josiah, "that book's worth seventy-five cents, at least. You kin earn twenty-five cents a day--that will make three days. Youcome and pull all you can in three days and you may have the book. "

That was an exorbitant price, even if the book were new, but Abe was atthe old man's mercy. He realized this, and made the best of a badbargain. He cheerfully did the work for a man who was mean enough totake advantage of his misfortune. He comforted himself with the thoughtthat he would be the owner of the precious "Life of Washington. " Longafterward, in a speech before the New Jersey Legislature, on his way toWashington to be inaugurated, like Washington, as President of theUnited States, he referred to this strange book. 

"THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH"

One morning, on his way to work, with an ax on his shoulder, hisstepsister, Matilda Johnston, though forbidden by her mother to followAbe, crept after him, and with a cat-like spring landed between hisshoulders and pressed her sharp knees into the small of his back. 

Taken unawares, Abe staggered backward and ax and girl fell to theground together. The sharp implement cut her ankle badly, andmischievous Matilda shrieked with fright and pain when she saw the bloodgushing from the wound. Young Lincoln tore a sleeve from his shirt tobandage the gash and bound up the ankle as well as he could. Then hetried to teach the still sobbing girl a lesson. 

"'Tilda, " he said gently, "I'm surprised. Why did you disobey mother?"

Matilda only wept silently, and the lad went on, "What are you going totell mother about it?"

"Tell her I did it with the ax, " sobbed the young girl. "That will bethe truth, too. "

"Yes, " said Abe severely, "that's the truth, but not _all_ the truth. You just tell the whole truth, 'Tilda, and trust mother for the rest. "

Matilda went limping home and told her mother the whole story, and thegood woman was so sorry for her that, as the girl told Abe that evening, "she didn't even scold me. "

"BOUNDING A THOUGHT--NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST"

Abe sometimes heard things in the simple conversation of friends thatdisturbed him because they seemed beyond his comprehension. He said ofthis:

"I remember how, when a child, I used to get irritated when any onetalked to me in a way I couldn't understand. 

"I do not think I ever got angry with anything else in my life; but thatalways disturbed my temper--and has ever since. 

"I can remember going to my little bedroom, after hearing the neighborstalk of an evening with my father, and spending no small part of thenight walking up and down, trying to make out what was the exactmeaning of some of their, to me, dark sayings. 

"I could not sleep, although I tried to, when I got on such a hunt foran idea; and when I thought I had got it, I was not satisfied until Ihad repeated it over and over, and had put in language plain enough, asI thought, for any boy I knew to comprehend. 

"This was a kind of a passion with me, and it has stuck by me; for I amnever easy now when I am bounding a thought, till I have bounded iteast, and bounded it west, and bounded it north, and bounded it south. "

HIGH PRAISE FROM HIS STEPMOTHER

Not long before her death, Mr. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, calledupon Mrs. Sarah Lincoln to collect material for a "Life of Lincoln" hewas preparing to write. This was the best of all the things she relatedof her illustrious stepson:

"I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousand can say, Abe nevergave me a cross word or look, and never refused, in fact or appearance, to do anything I asked him. His mind and mine seemed to run together. 

"I had a son, John, who was raised with Abe. Both were good boys, but Imust say, both now being dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw orexpect to see. "

"Charity begins at home"--and so do truth and honesty. Abraham Lincolncould not have become so popular all over the world on account of hishonest kindheartedness if he had not been loyal, obedient and lovingtoward those at home. Popularity, also, "begins at home. " A mean, disagreeable, dishonest boy may become a king, because he was "to themanner born. " But only a good, kind, honest man, considerate of others, can be elected President of the United States. 

CHAPTER VII

ABE AND THE NEIGHBORS

"PREACHING" AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS

Nat Grigsby stated once that writing compositions was not required bySchoolmaster Crawford, but "Abe took it up on his own account, " and hisfirst essay was against cruelty to animals. 

The boys of the neighborhood made a practice of catching terrapins andlaying live coals on their backs. Abe caught a group of them at thiscruel sport one day, and rushed to the relief of the helpless turtle. Snatching the shingle that one of the boys was using to handle thecoals, he brushed them off the turtle's shell, and with angry tears inhis eyes, proceeded to use it on one of the offenders, while he calledthe rest a lot of cowards. 

One day his stepbrother, John Johnston, according to his sister Matilda, "caught a terrapin, brought it to the place where Abe was 'preaching, 'threw it against a tree and crushed its shell. " Abe then preachedagainst cruelty to animals, contending that "an ant's life is as sweetto it as ours is to us. "

ROUGHLY DISCIPLINED FOR BEING "FORWARD"

Abe was compelled to leave school on the slightest pretext to work forthe neighbors. He was so big and strong--attaining his full height atseventeen--that his services were more in demand than those of hisstepbrother, John Johnston, or of Cousin Dennis. Abe was called lazybecause the neighbors shared the idea of Thomas Lincoln, that hisreading and studying were only a pretext for shirking. Yet he was neverso idle as either Dennis Hanks or John Johnston, who were permitted togo hunting or fishing with Tom Lincoln, while Abe stayed out of schoolto do the work that one of the three older men should have done. 

Abe's father was kinder in many ways to his stepchildren than he was tohis own son. This may have been due to the fact that he did not wish tobe thought "partial" to his own child. No doubt Abe was "forward. " Heliked to take part in any discussion, and sometimes he broke into theconversation when his opinion had not been asked. Besides, he got intoarguments with his fellow-laborers, and wasted the time belonging to hisemployer. 

One day, according to Dennis, they were all working together in thefield, when a man rode up on horseback and asked a question. Abe was thefirst to mount the fence to answer the stranger and engage him inconversation. To teach his son better "manners" in the presence of his"superiors, " Thomas Lincoln struck Abe a heavy blow which knocked himbackward off the fence, and silenced him for a time. 

Of course, every one present laughed at Abe's discomfiture, and theneighbors approved of Thomas Lincoln's rude act as a matter ofdiscipline. In their opinion Abe Lincoln was getting altogether toosmart. While they enjoyed his homely wit and good nature, they did notlike to admit that he was in any way their superior. A visitor toSpringfield, Ill. , will even now find some of Lincoln's old neighborseager to say "there were a dozen smarter men in this city than Lincoln"when he "happened to get nominated for the presidency!"

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

Abe was "hail fellow, well met" everywhere. The women comprehended histrue greatness before the men did so. There was a rough gallantry abouthim, which, though lacking in "polish, " was true, "heart-of-oak"politeness. He wished every one well. His whole life passed with "malicetoward none, with charity for all. "

When he "went out evenings" Abe Lincoln took the greatest pains to makeeverybody comfortable and happy. He was sure to bring in the biggestbacklog and make the brightest fire. He read "the funniest fortunes" forthe young people from the sparks as they flew up the chimney. He was thebest helper in paring the apples, shelling the corn and cracking thenuts for the evening's refreshments. 

When he went to spelling school, after the first few times, he was notallowed to take part in the spelling match because everybody knew thatthe side that "chose first" would get Abe Lincoln and he always "spelleddown. " But he went just the same and had a good time himself if he couldadd to the enjoyment of the rest. 

He went swimming, warm evenings, with the boys, and ran races, jumpedand wrestled at noon-times, which was supposed to be given up to eatingand resting. He was "the life" of the husking-bee and barn raising, andwas always present, often as a judge because of his humor, fairness andtact, at horse races. He engaged heartily in every kind of "manly sport"which did not entail unnecessary suffering upon helpless animals. 

Coon hunting, however, was an exception. The coon was a pest and aplague to the farmer, so it should be got rid of. He once told thefollowing story:

THE LITTLE YELLOW "COON DOG"

"My father had a little yellow house dog which invariably gave the alarmif we boys undertook to slip away unobserved after night had set in--aswe sometimes did--to go coon hunting. One night my brother, JohnJohnston, and I, with the usual complement of boys required for asuccessful coon hunt, took the insignificant little cur with us. 

"We located the coveted coon, killed him, and then in a sporting vein, sewed the coon skin on the little dog. 

"It struggled vigorously during the operation of sewing on, and whenreleased made a bee-line for home. Some larger dogs on the way, scentingcoon, tracked the little animal home and apparently mistaking him for areal coon, speedily demolished him. The next morning, father found, lying in his yard, the lifeless remains of yellow 'Joe, ' with strongcircumstantial evidence, in the form of fragments of coon skin, againstus. 

"Father was much incensed at his death, but as John and I, scantilyprotected from the morning wind, stood shivering in the doorway, we feltassured that little yellow Joe would never again be able to sound thealarm of another coon hunt. "

THE "CHIN FLY" AS AN INCENTIVE TO WORK

While he was President, Mr. Lincoln told Henry J. Raymond, the founderof the New York _Times_, the following story of an experience he hadabout this time, while working with his stepbrother in a cornfield:

"Raymond, " said he, "you were brought up on a farm, were you not? Thenyou know what a 'chin fly' is. My brother and I were plowing corn once, I driving the horse and he holding the plow. The horse was lazy, but onone occasion he rushed across the field so that I, with my long legs, could scarcely keep pace with him. On reaching the end of the furrow Ifound an enormous chin fly fastened upon the horse and I knocked it off. My brother asked me what I did that for. I told him I didn't want theold horse bitten in that way. 

"'Why, ' said my brother, 'that's all that made him go. '"

"Now if Mr. Chase (the Secretary of the Treasury) has a presidential'chin fly' biting him, I'm not going to knock it off, if it will onlymake his department go. "

"OLD BLUE NOSE'S" HIRED MAN

It seemed to be the "irony of fate" that Abe should have to work for"Old Blue Nose" as a farm hand. But the lad liked Mrs. Crawford, andLincoln's sister Nancy lived there, at the same time, asmaid-of-all-work. Another attraction, the Crawford family was rich, inAbe's eyes, in possessing several books, which he was glad of the chanceto read. 

Mrs. Crawford told many things about young Lincoln that might otherwisehave been lost. She said "Abe was very polite, in his awkward way, taking off his hat to me and bowing. He was a sensitive lad, nevercoming where he was not wanted. He was tender and kind--like his sister. 

"He liked to hang around and gossip and joke with the women. After hehad wasted too much time this way, he would exclaim:

"'Well, this won't buy the child a coat, ' and the long-legged hired boywould stride away and catch up with the others. "

One day when he was asked to kill a hog, Abe answered promptly that hehad never done that, "but if you'll risk the hog, I'll risk myself!"

Mrs. Crawford told also about "going to meeting" in those primitivedays:

"At that time we thought it nothing to go eight or ten miles. The ladiesdid not stop for the want of a shawl or riding dress, or horses. In thewinter time they would put on their husbands' old overcoats, wrap uptheir little ones, and take two or three of them on their beasts, whiletheir husbands would walk. 

"In winter time they would hold church in some of the neighbors' houses. At such times they were always treated with the utmost kindness; abasket of apples, or turnips--apples were scarce in those days--was setout. Sometimes potatoes were used for a 'treat. ' In old Mr. Linkhorn's(Lincoln's) house a plate of potatoes, washed and pared nicely, washanded around. "

FEATS OF STRENGTH

Meanwhile the boy was growing to tall manhood, both in body and in mind. The neighbors, who failed to mark his mental growth, were greatlyimpressed with his physical strength. The Richardson family, with whomAbe seemed to have lived as hired man, used to tell marvelous tales ofhis prowess, some of which may have grown somewhat in the telling. Mr. Richardson declared that the young man could carry as heavy a load as"three ordinary men. " He saw Abe pick up and walk away with "a chickenhouse, made up of poles pinned together, and covered, that weighed atleast six hundred if not much more. "

When the Richardsons were building their corn-crib, Abe saw three orfour men getting ready to carry several huge posts or timbers on"sticks" between them. Watching his chance, he coolly stepped in, shouldered all the timbers at once and walked off alone with them, carrying them to the place desired. He performed these feats off-hand, smiling down in undisguised pleasure as the men around him expressedtheir amazement. It seemed to appeal to his sense of humor as well ashis desire to help others out of their difficulties. 

Another neighbor, "old Mr. Wood, " said of Abe: "He could strike, with amaul, a heavier blow than any other man. He could sink an ax deeperinto wood than any man I ever saw. "

Dennis Hanks used to tell that if you heard Abe working in the woodsalone, felling trees, you would think three men, at least, were at workthere--the trees came crashing down so fast. 

On one occasion after he had been threshing wheat for Mr. Turnham, thefarmer-constable whose "Revised Statutes of Indiana" Abe had devoured, Lincoln was walking back, late at night from Gentryville, where he and anumber of cronies had spent the evening. As the youths were pickingtheir way along the frozen road, they saw a dark object on the ground bythe roadside. They found it to be an old sot they knew too well lyingthere, dead drunk. Lincoln stopped, and the rest, knowing the tendernessof his heart, exclaimed:

"Aw, let him alone, Abe. 'Twon't do him no good. He's made his bed, lethim lay in it!"

The rest laughed--for the "bed" was freezing mud. But Abe could see nohumor in the situation. The man might be run over, or freeze to death. To abandon any human being in such a plight seemed too monstrous to him. The other young men hurried on in the cold, shrugging their shouldersand shaking their heads--"Poor Abe!--he's a hopeless case, " and leftLincoln to do the work of a Good Samaritan alone. He had no beast onwhich to carry the dead weight of the drunken man, whom he vainly tried, again and again, to arouse to a sense of the predicament he was in. Atlast the young man took up the apparently lifeless body of themud-covered man in his strong arms, and carried him a quarter of a mileto a deserted cabin, where he made up a fire and warmed and nursed theold drunkard the rest of that night. Then Abe gave him "a good talkingto, " and the unfortunate man is said to have been so deeply impressed bythe young man's kindness that he heeded the temperance lecture and neveragain risked his life as he had done that night. When the old man toldJohn Hanks of Abe's Herculean effort to save him, he added:

"It was mighty clever in Abe Lincoln to tote me to a warm fire that coldnight. "

IN JONES' STORE

While Abe was working for the farmers round about his father's farm hespent many of his evenings in Jones' grocery "talking politics" andother things with the men, who also gathered there. Mr. Jones took aLouisville paper, which young Lincoln read eagerly. Slavery was a livepolitical topic then, and Abe soon acquired quite a reputation as astump orator. 

As he read the "Indiana Statutes" he was supposed to "know more law thanthe constable. " In fact, his taste for the law was so pronounced at thatearly age that he went, sometimes, fifteen miles to Boonville, as aspectator in the county court. Once he heard a lawyer of ability, namedBreckinridge, defend an accused murderer there. It was a great plea; thetall country boy knew it and, pushing through the crowd, reached out hislong, coatless arm to congratulate the lawyer, who looked at the awkwardyouth in amazement and passed on without acknowledging Abe's compliment. The two men met again in Washington, more than thirty years later, undervery different circumstances. 

But there were things other than politics discussed at the countrystore, and Abe Lincoln often raised a laugh at the expense of somebraggart or bully. There was "Uncle Jimmy" Larkins, who posed as thehero of his own stories. In acknowledgment of Abe's authority as ajudge of horse flesh, "Uncle Jimmy" was boasting of his horse'ssuperiority in a recent fox chase. But young Lincoln seemed to pay noheed. Larkins repeated:

"Abe, I've got the best horse in the world; he won the race and neverdrew a long breath. "

Young Lincoln still appeared not to be paying attention. "Uncle Jimmy"persisted. He was bound to make Abe hear. He reiterated:

"I say, Abe, I have got the best horse in the world; after all thatrunning he never drew a long breath. "

"Well, Larkins, " drawled young Lincoln, "why don't you tell us how many_short_ breaths he drew. " The laugh was on the boastful and discomfitedLarkins. 

TRYING TO TEACH ASTRONOMY TO A YOUNG GIRL

Abe's efforts were not always so well received, for he was sometimesmisunderstood. The neighbors used to think the Lincoln boy was secretlyin love with Kate Roby, the pretty girl he had helped out of a dilemmain the spelling class. Several years after that episode, Abe and Katewere sitting on a log, about sunset, talking:

"Abe, " said Kate, "the sun's goin' down. "

"Reckon not, " Abe answered, "we're coming up, that's all. "

"Don't you s'pose I got eyes?"

"Yes, I know you have; but it's the earth that goes round. The sunstands as still as a tree. When we're swung round so we can't see it anymore, the light's cut off and we call it night. "

"What a fool you are, Abe Lincoln!" exclaimed Kate, who was not to blamefor her ignorance, for astronomy had never been taught in Crawford'sschool. 

THE EARLY DEATH OF SISTER NANCY

While brother and sister were working for "Old Blue Nose, " AaronGrigsby, "Nat's" brother, was "paying attention" to Nancy Lincoln. Theywere soon married. Nancy was only eighteen. When she was nineteen Mrs. Aaron Grigsby died. Her love for Abe had almost amounted to idolatry. Insome ways she resembled him. He, in turn, was deeply devoted to his onlysister. 

The family did not stay long at Pigeon Creek after the loss of Nancy, who was buried, not beside her mother, but with the Grigsbys in thechurchyard of the old Pigeon Creek meeting-house. 

EARNING HIS FIRST DOLLAR

Much as Abraham Lincoln had "worked out" as a hired man, his father keptthe money, as he had a legal right to do, not giving the boy any of theresults of his hard labor, for, strong as he was, his pay was onlytwenty-five or thirty cents a day. Abe accepted this as right andproper. He never complained of it. 

After he became President, Lincoln told his Secretary of State thefollowing story of the first dollar he ever had for his own:

"Seward, " he said, "did you ever hear how I earned my first dollar?""No, " replied Seward. "Well, " said he, "I was about eighteen years ofage . . . And had constructed a flatboat. . . . A steamer was going downthe river. We have, you know, no wharves on the western streams, andthe custom was, if passengers were at any of the landings they had togo out in a boat, the steamer stopping and taking them on board. Iwas contemplating my new boat, and wondering whether I could make itstronger or improve it in any part, when two men with trunks came downto the shore in carriages, and looking at the different boats, singledout mine, and asked:

"'Who owns this?'

"I answered modestly, 'I do. '

"'Will you, ' said one of them, 'take us and our trunks out to thesteamer?'

"'Certainly, ' said I. I was very glad to have a chance of earningsomething, and supposed that they would give me a couple of 'bits. ' Thetrunks were put in my boat, the passengers seated themselves on them, and I sculled them out to the steamer. They got on board, and I liftedthe trunks and put them on deck. The steamer was moving away when Icalled out:

"'You have forgotten to pay me. '

"Each of them took from his pocket a silver half-dollar and threw it onthe bottom of my boat. I could scarcely believe my eyes as I picked upthe money. You may think it was a very little thing, and in these daysit seems to me like a trifle, but it was a most important incident in mylife. I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar inless than a day--that by honest work I had earned a dollar. I was a morehopeful and thoughtful boy from that time. "

CHAPTER VIII

MOVING TO ILLINOIS

"FOLLOWING THE RIVER"

Thomas Lincoln had become restless again. Fourteen years was a long timefor him to live in one place. Abe was seven years old when they cameover from Kentucky, and he was now nearly twenty-one. During that timeThomas had lost his wife, Nancy, and his only daughter, who bore hermother's name. While the land he had chosen was fertile enough, the wantof water had always been a sad drawback. The desire to try his fortunesin a newer country had taken possession of him. 

John Hanks had gone to Illinois, and had written back that everythingwas more favorable there for making a living. Thomas Lincoln had notbeen successful in Indiana. His children's prospects seemed to beagainst them. After working as a hired hand on the surrounding farms, Abe had served for a time as a ferryman, and, working by the river, hadlearned to build the boat with which he had earned his first dollar. 

As George Washington longed to go to sea, Abraham Lincoln seems to haveyearned to "follow the river. " He tried to hire out as deck hand, buthis age was against him. He soon had a chance to go "down river" to NewOrleans, with his friend, Allen Gentry, the son of the man for whomGentryville was named. Allen afterward married Kate Roby. A flatboatbelonging to Allen's father was loaded with bacon and other farmmerchandise for the southern market. Allen went in charge of theexpedition, and young Lincoln was engaged as "bow hand. " They started inApril, 1828. There was nothing to do but steer the unwieldy craft withthe current. The flatboat was made to float down stream only. It was tobe broken up at New Orleans and sold for lumber. 

The two young men from Indiana made the trip without incident until theycame to the plantation of Madame Duchesne, six miles from Baton Rouge, where they moored their raft for the night. There they heard thestealthy footsteps of midnight marauders on board. 

Young Gentry was first aroused. He sprang up and found a gang oflawless negroes on deck, evidently looking for plunder, and thinking somany of them could easily cow or handle the two white men. 

"Bring the guns, Abe!" shouted Allen. "Shoot them!" Abraham Lincoln wasamong them, brandishing a club--they had no guns. The negroes werefrightened not only by the fierce, commanding form of their talladversary, but also by his giant strength. The two white men routed thewhole black crew, but Abraham Lincoln received a wound in the encounter, and bore the scar of it to his dying day. 

The trip required about three months, going and returning, and the twoadventurers from Gentryville came back in June, with good stories oftheir experiences to tell in Jones' store. 

Not long after this Thomas Lincoln, in response to an urgent invitationfrom John Hanks, decided to move to Illinois. It took a long time, aftergathering in the fall crops, for Thomas Lincoln to have a "vandoo" andsell his corn and hogs. As for selling his farm, it had never reallybelonged to him. He simply turned it over to Mr. Gentry, who held amortgage on it. It was February, 1830, before the pioneer wagon gotunder way. The emigrant family consisted of Thomas Lincoln and Sarah, his wife, Abraham, and John Johnston; Sarah and Matilda Johnston wereboth married, and, with their husbands, a young man named Hall andDennis Hanks, formed the rest of the party. The women rode with theirhousehold goods in a great covered cart drawn by two yoke of oxen. 

A TRAVELING PEDDLER

Merchant Jones, for whom Abe had worked that fall and winter, after hisreturn from New Orleans, sold the young man a pack of "notions" topeddle along the road to Illinois. "A set of knives and forks, " relatedMr. Jones' son afterward, "was the largest item on the bill. The otheritems were needles, pins, thread, buttons, and other little domesticnecessities. When the Lincolns reached their new home, Abraham wroteback to my father stating that he had doubled his money on his purchasesby selling them along the road. Unfortunately we did not keep thatletter, not thinking how highly we would prize it afterward. "

In the early days of his presidency, an international problem camebefore the cabinet which reminded Mr. Lincoln of an experience he had onthis journey, so he told the several secretaries this story:

"The situation just now reminds me of a fix I got into some thirty yearsago when I was peddling 'notions' on the way from Indiana to Illinois. Ididn't have a large stock, but I charged large prices and I made money. Perhaps you don't see what I am driving at. 

"Just before we left Indiana and were crossing into Illinois we cameacross a small farmhouse full of children. These ranged in age fromseventeen years to seventeen months, and were all in tears. The motherof the family was red-headed and red-faced, and the whip she held in herright hand led to the inference that she had been chastising her brood. The father of the family, a meek-looking, mild-mannered, tow-headedchap, was standing at the front door--to all appearances waiting histurn!

