initial commit of ebook 17315HEADmain

55 files changed, 9963 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/17315-8.txt b/17315-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2efebf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3271 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
+
+Author: Frances Cavanah
+
+Illustrator: Paula Hutchison
+
+Release Date: December 15, 2005 [EBook #17315]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+~WEEKLY READER~
+
+Children's Book Club
+
+Education Center · Columbus 16, Ohio
+
+PRESENTS
+
+
+~Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance~
+
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration]
+
+_by_ ~FRANCES CAVANAH~
+
+_illustrated by_ Paula Hutchison
+
+
+RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+CHICAGO · NEW YORK · SAN FRANCISCO
+
+
+_This book is dedicated to my grandnephew_
+
+~PHILIP JAN NADELMAN~
+
+
+~WEEKLY READER   Children's Book Club   Edition, 1959~
+
+COPYRIGHT (c) 1959 BY RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+COPYRIGHT 1959 UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT UNION
+
+BY RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+PRINTED IN U.S.A.
+
+BY AMERICAN BOOK-STRATFORD PRESS, INC., N.Y.
+
+A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 59-5789
+
+
+
+
+In writing this story of Abraham Lincoln, the author depended primarily
+on Lincoln's own statements and on the statements of his family and
+friends who had firsthand knowledge of his everyday life. In instances
+when dialogue had to be imagined, the conversation might logically have
+taken place in the light of known circumstances. Such descriptive
+details as were necessarily added were based on authentic accounts of
+pioneer times.
+
+F.C.
+
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration: Map of States where Lincoln was born and lived]
+
+
+
+
+1
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+There was a new boy baby at the Lincoln cabin! By cracky! thought Dennis
+Hanks as he hurried up the path, he was going to like having a boy
+cousin. They could go swimming together. Maybe they could play Indian.
+Dennis pushed open the cabin door.
+
+"Where is he?" he shouted. "Where is he?"
+
+"Sh!" A neighbor, who had come in to help, put her finger to her lips.
+"The baby is asleep."
+
+Nancy Lincoln was lying on the pole bed in a corner of the one-room
+house. She looked very white under the dark bearskin covering, but when
+she heard Dennis she raised her head. "It's all right, Denny," she said.
+"You can see him now."
+
+Dennis tiptoed over to the bed. A small bundle, wrapped in a homespun
+shawl, rested in the curve of Nancy's arm. When she pulled back the
+shawl, Dennis could not think of anything to say. The baby was so
+wrinkled and so red. It looked just like a cherry after the juice had
+been squeezed out.
+
+Nancy touched one of the tiny hands with the tip of her finger. "See his
+wee red fists and the way he throws them around!" she said.
+
+"What's his name?" Dennis asked at last.
+
+"We're calling him after his grandpappy. Abraham Lincoln!"
+
+"That great big name for that scrawny little mite?"
+
+Nancy sounded hurt. "Give him a chance to grow, will you?"
+
+Then she saw that Dennis was only teasing. "You wait!" she went on. "It
+won't be long before Abe will be running around in buckskin breeches and
+a coonskin cap."
+
+"Well, maybe--"
+
+The door opened, and Tom Lincoln, the baby's father, came in. With him
+was Aunt Betsy Sparrow. She kissed Nancy and carried the baby over to a
+stool by the fireplace. Making little cooing noises under her breath,
+she dressed him in a white shirt and a yellow flannel petticoat. Sally
+Lincoln, two years old, who did not know quite what to make of the new
+brother, came over and stood beside her. Dennis drew up another stool
+and watched.
+
+Aunt Betsy looked across at him and smiled. Dennis, an orphan, lived
+with her and she knew that he was often lonely. There weren't many
+people living in Kentucky in the year 1809, and Dennis had no boys to
+play with.
+
+"I reckon you're mighty tickled to have a new cousin," she said.
+
+"I--I guess so," said Dennis slowly.
+
+"Want to hold him?"