"I thought there wasn't much use in asking the head of that house if shewanted any 'notions. ' She was too busy. It was evident that aninsurrection had been in progress, but it was pretty well quelled when Igot there. She saw me when I came up, and from her look I thought shesurmised that I intended to interfere. Advancing to the doorway--roughlypushing her husband aside--she demanded my business. 

"'Nothing, ma'am, ' I answered as gently as possible. 'I merely droppedin, as I came along, to see how things were going. '

"'Well, you needn't wait, ' she said in an irritated way; 'there'strouble here, and lots of it, too, but I kin manage my own affairswithout the help of outsiders. This is jest a family row, but I'll teachthese brats their places if I hev to lick the hide off every one ofthem. I don't do much talking, but I run this house, an' I don't want noone sneakin' round tryin' to find out how I do it either. '

"That's the case here with us. We must let the other nations know thatwe propose to settle our family row in our own way, an' teach thesebrats (the seceding States) their places, and, like the old woman, wedon't want any 'sneakin' round' by other countries, that would like tofind out how we are going to do it either. "

"WINNING A DOG'S GRATITUDE"

Abe strode along in the mud, driving the four oxen much of the time, for the houses he could visit with his peddler's pack were few and farbetween. A dog belonging to one of the family--an insignificant littlecur--fell behind. After the oxen had floundered through the mud, snowand ice of a prairie stream, they discovered that the animal wasmissing. The other men of the party thought they could now get rid ofthe little nuisance, and even the women were anxious, as the hour waslate, to go on and find a place to camp for the night. To turn back withthe clumsy ox-team and lumbering emigrant wagon was out of the question. 

Abraham gave the whip to one of the other men and turned back to see ifhe could discern the dog anywhere. He discovered it running up and downon the other bank of the river, in great distress, for the swift currentwas filled with floating ice and the poor little creature was afraid tomake the attempt to swim across. After whistling in vain to encouragethe dog to try if it would, the tender-hearted youth went to its rescue. Referring to the incident himself afterward, he said:

"I could not endure the idea of abandoning even a dog. Pulling off shoesand socks, I waded across the stream and triumphantly returned with theshivering animal under my arm. His frantic leaps of joy and otherevidences of a dog's gratitude amply repaid me for all the exposure Ihad undergone. "

SPLITTING THE HISTORIC RAILS

After two weary weeks of floundering through muddy prairies and joltingover rough forest roads, now and then fording swollen and dangerousstreams, the Lincolns were met near Decatur, Illinois, by Cousin JohnHanks, and given a hearty welcome. John had chosen a spot not far fromhis own home, and had the logs all ready to build a cabin for thenewcomers. Besides young Abe, with the strength of three, there werefive men in the party, so they were able to erect their first home inIllinois without asking the help of the neighbors, as was customary fora "raising" of that kind. 

Nicolay and Hay, President Lincoln's private secretaries, in their greatlife of their chief, gave the following account of the splitting of therails which afterward became the talk of the civilized world:

"Without the assistance of John Hanks he plowed fifteen acres, andsplit, from the tall walnut trees of the primeval forest, enough railsto surround them with a fence. Little did either dream, while engaged inthis work, that the day would come when the appearance of John Hanks ina public meeting with two of these rails on his shoulder, wouldelectrify a State convention, and kindle throughout the country acontagious and passionate enthusiasm whose results would reach toendless generations. "

CHAPTER IX

STARTING OUT FOR HIMSELF

HIS FATHER AND HIS "FREEDOM SUIT"

According to his own account, Abe had made about thirty dollars as apeddler, besides bearing the brunt of the labor of the journey, thoughthere were four grown men in the combined family. As he had passed histwenty-first birthday on the road, he really had the right to claimthese profits as his own. His father, who had, for ten years, exactedAbraham's meager, hard-earned wages, should at least have given the boya part of that thirty dollars for a "freedom suit" of clothes, as wasthe custom then. 

But neither Thomas Lincoln nor his son seems to have thought of such athing. Instead of entertaining resentment, Abraham stayed by, doing allhe could to make his father and stepmother comfortable before he leftthem altogether. Mrs. Lincoln had two daughters and sons-in-law, besidesJohn Johnston, so Abe might easily have excused himself from lookingafter the welfare of his parents. Though his father had seemed to favorhis stepchildren in preference to his own son, Mrs. Lincoln had been"like an own mother to him, " and he never ceased to show his gratitudeby being "like an own son to her. "

The first work Abe did in that neighborhood was to split a thousandrails for a pair of trousers, at the rate of four hundred rails per yardof "brown jeans dyed with walnut bark. " The young man's breeches costhim about four hundred rails more than they would if he had been a manof ordinary height. 

But Abraham hovered about, helping clear a little farm, and making thecabin comfortable while he was earning his own "freedom suit. " He sawthe spring planting done and that a garden was made for his stepmotherbefore he went out of ready reach of the old people. 

One special reason Thomas Lincoln had for leaving Indiana was to getaway from "the milksick. " But the fall of 1830 was a very bad season inIllinois for chills and fever. The father and, in fact, nearly the wholefamily left at home suffered so much from malaria that they werethoroughly discouraged. The interior of their little cabin was a sorrysight--Thomas and his wife were both afflicted at once, and one marrieddaughter was almost as ill. They were all so sick that Thomas Lincolnregistered a shaky but vehement resolve that as soon as they couldtravel they would "git out o' thar!" He had been so determined to moveto Illinois that no persuasion could induce him to give up the project, therefore his disappointment was the more keen and bitter. 

The first winter the Lincolns spent in Illinois was memorable for itsseverity. It is still spoken of in that region as "the winter of the bigsnow. " Cattle and sheep froze to death or died of exposure andstarvation. 

BUILDING THE FLATBOAT

Early in the spring after "the big snow, " John Hanks, Lincoln and JohnJohnston met Denton Offutt, a man who was to wield an influence on thelife of young Lincoln. Offutt engaged the three to take a load ofproduce and other merchandise to New Orleans to sell. John Hanks, themost reliable member of the Hanks family, gave the following account ofthe way he managed to bring Abe and his stepbrother into thetransaction: "He wanted me to go badly but I waited before answering. Ihunted up Abe, and I introduced him and John Johnston, his stepbrother, to Offutt. After some talk we at last made an engagement with Offutt atfifty cents a day and sixty dollars to make the trip to New Orleans. Abeand I came down the Sangamon River in a canoe in March, 1831, and landedat what is now called Jamestown, five miles east of Springfield. "

Denton Offutt spent so much time drinking in a tavern at the village ofSpringfield that the flatboat was not ready when the trio arrived totake it and its cargo down the river. Their employer met them on theirarrival with profuse apologies, and the three men were engaged to buildthe boat and load it up for the journey. 

During the four weeks required to build the raft, the men of thatneighborhood became acquainted with young Lincoln. A man named John Rollhas given this description of Abe's appearance at that time:

"He was a tall, gaunt young man, dressed in a suit of blue homespun, consisting of a roundabout jacket, waistcoat, and breeches which came towithin about three inches of his feet. The latter were encased inrawhide boots, into the tops of which, most of the time, his pantaloonswere stuffed. He wore a soft felt hat which had once been black, butnow, as its owner dryly remarked, 'was sunburned until it was a combineof colors. '"

There was a sawmill in Sangamontown, and it was the custom for the "menfolks" of the neighborhood to assemble near it at noon and in theevening, and sit on a peeled log which had been rolled out for thepurpose. Young Lincoln soon joined this group and at once became a greatfavorite because of his stories and jokes. His stories were so funnythat "whenever he'd end 'em up in his unexpected way the boys on the logwould whoop and roll off. " In this way the log was polished smooth asglass, and came to be known in the neighborhood as "Abe's log. "

A traveling juggler came one day while the boat was building and gave anexhibition in the house of one of the neighbors. This magician asked forAbe's hat to cook eggs in. Lincoln hesitated, but gave this explanationfor his delay: "It was out of respect for the eggs--not care for myhat!"

ABE LINCOLN SAVES THREE LIVES

While they were at work on the flatboat the humorous young stranger fromIndiana became the hero of a thrilling adventure, described as followsby John Roll, who was an eye witness to the whole scene:

"It was the spring following 'the winter of the deep snow. ' WalterCarman, John Seamon, myself, and at times others of the Carman boys, hadhelped Abe in building the boat, and when we had finished we went towork to make a dug-out, or canoe, to be used as a small boat with theflat. We found a suitable log about an eighth of a mile up the river, and with our axes went to work under Lincoln's direction. The river wasvery high, fairly 'booming. ' After the dug-out was ready to launch wetook it to the edge of the water, and made ready to 'let her go, ' whenWalter Carman and John Seamon jumped in as the boat struck the water, each one anxious to be the first to get a ride. As they shot out fromthe shore they found they were unable to make any headway against thestrong current. Carman had the paddle, and Seamon was in the stern ofthe boat. Lincoln shouted to them to head up-stream and 'work back toshore, ' but they found themselves powerless against the stream. At lastthey began to pull for the wreck of an old flatboat, the first everbuilt on the Sangamon, which had sunk and gone to pieces, leaving one ofthe stanchions sticking above the water. Just as they reached it Seamonmade a grab, and caught hold of the stanchion, when the canoe capsized, leaving Seamon clinging to the old timber and throwing Carman into thestream. It carried him down with the speed of a mill-race. Lincolnraised his voice above the roar of the flood, and yelled to Carman toswim for an elm tree which stood almost in the channel, which the actionof the water had changed. 

"Carman, being a good swimmer, succeeded in catching a branch, andpulled himself up out of the water, which was very cold, and had almostchilled him to death; and there he sat, shivering and chattering in thetree. 

"Lincoln, seeing Carman safe, called out to Seamon to let go thestanchion and swim for the tree. With some hesitation he obeyed, andstruck out, while Lincoln cheered and directed him from the bank. AsSeamon neared the tree he made one grab for a branch, and, missing it, went under the water. Another desperate lunge was successful, and heclimbed up beside Carman. 

"Things were pretty exciting now, for there were two men in the tree, and the boat gone. It was a cold, raw April day, and there was greatdanger of the men becoming benumbed and falling back into the water. Lincoln called out to them to keep their spirits up and he would savethem. 

"The village had been alarmed by this time, and many people had comedown to the bank. Lincoln procured a rope and tied it to a log. Hecalled all hands to come and help roll the log into the water, and, after this had been done, he, with the assistance of several others, towed it some distance up the stream. A daring young fellow by the nameof 'Jim' Dorell then took his seat on the end of the log, and it waspushed out into the current, with the expectation that it would becarried down stream against the tree where Seamon and Carman were. 

"The log was well directed, and went straight to the tree; but Jim, inhis impatience to help his friends, fell a victim to his goodintentions. Making a frantic grab at a branch, he raised himself off thelog, which was swept from under him by the raging waters and he soonjoined the other victims upon their forlorn perch. 

"The excitement on the shore increased, and almost the whole populationof the village gathered on the river bank. Lincoln had the log pulled upthe stream, and, securing another piece of rope, called to the men inthe tree to catch it if they could when he should reach the tree. Hethen straddled the log himself, and gave the word to push out into thestream. When he dashed into the tree he threw the rope over the stump ofa broken limb, and let it play until he broke the speed of the log, andgradually drew it back to the tree, holding it there until the three nownearly frozen men had climbed down and seated themselves astride. Hethen gave orders to the people on shore to hold fast to the end of therope which was tied to the log, and leaving his rope in the tree heturned the log adrift. The force of the current, acting against the tautrope, swung the log around against the bank and all 'on board' weresaved. 

"The excited people who had watched the dangerous expedition withalternate hope and fear, now broke into cheers for Abe Lincoln, andpraises for his brave act. This adventure made quite a hero of him alongthe Sangamon, and the people never tired of telling of the exploit. "

"DOWN THE RIVER"

The launching of that flatboat was made a feast-day in the neighborhood. Denton Offutt, its proprietor, was invited to break away from the"Buckhorn" tavern at Springfield to witness the ceremonies, which, ofcourse, took a political turn. There was much speech-making, but AndrewJackson and the Whig leaders were equally praised. 

The boat had been loaded with pork in barrels, corn, and hogs, and itslid into the Sangamon River, then overflowing with the spring "fresh, "with a big splash. 

The three sturdy navigators, accompanied by Offutt himself, floated awayin triumph from the waving crowd on the bank. 

The first incident in the voyage occurred the 19th of April, atRutledge's mill dam at New Salem, where the boat stranded and "hung"there a day and a night. 

HOW ABE GOT THE FLATBOAT OVER THE DAM

New Salem was destined to fill an important place in the life of AbrahamLincoln. One who became well acquainted with him described him as theNew Salemites first saw him, "wading round on Rutledge's dam with histrousers rolled up nine feet, more or less. "

One of the crew gave this account of their mode of operations to get thestranded raft over the dam:

"We unloaded the boat--that is, we transferred the goods from our boatto a borrowed one. We then rolled the barrels forward; Lincoln bored ahole in the end (projecting) over the dam; the water which had leaked inran out then and we slid over. "

Offutt's enthusiasm over Abe's simple method of surmounting this greatobstacle was boundless. A crowd had gathered on a hillside to watchLincoln's operations. 

AN IMPROBABLE PROPHECY

For the novelty of the thing, John Hanks claimed to have taken youngLincoln to a "voodoo" negress. She is said to have become excited inreading the future of the tall, thin young man, saying to him, "You willbe President, and all the negroes will be free. " This story probablyoriginated long afterward, when the strange prophecy had already cometrue--though fortune tellers often inform young men who come to themthat they will be Presidents some day. That such a woman could read theEmancipation Proclamation in that young man's future is not at alllikely. 

Another story is told of Abraham Lincoln's second visit to New Orleansthat is more probable, but even this is not certain to have happenedexactly as related. The young northerner doubtless saw negroes inchains, and his spirit, like that of his father and mother, rebelledagainst this inhumanity. There is little doubt that in such sights, asone of his companions related, "Slavery ran the iron into him then andthere. "

"I'LL HIT IT HARD!"

But the story goes that the three young fellows--Hanks, Johnston andLincoln--went wandering about the city, and passed a slave market, wherea comely young mulatto girl was offered to the highest bidder. They sawprospective purchasers examine the weeping girl's teeth, pinch her fleshand pull her about as they would a cow or a horse. The whole scene wasso revolting that Lincoln recoiled from it with horror and hatred, saying to his two companions, "Boys, let's get away from this. If ever Iget a chance to hit that thing"--meaning slavery--"_I'll hit it hard_!"

In June the four men took passage up the river on a steamboat for thereturn trip. At St. Louis, Offutt got off to purchase stock for a storehe proposed to open in New Salem, where he planned to place youngLincoln in charge. 

WRESTLING WITH THE COUNTY CHAMPION

The other three started on foot to reach their several homes inIllinois. Abe improved the opportunity to visit his father's family inColes County, where Thomas Lincoln had removed as soon as he was ableto leave their first Illinois home near Decatur. 

Abe's reputation as a wrestler had preceded him and the Coles CountyChampion, Daniel Needham, came and challenged the tall visitor to afriendly contest. Young Lincoln laughingly accepted and threw Needhamtwice. The crestfallen wrestler's pride was deeply hurt, and he found ithard to give up beaten. 

"Lincoln, " said he, "you have thrown me twice, but you can't whip me. "

Abe laughed again and replied:

"Needham, are you satisfied that I can throw you? If you are not, andmust be convinced through a thrashing, I will do that, too--_for yoursake_!"

CHAPTER X

CLERKING AND WORKING

HE COULD "MAKE A FEW RABBIT TRACKS"

It was in August, 1831, that Abraham Lincoln appeared in the village ofNew Salem, Illinois. Neither Denton Offutt nor his merchandise hadarrived as promised. While paying the penalty of the punctual man--bywaiting for the tardy one--he seemed to the villagers to be loafing. ButAbraham Lincoln was no loafer. He always found something useful andhelpful to do. This time there was a local election, and one of theclerks had not appeared to perform his duties. A New Salem woman wroteof Lincoln's first act in the village:

"My father, Mentor Graham, was on that day, as usual, appointed to be aclerk, and Mr. McNamee, who was to be the other, was sick and failed tocome. They were looking around for a man to fill his place when myfather noticed Mr. Lincoln and asked if he could write. He answered thathe could 'make a few rabbit tracks. '"

PILOTING A FAMILY FLATBOAT

A few days after the election the young stranger, who had become knownby this time as the hero of the flatboat on Rutledge's dam four monthsbefore, found employment as a pilot. A citizen, Dr. Nelson, was about toemigrate to Texas. The easiest and best mode of travel in those dayswas by flatboat down the river. He had loaded all his household goodsand movable property on his "private conveyance" and was looking aboutfor a "driver. " Young Lincoln, still waiting, unemployed, offered hisservices and took the Nelson family down the Sangamon River--a moredifficult task in August than in April, when the water was high onaccount of the spring rains. But the young pilot proceeded cautiouslydown the shallow stream, and reached Beardstown, on the Illinois River, where he was "discharged" and walked back over the hills to New Salem. 

ANNOYED BY THE HIGH PRAISES OF HIS EMPLOYER

Denton Offutt and his stock for the store arrived at last, and Lincolnsoon had a little store opened for business. A country store seemed toosmall for a clerk of such astounding abilities, so the too enthusiasticemployer bought Cameron's mill with the dam on which Lincoln had alreadydistinguished himself, and made the clerk manager of the whole business. 

This was not enough. Offutt sounded the praises of the new clerk to allcomers. He claimed that Abraham Lincoln "knew more than any man in theUnited States. " As Mr. Offutt had never shown that he knew enoughhimself to prove this statement, the neighbors began to resent such rashclaims. In addition, Offutt boasted that Abe could "beat the county"running, jumping and wrestling. Here was something the new clerk couldprove, if true, so his employer's statement was promptly challenged. 

When a strange man came to the village to live, even though no oneboasted of his prowess, he was likely to suffer at the hands of therougher element of the place. It was a sort of rude initiation intotheir society. These ceremonies were conducted with a savage sense ofhumor by a gang of rowdies known as the "Clary's Grove Boys, " of whomthe "best fighter" was Jack Armstrong. 

Sometimes "the Boys" nailed up a stranger in a hogshead and it wasrolled down hill. Sometimes he was ingeniously insulted, or made tofight in self-defense, and beaten black and blue by the whole gang. Theyseemed not to be hampered by delicate notions of fair play in theiractions toward a stranger. They "picked on him, " as chickens, dogs andwolves do upon a newcomer among them. 

So when young Lincoln heard his employer bragging about his brain andbrawn he was sufficiently acquainted with backwoods nature to know thatit boded no good to him. Even then "he knew how to bide his time, " andturned it to good account, for he had a good chance, shortly to show themetal that was in him. 

"The Boys" called and began to banter with the long-legged clerk in thenew store. This led to a challenge and comparison of strength andprowess between young Lincoln and Jack Armstrong. Abe accepted thegauntlet with an alacrity that pleased the crowd, especially the chiefof the bully "Boys, " who expected an easy victory. But Jack wassurprised to find that the stranger was his match--yes, more than hismatch. Others of "the Boys" saw this, also, and began to interfere bytripping Abe and trying to help their champion by unfair means. 

This made young Lincoln angry. Putting forth all his strength, he seizedArmstrong by the throat and "nearly choked the exuberant life out ofhim. " When "the Boys" saw the stranger shaking their "best fighter" asif he were a mere child, their enmity gave place to admiration; and whenAbe had thrown Jack Armstrong upon the ground, in his wrath, as a lionwould throw a dog that had been set upon him, and while the strongstranger stood there, with his back to the wall, challenging the wholegang, with deep-set eyes blazing with indignation, they acknowledged himas their conqueror, and declared that "Abe Lincoln is the cleverestfellow that ever broke into the settlement. "

The initiation was over, and young Lincoln's triumph complete. From thatday "the Clary's Grove Boys" were his staunch supporters and defenders, and his employer was allowed to go on bragging about his wonderful clerkwithout hindrance. 

GIVING ANOTHER BULLY "A DOSE OF SMARTWEED"

A bumptious stranger came into the store one day and tried to pick aquarrel with the tall clerk. To this end he used language offensive toseveral women who were there trading. Lincoln quietly asked the fellowto desist as there were "ladies present. " The bully considered this anadmission that the clerk was afraid of him, so he began to swear and usemore offensive language than before. As this was too much for Abraham'spatience, he whispered to the fellow that if he would keep quiet tillthe ladies went out, he (Lincoln) would go and "have it out. "

After the women went, the man became violently abusive. Young Lincolncalmly went outside with him, saying: "I see you must be whipped and Isuppose I will have to do it. " With this he seized the insolent fellowand made short work of him. Throwing the man on the ground, Lincoln saton him, and, with his long arms, gathered a handful of "smartweed" whichgrew around them. He then rubbed it into the bully's eyes until heroared with pain. An observer of this incident said afterward:

"Lincoln did all this without a particle of anger, and when the job wasfinished he went immediately for water, washed his victim's face and dideverything he could to alleviate the man's distress. The upshot of thematter was that the fellow became his life-long friend, and was a betterman from that day. "

HOW HE MADE HIS FELLOW CLERK GIVE UP GAMBLING

Lincoln's morals were unusually good for that time and place. Smoking, chewing, drinking, swearing and gambling were almost universal amonghis associates. Offutt hired a young man, William G. Greene, after thepurchase of the mill. This assistant first told many of the stories, nowso well known, concerning Abe at this period of his career:

Young Greene was, like most of the young men in New Salem, addicted topetty gambling. He once related how Lincoln induced him to quit thehabit. Abe said to him one day:

"Billy, you ought to stop gambling with Estep. " Billy made a lameexcuse:

"I'm ninety cents behind, and I can't quit until I win it back. "

"I'll help you get that back, " urged Lincoln, "if you'll promise me youwon't gamble any more. "

The youth reflected a moment and made the required promise. Lincolncontinued:

"Here are some good hats, and you need a new one. Now, when Estep comesagain, you draw him on by degrees, and finally bet him one of these hatsthat I can lift a forty-gallon barrel of whisky and take a drink out ofthe bunghole. "

Billy agreed, and the two clerks chuckled as they fixed the barrel sothat the bunghole would come in the right place to win the bet, thoughthe thing seemed impossible to Greene himself. Estep appeared in duetime, and after long parleying and bantering the wager was laid. Lincolnthen squatted before the barrel, lifted one end up on one knee, thenraised the other end on to the other knee, bent over, and by a Herculeaneffort, actually succeeded in taking a drink from the bunghole--thoughhe spat it out immediately. "That was the only time, " said Greene longafterward, "that I ever saw Abraham Lincoln take a drink of liquor ofany kind. " This was the more remarkable, as whisky was served on alloccasions--even passed around with refreshments at religious meetings, according to Mrs. Josiah Crawford, the woman for whom Abe and Nancy hadworked as hired help. Much as Abe disapproved of drinking, he consideredthat "the end justified the means" employed to break his fellow clerk ofthe gambling habit. 

HOW HE WON THE NAME OF "HONEST ABE"

Abe Lincoln could not endure the thought of cheating any one, eventhough it had been done unintentionally. One day a woman bought a billof goods in Offutt's store amounting to something over two dollars. Shepaid Abe the money and went away satisfied. That night, on going overthe sales of the day, Abe found that he had charged the woman six andone-fourth cents too much. After closing the store, though it was late, he could not go home to supper or to bed till he had restored thatsixpence to its proper owner. She lived more than two miles away, butthat did not matter to Abe Lincoln. When he had returned the money tothe astonished woman he walked back to the village with a long step anda light heart, content with doing his duty. 

Another evening, as he was closing the store, a woman came in for ahalf-pound of tea. He weighed it out for her and took the pay. But earlynext morning, when he came to "open up, " he found the four-ounce weightinstead of the eight-ounce on the scales, and inferred that he had giventhat woman only half as much tea as he had taken the money for. Ofcourse, the woman would never know the difference, and it meant walkingseveral miles and back, but the honest clerk weighed out another quarterpound of tea, locked the store and took that long walk before breakfast. As a "constitutional" it must have been a benefit to his health, for itsatisfied his sensitive conscience and soothed his tender heart to "makegood" in that way. 

Drink and misdirected enthusiasm interfered with Denton Offutt'ssuccess. After about a year in New Salem he "busted up, " as theneighbors expressed it, and left his creditors in the lurch. Among themwas the clerk he had boasted so much about. For a short time Abe Lincolnneeded a home, and found a hearty welcome with Jack Armstrong, the bestfighter of Clary's Grove!

J. G. Holland wrote, in his "Life of Abraham Lincoln, " of the youngman's progress during his first year in New Salem:

"The year that Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's store was one of greatadvance. He had made new and valuable acquaintances, read many books, won multitudes of friends, and become ready for a step further inadvance. Those who could appreciate brains respected him, and thosewhose ideas of a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It waswhile he was performing the work of the store that he acquired thenickname, 'Honest Abe'--a characterization that he never dishonored, anabbreviation that he never outgrew. He was everybody's friend, thebest-natured, the most sensible, the best-informed, the most modest andunassuming, the kindest, gentlest, roughest, strongest, best fellow inall New Salem and the region round about. "

CHAPTER XI

POLITICS, WAR, STOREKEEPING AND STUDYING LAW

STUDYING GRAMMAR FIRST

By "a step still further in advance" Dr. Holland must have meant theyoung clerk's going into politics. He had made many friends in NewSalem, and they reflected back his good-will by urging him to run forthe State Legislature. Before doing this he consulted Mentor Graham, thevillage schoolmaster, with whom he had worked as election clerk when hefirst came to the place. Abe could read, write and cipher, but he feltthat if he should succeed in politics, he would disgrace his office andhimself by not speaking and writing English correctly. 

The schoolmaster advised: "If you expect to go before the public in anycapacity, I think the best thing you can do is to study Englishgrammar. "

"If I had a grammar I would commence now, " sighed Abe. 

Mr. Graham thought one could be found at Vaner's, only six miles away. So Abe got up and started for it as fast as he could stride. In anincredibly short time he returned with a copy of Kirkham's Grammar, andset to work upon it at once. Sometimes he would steal away into thewoods, where he could study "out loud" if he desired. He kept up his oldhabit of sitting up nights to read, and as lights were expensive, thevillage cooper allowed him to stay in his shop, where he burned theshavings and studied by the blaze as he had done in Indiana, after everyone else had gone to bed. So it was not long before young Lincoln, withthe aid of Schoolmaster Graham, had mastered the principles of Englishgrammar, and felt himself better equipped to enter politics and publiclife. Some of his rivals, however, did not trouble themselves aboutspeaking and writing correctly. 

GOING INTO POLITICS

James Rutledge, a "substantial" citizen, and the former owner ofRutledge's mill and dam, was the president of the New Salem debatingclub. Young Lincoln joined this society, and when he first rose tospeak, everybody began to smile in anticipation of a funny story, butAbe proceeded to discuss the question before the house in very goodform. He was awkward in his movements and gestures at first, and amusedthose present by thrusting his unwieldy hands deep into his pockets, buthis arguments were so well-put and forcible that all who heard him wereastonished. 

Mr. Rutledge, that night after Abe's maiden effort at the lyceum, toldhis wife:

"There is more in Abe Lincoln's head than mere wit and fun. He isalready a fine speaker. All he needs is culture to fit him for a highposition in public life. "

But there were occasions enough where something besides culture wasrequired. A man who was present and heard Lincoln's first real stumpspeech describes his appearance and actions in the following picturesquelanguage:

"He wore a mixed jean coat, clawhammer style, short in the sleeves andbob-tail--in fact, it was so short in the tail that he could not situpon it--flax and tow linen pantaloons, and a straw hat. I think he worea vest, but do not remember how it looked. He wore pot metal (top)boots. 

"His maiden effort on the stump was a speech on the occasion of a publicsale at Pappyville, a village eleven miles from Springfield. After thesale was over and speechmaking had begun, a fight--a 'general fight' asone of the bystanders relates--ensued, and Lincoln, noticing one of hisfriends about to succumb to the attack of an infuriated ruffian, interposed to prevent it. He did so most effectually. Hastily descendingfrom the rude platform, he edged his way through the crowd, and seizingthe bully by the neck and the seat of his trousers, threw him by meansof his great strength and long arms, as one witness stoutly insists, 'twelve feet away. ' Returning to the stand, and throwing aside his hat, he inaugurated his campaign with the following brief and juicydeclaration:

"'Fellow-Citizens: I presume you all know who I am. I am humble AbrahamLincoln. I have been solicited by many friends to become a candidatefor the Legislature. My politics are "short and sweet" like the oldwoman's dance. I am in favor of national bank. I am in favor of theinternal improvement system, and a high protective tariff. These are mysentiments and political principles. If elected, I shall be thankful; ifnot, it will be all the same. '"

The only requirement for a candidate for the Illinois Legislature in1832 was that he should announce his "sentiments. " This Lincoln did, according to custom, in a circular of about two thousand words, rehearsing his experiences on the Sangamon River and in the community ofNew Salem. For a youth who had just turned twenty-three, who had neverbeen to school a year in his life, who had no political training, andhad never made a political speech, it was a bold and dignified document, closing as follows:

"Considering the great degree of modesty which should always attendyouth, it is probable I have already been presuming more than becomesme. However, upon the subjects of which I have treated, I have spoken asI have thought. I may be wrong in regard to any or all of them, but, holding it a sound maxim that it is better only sometimes to be rightthan at all times to be wrong, so soon as I discover my opinions to beerroneous, I shall be ready to renounce them. 

"Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether this is trueor not, I can say for one, that I have no other so great as that ofbeing truly esteemed of my fellow-men by rendering myself worthy oftheir esteem. How far I shall succeed in gratifying this ambition is yetto be developed. I am young and unknown to many of you. I was born, andhave ever remained in the most humble walks of life. I have no wealthyor popular relations or friends to recommend me. My case is thrownexclusively upon the independent voters of the country; and, if elected, they will have conferred a favor on me for which I shall be unremittingin my labors to compensate. But if the good people in their wisdom shallsee fit to keep me in the background, I have been too familiar withdisappointments to be very much chagrined. "

"CAPTAIN LINCOLN"

Lincoln had hardly launched in his first political venture when, inApril, 1832, a messenger arrived in New Salem with the announcement fromGovernor Reynolds, of Illinois, that the Sacs and other hostile tribes, led by Black Hawk, had invaded the northern part of the State, spreadingterror among the white settlers in that region. The governor called uponthose who were willing to help in driving back the Indians to report atBeardstown, on the Illinois River, within a week. 

Lincoln and other Sangamon County men went at once to Richmond where acompany was formed. The principal candidate for captain was a man namedKirkpatrick, who had treated Lincoln shabbily when Abe, in one of theodd jobs he had done in that region, worked in Kirkpatrick's sawmill. The employer had agreed to buy his hired man a cant-hook for handlingthe heavy logs. As there was a delay in doing this, Lincoln told him hewould handle the logs without the cant-hook if Kirkpatrick would pay himthe two dollars that implement would cost. The employer promised to dothis, but never gave him the money. 

So when Lincoln saw that Kirkpatrick was a candidate for the captaincy, he said to Greene, who had worked with him in Offutt's store:

"Bill, I believe I can make Kirkpatrick pay me that two dollars he owesme on the cant-hook now. I guess I'll run against him for captain. "

Therefore Abe Lincoln announced himself as a candidate. The vote wastaken in an odd way. It was announced that when the men heard thecommand to march, each should go and stand by the man he wished to havefor captain. The command was given. At the word, "March, " three-fourthsof the company rallied round Abe Lincoln. More than twenty-five yearsafterward, when Lincoln was a candidate for the presidency of the UnitedStates, he referred to himself in the third person in describing thisincident, saying that he was elected "to his own surprise, " and "he sayshe has not since had any success in life which gave him so muchsatisfaction. "

IGNORANCE OF MILITARY TACTICS

But Lincoln was a "raw hand" at military tactics. He used to enjoytelling of his ignorance and the expedients adopted in giving hiscommands to the company. Once when he was marching, twenty men abreast, across a field it became necessary to pass through a narrow gateway intothe next field. He said:

"I could not, for the life of me, remember the word for getting thecompany _endwise_ so that it could go through the gate; so, as we camenear the gate, I shouted, 'This company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again on the other side of the fence. '"

A HISTORIC MYSTERY EXPLAINED

Captain Lincoln had his sword taken from him for shooting within limits. Many have wondered that a man of Lincoln's intelligence should have beenguilty of this stupid infraction of ordinary army regulations. Biographers of Lincoln puzzled over this until the secret was explainedby William Turley Baker, of Bolivia, Ill. , at the Lincoln Centenary inSpringfield. All unconscious of solving a historic mystery, "UncleBilly" Baker related the following story which explains that theshooting was purely accidental:

"My father was roadmaster general in the Black Hawk War. Lincoln used tocome often to our house and talk it all over with father, when I was aboy, and I've heard them laugh over their experiences in that war. Thebest joke of all was this: Father received orders one day to throw logbridges over a certain stream the army had to cross. He felled sometall, slim black walnuts--the only ones he could find there--and thelogs were so smooth and round that they were hard to walk on any time. This day it rained and made them very slippery. Half of the soldiersfell into the stream and got a good ducking. Captain Lincoln was one ofthose that tumbled in. He just laughed and scrambled out as quick as hecould. He always made the best of everything like that. 

"Well, that evening when the company came to camp, some of them had dogtents--just a big canvas sheet--and the boys laughed to see Lincolncrawl under one of them little tents. He was so long that his head andhands and feet stuck out on all sides. The boys said he looked just likea big terrapin. After he had got himself stowed away for the night, heremembered that he hadn't cleaned his pistol, after he fell into thecreek. 

"So he backed out from under his canvas shell and started to clean itout. It was what was called a bulldog pistol, because it had a blunt, short muzzle. Abe's forefinger was long enough to use as a ramrod forit. But before he began operations he snapped the trigger and, to hisastonishment, the thing went off!

"Pretty soon an orderly came along in great haste, yellin', 'Who didthat?--Who fired that shot?' Some of the men tried to send the orderlyalong about his business, making believe the report was heard furtheron, but Lincoln he wouldn't stand for no such deception, spoken orunspoken. 'I did it, ' says he, beginning to explain how it happened. 

"You see, his legs was so blamed long, and he must have landed on hisfeet, in the creek, and got out of the water without his pistol gettingwet, 'way up there in his weskit!

"But he had to pay the penalty just the same, for they took his swordaway from him for several days. You see, he was a captain and ought to'a' set a good example in military discipline. "

HOW CAPTAIN LINCOLN SAVED AN INDIAN'S LIFE

One day an old "friendly Indian" came into camp with a "talking paper"or pass from the "big white war chief. " The men, with the pioneer ideathat "the only good Indian is a dead Indian, " were for stringing him up. The poor old red man protested and held the general's letter beforetheir eyes. 

"Me good Injun, " he kept saying, "white war chief say me good Injun. Look--talking paper--see!"

"Get out! It's a forgery! Shoot him! String him up!" shouted thesoldiers angrily. 

This noise brought Captain Lincoln out of his tent. At a glance he sawwhat they were about to do. He jumped in among them, shoutingindignantly:

"Stand back, all of you! For shame! I'll fight you all, one after theother, just as you come. Take it out on me if you can, but you shan'thurt this poor old Indian. When a man comes to me for help, he's goingto get it, if I have to lick all Sangamon County to give it to him. "

The three months for which the men were enlisted soon expired, andLincoln's captaincy also ended. But he re-enlisted as a private, andremained in the ranks until the end of the war, which found him inWisconsin, hundreds of miles from New Salem. He and a few companionswalked home, as there were not many horses to be had. Lincoln enlivenedthe long tramp with his fund of stories and jokes. 

It is sometimes asserted that Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis met atthis early day, as officers in the Black Hawk War, but this statementis not founded on fact, for young Lieutenant Davis was absent on afurlough and could not have encountered the tall captain from theSangamon then, as many would like to believe. 

Lincoln always referred to the Black Hawk War as a humorous adventure. He made a funny speech in Congress describing some of his experiences inthis campaign in which he did not take part in a battle, nor did he evencatch sight of a hostile Indian. 

AGAIN A RIVER PILOT

Abe was still out of work. Just before he enlisted he piloted the_Talisman_, a steamboat which had come up the Sangamon on a trial trip, in which the speed of the boat averaged four miles an hour. At that timethe wildest excitement prevailed. The coming of the _Talisman_ up theirlittle river was hailed with grand demonstrations and muchspeech-making. Every one expected the Government to spend millions ofdollars to make the Sangamon navigable, and even New Salem (which is notnow to be found on the map) was to become a flourishing city, in thehopeful imaginings of its few inhabitants. Lincoln, being a candidate, naturally "took the fever, " and shared the delirium that prevailed. Hecould hardly have done otherwise, even if he had been so disposed. Thiswas before the days of railroads, and the commerce and prosperity of thecountry depended on making the smaller streams navigable. Lincolnreceived forty dollars, however, for his services as pilot. The_Talisman_, instead of establishing a river connection with theMississippi River cities, never came back. She was burned at the wharfin St. Louis, and the navigation of the poor little Sangamon, which wasonly a shallow creek, was soon forgotten. 

LINCOLN'S ONLY DEFEAT BY A DIRECT VOTE

When Abe returned from the war he had no steady employment. On thisaccount, especially, he must have been deeply disappointed to bedefeated in the election which took place within two weeks after hisarrival. His patriotism had been stronger than his political sagacity. If he had stayed at home to help himself to the Legislature he mighthave been elected, though he was then a comparative stranger in thecounty. One of the four representatives chosen was Peter Cartwright, thebackwoods preacher. 

Lincoln afterward mentioned that this was the only time he was everdefeated by a direct vote of the people. 

CHAPTER XII

BUYING AND KEEPING A STORE

After making what he considered a bad beginning politically, youngLincoln was on the lookout for a "business chance. " One came to him in apeculiar way. A man named Radford had opened a store in New Salem. Possessing neither the strength nor the sagacity and tact of AbeLincoln, he was driven out of business by the Clary's Grove Boys, whobroke his store fixtures and drank his liquors. In his fright Radfordwas willing to sell out at almost any price and take most of his pay inpromissory notes. He was quickly accommodated. Through William G. Greenea transfer was made at once from Reuben Radford to William Berry andAbraham Lincoln. Berry had $250 in cash and made the first payment. In afew hours after a violent visit from those ruffians from Clary's GroveBerry and Lincoln had formed a partnership and were the nominal ownersof a country store. 

The new firm soon absorbed the stock and business of another firm, Jamesand Rowan Herndon, who had previously acquired the stock and debts ofthe predecessors in their business, and all these obligations werepassed on with the goods of both the Radford and Herndon stores to"Honest Abe. "

The senior partner of the firm of Berry & Lincoln was devoted to thewhisky which was found in the inventory of the Radford stock, and thejunior partner was given over to the study of a set of "Blackstone'sCommentaries, " text-books which all lawyers have to study, that cameinto his possession in a peculiar way, as Candidate Lincoln told anartist who was painting his portrait in 1860:

"One day a man who was migrating to the West drove up in front of mystore with a wagon which contained his family and household plunder. Heasked me if I would buy an old barrel for which he had no room in hiswagon, and which contained nothing of special value. I did not want it, but to oblige him I bought it, and paid him, I think, half a dollar forit. Without further examination I put it away in the store and forgotall about it. 

"Some time after, in overhauling things, I came upon the barrel, andemptying it on the floor to see what it contained, I found at the bottomof the rubbish a complete set of 'Blackstone's Commentaries. ' I began toread those famous works. I had plenty of time; for during the longsummer days, when the farmers were busy with their crops, my customerswere few and far between. The more I read the more intensely interestedI became. Never in my whole life was my mind so thoroughly absorbed. Iread until I devoured them. "

With one partner drinking whisky and the other devouring "Blackstone, "it was not surprising that the business "winked out, " as Lincolnwhimsically expressed it, leaving the conscientious junior partnersaddled with the obligations of the former owners of two country stores, and owing an amount so large that Lincoln often referred to it as "thenational debt. " William Berry, the senior partner, who was equallyresponsible, "drank himself to death, " leaving Lincoln alone to pay allthe debts. 

According to the custom and conscience of the time, the insolvent youngmerchant was under no obligation whatever to pay liabilities contractedby the other men, but Lincoln could never be induced even to compromiseany of the accounts the others had gone off and left him to settle. "Honest Abe" paid the last cent of his "national debt" nearly twentyyears later, after much toil, self-denial and hardship. 

POSTMASTER LINCOLN AND JACK ARMSTRONG'S FAMILY

Again out of employment, Abe was forced to accept the hospitality of hisfriends of whom he now had a large number. While in business with Berryhe received the appointment as postmaster. The pay of the New Salem postoffice was not large, but Lincoln, always longing for news andknowledge, had the privilege of reading the newspapers which passedthrough his hands. He took so much pains in delivering the letters andpapers that came into his charge as postmaster that he anticipated the"special delivery" and "rural free delivery" features of the postalservice of the present day. 

"A. LINCOLN, DEPUTY SURVEYOR"

Later John Calhoun, the county surveyor, sent word to Lincoln that hewould appoint him deputy surveyor of the county if he would accept theposition. The young man, greatly astonished, went to Springfield to callon Calhoun and see if the story could be true. Calhoun knew that Lincolnwas utterly ignorant of surveying, but told him he might take time tostudy up. As soon as Lincoln was assured that the appointment did notinvolve any political obligation--for Calhoun was a Jackson Democrat, and Lincoln was already a staunch Whig--he procured a copy of Flint andGibson's "Surveying" and went to work with a will. With the aid ofMentor Graham, and studying day and night, he mastered the subject andreported to Calhoun in six weeks. The county surveyor was astounded, butwhen Lincoln gave ample proofs of his ability to do field work, thechief surveyor appointed him a deputy and assigned him to the northernpart of Sangamon County. 

Deputy Surveyor Lincoln had to run deeper in debt for a horse andsurveying instruments in order to do this new work. Although he madethree dollars a day at it--a large salary for that time--and board andexpenses were cheap, he was unable to make money fast enough to satisfyone creditor who was pushing him to pay one of the old debts left by thefailure of Berry & Lincoln. This man sued Lincoln and, getting judgment, seized the deputy's horse and instruments. This was like "killing thegoose that laid the golden egg. " Lincoln was in despair. But a friend, as a surprise, bought in the horse and instruments for one hundred andtwenty dollars and presented them to the struggling surveyor. 

President Lincoln, many years afterward, generously repaid this man, "Uncle Jimmy" Short, for his friendly act in that hour of need. 

Lincoln's reputation as a story teller and wrestler had spread so thatwhen it became known that he was to survey a tract in a certain districtthe whole neighborhood turned out and held a sort of picnic. Men andboys stood ready to "carry chain, " drive stakes, blaze trees, or workfor the popular deputy in any capacity--just to hear his funny storiesand odd jokes. They had foot races, wrestling matches and otherathletic sports, in which the surveyor sometimes took part. 

But Lincoln's honesty was as manifest in "running his lines" as in hisweights and measures while he was a clerk and storekeeper. In whateverhe attempted he did his best. He had that true genius, which is definedas "the ability to take pains. " With all his jokes and fun AbrahamLincoln was deeply in earnest. Careless work in making surveys involvedthe landholders of that part of the country in endless disputes andgoing to law about boundaries. But Lincoln's surveys were recognized ascorrect always, so that, although he had mastered the science in sixweeks, lawyers and courts had such confidence in his skill, as well ashis honesty, that his record as to a certain corner or line was acceptedas the true verdict and that ended the dispute. 

ELECTED TO THE LEGISLATURE

Hampered though he was by unjust debts and unreasonable creditors, Postmaster and Surveyor Lincoln gained an honorable reputationthroughout the county, so that when he ran for the State Legislature, in 1834, he was elected by a creditable majority. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE YOUNG LEGISLATOR IN LOVE

SMOOT'S RESPONSIBILITY

Paying his debts had kept Lincoln so poor that, though he had beenelected to the Legislature, he was not properly clothed or equipped tomake himself presentable as the people's representative at the Statecapital, then located at Vandalia. One day he went with a friend to callon an older acquaintance, named Smoot, who was almost as dry a joker ashimself, but Smoot had more of this world's goods than the younglegislator-elect. Lincoln began at once to chaff his friend. 

"Smoot, " said he, "did you vote for me?"

"I did that very thing, " answered Smoot. 

"Well, " said Lincoln with a wink, "that makes you responsible. You mustlend me the money to buy suitable clothing, for I want to make a decentappearance in the Legislature. "

"How much do you want?" asked Smoot. 

"About two hundred dollars, I reckon. "

For friendship's sake and for the honor of Sangamon County the youngrepresentative received the money at once. 

ANN RUTLEDGE--"LOVED AND LOST"

Abe Lincoln's new suit of clothes made him look still more handsome inthe eyes of Ann, the daughter of the proprietor of Rutledge's Tavern, where Abe was boarding at that time. She was a beautiful girl who hadbeen betrothed to a young man named McNamar, who was said to havereturned to New York State to care for his dying father and look afterthe family estate. It began to leak out that this young man was goingabout under an assumed name and certain suspicious circumstances came tolight. But Ann, though she loved the young legislator, still clung toher promise and the man who had proved false to her. As time went on, though she was supposed to be betrothed to Mr. Lincoln, the treatmentshe had received from the recreant lover preyed upon her mind so thatshe fell into a decline in the summer of 1835, about a year after hertrue lover's election to the Legislature. 

William O. Stoddard, one of the President's private secretaries, hasbest told the story of the young lover's despair over the loss of hisfirst love:

"It is not known precisely when Ann Rutledge told her suitor that herheart was his, but early in 1835 it was publicly known that they weresolemnly betrothed. Even then the scrupulous maiden waited for thereturn of the absent McNamar, that she might be formally released fromthe obligation to him which he had so recklessly forfeited. Her friendsargued with her that she was carrying her scruples too far, and at last, as neither man nor letter came, she permitted it to be understood thatshe would marry Abraham Lincoln as soon as his legal studies should becompleted. 

"That was a glorious summer for him; the brightest, sweetest, mosthopeful he yet had known. It was also the fairest time he was ever tosee; for even now, as the golden days came and went, they brought anincreasing shadow on their wings. It was a shadow that was not to passaway. Little by little came indications that the health of Ann Rutledgehad suffered under the prolonged strain to which she had been subjected. Her sensitive nature had been strung to too high a tension and thechords of her life were beginning to give way. 