+
+Dennis was not quite sure whether he did or not. Before he could answer,
+Aunt Betsy laid the baby in his arms. Sally edged closer. She started to
+put out her hand, but pulled it back. Abraham was so small that she was
+afraid to touch him.
+
+"Don't you fret, Sally," said Dennis. "Cousin Nancy said that he is
+going to grow. And when he does, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm
+going to teach him to swim."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Looking down into the tiny red face, Dennis felt a sudden warm glow in
+his heart. "Yes, and we can go fishing down at the creek. When I go to
+the mill to get the corn ground, he can come along. He can ride behind
+me on the horse, and when it goes cloppety-clop--"
+
+Dennis swung the baby back and forth. It puckered up its face and began
+to cry. Dennis caught his breath in dismay. How could such a large noise
+come out of such a small body?
+
+"Here, Aunt, take him quick!"
+
+He looked at Cousin Nancy out of the corner of his eye. "I reckon he'll
+never come to much."
+
+"Now, Dennis Hanks, I want you to behave," said Aunt Betsy, but this
+time Nancy paid no attention to his teasing. She held out her arms for
+her son and cuddled him against her breast.
+
+"As I told you," she said gaily, "you have to give him a chance to
+grow."
+
+It was almost dark by the time Aunt Betsy had tidied the one-room
+cabin. She cooked some dried berries for Nancy, and fed Sally. Dennis
+begged to spend the night. After his aunt had put on her shawl and left
+for her own cabin, he curled up in a bearskin on the floor.
+
+"Denny," asked Nancy, "what day is this?"
+
+"It's Sunday--"
+
+"I mean what day of the month."
+
+"I don't rightly know, Cousin Nancy."
+
+"I remember now," she went on. "It is the twelfth day of February.
+February 12, 1809! Little Abe's birthday!"
+
+Outside the wind rose, whistling through the bare branches of the trees.
+There was a blast of cold air as the door opened. Tom came in, his arms
+piled high with wood. He knelt on the dirt floor to build up the fire,
+and the rising flames lit the log walls with a faint red glow.
+
+"Are you glad it's a boy, Tom?" Nancy asked as he lay down beside her.
+"I am."
+
+"Yes," said Tom, but when she spoke to him again, he did not answer. He
+was asleep. She could see his tired face in the firelight. Life had been
+hard for Tom; it was hard for most pioneers. She hoped that their
+children would have things a little easier. The baby whimpered, and she
+held him closer.
+
+Denny's voice piped up: "Cousin Nancy, will Abe ever grow to be as big
+as me?"
+
+"Bigger'n you are now," she told him.
+
+"Will he grow as big as Cousin Tom?"
+
+"Bigger'n anybody, maybe."
+
+Nancy looked down at her son, now peacefully asleep. She made a song for
+him, a song so soft it was almost a whisper: "Abe--Abe," she crooned.
+"Abe Lincoln, you be going to grow--and grow--and grow!"
+
+
+
+
+2
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abraham Lincoln did grow. He seemed to grow bigger every day. By the
+time he was seven, he was as tall as his sister, although Sally was two
+years older. That fall their father made a trip up to Indiana.
+
+"Why did Pappy go so far away?" Sally asked one afternoon.
+
+"When is he coming home?" asked Abe.
+
+"Pretty soon, most likely."
+
+Nancy laid down her sewing and tried to explain. Their pa had had a hard
+time making a living for them. He was looking for a better farm. Tom was
+also a carpenter. Maybe some of the new settlers who were going to
+Indiana to live would give him work. Anyway, he thought that poor folks
+were better off up there.
+
+Abe looked surprised. He had never thought about being poor. There were
+so many things that he liked to do in Kentucky. He liked to go swimming
+with Dennis after his chores were done. There were fish to be caught and
+caves to explore. He and Sally had had a chance to go to school for a
+few weeks. Abe could write his name, just like his father. He could read
+much better. Tom knew a few words, but his children could read whole
+sentences.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe leaned up against his mother. "Tell us the story with our names," he
+begged.
+
+Nancy put her arm around him. She often told the children stories from
+the Bible. One of their favorites was about Abraham and Sarah. "Now the
+Lord said unto Abraham," she began--and stopped to listen.
+
+The door opened, and Tom Lincoln stood grinning down at them. "Well,
+folks," he said, "we're moving to Indiany."
+
+Nancy and the children, taken by surprise, asked questions faster than
+Tom could answer them. He had staked out a claim about a hundred miles
+to the north, at a place called Pigeon Creek. He was buying the land
+from the government and could take his time to pay for it. He wanted to
+start for Indiana at once, before the weather got any colder.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+It did not take long to get ready. A few possessions--a skillet, several
+pans, the water buckets, the fire shovel, a few clothes, a homespun
+blanket, a patchwork quilt, and several bearskins--were packed on the
+back of one of the horses. Nancy and Sally rode on the other horse. Abe
+and his father walked. At night they camped along the way.
+
+When at last they reached the Ohio River, Abe stared in surprise. It was
+so blue, so wide, so much bigger than the creek where he and Dennis had
+gone swimming. There were so many boats. One of them, a long low raft,
+was called a ferry. The Lincolns went right on board with their pack
+horses, and it carried them across the shining water to the wooded
+shores of Indiana.
+
+Indiana was a much wilder place than Kentucky. There was no road
+leading to Pigeon Creek; only a path through the forest. It was so
+narrow that sometimes Tom had to clear away some underbrush before they
+could go on. Or else he had to stop to cut down a tree that stood in
+their way. Abe, who was big and strong for his age, had his own little
+ax. He helped his father all he could.
+
+Fourteen miles north of the river, they came to a cleared place in the
+forest. Tom called it his "farm." He hastily put up a shelter--a camp
+made of poles and brush and leaves--where they could stay until he had
+time to build a cabin. It had only three walls. The fourth side was left
+open, and in this open space Tom built a fire. The children helped their
+mother to unpack, and she mixed batter for cornbread in a big iron
+skillet. She cut up a squirrel that Tom had shot earlier in the day, and
+cooked it over the campfire.
+
+"Now if you will fetch me your plates," she said, "we'll have our
+supper."
+
+The plates were only slabs of bark. On each slab Nancy put a piece of
+fried squirrel and a hunk of cornbread. The children sank down on one of
+the bearskins to eat their first meal in their new home. By this time it
+was quite dark. They could see only a few feet beyond the circle of
+light made by their campfire.
+
+Nancy shivered. She knew that they had neighbors. Tom had told her there
+were seven other families living at Pigeon Creek. But the trees were so
+tall, the night so black, that she had a strange feeling that they were
+the only people alive for miles around.
+
+"Don't you like it here, Mammy?" Abe asked. To him this camping out was
+an adventure, but he wanted his mother to like it, too.
+
+"I'm just feeling a little cold," she told him.
+
+"I like it," said Sally decidedly. "But it is sort of scary. Are you
+scared, Abe?"
+
+"Me?" Abe stuck out his chest. "What is there to be scared of?"
+
+At that moment a long-drawn-out howl came from the forest. Another
+seemed to come from just beyond their campfire. Then another and
+another--each howl louder and closer. The black curtain of the night
+was pierced by two green spots of light. The children huddled against
+their mother, but Tom Lincoln laughed.
+
+"I reckon I know what you're scared of. A wolf."
+
+"A wolf?" Sally shrieked.
+
+"Yep. See its green eyes. But it won't come near our fire."
+
+He got up and threw on another log. As the flames blazed higher, the
+green lights disappeared. There was a crashing sound in the underbrush.
+
+"Hear him running away? Cowardly varmint!" Tom sat down again. "No wolf
+will hurt us if we keep our fire going."