"There were those of her friends who said that she died of a brokenheart, but the doctors called it 'brain fever. '

"On the 25th of August, 1835, just before the summer died, she passedaway from earth. But she never faded from the heart of AbrahamLincoln. . . . In her early grave was buried the best hope he ever knew, and the shadow of that great darkness was never entirely lifted fromhim. 

"A few days before Ann's death a message from her brought her betrothedto her bedside, and they were left alone. No one ever knew what passedbetween them in the endless moments of that last sad farewell; butLincoln left the house with inexpressible agony written upon his face. He had been to that hour a man of marvelous poise and self-control, butthe pain he now struggled with grew deeper and more deep, until, whenthey came and told him she was dead, his heart and will, and even hisbrain itself gave way. He was utterly without help or the knowledge ofpossible help in this world or beyond it. He was frantic for a time, seeming even to lose the sense of his own identity, and all New Salemsaid that he was insane. He piteously moaned and raved:

"'I never can be reconciled to have the snow, rain, and storms beat uponher grave. '

"His best friends seemed to have lost their influence over him, . . . Allbut one; for Bowling Green . . . Managed to entice the poor fellow to hisown home, a short distance from the village, there to keep watch andward over him until the fury of his sorrow should wear away. There werewell-grounded fears lest he might do himself some injury, and the watchwas vigilantly kept. 

"In a few weeks reason again obtained the mastery, and it was safe tolet him return to his studies and his work. He could indeed work again, and he could once more study law, for there was a kind of relief insteady occupation and absorbing toil, but he was not, could not ever bethe same man. . . . 

"Lincoln had been fond of poetry from boyhood, and had gradually madehimself familiar with large parts of Shakespeare's plays and the worksof other great writers. He now discovered, in a strange collection ofverses, the one poem which seemed best to express the morbid, troubled, sore condition of his mind, . . . The lines by William Knox, beginning:

 "'Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud? Like a swift fleeting meteor, a fast flying cloud, A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, He passeth from life to his rest in the grave:'"

"THE LONG NINE" AND THE REMOVAL TO SPRINGFIELD

Two years was the term for which Lincoln was elected to the Legislature. The year following the death of Ann Rutledge he threw himself into avigorous campaign for re-election. He had found much to do at Vandalia. The greatest thing was the proposed removal of the State capital toSpringfield. In this enterprise he had the co-operation of a group oftall men, known as "the Long Nine, " of whom he was the tallest and cameto be the leader. 

Lincoln announced his second candidacy in this brief, informal letter inthe county paper:

 "NEW SALEM, June 13, 1836. 

 "TO THE EDITOR OR THE JOURNAL:

 "In your paper of last Saturday I see a communication over the signature of 'Many Voters' in which the candidates who are announced in the _Journal_ are called upon to 'show their hands. '

 "Agreed. Here's mine:

 "I go in for all sharing the privileges of the government who assist in bearing its burdens. Consequently, I go for admitting all whites to the right of suffrage who pay taxes or bear arms (by no means excluding females). 

 "If elected, I shall consider the whole people of Sangamon my constituents, as well those that oppose as those that support me. 

 "While acting as their Representative, I shall be governed by their will on all subjects upon which I have the means of knowing what their will is; and upon all others I shall do what my own judgment teaches me will best advance their interests. Whether elected or not, I go for distributing the proceeds of public lands to the several States to enable our State, in common with others, to dig canals and construct railroads without borrowing and paying interest on it. 

 "If alive on the first Monday in November, I shall vote for Hugh L. White for President. 

 "Very respectfully, "A. LINCOLN. "

The earliest railroads in the United States had been built during thefive years just preceding this announcement, the first one of all, onlythirteen miles long, near Baltimore, in 1831. It is interesting toobserve the enthusiasm with which the young frontier politician caughtthe progressive idea, and how quickly the minds of the people turnedfrom impossible river "improvements" to the grand possibilities ofrailway transportation. 

Many are the stories of the remarkable Sangamon campaign in 1836. RowanHerndon, Abe's fellow pilot and storekeeper, told the following:

WINNING VOTES, WIELDING THE "CRADLE" IN A WHEAT FIELD

"Abraham came to my house, near Island Grove, during harvest. There weresome thirty men in the field. He got his dinner and went out into thefield, where the men were at work. I gave him an introduction, and theboys said that they could not vote for a man unless he could take ahand. 

"'Well, boys, ' said he, 'if that is all, I am sure of your votes' Hetook the 'cradle' and led all the way round with perfect ease. The boyswere satisfied, and I don't think he lost a vote in the crowd. 

"The next day there was speaking at Berlin. He went from my house withDr. Barnett, who had asked me who this man Lincoln was. I told him thathe was a candidate for the Legislature. He laughed and said:

"'Can't the party raise any better material than that?'

"I said, 'Go to-morrow and hear him before you pronounce judgment. '

"When he came back I said, 'Doctor, what do you say now?'

"'Why, sir, ' said he, 'he is a perfect "take-in. " He knows more thanall of them put together. '"

TALKED TO A WOMAN WHILE HIS RIVAL MILKED

Young Lincoln happened to call to speak to a leading farmer in thedistrict, and found his rival, a Democratic candidate, there on the sameerrand. The farmer was away from home, so each of the candidates did hisbest to gain the good-will of the farmer's "better half, " who was on herway to milk the cow. The Democrat seized the pail and insisted on doingthe work for her. Lincoln did not make the slightest objection, butimproved the opportunity thus given to chat with their hostess. This hedid so successfully that when his rival had finished the unpleasanttask, the only acknowledgment he received was a profusion of thanks fromthe woman for the opportunity he had given her of having "_such apleasant talk with Mr. Lincoln_!"

HOW THE LIGHTNING STRUCK FORQUER, IN SPITE OF HIS LIGHTNING-ROD

Abe distinguished himself in his first political speech at Springfield, the county seat. A leading citizen there, George Forquer, was accusedof changing his political opinions to secure a certain governmentposition; he also had his fine residence protected by the firstlightning-rod ever seen in that part of the country. 

The contest was close and exciting. There were seven Democratic andseven Whig candidates for the lower branch of the Legislature. Forquer, though not a candidate, asked to be heard in reply to young Lincoln, whom he proceeded to attack in a sneering overbearing way, ridiculingthe young man's appearance, dress, manners and so on. Turning to Lincolnwho then stood within a few feet of him, Forquer announced his intentionin these words: "This young man must be taken down, and I am truly sorrythat the task devolves upon me. "

The "Clary's Grove Boys, " who attended the meeting in a body--or agang!--could hardly be restrained from arising in their might andsmiting the pompous Forquer, hip and thigh. 

But their hero, with pale face and flashing eyes, smiled as he shook hishead at them, and calmly answered the insulting speech of his opponent. Among other things he said:

"The gentleman commenced his speech by saying 'this young man, ' alludingto me, 'must be taken down. ' I am not so young in years as I am in thetricks and trades of a politician, but"--pointing at Forquer--"live longor die young, I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, change mypolitics, and with the change receive an office worth three thousanddollars a year, and then feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over myhouse to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God!"

This stroke blasted Forquer's political prospects forever, and satisfiedthe Clary's Grove Boys that it was even better than all the things theywould have done to him. 

ABE LINCOLN AS A "BLOATED ARISTOCRAT"

On another occasion Lincoln's wit suddenly turned the tables on anabusive opponent. One of the Democratic orators was Colonel Dick Taylor, a dapper, but bombastic little man, who rode in his carriage, anddressed richly. But, politically, he boasted of belonging to theDemocrats, "the bone and sinew, the hard-fisted yeomanry of the land, "and sneered at those "rag barons, " those Whig aristocrats, the "silkstocking gentry!" As Abe Lincoln, the leading Whig present, was dressedin Kentucky jeans, coarse boots, a checkered shirt without a collar ornecktie, and an old slouch hat, Colonel Taylor's attack on the "bloatedWhig aristocracy" sounded rather absurd. 

Once the colonel made a gesture so violent that it tore his vest openand exposed his elegant shirt ruffles, his gold watch-fob, his seals andother ornaments to the view of all. Before Taylor, in his embarrassment, could adjust his waistcoat, Lincoln stepped to the front exclaiming:

"Behold the hard-fisted Democrat! Look at this specimen of 'bone andsinew'--and here, gentlemen, " laying his big work-bronzed hand on hisheart and bowing obsequiously--"here, at your service, is your'aristocrat!' Here is one of your 'silk stocking gentry!'" Thenspreading out his great bony hands he continued, "Here is your 'ragbaron' with his lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose I am, according to myfriend Taylor, a 'bloated aristocrat!'"

The contrast was so ludicrous, and Abe had quoted the speaker's stockphrases with such a marvelous mimicry that the crowd burst into a roar, and Colonel Dick Taylor's usefulness as a campaign speaker was at anend. 

Small wonder, then, that young Lincoln's wit, wisdom and power ofridicule made him known in that campaign as one of the greatest oratorsin the State, or that he was elected by such an astonishing pluralitythat the county, which had always been strongly Democratic, elected Whigrepresentatives that year. 

After Herculean labors "the Long Nine" succeeded in having the Statecapital removed from Vandalia to Springfield. This move added greatly tothe influence and renown of its "prime mover, " Abraham Lincoln, who wasfeasted and "toasted" by the people of Springfield and by politiciansall over the State. After reading "Blackstone" during his politicalcampaigns, young Lincoln fell in again with Major John T. Stuart, whomhe had met in the Black Hawk War, and who gave him helpful advice andlent him other books that he might "read law. "

THE LINCOLN-STONE PROTEST

Although he had no idea of it at the time, Abraham Lincoln took part ina grander movement than the removal of a State capital. Resolutions wereadopted in the Legislature in favor of slavery and denouncing the hated"abolitionists"--or people who spoke and wrote for the abolition ofslavery. It required true heroism for a young man thus to stand outagainst the legislators of his State, but Abe Lincoln seems to havethought little of that. The hatred of the people for any one who opposedslavery was very bitter. Lincoln found one man, named Stone, who waswilling to sign a protest against the resolutions favoring slavery, which read as follows:

 "Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having passed both branches of the General Assembly at its present session, the undersigned hereby protest against the passage of the same. 

 "They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on both injustice and bad policy. [After several statements of their belief concerning the powers of Congress, the protest closed as follows:]

 "The difference between their opinions and those contained in the said resolution is their reason for entering this protest. 

 "DAN STONE, "A. LINCOLN. "

CHAPTER XIV

MOVING TO SPRINGFIELD

New Salem could no longer give young Lincoln scope for his growing powerand influence. Within a few weeks after the Lincoln-Stone protest, latein March, 1837, after living six years in the little village which heldso much of life and sorrow for him, Abe sold his surveying compass, marking-pins, chain and pole, packed all his effects into hissaddle-bags, borrowed a horse of his good friend "Squire" Bowling Green, and reluctantly said good-bye to his friends there. It is a strange factthat New Salem ceased to exist within a year from the day "Honest Abe"left it. Even its little post office was discontinued by the Government. 

Henry C. Whitney, who was associated with Lincoln in those early days, describes Abe's modest entry into the future State capital, with all hispossessions in a pair of saddle-bags, and calling at the store of JoshuaF. Speed, overlooking "the square, " in the following dialogue:

Speed--"Hello, Abe, just from Salem?"

Lincoln--"Howdy, Speed! Yes, this is my first show-up. "

Speed--"So you are to be one of us?"

Lincoln--"I reckon so, if you will let me take pot luck with you. "

Speed--"All right, Abe; it's better than Salem. "

Lincoln--"I've been to Gorman's and got a single bedstead; now youfigure out what it will cost for a tick, blankets and so forth. "

Speed (after figuring)--"Say, seventeen dollars or so. "

Lincoln (countenance paling)--"I had no _idea_ it would cost half that, and I--I can't pay it; but if you can wait on me till Christmas, and Imake anything, I'll pay; if I don't, I can't. "

Speed--"I can do better than that; upstairs I sleep in a bed big enoughfor two, and you just come and sleep with me till you can do better. "

Lincoln (brightening)--"Good, where is it?"

Speed--"Upstairs behind that pile of barrels--turn to the right when yougo up. "

Lincoln (returning joyously)--"Well, Speed, I've moved!"

STUART & LINCOLN

Major Stuart had grown so thoroughly interested in Lincoln, approvingthe diligence with which the young law student applied himself to thebooks which he had lent him, that, after his signal success in bringingabout the removal of the State capital to Springfield, the older maninvited the younger to go into partnership with him. 

Abe had been admitted to the bar the year before, and had practiced lawin a small way before Squire Bowling Green in New Salem. Greatlyflattered by the offer of such a man, Abe gladly accepted, and soonafter his arrival in Springfield this sign, which thrilled the juniorpartner's whole being, appeared in front of an office near the square:

 ------------------------------ | STUART & LINCOLN | | ATTORNEYS-AT-LAW | ------------------------------

"I NEVER USE ANYONE'S MONEY BUT MY OWN"

After a while Lincoln left Speed's friendly loft and slept on a loungein the law office, keeping his few effects in the little old-fashionedtrunk pushed out of sight under his couch. 

One day an agent of the Post Office Department came in and asked ifAbraham Lincoln could be found there. Abe arose and, reaching out hishand, said that was his name. The agent then stated his business; he hadcome to collect a balance due the Post Office Department since theclosing of the post office at New Salem. 

The young ex-postmaster looked puzzled for a moment, and a friend, whohappened to be present, hastened to his rescue with, "Lincoln, if youare in need of money, let us help you. "

Abe made no reply, but, pulling out his little old trunk, he asked theagent how much he owed. The man stated the amount, and he, opening thetrunk, took out an old cotton cloth containing coins, which he handed tothe official without counting, and it proved to be the exact sumrequired, over seventeen dollars, evidently the very pieces of money Abehad received while acting as postmaster years before!

After the department agent had receipted for the money and had gone out, Mr. Lincoln quietly remarked:

"I never use anyone's money but my own. "

DROPS THROUGH THE CEILING TO DEMAND FREE SPEECH

Stuart & Lincoln's office was, for a time, over a court room, which wasused evenings as a hall. There was a square opening in the ceiling ofthe court room, covered by a trap door in the room overhead whereLincoln slept. One night there was a promiscuous crowd in the hall, andLincoln's friend, E. D. Baker, was delivering a political harangue. Becoming somewhat excited Baker made an accusation against a well-knownnewspaper in Springfield, and the remark was resented by several in theaudience. 

"Pull him down!" yelled one of them as they came up to the platformthreatening Baker with personal violence. There was considerableconfusion which might become a riot. 

Just at this juncture the spectators were astonished to see a pair oflong legs dangling from the ceiling and Abraham Lincoln dropped upon theplatform. Seizing the water pitcher he took his stand beside thespeaker, and brandished it, his face ablaze with indignation. 

"Gentlemen, " he said, when the confusion had subsided, "let us notdisgrace the age and the country in which we live. This is a land wherefreedom of speech is guaranteed. Mr. Baker has a right to speak, andought to be permitted to do so. I am here to protect him and no manshall take him from this stand if I can prevent it. " Lincoln had openedthe trap door in his room and silently watched the proceedings until hesaw that his presence was needed below. Then he dropped right into themidst of the fray, and defended his friend and the right of free speechat the same time. 

DEFENDING THE DEFENSELESS

A widow came to Mr. Lincoln and told him how an attorney had charged heran exorbitant fee for collecting her pension. Such cases filled him withrighteous wrath. He cared nothing for "professional etiquette, " if itpermitted the swindling of a poor woman. Going directly to the greedylawyer, he forced him to refund to the widow all that he had charged inexcess of a fair fee for his services, or he would start proceedings atonce to prevent the extortionate attorney from practicing law any longerat the Springfield bar. 

If a negro had been wronged in any way, Lawyer Lincoln was the onlyattorney in Springfield who dared to appear in his behalf, for he alwaysdid so at great risk to his political standing. Sometimes he appeared indefense of fugitive slaves, or negroes who had been freed or had runaway from southern or "slave" States where slavery prevailed to gainliberty in "free" States in which slavery was not allowed. LawyerLincoln did all this at the risk of making himself very unpopular withhis fellow-attorneys and among the people at large, the greater part ofwhom were then in favor of permitting those who wished to own, buy andsell negroes as slaves. 

Lincoln always sympathized with the poor and down-trodden. He could notbear to charge what his fellow-lawyers considered a fair price for theamount of work and time spent on a case. He often advised those who cameto him to settle their disputes without going to law. Once he told a manhe would charge him a large fee if he had to try the case, but if theparties in the dispute settled their difficulty without going into courthe would furnish them all the legal advice they needed free of charge. Here is some excellent counsel Lawyer Lincoln gave, in later life, inan address to a class of young attorneys:

"Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise wheneveryou can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the realloser--in fees, expenses and waste of time. As a peacemaker a lawyer hasa superior opportunity of becoming a good man. There will always beenough business. Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely befound than one who does this. Who can be more nearly a fiend than he whohabitually overhauls the register of deeds in search of defects intitles whereon to stir up strife and put money in his pocket. A moraltone ought to be infused into the profession which should drive such menout of it. "

YOUNG LAWYER LINCOLN OFFERS TO PAY HALF THE DAMAGES

A wagonmaker in Mechanicsville, near Springfield, was sued on account ofa disputed bill. The other side had engaged the best lawyer in theplace. The cartwright saw that his own attorney would be unable todefend the case well. So, when the day of the trial arrived he sent hisson-in-law to Springfield to bring Mr. Lincoln to save the day for himif possible. He said to the messenger:

"Son, you've just got time. Take this letter to my young friend, AbeLincoln, and bring him back in the buggy to appear in the case. Guesshe'll come if he can. "

The young man from Mechanicsville found the lawyer in the street playing"knucks" with a troop of children and laughing heartily at the fun theywere all having. When the note was handed to him, Lincoln said:

"All right, wait a minute, " and the game soon ended amid peals oflaughter. Then the young lawyer jumped into the buggy. On the way backMr. Lincoln told his companion such funny stories that the young man, convulsed with laughter, was unable to drive. The horse, badly broken, upset them into a ditch, smashing the vehicle. 

"You stay behind and look after the buggy, " said the lawyer. "I'll walkon. "

He came, with long strides, into the court room just in time for thetrial and won the case for the wagonmaker. 

"What am I to pay you?" asked the client delighted. 

"I hope you won't think ten or fifteen dollars too much, " said the youngattorney, "and I'll pay half the hire of the buggy and half the cost ofrepairing it. "

LAWYER LINCOLN AND MARY OWENS

About the time Mr. Lincoln was admitted to the bar, Miss Mary Owens, abright and beautiful young woman from Kentucky, came to visit hermarried sister near New Salem. The sister had boasted that she was goingto "make a match" between her sister and Lawyer Lincoln. The newlyadmitted attorney smiled indulgently at all this banter until he beganto consider himself under obligations to marry Miss Owens if that younglady proved willing. 

After he went to live in Springfield, with no home but his office, hewrote the young lady a long, discouraging letter, of which this is apart:

 "I am thinking of what we said about your coming to live in Springfield. I am afraid you would not be satisfied. There is a great deal of flourishing about in carriages here, which it would be your doom to see without sharing it. You would have to be poor without the means of hiding your poverty. Do you believe that you could bear that patiently? Whatever woman may cast her lot with mine, should any ever do so, it is my intention to do all in my power to make her happy and contented, and there is nothing I can imagine that could make me more unhappy than to fail in that effort. I know I should be much happier with you than the way I am, provided I saw no sign of discontent in you. 

 "I much wish you would think seriously before you decide. What I have said, I will most positively abide by, provided you wish it. You have not been accustomed to hardship, and it may be more severe than you now imagine. I know you are capable of thinking correctly on any subject, and if you deliberate maturely upon this before you decide, then I am willing to abide by your decision. 

 "Yours, etc. , "LINCOLN. "

For a love letter this was nearly as cold and formal as a legaldocument. Miss Owens could see well enough that Lawyer Lincoln was notmuch in love with her, and she let him know, as kindly as she could, that she was not disposed to cast her lot for life with an enforcedlover, as he had proved himself to be. She afterward confided to afriend that "Mr. Lincoln was deficient in those little links which makeup the chain of a woman's happiness. "

THE EARLY RIVALRY BETWEEN LINCOLN AND DOUGLAS

Soon after Mr. Lincoln came to Springfield he met Stephen A. Douglas, abrilliant little man from Vermont. The two seemed naturally to takeopposing sides of every question. They were opposite in every way. Lincoln was tall, angular and awkward. Douglas was small, round andgraceful--he came to be known as "the Little Giant. " Douglas was aDemocrat and favored slavery. Lincoln was a Whig, and strongly opposedthat dark institution. Even in petty discussions in Speed's store, thetwo men seemed to gravitate to opposite sides. A little later they wererivals for the hand of the same young woman. 

One night, in a convivial company, Mr. Douglas's attention was directedto the fact that Mr. Lincoln neither smoked nor drank. Considering thisa reflection upon his own habits, the little man sneered:

"What, Mr. Lincoln, are you a temperance man?"

"No, " replied Lincoln with a smile full of meaning, "I'm not exactly atemperance man, but I am temperate in this, to wit:--I _don't drink_!"

In spite of this remark, Mr. Lincoln _was_ an ardent temperance man. OneWashington's birthday he delivered a temperance address before theWashingtonian Society of Springfield, on "Charity in Temperance Reform, "in which he made a strong comparison between the drink habit and blackslavery. 

LOGAN & LINCOLN

In 1841 the partnership between Stuart and Lincoln was dissolved and theyounger man became a member of the firm of Logan & Lincoln. This wasconsidered a long step in advance for the young lawyer, as Judge StephenT. Logan was known as one of the leading lawyers in the State. Fromthis senior partner he learned to make the thorough study of his casesthat characterized his work throughout his later career. 

While in partnership with Logan, Mr. Lincoln was helping a young fellownamed "Billy" Herndon, a clerk in his friend Speed's store, advising himin his law studies and promising to give the youth a place in his ownoffice as soon as young Herndon should be fitted to fill it. 

WHAT LINCOLN DID WITH HIS FIRST FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR FEE

During the interim between two partnerships, after he had left MajorStuart, and before he went into the office with Logan, Mr. Lincolnconducted a case alone. He worked very hard and made a brilliant successof it, winning the verdict and a five hundred dollar fee. When an oldlawyer friend called on him, Lincoln had the money spread out on thetable counting it over. 

"Look here, judge, " said the young lawyer. "See what a heap of moneyI've got from that case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I neverin my life had so much money all at once!"

Then his manner changed, and crossing his long arms on the table hesaid:

"I have got just five hundred dollars; if it were only seven hundred andfifty I would go and buy a quarter section (160 acres) of land and giveit to my old stepmother. "

The friend offered to lend him the two hundred and fifty dollars needed. While drawing up the necessary papers, the old judge gave the younglawyer this advice:

"Lincoln, I wouldn't do it quite that way. Your stepmother is gettingold, and, in all probability, will not live many years. I would settlethe property upon her for use during her lifetime, to revert to you uponher death. "

"I shall do no such thing, " Lincoln replied with deep feeling. "It is apoor return, at best, for all the good woman's devotion to me, and thereis not going to be any half-way business about it. "

The dutiful stepson did as he planned. Some years later he was obligedto write to John Johnston, his stepmother's son, appealing to him not totry to induce his mother to sell the land lest the old woman should losethe support he had provided for her in her declining years. 