+
+It was a busy winter. Abe worked side by side with his father. How that
+boy can chop! thought Nancy, as she heard the sound of his ax biting
+into wood. Tree after tree had to be cut down before crops could be
+planted. With the coming of spring, he helped his father to plow the
+stumpy ground. He learned to plow a straight furrow. He planted seeds in
+the furrows.
+
+In the meantime, some of the neighbors helped Tom build a cabin. It had
+one room, with a tiny loft above. The floor was packed-down dirt. There
+were no windows. The only door was a long, up-and-down hole cut in one
+wall and covered by a bearskin. But Tom had made a table and several
+three-legged stools, and there was a pole bed in one corner. Nancy was
+glad to be living in a real house again, and she kept it neat and clean.
+
+She was no longer lonely. Aunt Betsy and her husband, Uncle Thomas,
+brought Dennis with them from Kentucky to live in the shelter near the
+Lincoln cabin. Several other new settlers arrived, settlers with
+children. A schoolmaster, Andrew Crawford, decided to start a school.
+
+"Maybe you'll have a chance to go, Abe," Nancy told him. "You know what
+the schoolmaster down in Kentucky said. He said you were a learner."
+
+Abe looked up at her and smiled. He was going to like living in Indiana!
+
+
+
+
+3
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+But sad days were coming to Pigeon Creek. There was a terrible sickness.
+Aunt Betsy and Uncle Thomas died, and Dennis came to live with the
+Lincolns. Then Nancy was taken ill. After she died, her family felt that
+nothing would ever be the same again.
+
+Sally tried to keep house, but she was only twelve. The one little room
+and the loft above looked dirtier and more and more gloomy as the weeks
+went by. Sally found that cooking for four people was not easy. The
+smoke from the fireplace got into her eyes. Some days Tom brought home a
+rabbit or a squirrel for her to fry. On other days, it was too cold to
+go hunting. Then there was only cornbread to eat and Sally's cornbread
+wasn't very good.
+
+It was hard to know who missed Nancy more--Tom or the children. He sat
+around the cabin looking cross and glum. The ground was frozen, so very
+little work could be done on the farm. He decided, when Andrew Crawford
+started his school, that Abe and Sally might as well go. There was
+nothing else for them to do, and Nancy would have wanted it.
+
+For the first time since his mother's death Abe seemed to cheer up.
+Every morning, except when there were chores to do at home, he and Sally
+took a path through the woods to the log schoolhouse. Master Crawford
+kept a "blab" school. The "scholars," as he called his pupils, studied
+their lessons out loud. The louder they shouted, the better he liked it.
+If a scholar didn't know his lesson, he had to stand in the corner with
+a long pointed cap on his head. This was called a dunce cap.
+
+One boy who never had to wear a dunce cap was Abe Lincoln. He was too
+smart. His side won nearly every spelling match. He was good at
+figuring, and he had the best handwriting of anyone at school. Master
+Crawford taught reading from the Bible, but he had several other books
+from which he read aloud. Among Abe's favorite stories were the ones
+about some wise animals that talked. They were by a man named Aesop who
+had lived hundreds of years before.
+
+Abe even made up compositions of his own. He called them "sentences."
+One day he found some of the boys being cruel to a terrapin, or turtle.
+He made them stop. Then he wrote a composition in which he said that
+animals had feelings the same as folks.
+
+Sometimes Abe's sentences rhymed. There was one rhyme that the children
+thought was a great joke:
+
+  "Abe Lincoln, his hand and pen,
+   He will be good, but God knows when."
+
+"That Abe Lincoln is funny enough to make a cat laugh," they said.
+
+They always had a good time watching Abe during the class in "Manners."
+Once a week Master Crawford had them practice being ladies and
+gentlemen. One scholar would pretend to be a stranger who had just
+arrived in Pigeon Creek. He would leave the schoolhouse, come back,
+and knock at the door. Another scholar would greet "the stranger," lead
+him around the room, and introduce him.