IN LOVE WITH A BELLE FROM LEXINGTON

Lincoln's popularity in Sangamon County, always increasing, was greatlystrengthened by the part he had taken in the removal of the capital toSpringfield, which was the county seat as well as the State capital. Sohe was returned to the Legislature, now held in Springfield, time aftertime, without further effort on his part. He was looked upon as a youngman with a great future. While he was in the office with Major Stuartthat gentleman's cousin, Miss Mary Todd, a witty, accomplished younglady from Lexington, Kentucky, came to Springfield to visit her sister, wife of Ninian W. Edwards, one of the "Long Nine" in the State Assembly. 

Miss Todd was brilliant and gay, a society girl--in every way theopposite of Mr. Lincoln--and he was charmed with everything she said anddid. Judge Douglas was one of her numerous admirers, and it is said thatthe Louisville belle was so flattered by his attentions that she was indoubt, for a time, which suitor to accept. She was an ambitious youngwoman, having boasted from girlhood that she would one day be mistressof the White House. 

To all appearances Douglas was the more likely to fulfill Miss Todd'shigh ambition. He was a society man, witty in conversation, popular withwomen as well as with men, and had been to Congress, so he had anational reputation, while Lincoln's was only local, or at most confinedto Sangamon County and the Eighth Judicial Circuit of Illinois. 

But Mr. Douglas was already addicted to drink, and Miss Todd sawdoubtless that he could not go on long at the rapid pace he was keepingup. It is often said that she was in favor of slavery, as some of herrelatives who owned slaves, years later, entered the Confederate ranksto fight against the Union. But the remarkable fact that she finallychose Lincoln shows that her sympathies were against slavery, and shethus cut herself off from several members of her own family. With awoman's intuition she saw the true worth of Abraham Lincoln, and beforelong they were understood to be engaged. 

But the young lawyer, after his recent experience with Mary Owens, distrusted his ability to make any woman happy--much less the belle fromLouisville, so brilliant, vivacious, well educated and exacting. Heseemed to grow morbidly conscious of his shortcomings, and she washigh-strung. A misunderstanding arose, and, between such exceptionalnatures, "the course of true love never did run smooth. "

Their engagement, if they were actually betrothed, was broken, and thelawyer-lover was plunged in deep melancholy. He wrote long, morbidletters to his friend Speed, who had returned to Kentucky, and hadrecently married there. Lincoln even went to Louisville to visit theSpeeds, hoping that the change of scene and friendly sympathies andcounsel would revive his health and spirits. 

In one of his letters Lincoln bemoaned his sad fate and referred to "thefatal 1st of January, " probably the date when his engagement or "theunderstanding" with Mary Todd was broken. From this expression, one ofLincoln's biographers elaborated a damaging fiction, stating thatLincoln and his affianced were to have been married that day, that thewedding supper was ready, that the bride was all dressed for theceremony, the guests assembled--but the melancholy bridegroom failed tocome to his own wedding!

If such a thing had happened in a little town like Springfield in thosedays, the guests would have told of it, and everybody would havegossiped about it. It would have been a nine days' wonder, and such agreat joker as Lincoln would "never have heard the last of it. "

THE STRANGE EVENTS LEADING UP TO LINCOLN'S MARRIAGE

After Lincoln's return from visiting the Speeds in Louisville, he threwhimself into politics again, not, however, in his own behalf. Hedeclined to be a candidate again for the State Legislature, in which hehad served four consecutive terms, covering a period of eight years. Heengaged enthusiastically in the "Log Cabin" campaign of 1840, when thecountry went for "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too, " which means that GeneralWilliam Henry Harrison, the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe, and JohnTyler were elected President and Vice-President of the United States. 

In 1842 the young lawyer had so far recovered from bodily illness andmental unhappiness as to write more cheerful letters to his friend Speedof which two short extracts follow:

"It seems to me that I should have been entirely happy but for thenever-absent idea that there is one (Miss Todd) still unhappy whom Ihave contributed to make so. That still kills my soul. I cannot butreproach myself for even wishing to be happy while she is otherwise. Sheaccompanied a large party on the railroad cars to Jacksonville lastMonday, and at her return spoke, so I heard of it, of having 'enjoyedthe trip exceedingly. ' God be praised for that. "

 * * * * *

"You will see by the last _Sangamon Journal_ that I made a temperancespeech on the 22d of February, which I claim that Fanny and you shallread as an act of charity toward me; for I cannot learn that anybody hasread it or is likely to. Fortunately it is not long, and I shall deem ita sufficient compliance with my request if one of you listens while theother reads it. "

Early the following summer Lincoln wrote for the _Sangamon Journal_ ahumorous criticism of State Auditor Shields, a vain and "touchy" littleman. This was in the form of a story and signed by "Rebecca of the LostTownships. " The article created considerable amusement and might havepassed unnoticed by the conceited little auditor if it had not beenfollowed by another, less humorous, but more personal and satirical, signed in the same way, but the second communication was written by twomischievous (if not malicious) girls--Mary Todd and her friend, JuliaJayne. This stinging attack made Shields wild with rage, and he demandedthe name of the writer of it. Lincoln told the editor to give Shields_his_ name as if he had written both contributions and thus protect thetwo young ladies. The auditor then challenged the lawyer to fight aduel. Lincoln, averse to dueling, chose absurd weapons, imposedridiculous conditions and tried to treat the whole affair as a hugejoke. When the two came face to face, explanations became possible andthe ludicrous duel was avoided. Lincoln's conduct throughout thishumiliating affair plainly showed that, while Shields would gladly havekilled _him_, he had no intention of injuring the man who had challengedhim. 

Mary Todd's heart seems to have softened toward the young man who waswilling to risk his life for her sake, and the pair, after a long andmiserable misunderstanding on both sides, were happily married on the4th of November, 1842. Their wedding ceremony was the first everperformed in Springfield by the use of the Episcopal ritual. 

When one of the guests, bluff old Judge Tom Brown, saw the bridegroomplacing the ring on Miss Todd's finger, and repeating after theminister, "With this ring"--"I thee wed"--"and with all"--"my worldlygoods"--"I thee endow"--he exclaimed, in a stage whisper:

"Grace to Goshen, Lincoln, the statute fixes all that!"

In a letter to Speed, not long after this event, the happy bridegroomwrote:

"We are not keeping house but boarding at the Globe Tavern, which isvery well kept now by a widow lady of the name of Beck. Our rooms arethe same Dr. Wallace occupied there, and boarding only costs fourdollars a week (for the two). I most heartily wish you and your familywill not fail to come. Just let us know the time, a week in advance, andwe will have a room prepared for you and we'll all be merry together fora while. "

CHAPTER XV

LINCOLN & HERNDON

YOUNG HERNDON'S STRANGE FASCINATION FOR LINCOLN

Lincoln remained in the office with Judge Logan about four years, dissolving partnership in 1845. Meanwhile he was interesting himself inbehalf of young William H. Herndon, who, after Speed's removal toKentucky, had gone to college at Jacksonville, Ill. The young man seemedto be made of the right kind of metal, was industrious, and agreeable, and Mr. Lincoln looked forward to the time when he could have "Billy"with him in a business of his own. 

Mrs. Lincoln, with that marvelous instinct which women often possess, opposed her husband's taking Bill Herndon into partnership. While theyoung man was honest and capable enough, he was neither brilliant norsteady. He contracted the habit of drinking, the bane of Lincoln'sbusiness career. As Mr. Lincoln had not yet paid off "the national debt"largely due to his first business partner's drunkenness, it seemsrather strange that he did not listen to his wife's admonitions. Butyoung Herndon seems always to have exercised a strange fascination overhis older friend and partner. 

While yet in partnership with Judge Logan, Mr. Lincoln went into thenational campaign of 1844, making speeches in Illinois and Indiana forHenry Clay, to whom he was thoroughly devoted. 

Before this campaign Lincoln had written to Mr. Speed:

"We had a meeting of the Whigs of the county here last Monday to appointdelegates to a district convention; and Baker beat me, and got thedelegation instructed to go for him. The meeting, in spite of myattempts to decline it, appointed me one of the delegates, so that ingetting Baker the nomination I shall be fixed like a fellow who is madea groomsman to a fellow that has cut him out, and is marrying his owndear 'gal. '"

Mr. Lincoln, about this time, was offered the nomination for Governor ofIllinois, and declined the honor. Mrs. Lincoln, who had supremeconfidence in her husband's ability, tried to make him moreself-seeking in his political efforts. He visited his old home inIndiana, making several speeches in that part of the State. It wasfourteen years after he and all the family had removed to Illinois. Oneof his speeches was delivered from the door of a harness shop nearGentryville, and one he made in the "Old Carter Schoolhouse. " After thisaddress he drove home with Mr. Josiah Crawford--"Old Blue Nose" for whomhe had "pulled fodder" to pay an exorbitant price for Weems's "Life ofWashington, " and in whose house his sister and he had lived as hiredgirl and hired man. He delighted the old friends by asking abouteverybody, and being interested in the "old swimming-hole, " Jones'sgrocery where he had often argued and "held forth, " the saw-pit, the oldmill, the blacksmith shop, whose owner, Mr. Baldwin, had told him someof his best stories, and where he once started in to learn theblacksmith's trade. He went around and called on all his formeracquaintances who were still living in the neighborhood. His memorieswere so vivid and his emotions so keen that he wrote a long poem aboutthis, from which the following are three stanzas:

 "My childhood's home I see again And sadden with the view; And still, as memory crowds the brain, There's pleasure in it, too. 

 "Ah, Memory! thou midway world 'Twixt earth and paradise, Where things decayed and loved ones lost In dreamy shadows rise. 

 "And freed from all that's earthy, vile, Seems hallowed, pure and bright, Like scenes in some enchanted isle, All bathed in liquid light. "

TRYING TO SAVE BILLY FROM A BAD HABIT

As Mr. Lincoln spent so much of his time away from Springfield he feltthat he needed a younger assistant to "keep office" and look after hiscases in the different courts. He should not have made "Billy" Herndonan equal partner, but he did so, though the young man had neither theability nor experience to earn anything like half the income of theoffice. If Herndon had kept sober and done his best he might have madesome return for all that Mr. Lincoln, who treated him like afoster-father, was trying to do for him. But "Billy" did nothing of thesort. He took advantage of his senior partner's absences by going onsprees with several dissipated young men about town. 

WHAT LAWYER LINCOLN DID WITH A FAT FEE

A Springfield gentleman relates the following story which shows LawyerLincoln's business methods, his unwillingness to charge much for hislegal services; and his great longing to save his young partner from theclutches of drink:

"My father, " said the neighbor, "was in business, facing the square, notfar from the Court House. He had an account with a man who seemed to bedoing a good, straight business for years, but the fellow disappearedone night, owing father about $1000. Time went on and father got notrace of the vanished debtor. He considered the account as good as lost. 

"But one day, in connection with other business, he told Mr. Lincoln hewould give him half of what he could recover of that bad debt. The tallattorney's deep gray eyes twinkled as he said, 'One-half of nought isnothing. I'm neither a shark nor a shyster, Mr. Man. If I should collectit, I would accept only my regular percentage. '

"'But I mean it, ' father said earnestly. 'I should consider it as goodas finding money in the street. '

"'And "the finder will be liberally rewarded, " eh?' said Mr. Lincolnwith a laugh. 

"'Yes, ' my father replied, 'that's about the size of it; and I'm glad ifyou understand it. The members of the bar here grumble because youcharge too little for your professional services, and I'm willing to domy share toward educating you in the right direction. '

"'Well, seein' as it's you, ' said Mr. Lincoln with a whimsical smile, 'considering that you're such an intimate friend, I'd do it for _twice_as much as I'd charge a _total stranger_! Is that satisfactory?'

"'I should not be satisfied with giving you less than half the grossamount collected--in this case, ' my father insisted. 'I don't see whyyou are so loath to take what is your due, Mr. Lincoln. You have afamily to support and will have to provide for the future of severalboys. They need money and are as worthy of it as any other man's wifeand sons. '

"Mr. Lincoln put out his big bony hand as if to ward off a blow, exclaiming in a pained tone:

"'That isn't it, Mr. Man. That isn't it. I yield to no man in love to mywife and babies, and I provide enough for them. Most of those who bringtheir cases to me need the money more than I do. Other lawyers rob them. They act like a pack of wolves. They have no mercy. So when a needyfellow comes to me in his trouble--sometimes it's a poor widow--I can'ttake much from them. I'm not much of a Shylock. I always try to get themto settle it without going into court. I tell them if they will make itup among themselves I won't charge them anything. '

"'Well, Mr. Lincoln, ' said father with a laugh, 'if they were all likeyou there would be no need of lawyers. '

"'Well, ' exclaimed Lawyer Lincoln with a quizzical inflection whichmeant much. 'Look out for the millennium, Mr. Man--still, as a greatfavor, I'll charge you a fat fee if I ever find that fellow and can getanything out of him. But that's like promising to give you half of thefirst dollar I find floating up the Sangamon on a grindstone, isn't it?I'll take a big slice, though, out of the grindstone itself, if you sayso, ' and the tall attorney went out with the peculiar laugh thatafterward became world-famous. 

"Not long afterward, while in Bloomington, out on the circuit, Mr. Lincoln ran across the man who had disappeared from Springfield 'betweentwo days, ' carrying on an apparently prosperous business under anassumed name. Following the man to his office and managing to talk withhim alone, the lawyer, by means of threats, made the man go right to thebank and draw out the whole thousand then. It meant payment in full orthe penitentiary. The man understood it and went white as a sheet. Inall his sympathy for the poor and needy, Mr. Lincoln had no pity on theflourishing criminal. Money could not purchase the favor of Lincoln. 

"Well, I hardly know which half of that thousand dollars father wasgladder to get, but I honestly believe he was more pleased on Mr. Lincoln's account than on his own. 

"'Let me give you your five hundred dollars before I change my mind, ' hesaid to the attorney. 

"'One hundred dollars is all I'll take out of that, ' Mr. Lincoln repliedemphatically. 'It was no trouble, and--and I haven't earned even thatmuch. '

"'But Mr. Lincoln, ' my father demurred, 'you promised to take half. '

"'Yes, but you got my word under false pretenses, as it were. Neither ofus had the least idea I would collect the bill even if I ever found thefellow. '

"As he would not accept more than one hundred dollars that day, fatherwouldn't give him any of the money due, for fear the too scrupulousattorney would give him a receipt in full for collecting. Finally, Mr. Lincoln went away after yielding enough to say he might accept twohundred and fifty dollars sometime in a pinch of some sort. 

"The occasion was not long delayed--but it was not because of illness orany special necessity in his own family. His young partner, 'Billy'Herndon, had been carousing with several of his cronies in a saloonaround on Fourth Street, and the gang had broken mirrors, decanters andother things in their drunken spree. The proprietor, tired of such work, had had them all arrested. 

"Mr. Lincoln, always alarmed when Billy failed to appear at the usualhour in the morning, went in search of him, and found him and hispartners in distress, locked up in the calaboose. The others werehelpless, unable to pay or to promise to pay for any of the damages, soit devolved on Mr. Lincoln to raise the whole two hundred and fiftydollars the angry saloon keeper demanded. 

"He came into our office out of breath and said sheepishly:

"'I reckon I can use that two-fifty now. '

"'Check or currency?' asked father. 

"'Currency, if you've got it handy. '

"'Give Mr. Lincoln two hundred and fifty dollars, ' father called to aclerk in the office. 

"There was a moment's pause, during which my father refrained fromasking any questions, and Mr. Lincoln was in no mood to giveinformation. As soon as the money was brought, the tall attorney seizedthe bills and stalked out without counting it or saying anything but'Thankee, Mr. Man, ' and hurried diagonally across the square toward theCourt House, clutching the precious banknotes in his bony talons. 

"Father saw him cross the street so fast that the tails of his long coatstood out straight behind; then go up the Court House steps, two at atime, and disappear. 

"We learned afterward what he did with the money. Of course, BillHerndon was penitent and promised to mend his ways, and, of course, Mr. Lincoln believed him. He took the money very much against his will, evenagainst his principles--thinking it might save his junior partner fromthe drunkard's grave. But the heart of Abraham Lincoln was hopingagainst hope. "

CHAPTER XVI

HIS KINDNESS OF HEART

PUTTING TWO YOUNG BIRDS BACK IN THE NEST

Mr. Lincoln's tender-heartedness was the subject of much amusement amonghis fellow attorneys. One day, while out riding with several friends, they missed Lincoln. One of them, having heard the distressed cries oftwo young birds that had fallen from the nest, surmised that this hadsomething to do with Mr. Lincoln's disappearance. The man was right. Lincoln had hitched his horse and climbed the fence into the thicketwhere the fledglings were fluttering on the ground in great fright. Hecaught the young birds and tenderly carried them about until he foundtheir nest. Climbing the tree he put the birdlings back where theybelonged. After an hour Mr. Lincoln caught up with his companions, wholaughed at him for what they called his "childishness. " He answered themearnestly:

"Gentlemen, you may laugh, but I could not have slept tonight if I hadnot saved those little birds. The mother's cries and theirs would haverung in my ears. "

LAWYER LINCOLN, IN A NEW SUIT OF CLOTHES, RESCUING A PIG STUCK IN THEMUD

Lawyer Lincoln rode from one county-seat to another, on the EighthJudicial Circuit of Illinois, either on the back of a raw-boned horse, or in a rickety buggy drawn by the same old "crowbait, " as his legalfriends called the animal. The judge and lawyers of the several courtstraveled together and whiled away the time chatting and joking. Ofcourse, Abraham Lincoln was in great demand because of his unfailinghumor. 

One day he appeared in a new suit of clothes. This was such a rareoccurrence that the friends made remarks about it. The garments did notfit him very well, and the others felt in duty bound to "say things"which were anything but complimentary. 

As they rode along through the mud they were making Lincoln the butt oftheir gibes. He was not like most jokers, for he could take as well asgive, while he could "give as good as he got. "

In the course of their "chaffing" they came to a spot about four milesfrom Paris, Illinois, where they saw a pig stuck in the mud andsquealing lustily. The men all laughed at the poor animal and its absurdplight. 

"Poor piggy!" exclaimed Mr. Lincoln impulsively. "Let's get him out ofthat. "

The others jeered at the idea. "You'd better do it. You're dressed forthe job!" exclaimed one. 

"Return to your wallow!" laughed another, pointing in great glee to thewallowing hog and the mudhole. 

Lincoln looked at the pig, at the deep mud, then down at his newclothes. Ruefully he rode on with them for some time. But the cries ofthe helpless animal rang in his ears. He could endure it no longer. Lagging behind the rest, he waited until they had passed a bend in theroad. Then he turned and rode back as fast as his poor old horse couldcarry him through the mud. Dismounting, he surveyed the ground. The pighad struggled until it was almost buried in the mire, and was now tooexhausted to move. After studying the case as if it were a problem incivil engineering, he took some rails off the fence beside the road. Building a platform of rails around the now exhausted hog, then takingone rail for a lever and another for a fulcrum, he began gently to prythe fat, helpless creature out of the sticky mud. In doing this heplastered his new suit from head to foot, but he did not care, as longas he could save that pig!

"Now, piggy-wig, " he said. "It's you and me for it. You do your part andI'll get you out. Now--'one-two-_three_--_up-a-daisy_!'"

He smiled grimly as he thought of the jeers and sneers that would behurled at him if his friends had stayed to watch him at this work. 

After long and patient labor he succeeded in loosening the hog andcoaxing it to make the attempt to get free. At last, the animal wasmade to see that it could get out. Making one violent effort it wallowedaway and started for the nearest farmhouse, grunting and flopping itsears as it went. 

Lawyer Lincoln looked ruefully down at his clothes, then placed all therails back on the fence as he had found them. 

He had to ride the rest of the day alone, for he did not wish to appearbefore his comrades until the mud on his suit had dried so that it couldbe brushed off. That night, when they saw him at the tavern, they askedhim what he had been doing all day, eying his clothes with suspiciousleers and grins. He had to admit that he could not bear to leave thathog to die, and tried to excuse his tender-heartedness to them byadding: "Farmer Jones's children might have had to go barefoot allWinter if he had lost a valuable hog like that!"

"BEING ELECTED TO CONGRESS HAS NOT PLEASED ME AS MUCH AS I EXPECTED"

In 1846 Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress, defeating the Rev. Peter Cartwright, the famous backwoods preacher, who was elected to theState Legislature fourteen years before, the first time Lincoln was acandidate and the only time he was ever defeated by popular vote. Cartwright had made a vigorous canvass, telling the people that Lincolnwas "an aristocrat and an atheist. " But, though they had a great respectfor Peter Cartwright and his preaching, the people did not believe allthat he said against Lincoln, and they elected him. Shortly after thishe wrote again to Speed:

 "You, no doubt, assign the suspension of our correspondence to the true philosophic cause; though it must be confessed by both of us that this is a rather cold reason for allowing such a friendship as ours to die out by degrees. 

 "Being elected to Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected. "

In the same letter he imparted to his friend some information whichseems to have been much more interesting to him than being elected toCongress:

 "We have another boy, born the 10th of March (1846). He is very much such a child as Bob was at his age, rather of a longer order. Bob is 'short and low, ' and I expect always will be. He talks very plainly, almost as plainly as anybody. He is quite smart enough. I sometimes fear he is one of the little rare-ripe sort that are smarter at five than ever after. 

 "Since I began this letter, a messenger came to tell me Bob was lost; but by the time I reached the house his mother had found him and had him whipped, and by now very likely he has run away again!

 "As ever yours, "A. LINCOLN. "

The new baby mentioned in this letter was Edward, who died in 1850, before his fourth birthday. "Bob, " or Robert, the eldest of theLincoln's four children, was born in 1843. William, born in 1850, diedin the White House. The youngest was born in 1853, after the death ofThomas Lincoln, so he was named for his grandfather, but he was knownonly by his nickname, "Tad. " "Little Tad" was his father's constantcompanion during the terrible years of the Civil War, especially afterWillie's death, in 1862. "Tad" became "the child of the nation. " He diedin Chicago, July 10, 1871, at the age of eighteen, after returning fromEurope with his widowed mother and his brother Robert. Robert has servedhis country as Secretary of War and Ambassador to the English court, andis recognized as a leader in national affairs. 

When Lincoln was sent to the national House of Representatives, Douglaswas elected to the Senate for the first time. Lincoln was the only Whigfrom Illinois. This shows his great personal popularity. Daniel Websterwas then living in the national capital, and Congressman Lincoln stoppedonce at Ashland, Ky. , on his way to Washington to visit the idol of theWhigs, Henry Clay. 

As soon as Lincoln was elected, an editor wrote to ask him for abiographical sketch of himself for the "Congressional Directory. " Thisis all Mr. Lincoln wrote--in a blank form sent for the purpose:

"Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. 

"Education defective. 

"Profession, lawyer. 

"Military service, captain of volunteers in Black Hawk War. 