+
+One day it was Abe's turn to do the introducing. He opened the door to
+find his best friend, Nat Grigsby, waiting outside. Nat bowed low, from
+the waist. Abe bowed. His buckskin trousers, already too short, slipped
+up still farther, showing several inches of his bare leg. He looked so
+solemn that some of the girls giggled. The schoolmaster frowned and
+pounded on his desk. The giggling stopped.
+
+"Master Crawford," said Abe, "this here is Mr. Grigsby. His pa just
+moved to these parts. He figures on coming to your school."
+
+Andrew Crawford rose and bowed. "Welcome," he said. "Mr. Lincoln,
+introduce Mr. Grigsby to the other scholars."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The children sat on two long benches made of split logs. Abe led Nat
+down the length of the front bench. Each girl rose and made a curtsy.
+Nat bowed. Each boy rose and bowed. Nat returned the bow. Abe kept
+saying funny things under his breath that the schoolmaster could not
+hear. But the children heard, and they could hardly keep from laughing
+out loud.
+
+Sally sat on the second bench. "Mrs. Lincoln," said Abe in a high
+falsetto voice, "this here be Mr. Grigsby."
+
+While she was making her curtsy, Sally's cheeks suddenly grew red.
+"Don't let on I told you, Mr. Grigsby," Abe whispered, "but Mrs. Lincoln
+bakes the worst cornbread of anyone in Pigeon Creek."
+
+Sally forgot that they were having a lesson in manners. "Don't you dare
+talk about my cornbread," she said angrily.
+
+The little log room rocked with laughter. This time Master Crawford had
+also heard Abe's remark. He walked over to the corner where he kept a
+bundle of switches. He picked one up and laid it across his desk.
+
+"We'll have no more monkeyshines," he said severely. "Go on with the
+introducing."
+
+One day Abe almost got into real trouble. He had started for school
+early, as he often did, so that he could read one of Master Crawford's
+books. He was feeling sad as he walked through the woods; he seemed to
+miss his mother more each day. When he went into the schoolhouse, he
+looked up and saw a pair of deer antlers. Master Crawford had gone
+hunting. He had shot a deer and nailed the antlers above the door.
+
+What a wonderful place to swing! thought Abe. He leaped up and caught
+hold of the prongs. He began swinging back and forth.
+
+CRASH! One prong came off in his hand, and he fell to the floor. He
+hurried to his seat, hoping that the master would not notice.
+
+But Master Crawford was proud of those antlers. When he saw what had
+happened, he picked up the switch on his desk. It made a swishing sound
+as he swung it back and forth.
+
+"Who broke my deer antlers?" he shouted.
+
+No one answered. Abe hunched down as far as he could on the bench. He
+seemed to be trying to hide inside his buckskin shirt.
+
+Master Crawford repeated his question. "Who broke my deer antlers? I
+aim to find out, if I have to thrash every scholar in this school."
+
+All of the children looked scared, Abe most of all. But he stood up. He
+marched up to Master Crawford's desk and held out the broken prong that
+he had been hiding in his hand.
+
+"I did it, sir," he said. "I didn't mean to do it, but I hung on the
+antlers and they broke. I wouldn't have done it, if I had thought they'd
+a broke."
+
+The other scholars thought that Abe would get a licking. Instead, Master
+Crawford told him to stay in after school. They had a long talk. He
+liked Abe's honesty in owning up to what he had done. He knew how much
+he missed his mother. Perhaps he understood that sometimes a boy "cuts
+up" to try to forget how sad he feels.
+
+Abe felt sadder than ever after Master Crawford moved away from Pigeon
+Creek. Then Tom Lincoln left. One morning he rode off on horseback
+without telling anyone where he was going. Several days went by. Even
+easy-going Dennis was worried when Tom did not return.
+
+Abe did most of the chores. In the evening he practiced his sums. Master
+Crawford had taught him to do easy problems in arithmetic, and he did
+not want to forget what he had learned. He had no pen, no ink, not even
+a piece of paper. He took a burnt stick from the fireplace and worked
+his sums on a flat board.
+
+He wished that he had a book to read. Instead, he tried to remember the
+stories that the schoolmaster had told. He repeated them to Sally and
+Dennis, as they huddled close to the fire to keep warm. He said them
+again to himself after he went to bed in the loft.
+
+There were words in some of the stories that Abe did not understand. He
+tried to figure out what the words meant. He thought about the people in
+the stories. He thought about the places mentioned and wondered what
+they were like.
+
+There were thoughts inside Abraham Lincoln's head that even Sally did
+not know anything about.
+
+
+
+
+4
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe took another bite of cornbread and swallowed hard. "Don't you like
+it?" asked Sally anxiously. "I know it doesn't taste like the cornbread
+Mammy used to make."
+
+She looked around the room. The furniture was the same as their mother
+had used--a homemade table and a few three-legged stools. The same
+bearskin hung before the hole in the wall that was their only door. But
+Nancy had kept the cabin clean. She had known how to build a fire that
+didn't smoke. Sally glanced down at her faded linsey-woolsey dress,
+soiled with soot. The dirt floor felt cold to her bare feet. Her last
+pair of moccasins had worn out weeks ago.
+
+"I don't mind the cornbread--at least, not much." Abe finished his
+piece, down to the last crumb. "If I seem down in the mouth, Sally, it
+is just because--"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He walked over to the fireplace, where he stood with his back to the
+room.
+
+"He misses Nancy," said Dennis bluntly, "the same as the rest of us.
+Then Tom has been gone for quite a spell."
+
+Sally put her hand on Abe's shoulder. "I'm scared. Do you reckon
+something has happened to Pappy? Isn't he ever coming back?"
+
+Abe stared into the fire. He was thinking of the wolves and panthers
+loose in the woods. There were many dangers for a man riding alone over
+the rough forest paths. The boy wanted to say something to comfort
+Sally, but he had to tell the truth. "I don't know, I--"
+
+He stopped to listen. Few travelers passed by their cabin in the winter,
+but he was sure that he heard a faint noise in the distance. It sounded
+like the creak of wheels. The noise came again--this time much closer. A
+man's voice was shouting: "Get-up! Get-up!"
+
+"Maybe it's Pappy!" Abe pushed aside the bearskin and rushed outside.
+Sally and Dennis were right behind him.
+
+"It _is_ Pappy," Sally cried. "But look--"
+
+Tom Lincoln had left Pigeon Creek on horseback. He was returning in a
+wagon drawn by four horses. He was not alone. A strange woman sat beside
+him, holding a small boy in her lap. Two girls, one about Sally's age,
+the other about eight, stood behind her. The wagon was piled high with
+furniture--more furniture than the Lincoln children had ever seen.
+
+"Whoa, there!" Tom Lincoln pulled at the reins and brought the wagon to
+a stop before the door.
+
+"Here we are, Sarah." He jumped down and held out his hand to help the
+woman.
+
+She was very neat looking, tall and straight, with neat little curls
+showing at the edge of her brown hood. She said, "Tsch! Tsch!" when she
+saw Tom's children. She stared at their soiled clothing, their matted
+hair, their faces smudged with soot. "Tsch! Tsch!" she said again, and
+Abe felt hot all over in spite of the cold wind. He dug the toe of his
+moccasin into the frozen ground.
+
+"Abe! Sally!" their father said. "I've brought you a new mammy. This
+here is the Widow Johnston. That is, she was the Widow Johnston." He
+cleared his throat. "She is Mrs. Lincoln now. I've been back to Kentucky
+to get myself a wife."
+
+"Howdy!" The new Mrs. Lincoln was trying to sound cheerful. She beckoned
+to the children in the wagon. They jumped down and stood beside her.
+"These here are my young ones," she went on. "The big gal is Betsy. The
+other one is Mathilda. This little shaver is Johnny."
+
+Dennis came forward to be introduced, but he had eyes only for Betsy.