"Offices held: Postmaster at a very small office; four times a member ofthe Illinois Legislature, and elected to the lower House of the nextCongress. "

Mr. Lincoln was in Congress while the Mexican War was in progress, andthere was much discussion over President Polk's action in declaring thatwar. 

As Mrs. Lincoln was obliged to stay in Springfield to care for her twolittle boys, Congressman Lincoln lived in a Washington boarding-house. He soon gained the reputation of telling the best stories at thecapital. He made a humorous speech on General Cass, comparing thegeneral's army experiences with his own in the Black Hawk War. He alsodrafted a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, which wasnever brought to a vote. Most of his care seems to have been for BillyHerndon, who wrote complaining letters to him about the "old men" inSpringfield who were always trying to "keep the young men down. " Hereare two of Mr. Lincoln's replies:

 "WASHINGTON, June 22, 1848. 

 "DEAR WILLIAM:

 "Judge how heart-rending it was to come to my room and find and read your discouraging letter of the 15th. Now, as to the young men, you must not wait to be brought forward by the older men. For instance, do you suppose that I would ever have got into notice if I had waited to be hunted up and pushed forward by older men?"

 "DEAR WILLIAM:

 "Your letter was received last night. The subject of that letter is exceedingly painful to me; and I cannot but think that there is some mistake in your impression of the motives of the old men. Of course I cannot demonstrate what I say; but I was young once, and I am sure I was never ungenerously thrust back. I hardly know what to say. The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him. Allow me to assure you that suspicion and jealousy never did keep any man in any situation. There may be sometimes ungenerous attempts to keep a young man down; and they will succeed, too, if he allows his mind to be diverted from its true channel to brood over the attempted injury. Cast about, and see if this feeling has not injured every person you have ever known to fall into it. 

 "Now in what I have said, I am sure you will suspect nothing but sincere friendship. I would save you from a fatal error. You have been a laborious, studious young man. You are far better informed on almost all subjects than I have ever been. You cannot fail in any laudable object, unless you allow your mind to be improperly directed. I have somewhat the advantage of you in the world's experience, merely by being older; and it is this that induces me to advise. 

 "Your friend, as ever, "A. LINCOLN. "

LAST DAYS OF THOMAS LINCOLN

Mr. Lincoln did not allow his name to be used as a candidate forre-election, as there were other men in the congressional district whodeserved the honor of going to Washington as much as he. On his way homefrom Washington, after the last session of the Thirtieth Congress, hevisited New England, where he made a few speeches, and stopped atNiagara Falls, which impressed him so strongly that he wrote a lectureon the subject. 

After returning home he made a flying visit to Washington to enter hispatent steamboat, equipped so that it would navigate shallow westernrivers. This boat, he told a friend, "would go where the ground is alittle damp. " The model of Lincoln's steamboat is one of the sights ofthe Patent Office to this day. 

After Mr. Lincoln had settled down to his law business, permanently, ashe hoped, his former fellow-clerk, William G. Greene, having business inColes County, went to "Goosenest Prairie" to call on Abe's father andstepmother, who still lived in a log cabin. Thomas Lincoln received hisson's friend very hospitably. During the young man's visit, the fatherreverted to the old subject, his disapproval of his son's wasting histime in study. He said:

"I s'pose Abe's still a-foolin' hisself with eddication. I tried to stopit, but he's got that fool _idee_ in his head an' it can't be got out. Now I haint got no eddication, but I git along better than if I had. "

Not long after this, in 1851, Abraham learned that his father was veryill. As he could not leave Springfield then, he wrote to his stepbrother(for Thomas Lincoln could not read) the following comforting letter tobe read to his father:

"I sincerely hope father may recover his health; but at all events, tellhim to remember to call upon and confide in our great and mercifulMaker, who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes thefall of the sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, and He will notforget the dying man who puts his trust in Him. Say to him that, if wecould meet now, it is doubtful whether it would be more painful thanpleasant, but if it is his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyfulmeeting with the loved ones gone before, and where the rest of us, through the mercy of God, hope ere long to join them. "

Thomas Lincoln died that year, at the age of seventy-three. 

A KIND BUT MASTERFUL LETTER TO HIS STEPBROTHER

After his father's death Abraham Lincoln had, on several occasions, toprotect his stepmother against the schemes of her own lazy, good-for-nothing son. Here is one of the letters written, at this time, to his stepbrother, John Johnston:

"DEAR BROTHER: I hear that you were anxious to sell the land where youlive, and move to Missouri. What can you do in Missouri better thanhere? Is the land any richer? Can you there, any more than here, raisecorn and wheat and oats without work? Will anybody there, any more thanhere, do your work for you? If you intend to go to work, there is nobetter place than right where you are; if you do not intend to go towork, you cannot get along anywhere. Squirming and crawling about fromplace to place can do no good. You have raised no crop this year, andwhat you really want is to sell the land, get the money and spend it. Part with the land you have and, my life upon it, you will never own aspot big enough to bury you in. Half you will get for the land you willspend in moving to Missouri, and the other half you will eat and drinkand wear out, and no foot of land will be bought. 

"Now, I feel that it is my duty to have no hand in such a piece offoolery. I feel it is so even on your own account, and particularly onmother's account. 

"Now do not misunderstand this letter. I do not write it in anyunkindness. I write it in order, if possible, to get you to face thetruth, which truth is, you are destitute because you have idled awayyour time. Your thousand pretenses deceive nobody but yourself. Go towork is the only cure for your case. "

CHAPTER XVII

WHAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS STEPBROTHER

These letters show the wide difference between the real lives of twoboys brought up in the same surroundings, and under similar conditions. The advantages were in John Johnston's favor. He and Dennis Hanks neverrose above the lower level of poverty and ignorance. John was lookeddown upon by the poor illiterates around him as a lazy, good-for-nothingfellow, and Dennis Hanks was known to be careless about telling thetruth. 

In speaking of the early life of Abe's father and mother, Dennis threwin the remark that "the Hankses was some smarter than the Lincolns. " Itwas not "smartness" that made Abe Lincoln grow to be a greater man thanDennis Hanks. There are men in Springfield to-day who say, "There were adozen smarter men in this town than Mr. Lincoln when he happened to benominated, and peculiar conditions prevailing at that time brought abouthis election to the presidency!"

True greatness is made of goodness rather than smartness. AbrahamLincoln was honest with himself while a boy and a man, and it was"Honest Abe" who became President of the United States. The people lovedhim for his big heart--because he loved them more than he loved himselfand they knew it. In his second inaugural address as President he usedthis expression: "With malice toward none, with charity for all. " Thiswas not a new thought, but it was full of meaning to the country becauselittle Abe Lincoln had _lived_ that idea all his life, with his ownfamily, his friends, acquaintances, and employers. He became the mostbeloved man in the world, in his own or any other time, because hehimself loved everybody. 

Mrs. Crawford, the wife of "Old Blue Nose, " used to laugh at the veryidea of Abe Lincoln ever becoming President. Lincoln often said to her:"I'll get ready and the time will come. " He got ready in his father'slog hut and when the door of opportunity opened he walked right into theWhite House. He "made himself at home" there, because he had only to goon in the same way after he became the "servant of the people" that hehad followed when he was "Old Blue Nose's" hired boy and man. 

ONE PARTNER IN THE WHITE HOUSE, THE OTHER IN THE POOR HOUSE

Then there was William H. Herndon, known to the world only because hehappened to be "Lincoln's law partner. " His advantages were superior toLincoln's. And far more than that, he had his great partner's help topush him forward and upward. But "poor Billy" had an unfortunateappetite. He could not deny himself, though it always made him ashamedand miserable. It dragged him down, down from "the President's partner"to the gutter. That was not all. When he asked his old partner to givehim a government appointment which he had, for years, been makinghimself wholly unworthy to fill, President Lincoln, much as he had lovedBilly all along, could not give it to him. It grieved Mr. Lincoln'sgreat heart to refuse Billy anything. But Herndon did not blame himselffor all that. He spent the rest of his wretched life in bitterness andspite--avenging himself on his noble benefactor by putting untruths intothe "Life of Lincoln" he was able to write because Abraham Lincoln, against the advice of his wife and friends, had insisted on keeping himclose to his heart. It is a terrible thing--that spirit of spite! Amongmany good and true things he _had_ to say about his fatherly lawpartner, he poisoned the good name of Abraham Lincoln in the minds ofmillions, by writing stealthy slander about Lincoln's mother and wife, and made many people believe that the most religious of men at heart wasan infidel (because he himself was one!), that Mr. Lincoln sometimesacted from unworthy and unpatriotic motives, and that he failed to cometo his own wedding. If these things had been true it would have beenwrong to publish them to the prejudice of a great man's good name--thenhow much more wicked to invent and spread broadcast falsehoods whichhurt the heart and injure the mind of the whole world--just to spite thememory of the best friend a man ever had!

The fate of the firm of Lincoln & Herndon shows in a striking way howthe world looks upon the heart that hates and the heart that loves, forthe hateful junior partner died miserably in an almshouse, but thesenior was crowned with immortal martyrdom in the White House. 

THE RIVAL FOR LOVE AND HONORS

Stephen A. Douglas, "the Little Giant, " who had been a rival for thehand of the fascinating Mary Todd, was also Lincoln's chief opponent inpolitics. Douglas was small and brilliant; used to society ways, heseemed always to keep ahead of his tall, uncouth, plodding competitor. After going to Congress, Mr. Lincoln was encouraged to aspire evenhigher, so, ten years later, he became a candidate for the Senate. Slavery was then the burning question, and Douglas seemed naturally tofall upon the opposite side, favoring and justifying it in every way hecould. 

Douglas was then a member of the Senate, but the opposing partynominated Lincoln to succeed him, while "the Little Giant" had beenrenominated to succeed himself. Douglas sneered at his tall opponent, trying to "damn him with faint praise" by referring to him as "a kind, amiable and intelligent gentleman. " Mr. Lincoln challenged the Senatorto discuss the issues of the hour in a series of debates. 

Douglas was forced, very much against his will, to accept, and thedebates took place in seven towns scattered over the State of Illinois, from August 21st to October 15th, 1858. Lincoln had announced his beliefthat "a house divided against itself cannot stand;" therefore the UnitedStates could not long exist "half slave and half free. "

"The Little Giant" drove from place to place in great style, travelingwith an escort of influential friends. These discussions, known inhistory as the "Lincoln-Douglas Debates, " rose to national importancewhile they were in progress, by attracting the attention, in thenewspapers, of voters all over the country. They were attended, on anaverage, by ten thousand persons each, both men being accompanied bybands and people carrying banners and what Mr. Lincoln called"fizzlegigs and fireworks. "

Some of the banners were humorous. 

 ------------------------ | | | Abe the Giant-Killer | | | ------------------------

was one. Another read:

 ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | Westward the Star of Empire takes its way; | |The girls link on to Lincoln, their mothers were for Clay. | | | -----------------------------------------------------------

At the first debate Lincoln took off his linen duster and, handing it toa bystander, said:

"Hold my coat while I stone Stephen!"

In the course of these debates Lincoln propounded questions for Mr. Douglas to answer. Brilliant as "the Little Giant" was, he was notshrewd enough to defend himself from the shafts of his opponent's witand logic. So he fell into Lincoln's trap. 

"If he does that, " said Lincoln, "he may be Senator, but he can never bePresident. I am after larger game. The battle of 1860 is worth a hundredof this. "

This prophecy proved true. 

CHAPTER XVIII

HOW EMANCIPATION CAME TO PASS

When Abraham Lincoln was a small boy he began to show the keenestsympathy for the helpless and oppressed. The only time he betrayed angeras a child was, as you already have learned, when he saw the other boyshurting a mud-turtle. In his first school "composition, " on "Cruelty toAnimals, " his stepsister remembers this sentence: "An ant's life is assweet to it as ours is to us. "

As you have read on an earlier page, when Abe grew to be a big, strongboy he saved a drunken man from freezing in the mud, by carrying him toa cabin, building a fire, and spent the rest of the night warming andsobering him up. Instead of leaving the drunkard to the fate the otherfellows thought he deserved, Abe Lincoln, through pity for the helpless, rescued a fellow-being not only from mud and cold but also from adrunkard's grave. For that tall lad's love and mercy revealed to thepoor creature the terrible slavery of which he was the victim. Thus Abehelped him throw off the shackles of drink and made a man of him. 

BLACK SLAVES AND WHITE

As he grew older, Abe Lincoln saw that the drink habit was a sort ofhuman slavery. He delivered an address before the Washingtonian(Temperance) Society in which he compared white slavery with black, inwhich he said:

"And when the victory shall be complete--when there shall be neither aslave nor a drunkard on the earth--how proud the title of that landwhich may truly claim to be the birthplace and the cradle of both thoserevolutions that have ended in that victory. "

This address was delivered on Washington's Birthday, 1842. The closingwords throb with young Lawyer Lincoln's fervent patriotism:

"This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the birth ofWashington; we are met to celebrate this day. Washington is themightiest name of earth, long since the mightiest in the cause of civilliberty, still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name no eulogy isexpected. It cannot be. To add to the brightness of the sun or glory tothe name of Washington is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. Insolemn awe we pronounce the name and, in its naked, deathless splendor, leave it shining on. "

It was young Lincoln's patriotic love for George Washington which did somuch to bring about, in time, a double emancipation from white slaveryand black. 

Once, as President, he said to a boy who had just signed the temperancepledge:

"Now, Sonny, keep that pledge and it will be the best act of your life. "

President Lincoln was true and consistent in his temperance principles. In March, 1864, he went by steamboat with his wife and "Little Tad, " tovisit General Grant at his headquarters at City Point, Virginia. 

When asked how he was, during the reception which followed his arrivalthere, the President said, as related by General Horace Porter:

"'I am not feeling very well. I got pretty badly shaken up on the baycoming down, and am not altogether over it yet. '

"'Let me send for a bottle of champagne for you, Mr. President, ' said astaff-officer, 'that's the best remedy I know of for sea-sickness. '

"'No, no, my young friend, ' replied the President, 'I've seen many aman in my time seasick ashore from drinking that very article. '

"That was the last time any one screwed up sufficient courage to offerhim wine. "

"THE UNDER DOG"

Some people are kinder to dumb animals--is it _because_ they aredumb?--than to their relatives. Many are the stories of Lincoln'stenderness to beasts and birds. But his kindness did not stop there, norwith his brothers and sisters in white. He recognized his closerelationship with the black man, and the bitterest name his enemiescalled him--worse in their minds than "fool, " "clown, " "imbecile" or"gorilla"--was a "Black Republican. " That terrible phobia against thenegro only enlisted Abraham Lincoln's sympathies the more. He appearedin court in behalf of colored people, time and again. The more bitterthe hatred and oppression of others, the more they needed hissympathetic help, the more certain they were to receive it. 

"My sympathies are with the under dog, " said Mr. Lincoln, one day, "though it is often that dog that starts the fuss. "

The fact that the poor fellow may have brought the trouble upon himselfdid not make him forfeit Abraham Lincoln's sympathy. That was only agood lesson to him to "Look out and do better next time!"

THE QUESTION OF EMANCIPATION

After he went to Washington, President Lincoln was between two fires. One side wanted the slaves freed whether the Union was broken up or not. They could not see that declaring them free would have but littleeffect, if the government could not "back up" such a declaration. 

The other party did not wish the matter tampered with, as cheap laborwas necessary for raising cotton, sugar and other products on which theliving of millions of people depended. 

The extreme Abolitionists, who wished slavery abolished, whether or no, sent men to tell the President that if he did not free the slaves he wasa coward and a turncoat, and they would withhold their support from theGovernment and the Army. 

Delegations of Abolitionists from all over the North arrived almostdaily from different cities to urge, coax and threaten the President. They did not know that he was trying to keep the Border States ofMaryland, Kentucky and Missouri from seceding. If Maryland alone hadgone out of the Union, Washington, the national capital, would have beensurrounded and forced to surrender. 

Besides, at this time, the armies of the North were losing nearly allthe battles. 

To declare all the slaves down South freed, when the Government couldnot enforce such a statement and could not even win a battle, would beabsurd. To one committee the President said: "If I issued a proclamationof emancipation now it would be like the Pope's bull (or decree) againstthe comet!"

A delegation of Chicago ministers came to beg Mr. Lincoln to free theslaves. He patiently explained to them that his declaring them freewould not make them free. These men seemed to see the point and wereretiring, disappointed, when one of them returned to him and whisperedsolemnly:

"What you have said to us, Mr. President, compels me to say to you inreply that it is a message from our divine Master, through me, commanding you, sir, to open the doors of bondage that the slave may gofree!"

"Now, isn't that strange?" the President replied instantly. "Here I am, studying this question, day and night, and God has placed it upon me, too. Don't you think it's rather odd that He should send such a messageby way of that awful wicked city of Chicago?"

The ministers were shocked at such an answer from the President of theUnited States. They could not know, for Mr. Lincoln dared not tell them, that he had the Emancipation Proclamation in his pocket waiting for aFederal victory before he could issue it!

THE PROCLAMATION

Then, came the news of Antietam, a terrible battle, but gained by theNorthern arms. At last the time had come to announce the freeing of theslaves that they might help in winning their liberties. The Presidenthad not held a meeting of his Cabinet for some time. He thought of theoccasion when, as a young man he went on a flatboat trip to New Orleansand saw, for the first, the horrors of negro slavery, and said to hiscompanions:

"If ever I get a chance to hit that thing I'll hit it hard!"

Now the "chance to hit that thing"--the inhuman monster of humanslavery--had come, and he was going to "hit it hard. "

He called the Cabinet together. Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, has described the scene:

"On the 22nd of September, 1862, I had a sudden and peremptory call to aCabinet meeting at the White House. I went immediately and found thehistoric War Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln assembled, every member beingpresent. The President hardly noticed me as I came in. He was reading abook of some kind which seemed to amuse him. It was a little book. Hefinally turned to us and said:

"'Gentlemen, did you ever read anything from "Artemus Ward?" Let me readyou a chapter that is very funny. '

"Not a member of the Cabinet smiled; as for myself, I was angry, andlooked to see what the President meant. It seemed to me like buffoonery. He, however, concluded to read us a chapter from 'Artemus Ward, ' whichhe did with great deliberation. Having finished, he laughed heartily, without a member of the Cabinet joining in the laughter. 

"'Well, ' he said, 'let's have another chapter. '

"I was considering whether I should rise and leave the meeting abruptly, when he threw the book down, heaved a long sigh, and said:

"'Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? With the fearful strain that is uponme night and day, if I did not laugh I should die, and you need thismedicine as much as I do. '

"He then put his hand in his tall hat that sat upon the table, andpulled out a little paper. Turning to the members of the Cabinet, hesaid:

"'Gentlemen, I have called you here upon very important business. I haveprepared a little paper of much significance. I have made up my mindthat this paper is to issue; that the time is come when it should issue;that the people are ready for it to issue. 

"'It is due to my Cabinet that you should be the first to hear and knowof it, and if any of you have any suggestions to make as to the form ofthis paper or its composition, I shall be glad to hear them. But thepaper is to issue. '

"And, to my astonishment, he read the Emancipation Proclamation of thatdate, which was to take effect the first of January following. "

Secretary Stanton continued: "I have always tried to be calm, but Ithink I lost my calmness for a moment, and with great enthusiasm Iarose, approached the President, extended my hand and said:

"'Mr. President, if the reading of chapters of "Artemus Ward" is aprelude to such a deed as this, the book should be filed among thearchives of the nation, and the author should be canonized. Henceforth Isee the light and the country is saved. '

"And all said 'Amen!'

"And Lincoln said to me in a droll way, just as I was leaving, 'Stanton, it would have been too early last Spring. '

"And as I look back upon it, I think the President was right. "

It was a fitting fulfillment of the Declaration of Independence, whichproclaimed that:

"All men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator withcertain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and thepursuit of happiness. "

That Declaration young Abe Lincoln first read in the Gentryvilleconstable's copy of the "Statutes of Indiana. "

At noon on the first of January, 1863, William H. Seward, Secretary ofState, with his son Frederick, called at the White House with theEmancipation document to be signed by the President. It was just afterthe regular New Year's Day reception. 

Mr. Lincoln seated himself at his table, took up the pen, dipped it inthe ink, held the pen a moment, then laid it down. After waiting a whilehe went through the same movements as before. Turning to his Secretaryof State, he said, to explain his hesitation:

"I have been shaking hands since nine o'clock this morning, and my armis almost paralyzed. If my name ever goes into history, it will be forthis act, and my whole soul is in it. If my hand trembles when I signthe Proclamation, all who examine the document hereafter will say:

"'He hesitated. '"

Turning back to the table, he took the pen again and wrote, deliberatelyand firmly, the "Abraham Lincoln" with which the world is now familiar. Looking up at the Sewards, father and son, he smiled and said, with asigh of relief:

"_That will do!_"

CHAPTER XIX

THE GLORY OF GETTYSBURG

THE BATTLE

The Battle of Gettysburg, which raged through July 1st, 2nd and 3d, 1863, was called the "high water mark" of the Civil War, and one of the"fifteen decisive battles" of history. It was decisive because GeneralRobert E. Lee, with his brave army, was driven back from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. If Lee had been victorious there, he might have destroyedPhiladelphia and New York. By such a brilliant stroke he could havesurrounded and captured Baltimore and Washington. This would havechanged the grand result of the war. 

In point of numbers, bravery and genius, the battle of Gettysburg wasthe greatest that had ever been fought up to that time. Glorious as thiswas, the greatest glory of Gettysburg lay in the experiences andutterances of one man, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United Statesof America. 

It came at a terrible time in the progress of the war, when everythingseemed to be going against the Union. There had been four disastrousdefeats--twice at Bull Run, followed by Fredericksburg andChancellorsville. Even the battle of Antietam, accounted victory enoughfor the President to issue his Emancipation Proclamation, proved to be adrawn battle, with terrific losses on both sides. Lee was driven backfrom Maryland then, it is true, but he soon won the great battles ofFredericksburg and Chancellorsville, and had made his way north intoPennsylvania. 

The night after the battle of Chancellorsville (fought May 2nd and 3d, 1863), was the darkest in the history of the Civil War. PresidentLincoln walked the floor the whole night long, crying out in hisanguish, "O what will the country say!"

To fill the decimated ranks of the army, the Government had resorted tothe draft, which roused great opposition in the North and provokedfoolish, unreasoning riots in New York City. 

After winning the battle of Gettysburg, which the President hoped wouldend the war, General Meade, instead of announcing that he had capturedthe Confederate army, stated that he had "driven the invaders from oursoil. " Mr. Lincoln fell on his knees and, covering his face with hisgreat, strong hands, cried out in tones of agony:

"'Driven the invaders from our soil!' My God, is that all?"

But Lincoln's spirits were bound to rise. Believing he was "on God'sside, " he felt that the cause of Right could not lose, for the Lordwould save His own. 

The next day, July 4th, 1863, came the surrender of Vicksburg, thestronghold of the great West. Chastened joy began to cover his gaunt andpallid features, and the light of hope shone again in his deep, grayeyes. 

Calling on General Sickles, in a Washington hospital--for the generalhad lost a leg on the second day of the battle of Gettysburg--thePresident was asked why he believed that victory would be given theFederal forces at Gettysburg. 