+She gave him a coy look out of her china-blue eyes. Tilda smiled shyly
+at Sally. Both of the Johnston girls wore pretty linsey-woolsey dresses
+under their shawls and neat moccasins on their feet. Sally, looking down
+at her own soiled dress and bare toes, wished that she could run away
+and hide. Abe said "Howdy" somewhere down inside his stomach.
+
+Sarah, Tom's new wife, looked around the littered yard, then at the
+cabin. It did not even have a window! It did not have a door that would
+open and shut--only a ragged bearskin flapping in the wind. She had
+known Tom since he was a boy and had always liked him. Her first
+husband, Mr. Johnston, had died some time before, and when Tom had
+returned to Kentucky and asked her to marry him, she had said yes. He
+had told her that his children needed a mother's care, and he was right.
+
+Poor young ones! she thought. Aloud she said, "Well, let's not all
+stand out here and freeze. Can't we go inside and get warm?"
+
+The inside of the cabin seemed almost as cold as the outdoors. And even
+more untidy. Johnny clung to his mother's skirt and started to cry. He
+wanted to go back to Kentucky. His sisters peered through the gloom,
+trying to see in the dim light. Sally was sure that they were looking at
+her. She sat down hastily and tucked her feet as far back as she could
+under the stool. Abe stood quite still, watching this strange woman who
+had come without warning to take his mother's place.
+
+She smiled at him. He did not smile back.
+
+Slowly she turned and looked around. Her clear gray eyes took in every
+nook, every crack of the miserable little one-room house. She noticed
+the dirty bearskins piled on the pole bed in the corner. She saw the
+pegs in the wall that led to the loft. The fire smoldering in the
+fireplace gave out more smoke than heat.
+
+"The first thing we'd better do," she said, taking off her bonnet, "is
+to build up that fire. Then we'll get some victuals ready. I reckon
+everybody will feel better when we've had a bite to eat."
+
+From that moment things began to happen in the Lincoln cabin. Tom went
+out to the wagon to unhitch the horses. Dennis brought in more firewood.
+Abe and Mathilda started for the spring, swinging the water pail between
+them. Betsy mixed a fresh batch of cornbread in the iron skillet, and
+Sally set it on the hearth to bake. Tom came back from the wagon,
+carrying a comb of honey and a slab of bacon, and soon the magic smell
+of frying bacon filled the air. There were no dishes, but Sally kept
+large pieces of bark in the cupboard. Eight people sat down at the one
+little table, but no one seemed to mind that it was crowded.
+
+The Lincoln children had almost forgotten how good bacon could taste.
+Abe ate in silence, his eyes on his plate. Sally seemed to feel much
+better. Sitting between her stepsisters, she was soon chattering with
+them as though they were old friends. Once she called the new Mrs.
+Lincoln "Mamma," just as her own daughters did. Dennis sat on the other
+side of Betsy. He seemed to be enjoying himself most of all. He sopped
+up his last drop of golden honey on his last piece of cornbread.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I declare," he said, grinning, "we ain't had a meal like this since
+Nancy died."
+
+Abe jumped up at the mention of his mother's name. He was afraid that he
+was going to cry. He had started for the door, when he felt his father's
+rough hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, you set right down there and finish your cornbread."
+
+Abe looked up at Tom out of frightened gray eyes. But he shook his head.
+"I can't, Pa."
+
+"A nice way to treat your new ma!" Tom Lincoln sounded both angry and
+embarrassed. "You clean up your plate or I'll give you a good hiding."
+
+The young Johnstons gasped. Abe could hear Sally's whisper: "Please,
+Abe! Do as Pa says." Then he heard another voice.
+
+"Let the boy be, Tom." It was Sarah Lincoln speaking.
+
+There was something about the way she said it that made Abe decide to
+come back and sit down. He managed somehow to eat the rest of his
+cornbread. He looked up and saw that she was smiling at him again. He
+almost smiled back.
+
+Sarah looked relieved. "Abe and I," she said, "are going to have plenty
+of chance to get acquainted."