"I will tell you how it was. In the pinch of your campaign up there, when everybody seemed panic-stricken, and nobody could tell what wasgoing to happen, I went to my room one day and locked the door, and gotdown on my knees before Almighty God, and prayed to him mightily forvictory at Gettysburg. I told Him this was His war, and our cause Hiscause, but that we couldn't stand another Fredericksburg orChancellorsville. And I then and there made a solemn vow to Almighty Godthat if He would stand by our boys at Gettysburg, I would stand by Him. And He _did_, and I _will_!"

The President's call on General Sickles was on the Sunday after thethree-days' battle of Gettysburg, before the arrival of the gunboat atCairo, Illinois, with the glad tidings from Vicksburg, which added newluster to the patriotic joy of Independence Day. The telegraph wires hadbeen so generally cut on all sides of Vicksburg that the news was sentto Cairo and telegraphed to Washington. In proof that his faith evenincluded the Mississippi blockade he went on:

"Besides, I have been praying over Vicksburg also, and believe ourHeavenly Father is going to give us victory there, too, because we needit, in order to bisect the Confederacy, and let 'the Father of Watersflow unvexed to the sea. '"

THE ADDRESS

Not long after the conflict at Gettysburg a movement was on foot todevote a large part of that battle-ground to a national cemetery. 

The Hon. Edward Everett, prominent in national and educational affairs, and the greatest living orator, was invited to deliver the grandoration. The President was asked, if he could, to come and make a fewdedicatory remarks, but Mr. Everett was to be the chief speaker of theoccasion. 

The Sunday before the 19th of November, 1863, the date of thededication, the President went with his friend Noah Brooks to Gardner'sgallery, in Washington, where he had promised to sit for his photograph. While there he showed Mr. Brooks a proof of Everett's oration which hadbeen sent to him. As this printed address covered two newspaper pages, Mr. Lincoln struck an attitude and quoted from a speech by DanielWebster:

"Solid men of Boston, make no long orations!" and burst out laughing. When Mr. Brooks asked about _his_ speech for that occasion, Mr. Lincolnreplied: "I've got it written, but not licked into shape yet. It'sshort, _short_, SHORT!"

During the forenoon of the 18th, Secretary John Hay was anxious lest thePresident be late for the special Presidential train, which was to leaveat noon for Gettysburg. 

"Don't worry, John, " said Mr. Lincoln. "I'm like the man who was goingto be hung, and saw the crowds pushing and hurrying past the cart inwhich he was being taken to the place of execution. He called out tothem: 'Don't hurry, boys. There won't be anything going on till I getthere!'"

When the train stopped, on the way to Gettysburg, a little girl on theplatform held up a bouquet to Mr. Lincoln, lisping: "Flowerth for thePrethident. "

He reached out, took her up and kissed her, saying:

"You're a sweet little rosebud yourself. I hope your life will open intoperpetual beauty and goodness. "

About noon on the 19th of November, the distinguished party arrived in aprocession and took seats on the platform erected for the exercises. ThePresident was seated in a rocking-chair placed there for him. Therewere fifteen thousand people waiting, some of whom had been standing inthe sun for hours. It was a warm day and a Quaker woman near theplatform fainted. An alarm was given and the unconscious woman was indanger of being crushed. 

The President sprang to the edge of the staging and called out:

"Here, let me get hold of that lady. "

With a firm, strong grasp he extricated her from the crush and seatedher in his rocking-chair. When that modest woman "came to, " she sawfifteen thousand pairs of eyes watching her while the President of theUnited States was fanning her tenderly. 

This was too much for her. She gasped:

"I feel--better--now. I want to go--back to--my husband!"

"Now, my dear lady, " said Mr. Lincoln. "You are all right here. I had anawful time pulling you up out of there, and I couldn't stick you backagain!"

A youth who stood near the platform in front of the President says that, while Mr. Everett was orating, Mr. Lincoln took his "little speech, " ashe called it, out of his pocket, and conned it over like a schoolboywith a half-learned lesson. The President had put the finishing toucheson it that morning. As it was expected that the President would make afew offhand remarks, no one seems to have noticed its simple grandeuruntil it was printed in the newspapers. 

Yet Mr. Lincoln was interrupted four or five times during the twominutes by applause. The fact that the President was speaking wassufficient, no matter what he said. The people would have applaudedAbraham Lincoln if he had merely recited the multiplication table! Whenhe finished, they gave "three times three cheers" for the President ofthe United States, and three cheers for each of the State Governorspresent. 

That afternoon there was a patriotic service in one of the churcheswhich the President decided to attend. Taking Secretary Seward with him, he called on an old cobbler named John Burns, of whose courage in thebattle of Gettysburg Mr. Lincoln had just heard. Those who planned thededication did not think the poor cobbler was of much account. The oldhero, now known through Bret Harte's poem, "John Burns of Gettysburg, "had the pride and joy of having all the village and visitors see himmarch to the church between President Lincoln and Secretary Seward. Thissimple act was "just like Lincoln!" He honored Gettysburg in thushonoring one of its humblest citizens. It was Abraham Lincoln's tributeto the patriotism of the dear "common people" whom he said "God mustlove. "

CHAPTER XX

"NO END OF A BOY"

"THE STORY OF YOUNG ABRAHAM LINCOLN" would be incomplete without someinsight into the perfect boyishness of the President of the UnitedStates. When the cares of State and the horrors of war had made hishomely yet beautiful face pallid and seamed, till it became a sensitivemap of the Civil War, it was said that the only times the President wasever happy were when he was playing with little Tad. 

He used to carry the boy on his shoulder or "pick-a-back, " canteringthrough the spacious rooms of the Executive Mansion, both yelling likeComanches. The little boy was lonely after Willie died, and the father'sheart yearned over the only boy left at home, for Robert was at Harvarduntil near the close of the war, when he went to the front as an aide toGeneral Grant. So little Tad was his father's most constant companionand the President became the boy's only playfellow. Mr. Lincoln, with aheart as full of faith as a little child's, had always lived in deepsympathy with the children, and this feeling was intensified toward hisown offspring. 

When Abe Lincoln was living in New Salem he distinguished himself bycaring for the little children--a thing beneath the dignity of the otheryoung men of the settlement. 

Hannah Armstrong, wife of the Clary's Grove bully, whom Abe had to"lick" to a finish in order to establish himself on a solid basis in NewSalem society, told how friendly their relations became after thethrashing he gave her husband:

"Abe would come to our house, drink milk, eat mush, cornbread andbutter, bring the children candy and rock the cradle. " (This seemed astrange thing to her. ) "He would nurse babies--do anything toaccommodate anybody. "

HOW HE REPAID THE ARMSTRONGS' KINDNESS

The Armstrong baby, Willie, grew to be a youth of wrong habits, and wasnicknamed "Duff. " He was drawn, one afternoon, into a bad quarrel withanother rough young man, named Metzker, who was brutally beaten. In theevening a vicious young man, named Morris, joined the row and the ladwas struck on the head and died without telling who had dealt the fatalblow. The blame was thrown upon "Duff" Armstrong, who was arrested. Illinois law preventing him from testifying in his own behalf. 

When Lawyer Lincoln heard of the case, he wrote as follows:

 "SPRINGFIELD, ILL. , September, 1857. 

 "DEAR MRS. ARMSTRONG:

 "I have just heard of your deep affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder. 

 "I can hardly believe that he can be capable of the crime alleged against him. 

 "It does not seem possible. I am anxious that he should be given a fair trial, at any rate; and gratitude for your long-continued kindness to me in adverse circumstances prompts me to offer my humble services gratuitously in his behalf. 

 "It will afford me an opportunity to requite, in a small degree, the favors I received at your hand, and that of your lamented husband, when your roof afforded me a grateful shelter, without money and without price. 

 "Yours truly, "A. LINCOLN. "

The feeling in the neighborhood where the crime was committed was sointense that it was decided that it must be taken over to the nextcounty to secure a fair trial. Lawyer Lincoln was on hand to defend theson of his old friend. 

Besides those who testified to the bad character of the young prisoner, one witness, named Allen, testified that he saw "Duff" Armstrong strikethe blow which killed Metzker. 

"Couldn't you be mistaken about this?" asked Mr. Lincoln. "What time didyou see it?"

"Between nine and ten o'clock that night. "

"Are you certain that you saw the prisoner strike the blow?--Becareful--remember--you are under oath!"

"I am sure. There is no doubt about it. "

"But wasn't it dark at that hour?"

"No, the moon was shining bright. "

"Then you say there was a moon and it was not dark. "

"Yes, it was light enough for me to see him hit Metzker on the head. "

"Now I want you to be very careful. I understand you to say the murderwas committed about half past nine o'clock, and there was a bright moonat the time?"

"Yes, sir, " said the witness positively. 

"Very well. That is all. "

Then Lawyer Lincoln produced an almanac showing that there was no moonthat night till the early hours of the morning. 

"This witness has perjured himself, " he said, "and his whole story is alie. "

 * * * * *

"Duff" Armstrong was promptly acquitted. The tears of that widowedmother and the gratitude of the boy he had rocked were the best sort ofpay to Lawyer Lincoln for an act of kindness and life-saving. 

"JUST WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE WHOLE WORLD!"

A Springfield neighbor used to say that it was almost a habit with Mr. Lincoln to carry his children about on his shoulders. Indeed, the mansaid he seldom saw the tall lawyer go by without one or both boysperched on high or tugging at the tails of his long coat. This neighborrelates that he was attracted to the door of his own house one day by agreat noise of crying children, and saw Mr. Lincoln passing with the twoboys in their usual position, and both were howling lustily. 

"Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's the matter?" he asked in astonishment. 

"Just what's the matter with the whole world, " the lawyer repliedcoolly. "I've got three walnuts, and each wants two. "

THE "BUCKING" CHESS BOARD

Several years later Judge Treat, of Springfield was playing chess withMr. Lincoln in his law office when Tad came in to call his father tosupper. The boy, impatient at the delay of the slow and silent game, tried to break it up by a flank movement against the chess board, butthe attacks were warded off, each time, by his father's long arms. 

The child disappeared, and when the two players had begun to believethey were to be permitted to end the game in peace, the table suddenly"bucked" and the board and chessmen were sent flying all over the floor. 

Judge Treat was much vexed, and expressed impatience, not hesitating totell Mr. Lincoln that the boy ought to be punished severely. 

Mr. Lincoln replied, as he gently took down his hat to go home tosupper:

"Considering the position of your pieces, judge, at the time of theupheaval, I think you have no reason to complain. "

WHEN TAD GOT A SPANKING

Yet, indulgent as he was, there were some things Mr. Lincoln would notallow even his youngest child to do. An observer who saw thePresident-elect and his family in their train on the way to Washingtonto take the helm of State, relates that little Tad amused himself byraising the car window an inch or two and trying, by shutting it downsuddenly, to catch the fingers of the curious boys outside who wereholding themselves up by their hands on the window sill of the car tocatch sight of the new President and his family. 

The President-elect, who had to go out to the platform to make a littlespeech to a crowd at nearly every stop, noticed Tad's attempts to pinchthe boys' fingers. He spoke sharply to his son and commanded him to stopthat. Tad obeyed for a time, but his father, catching him at the sametrick again, leaned over, and taking the little fellow across his knee, gave him a good, sound spanking, exclaiming as he did so:

"Why do you want to mash those boys' fingers?"

THE TRUE STORY OF BOB'S LOSING THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS

Mr. Lincoln was always lenient when the offense was against himself. TheHon. Robert Todd Lincoln, the only living son of the great President, tells how the satchel containing his father's inaugural address was lostfor a time. Some writers have related the story of this loss, statingthat it all happened at Harrisburg, and telling how the President-electdiscovered a bag like his own, and on opening it found only a pack ofgreasy cards, a bottle of whisky and a soiled paper collar. Also thatMr. Lincoln was "reminded" of a cheap, ill-fitting story--but none ofthese things really took place. 

Here is the true story, as related to the writer by Robert Lincolnhimself:

"My father had confided to me the care of the satchel containing hisinaugural address. It was lost for a little while during the stay of ourparty at the old Bates House in Indianapolis. When we entered the hotelI set the bag down with the other luggage, which was all removed to aroom back of the clerk's desk. 

"As soon as I missed the valise I went right to father, in greatdistress of mind. He ordered a search made. We were naturally muchalarmed, for it was the only copy he had of his inaugural address, whichhe had carefully written before leaving Springfield. Of course, he addedcertain parts after reaching Washington. The missing bag was soon foundin a safe place. 

"Instead of taking out the precious manuscript and stuffing it into hisown pocket, father handed it right back to me, saying:

"'There, Bob, see if you can't take better care of it this time'--andyou may be sure I was true to the trust he placed in me. Why, I hardlylet that precious gripsack get out of my sight during my waking hoursall the rest of the long roundabout journey to Washington. "

THE TERRIBLE LONELINESS AFTER WILLIE DIED

The death of Willie, who was nearly three years older than Tad, early in1862, during their first year in the White House, nearly broke hisfather's heart. It was said that Mr. Lincoln never recovered from thatbereavement. It made him yearn the more tenderly over his youngest sonwho sadly missed the brother who had been his constant companion. 

It was natural for a lad who was so much indulged to take advantage ofhis freedom. Tad had a slight impediment in his speech which made thestreet urchins laugh at him, and even cabinet members, because theycould not understand him, considered him a little nuisance. So Tad, though known as "the child of the nation, " and greatly beloved andpetted by those who knew him for a lovable affectionate child, foundhimself alone in a class by himself, and against all classes of people. 

TURNING THE HOSE ON HIGH OFFICIALS

He illustrated this spirit one day by getting hold of the hose andturning it on some dignified State officials, several army officers, andfinally on a soldier on guard who was ordered to charge and takepossession of that water battery. Although that little escapade appealedto the President's sense of humor, for he himself liked nothing betterthan to take generals and pompous officials down "a peg or two, " Tad gotwell spanked for the havoc he wrought that day. 

BREAKING INTO A CABINET MEETING

The members of the President's cabinet had reason to be annoyed by theboy's frequent interruptions. He seemed to have the right of waywherever his father happened to be. No matter if Senator Sumner orSecretary Stanton was discussing some weighty matter of State or war, ifTad came in, his father turned from the men of high estate to ministerto the wants of his little boy. He did it to get rid of him, for ofcourse he knew Tad would raise such a racket that no one could talk orthink till _his_ wants were disposed of. 

AN EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT FOR TAD AND HIS BOYFRIENDS

A story is told of the boy's interruption of a council of war. Thishabit of Tad's enraged Secretary Stanton, whose horror of the boy wassimilar to that of an elephant for a mouse. The President was giving hisopinion on a certain piece of strategy which he thought the general inquestion might carry out--when a great noise was heard out in the hall, followed by a number of sharp raps on the door of the cabinet room. 

Strategy, war, everything was, for the moment forgotten by thePresident, whose wan face assumed an expression of unusual pleasure, while he gathered up his great, weary length from different parts of theroom as he had half lain, sprawling about, across and around his chairand the great table. 

"That's Tad, " he exclaimed, "I wonder what that boy wants now. " On hisway to open the door, Mr. Lincoln explained that those knocks had justbeen adopted by the boy and himself, as part of the telegraph system, and that he was obliged to let the lad in--"for it wouldn't do to goback on the code now, " he added, half in apology for permitting such asudden break in their deliberations. 

When the door was opened, Tad, with flushed face and sparkling eyes, sprang in and threw his arms around his father's neck. The Presidentstraightened up and embraced the boy with an expression of happinessnever seen on his face except while playing with his little son. 

Mr. Lincoln turned, with the boy still in his arms, to explain that heand Tad had agreed upon this telegraphic code to prevent the lad frombursting in upon them without warning. The members of the cabinet lookedpuzzled or disgusted, as though they failed to see that severalstartling raps could be any better than having Tad break in with a whoopor a wail, as had been the boy's custom. 

ISSUING THE EXECUTIVE ORDER ON PETER FOR PIE

The boy raised a question of right. He had besieged Peter, the coloredsteward, demanding that a dinner be served to several urchins he hadpicked up outside--two of whom were sons of soldiers. Peter hadprotested that he "had other fish to fry" just then. 

The President recognized at once that this was a case for diplomacy. Turning to various members of the cabinet, he called on each tocontribute from his store of wisdom, what would be best to do in a caseof such vast importance. Tad looked on in wonder as his father set thegreat machinery of government in motion to make out a commissary orderon black Peter, which would force that astonished servant to delivercertain pieces of pie and other desired eatables to Tad, for himself andhis boy friends. 

At last an "order" was prepared by the Chief Executive of the UnitedStates directing "The Commissary Department of the PresidentialResidence to issue rations to Lieutenant Tad Lincoln and his fiveassociates, two of whom are the sons of soldiers in the Army of thePotomac. "

With an expression of deep gravity and a solemn flourish, the Presidenttendered this Commissary Order to the lieutenant, his son, saying as hepresented the document:

"I reckon Peter will _have_ to come to time now. "

CHAPTER XXI

LIEUTENANT TAD LINCOLN, PATRIOT

There was no more sturdy little patriot in the whole country thanLieutenant Tad Lincoln, "the child of the nation, " nor had the Presidentof the United States a more devoted admirer and follower than his ownsmall son. A word from his father would melt the lad to tears andsubmission, or bring him out of a nervous tantrum with his small roundface wreathed with smiles, and a chuckling in his throat of "Papa-day, my papa-day!" No one knew exactly what the boy meant by papa-day. It washis pet name for the dearest man on earth, and it was his only way ofexpressing the greatest pleasure his boyish heart was able to hold. Itwas the "sweetest word ever heard" by the war-burdened, crushed andsorrowing soul of the broken-hearted President of the United States. 

Mr. Lincoln took his youngest son with him everywhere--on his greatmission to Fortress Monroe, and they--"the long and the short of it, "the soldiers said--marched hand in hand through the streets of fallenRichmond. The understanding between the man and the boy was so completeand sacred, that some acts which seemed to outsiders absurd andill-fitting, became perfectly right and proper when certain unknownfacts were taken into account. 

WAVING THE "STARS AND BARS" OUT OF A WHITE HOUSE WINDOW

For instance, one night, during an enthusiastic serenade at the WhiteHouse, after a great victory of the northern armies, when the Presidenthad been out and made a happy speech in response to the congratulationshe had received, everybody was horrified to see the Confederate "Starsand Bars" waving frantically from an upper window with shouts followedby shrieks as old Edward, the faithful colored servant, pulled in theflag and the boy who was guilty of the mischief. 

"That was little Tad!" exclaimed some one in the crowd. Many laughed, but some spectators thought the boy ought to be punished for such atreasonable outbreak on the part of a President's boy in a soldier'suniform. 

"If he don't know any better than that, " said one man, "he should betaught better. It's an insult to the North and the President ought tostop it and apologize, too. "

"BOYS IN BLUE" AND "BOYS IN GRAY"

But little Tad understood his father's spirit better than the crowd did. He knew that the President's love was not confined to "the Boys inBlue, " but that his heart went out also to "the Boys in Gray. " Thesoldiers were all "boys" to him. They knew he loved them. They saidamong themselves: "He cares for us. He takes our part. We will fight forhim; yes, we will die for him. "

And a large part of the common soldier's patriotism was thisheart-response of "the boys" to the great "boy" in the White House. Thatwas the meaning of their song as they trooped to the front at his call:

 "We are coming, Father Abraham; Three hundred thousand more. "

Little Tad saw plenty of evidences of his father's love for the youngersoldiers--the real boys of the army. Going always with the President, hehad heard his "Papa-day" say of several youths condemned to be shot forsleeping at their post or some like offense:

"That boy is worth more above ground than under;" or, "A live boy canserve his country better than a dead one. "

"Give the boys a chance, " was Abraham Lincoln's motto. He hadn't hadmuch of a chance himself and he wanted all other boys to have a fairshow. His own father had been too hard with him, and he was going tomake it up to all the other boys he could reach. This passion for doinggood to others began in the log cabin when he had no idea he could everbe exercising his loving kindness in the Executive Mansion--the Home ofthe Nation. "With malice toward none, with charity for all, " was therule of his life in the backwoods as well as in the National Capital. 

And "the Boys in Gray" were his "boys, " too, but they didn't understand, so they had wandered away--they were a little wayward, but he would winthem back. The great chivalrous South has learned, since those bitter, ruinous days, that Abraham Lincoln was the best friend the South thenhad in the North. Tad had seen his father show great tenderness to allthe "boys" he met in the gray uniform, but the President had fewopportunities to show his tenderness to the South--though there was asecret pigeonhole in his desk stuffed full of threats of assassination. He was not afraid of death--indeed, he was glad to die if it would dohis "boys" and the country any good. But it hurt him deep in his heartto know that some of his beloved children misunderstood him so that theywere willing to kill him!

It was no one's bullet which made Abraham Lincoln a martyr. All his lifehe had shown the spirit of love which was willing to give his very lifeif it could save or help others. 

All these things little Tad could not have explained, but they wereinbred into the deep understanding of the big father and the small sonwho were living in the White House as boys together. 

MR. LINCOLN'S LAST SPEECH AND HOW TAD HELPED

A few days after the war ended at Appomattox, a great crowd came to theWhite House to serenade the President. It was Tuesday evening, April 11, 1865. Mr. Lincoln had written a short address for the occasion. Thetimes were so out of joint and every word was so important that thePresident could not trust himself to speak off-hand. 

A friend stepped out on the northern portico with him to hold the candleby which Mr. Lincoln was to read his speech. Little Tad was with hisfather, as usual, and when the President had finished reading a page ofhis manuscript he let it flutter down, like a leaf, or a big whitebutterfly, for Tad to catch. When the pages came too slowly the boypulled his father's coat-tail, piping up in a muffled, excited tone:

"Give me 'nother paper, Papa-day. "

To the few in the front of the crowd who witnessed this little by-playit seemed ridiculous that the President of the United States shouldallow any child to behave like that and hamper him while delivering agreat address which would wield a national, if not world-wide influence. But little Tad did not trouble his father in the least. It was a part ofthe little game they were constantly playing together. 

The address opened with these words:

 "FELLOW-CITIZENS: We meet this evening not in sorrow, but gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army (at Appomattox) give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for national thanksgiving is being prepared and will be duly promulgated. "

"GIVE US 'DIXIE, ' BOYS!"

Then he went on outlining a policy of peace and friendship toward theSouth--showing a spirit far higher and more advanced than that of thelistening crowd. On concluding his address and bidding the assembledmultitude good night, he turned to the serenading band and shoutedjoyously:

"Give us 'Dixie, ' boys; play 'Dixie. ' We have a right to that tune now. "

There was a moment of silence. Some of the people gasped, as they haddone when they saw Tad waving the Confederate flag at the window. Butthe band, loyal even to a mere whim (as they then thought it) of "FatherAbraham, " started the long-forbidden tune, and the President, bowing, retired, with little Tad, within the White House. Those words, "Give us'Dixie, ' boys, " were President Lincoln's last public utterance. 

As Mr. Lincoln came in through the door after speaking to the crowd, Mrs. Lincoln--who had been, with a group of friends, looking on fromwithin--exclaimed to him:

"You must not be so careless. Some one could easily have shot you whileyou were speaking there--and you know they are threatening your life!"

The President smiled at his wife, through a look of inexpressible painand sadness, and shrugged his great shoulders, but "still he answerednot a word. "

THE SEPARATION OF THE TWO "BOYS"

At a late hour Good Friday night, that same week, little Tad came inalone at a basement door of the White House from the National Theater, where he knew the manager, and some of the company, had made a great petof him. He had often gone there alone or with his tutor. How he hadheard the terrible news from Ford's Theater is not known, but he came upthe lower stairway with heartrending cries like a wounded animal. Seeing Thomas Pendel, the faithful doorkeeper, he wailed from hisbreaking heart:

"Tom Pen, Tom Pen, they have killed Papa-day! They have killed myPapa-day!"

 * * * * *

After the funeral the little fellow was more lonely than ever. It washard to have his pony burned up in the stable. It was harder still tolose Brother Willie, his constant companion, and now his mother wasdesperately ill, and his father had been killed. Tad, of course, couldnot comprehend why any one could be so cruel and wicked as to wish tomurder his darling Papa-day, who loved every one so!

He wandered through the empty rooms, aching with loneliness, murmuringsoftly to himself:

"Papa-day, where's my Papa-day. I'm tired--tired of playing alone. Iwant to play together. Please, Papa-day, come back and play with yourlittle Tad. "

Young though he was he could not sleep long at night. His sense ofloneliness penetrated his dreams. Sometimes he would chuckle and gurglein an ecstacy, as he had done when riding on his father's back, rompingthrough the stately rooms. He would throw his arm about the neck of thedoorkeeper or lifeguard who had lain down beside him to console the boyand try to get him to sleep. When the man spoke to comfort him, Tadwould find out his terrible mistake, that his father was not with him. 

Then he would wail again in the bitterness of his disappointment:

"Papa-day, where's my Papa-day?"

"Your papa's gone 'way off"--said his companion, his voice breaking withemotion--"gone to heaven. "

Tad opened his eyes wide with wonder. "Is Papa-day happy in heaven?" heasked eagerly. 

"Yes, yes, I'm sure he's happy there, Taddie dear; now go to sleep. "

"Papa-day's happy. I'm glad--_so_ glad!"--sighed the little boy--"forPapa-day never was happy here. "

Then he fell into his first sweet sleep since that terrible night. 

 * * * * *

"GIVE THE BOYS A CHANCE"

The fond-hearted little fellow went abroad with his mother a few yearsafter the tragedy that broke both their lives. By a surgical operation, and by struggling manfully, he had corrected the imperfection in hisspeech. But the heart of little Tad had been broken. While still a ladhe joined his fond father in the Beyond. 

"Give the boys a chance, " had amounted to a passion with AbrahamLincoln, yet through great wickedness and sad misunderstandings his ownlittle son was robbed of this great boon. Little Tad had been denied theone chance he sorely needed for his very existence. For this, as for allthe inequities the great heart of the White House was prepared. Hisspirit had shone through his whole life as if in letters of living fire:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all. "

THE END

ALTEMUS BOOKS

 The Best and Least Expensive Books for Twentieth Century Boys and Girls

 * * * * *

BOOKS FOR BOYS

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Dick Prescott, Dan Dalzell, Tom Reade, and the other members of Dick &Co. Are always found in the forefront of things--in scholarship, athletics, and in school-boy fun. Small wonder that this series has madesuch a hit with the boys of America. 

 1. THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS OF GRIDLEY; or, Dick and Co. Start Things Moving. 

 2. THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS SNOWBOUND; or, Dick and Co. At Winter Sports. 

 3. THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; or, Dick and Co. Trail Fun and Knowledge. 

 4. THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER ATHLETICS; or, Dick and Co. Make Their Fame Secure. 

THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

This series of stories, based on the actual doings of High School boys, teems with incidents in athletics and school-boy fun. The realAmericanism of Dick Prescott and his chums will excite the admiration ofevery reader. 

 1. THE HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN; or, Dick and Co. 's First Year Pranks and Sports. 

 2. THE HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER; or, Dick and Co. On the Gridley Diamond. 

 3. THE HIGH SCHOOL LEFT END; or, Dick and Co. Grilling on the Football Gridiron. 

 4. THE HIGH SCHOOL CAPTAIN OF THE TEAM; or, Dick and Co. Leading the Athletic Vanguard. 

 Sold by all Booksellers or Sent Postpaid on Receipt of Price. 

 * * * * *

 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 1326-1336 Vine Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 

THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS VACATION SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Outdoor sports are the keynote of these volumes. Boys will alternatelythrill and chuckle over these splendid narratives of the furtheradventures of Dick Prescott and his chums. 

 1. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' CANOE CLUB; or, Dick and Co. 's Rivals on Lake Pleasant. 

 2. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; or, The Dick Prescott Six Training for the Gridley Eleven. 

 3. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' FISHING TRIP; or, Dick and Co. In the Wilderness. 

 4. THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' TRAINING HIKE; or, Dick and Co. Making Themselves "Hard as Nails. "

THE YOUNG ENGINEERS SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

Tom Reade and Harry Hazelton meet every requirement as young civilengineers with pick, shovel, and pluck, and with resourcefulness anddetermination overcome all obstacles. 

 1. THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN COLORADO; or, At Railroad Building in Earnest. 

 2. THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN ARIZONA; or, Laying Tracks on the "Man-Killer" Quicksand. 

 3. THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN NEVADA; or, Seeking Fortune on the Turn of a Pick. 

 4. THE YOUNG ENGINEERS IN MEXICO; or, Fighting the Mine Swindlers. 

 5. THE YOUNG ENGINEERS ON THE GULF; or, The Dread Mystery of the Million-Dollar Breakwater. 

THE ANNAPOLIS SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell proved their mettle at the U. S. NavalAcademy and gave promise of what might be expected of them in the greatwar that was even at that moment hovering over the world. 

 1. DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy. 

 2. DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy "Youngsters. "

 3. DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen. 

 4. DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise. 

THE WEST POINT SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are not human wonders, but a pair ofaverage bright American boys who had a hard enough time working theirway through West Point. Their experiences will inspire all otherAmerican boys. 

 1. DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Two Chums in the Cadet Gray. 

 2. DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life. 

 3. DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Standing Firm for Flag and Honor. 

 4. DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps. 

THE BATTLESHIP BOYS SERIES

By FRANK GEE PATCHIN

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Inspiring adventure, moving incidents over the seven seas, and in theair above them; fighting the Huns from the decks of sinking ships, andcoming to grief above the clouds; strange peoples and still strangerexperiences, are some of the things that the readers of this series willlive when they cruise with Dan Davis and Sam Hickey. Mr. Patchin haslived every phase of the life he writes about, and his stories trulydepict life in the various branches of the navy--stories that glow withthe spirit of patriotism that has made the American navy what it proveditself to be in the world war. 

 1. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS AT SEA; or, Two Apprentices in Uncle Sam's Navy. 

 2. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS' FIRST STEP UPWARD; or, Winning Their Grades as Petty Officers. 

 3. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN FOREIGN SERVICE; or, Earning New Ratings in European Seas. 

 4. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE TROPICS; or, Upholding the American Flag in a Honduras Revolution. 

 5. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS UNDER FIRE; or, The Dash for the Besieged Kam Shau Mission. 

 6. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS IN THE WARDROOM; or, Winning Their Commissions as Line Officers. 

 7. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS WITH THE ADRIATIC CHASERS; or, Blocking the Path of the Undersea Raiders. 

 8. THE BATTLESHIP BOYS ON SKY PATROL; or, Fighting the Hun from Above the Clouds. 

THE BOYS OF THE ARMY SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

These stimulating stories are among the best of their class that haveever been written. They breathe the life and spirit of our army oftoday, and in which Uncle Sam's Boys fought with a courage and devotionexcelled by none in the world war. There is no better way to instilpatriotism in the coming generation than by placing in the hands ofjuvenile readers books in which a romantic atmosphere is thrown aroundthe boys of the army with thrilling plots that boys love. The books ofthis series tell in story form the life of a soldier from the rookiestage until he has qualified for an officer's commission, and, amongother things, present a true picture of the desperate days in fightingthe Huns. 

 1. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE RANKS; or, Two Recruits in the United States Army. 

 2. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON FIELD DUTY; or, Winning Corporals' Chevrons. 

 3. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS SERGEANTS; or, Handling Their First Real Commands. 

 4. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS IN THE PHILIPPINES; or, Following the Flag Against the Moros. 

 5. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS ON THEIR METTLE; or, A Chance to Win Officers' Commissions. 

 6. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS AS LIEUTENANTS; or, Serving Old Glory as Line Officers. 

 7. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS WITH PERSHING; or, Dick Prescott at Grips with the Boche. 

 8. UNCLE SAM'S BOYS SMASH THE GERMANS; or, Helping the Allies Wind Up the Great World War. 

DAVE DARRIN SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

No more efficient officers ever paced the deck of a man-o'-war than DaveDarrin and Dan Dalzell. The last two volumes chronicle the experiencesof Dave and Dan in the great war. 

 1. DAVE DARRIN AT VERA CRUZ; or, Fighting With the U. S. Navy in Mexico. 

 2. DAVE DARRIN ON MEDITERRANEAN SERVICE; or, With Dan Dalzell on European Duty. 

 3. DAVE DARRIN'S SOUTH AMERICAN CRUISE; or, Two Innocent Young Naval Tools of an Infamous Conspiracy. 

 4. DAVE DARRIN ON THE ASIATIC STATION; or, Winning Lieutenants' Commissions on the Admiral's Flagship. 

 5. DAVE DARRIN AND THE GERMAN SUBMARINES; or, Making a Clean-up of the Hun Sea Monsters. 

 6. DAVE DARRIN AFTER THE MINE LAYERS; or, Hitting the Enemy a Hard Naval Blow. 

THE CONQUEST OF THE UNITED STATES SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

If the United States had not entered the war many things might havehappened to America. No liberty-loving American boy can afford to missreading these books. 

 1. THE INVASION OF THE UNITED STATES; or, Uncle Sam's Boys at the Capture of Boston. 

 2. IN THE BATTLE FOR NEW YORK; or, Uncle Sam's Boys in the Desperate Struggle for the Metropolis. 

 3. AT THE DEFENSE OF PITTSBURGH; or, The Struggle to Save America's "Fighting Steel" Supply. 

 4. MAKING THE LAST STAND FOR OLD GLORY; or, Uncle Sam's Boys in the Last Frantic Drive. 

THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB SERIES

By H. IRVING HANCOCK

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Bright and sparkling as the waters over which the Motor Boat Boys sail. Once cast off for a cruise with these hardy young fresh-water navigatorsthe reader will not ask to be "put ashore" until the home port hasfinally been made. Manliness and pluck are reflected on every page; theplots are ingenious, the action swift, and the interest always tense. There is neither a yawn in a paragraph nor a dull moment in a chapter inthis stirring series. No boy or girl will willingly lay down a volume ofit until "the end. " The stories also embody much useful informationabout the operation and handling of small power boats. 

 1. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; or, The Secret of Smugglers' Island. 

 2. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir. 

 3. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed. 

 4. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise. 

 5. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp. 

 6. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog. 

 7. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water. 

THE SUBMARINE BOYS SERIES

By VICTOR G. DURHAM

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

A voyage in an undersea boat! What boy has not done so time and again inhis youthful dreams? The Submarine Boys did it in reality, diving intothe dark depths of the sea, then, like Father Neptune, rising drippingfrom the deep to sunlight and safety. Yet it was not all easy sailingfor the Submarine Boys, for these hardy young "undersea pirates"experienced a full measure of excitement and had their share of thrills, as all who sail under the surface of the seas are certain to do. Theauthor knows undersea boats, and the reader who voyages with him maylook forward to an instructive as well as lively cruise. 

 1. THE SUBMARINE BOYS ON DUTY; or, Life on a Diving Torpedo Boat. 

 2. THE SUBMARINE BOYS' TRIAL TRIP; or, "Making Good" as Young Experts. 

 3. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE MIDDIES; or, The Prize Detail at Annapolis. 

 4. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SPIES; or, Dodging the Sharks of the Deep. 

 5. THE SUBMARINE BOYS' LIGHTNING CRUISE; or, The Young Kings of the Deep. 

 6. THE SUBMARINE BOYS FOR THE FLAG; or, Deeding Their Lives to Uncle Sam. 

 7. THE SUBMARINE BOYS AND THE SMUGGLERS; or, Breaking Up the New Jersey Customs Frauds. 

 8. THE SUBMARINE BOYS' SECRET MISSION; or, Beating an Ambassador's Game. 

THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES

By FRANK GEE PATCHIN

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

This unusual and popular series tells vividly the story of fouradventure-loving lads, who, with their guardian, spent their summervacations in the saddle in search of recreation and healthful adventure. Long journeys over mountain, through the fastness of primitive forestand across burning desert, lead them into the wild places of theirnative land as well as into many strange and exciting experiences. Thereis not a dull moment in the series. 

 1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of the Lost Claim. 

 2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled Riddle of the Plains. 

 3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The Mystery of the Old Custer Trail. 

 4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The Secret of Ruby Mountain. 

 5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding a Key to the Desert Maze. 

 6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End of the Silver Trail. 

 7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or, The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch. 

 8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; or, On the Trail of the Border Bandits. 

 9. THE PONY RIDER BOYS ON THE BLUE RIDGE; or, A Lucky Find in the Carolina Mountains. 

 10. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW ENGLAND; or, An Exciting Quest in the Maine Wilderness. 

 11. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN LOUISIANA; or, Following the Game Trails in the Canebrake. 

 12. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA; or, The Gold Diggers of Taku Pass. 

THE CIRCUS BOYS SERIES

By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

No call to the heart of the youth of America finds a readier responsethan the call of the billowing canvas, the big red wagons, the crash ofthe circus band and the trill of the ringmaster's whistle. It is a callthat captures the imagination of old and young alike, and so do thebooks of this series capture and enthrall the reader, for they werewritten by one who, besides wielding a master pen, has followed thesawdust trail from coast to coast, who knows the circus people and thesturdy manliness of those who do and dare for the entertainment ofmillions of circus-goers when the grass is green. Mr. Darlington paintsa true picture of the circus life. 

 1. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; or, Making the Start in the Sawdust Life. 

 2. THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; or, Winning New Laurels on the Tanbark. 

 3. THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South. 

 4. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; or, Afloat with the Big Show on the Big River. 

 5. THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS; or, The Young Advance Agents Ahead of the Show. 

BOOKS FOR GIRLS

THE MADGE MORTON SERIES

By AMY D. V. CHALMERS

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

The heroines of these stories are four girls, who with enthusiasm foroutdoor life, transformed a dilapidated canal boat into a prettyfloating summer home. They christened the craft "The Merry Maid" andlaunched it on the shore of Chesapeake Bay. The stories are full of funand adventure, with not a dull moment anywhere. 

 1. MADGE MORTON--CAPTAIN OF THE MERRY MAID. 2. MADGE MORTON'S SECRET. 3. MADGE MORTON'S TRUST. 4. MADGE MORTON'S VICTORY. 

THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS SERIES

By JANET ALDRIDGE

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Four clever girls go hiking around the country and meet with manythrilling and provoking adventures. These stories pulsate with theatmosphere of outdoor life. 

 1. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS; or, Fun and Frolic in the Summer Camp. 

 2. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY; or, The Young Pathfinders on a Summer Hike. 

 3. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT; or, The Stormy Cruise of the Red Rover. 

 4. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS IN THE HILLS; or, The Missing Pilot of the White Mountains. 

 5. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS BY THE SEA; or, The Loss of the Lonesome Bar. 

 6. THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ON THE TENNIS COURTS; or, Winning Out in the Big Tournament. 

THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS SERIES

By LAURA DENT CRANE

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

Girls as well as boys love wholesome adventure, a wealth of which isfound in many forms and in many scenes in the volumes of this series. 

 1. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT; or, Watching the Summer Parade. 

 2. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE BERKSHIRES; or, The Ghost of Lost Man's Trail. 

 3. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON; or, Fighting Fire in Sleepy Hollow. 

 4. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO; or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds. 

 5. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM BEACH; or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies. 

 6. THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT WASHINGTON; or, Checkmating the Plots of Foreign Spies. 

THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

The scenes, episodes, and adventures through which Grace Harlowe and herintimate chums pass in the course of these stories are pictured with avivacity that at once takes the young feminine captive. 

 1. GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls. 

 2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics. 

 3. GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, Fast Friends in the Sororities. 

 4. GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Parting of the Ways. 

THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

Every school and college girl will recognize that the account of GraceHarlowe's experiences at Overton College is true to life. 

 1. GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 3. GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 4. GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE. 5. GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS. 6. GRACE HARLOWE'S PROBLEM. 7. GRACE HARLOWE'S GOLDEN SUMMER. 

THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS SERIES

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

[Illustration]

Grace Harlowe went with the Overton College Red Cross Unit to France, there to serve her country by aiding the American fighting forces. 

 1. GRACE HARLOWE OVERSEAS. 2. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE RED CROSS IN FRANCE. 3. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE MARINES AT CHATEAU THIERRY. 4. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE U. S. TROOPS IN THE ARGONNE. 5. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE YANKEE SHOCK BOYS AT ST. QUENTIN. 6. GRACE HARLOWE WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY ON THE RHINE. 

THE GRACE HARLOWE OVERLAND RIDERS SERIES

By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. 

PRICE, $1. 00 EACH

Grace Harlowe and her friends seek adventure on the mountain trails andin the wilder sections of their homeland, after their return fromservice in France. 

 1. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE OLD APACHE TRAIL. 

 2. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT. 

 3. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AMONG THE KENTUCKY MOUNTAINEERS. 

 4. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE GREAT NORTH WOODS. 

 5. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE HIGH SIERRAS. 

 6. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

 7. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS IN THE BLACK HILLS. 

 8. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AT CIRCLE O RANCH. 

 9. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS AMONG THE BORDER GUERRILLAS. 

 10. GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE LOST RIVER TRAIL. 

ALTEMUS' NEW ILLUSTRATED YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY

[Illustration]

A series of choice literature for children, selected from the best andmost popular works. Printed on fine paper from large type, with numerousillustrations in color and black and white, by the most famous artists, making the most attractive series of juvenile classics before thepublic. 

 Fine English Cloth, Handsome New Original Designs PRICE, 75 Cents Each

 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE. 70 illustrations. ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND. 42 illustrations. THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS AND WHAT ALICE FOUND THERE. 50 illustrations. BUNYAN'S PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 46 illustrations. A CHILD'S STORY OF THE BIBLE. 72 illustrations. A CHILD'S LIFE OF CHRIST. 49 illustrations. ĘSOP'S FABLES. 62 illustrations. SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. 50 illustrations. THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY. By Edward Everett Hale. Illustrated. GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. 50 illustrations. MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES, JINGLES, AND FAIRY TALES. 234 illustrations. WOOD'S NATURAL HISTORY. 80 illustrations. BLACK BEAUTY. By Anna Sewell. 50 illustrations. ARABIAN NIGHTS' ENTERTAINMENTS. 130 illustrations. 

WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS

For little hands to fondle and for mother to read aloud. Every ounce ofthem will give a ton of joy. 

WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS SERIES

[Illustration]

 MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY TALES. MOTHER GOOSE NURSERY RHYMES. A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. Robert Louis Stevenson. THE FOOLISH FOX. THREE LITTLE PIGS. THE ROBBER KITTEN. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO. THE LITTLE SMALL RED HEN. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. THE LITTLE WISE CHICKEN THAT KNEW IT ALL. THE FOUR LITTLE PIGS THAT DIDN'T HAVE ANY MOTHER. THE LITTLE PUPPY THAT WANTED TO KNOW TOO MUCH. THE COCK, THE MOUSE AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE--INDOORS. GRUNTY GRUNTS AND SMILEY SMILE--OUTDOORS. I DON'T WANT TO WEAR COATS AND THINGS. I DON'T WANT TO GO TO BED. LITTLE SALLIE MANDY. JIMMY SLIDERLEGS. SLOVENLY BETSY. LITTLE BLACK SAMBO AND THE BABY ELEPHANT. 

WEE FOLKS BIBLE STORIES SERIES

 WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT. In Words of One Syllable. WEE FOLKS STORIES FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT. In Words of One Syllable. WEE FOLKS LIFE OF CHRIST. WEE FOLKS BIBLE A B C BOOK. LITTLE PRAYERS FOR LITTLE LIPS. 

THE WISH FAIRY SERIES

 THE WISH FAIRY OF THE SUNSHINE AND SHADOW FOREST. THE WISH FAIRY AND DEWY DEAR. 

 PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. PRICE, 50c. EACH

WEE FOLKS PETER RABBIT SERIES

[Illustration]

 THE TALE OF PETER RABBIT. HOW PETER RABBIT WENT TO SEA. PETER RABBIT AT THE FARM. PETER RABBIT'S CHRISTMAS. PETER RABBIT'S EASTER. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT TO SCHOOL. PETER RABBIT'S BIRTHDAY. PETER RABBIT GOES A-VISITING. PETER RABBIT AND JACK-THE-JUMPER. PETER RABBIT AND THE LITTLE BOY. PETER RABBIT AND LITTLE WHITE RABBIT. PETER RABBIT AND THE OLD WITCH WOMAN. PETER RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR. PETER RABBIT AND THE TINYBITS. WHEN PETER RABBIT WENT A-FISHING. PETER RABBIT AND THE TWO TERRIBLE FOXES. 

WEE FOLKS CINDERELLA SERIES

 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF CINDERELLA. THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. THE OLDTIME STORY OF THE THREE BEARS. THE OLD, OLD STORY OF POOR COCK ROBIN. CHICKEN LITTLE. PUSS IN BOOTS. THREE LITTLE KITTENS THAT LOST THEIR MITTENS. JACK THE GIANT KILLER. JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. TOM THUMB. 

LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN SERIES

 LITTLE BUNNIE BUNNIEKIN. LITTLE LAMBIE LAMBKIN. LITTLE MOUSIE MOUSIEKIN. LITTLE DEARIE DEER. LITTLE SQUIRRELIE SQUIRRELIEKIN. OLD RED REYNARD THE FOX. HOOTIE TOOTS OF HOLLOW TREE. FLAPSY FLOPPER OF THE FARM YARD. 

 PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED IN COLORS. PRICE, 50c. EACH

 * * * * *

Transcriber's notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. 

Page 87, "afer" changed to "after" (occasion after he)

Page 126, "Store Keeping" changed to "Storekeeping" (War, Storekeeping, and)

Page 127, "sort" changed to "short" (incredibly short time)

Page 156, "disinguished" changed to "distinguished" (Abe disinguishedhimself)

Page 174, "befor" changed to "before" (temperance address before)

Page 174, duplicate word "the" removed. Original text read:

 the the Washingtonian Society of Springfield

Page 198, duplicate word "the" removed. Original text read:

 until the the mud on

Page 220, "solemly" changed to "solemnly" (whispered solemnly)

Page 245, "boys" changed to "boy" (boy wants now)