+
+
+
+
+5
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Sarah Rose from the table. "There's a lot of work to be done here," she
+announced, "before we can bring in my plunder." She meant her furniture
+and other possessions in the wagon. "First, we'll need plenty of hot
+water. Who wants to go to the spring?"
+
+She was looking at Abe. "I'll go, ma'am." He grabbed the water bucket
+and hurried through the door.
+
+Abe made several trips to the spring that afternoon. Each bucket full of
+water that he brought back was poured into the big iron kettle over the
+fireplace. Higher and higher roared the flames. When Sarah wasn't asking
+for more water, she was asking for more wood. The steady chop-chop of
+Tom's ax could be heard from the wood lot.
+
+Everyone was working, even Dennis. Sarah gave him a pan of soap and hot
+water and told him to wash the cabin walls. The girls scrubbed the
+table, the three-legged stools, and the corner cupboard inside and out.
+Sarah climbed the peg ladder to peer into the loft.
+
+"Tsch! Tsch!" she said, when she saw the corn husks and dirty bearskins
+on which the boys had been sleeping. "Take them out and burn them, Tom."
+
+"Burn them?" he protested.
+
+"Yes, and burn the covers on the downstairs bed, too. I reckon I have
+enough feather beds and blankets to go around. We're starting fresh in
+this house. We'll soon have it looking like a different place."
+
+Not since Nancy died had the cabin had such a thorough cleaning. Then
+came the most remarkable part of that remarkable afternoon--the
+unloading of the wagon. Sarah's pots and pans shone from much scouring.
+Her wooden platters and dishes were spotless. And the furniture! She had
+chairs with real backs, a table, and a big chest filled with clothes.
+There was one bureau that had cost forty-five dollars. Abe ran his
+finger over the shining dark wood. Sarah hung a small mirror above it
+and he gasped when he looked at his reflection. This was the first
+looking glass that he had ever seen.
+
+Most remarkable of all were the feather beds. One was laid on the pole
+bed, downstairs. Another was placed on a clean bearskin in the opposite
+corner to provide a sleeping place for the girls. The third was carried
+to the loft for the three boys. When Abe went to bed that night, he sank
+down gratefully into the comfortable feathers. The homespun blanket that
+covered him was soft and warm.
+
+On either side, Dennis and Johnny were asleep. Abe lay between them,
+wide awake, staring into the darkness. The new Mrs. Lincoln was good and
+kind. He knew that. She had seemed pleased when Sally called her
+"Mamma." Somehow he couldn't. There was still a lonesome place in his
+heart for his own mother.
+
+Something else was worrying him. Before going to bed, Sarah Lincoln had
+looked at him and Sally out of her calm gray eyes. "Tomorrow I aim to
+make you young ones look more human," she said. Abe wondered what she
+meant.
+
+He found out the next morning. Tom and Dennis left early to go hunting.
+Abe went out to chop wood for the fireplace. When he came back, he met
+the three girls going down the path. Sally was walking between her two
+stepsisters, but what a different Sally! She wore a neat, pretty dress
+that had belonged to Betsy. She had on Sarah's shawl. Her hair was
+combed in two neat pigtails. Her face had a clean, scrubbed look. Her
+eyes were sparkling. She was taking Betsy and Mathilda to call on one of
+the neighbors.
+
+"Good-by, Mamma," she called.
+
+Sarah stood in the doorway, waving to the girls. Then she saw Abe, his
+arms piled high with wood. "Come in," she said. "Sally has had her bath.
+Now I've got a tub of good hot water and a gourd full of soap waiting
+for you. Skedaddle out of those old clothes and throw them in the fire."
+
+"I ain't got any others." Abe looked terrified.
+
+"I don't aim to pluck your feathers without giving you some new ones."
+Sarah laughed. "I sat up late last night, cutting down a pair of Mr.
+Johnston's old pants. I got a shirt, too, laid out here on the bed."
+
+Slowly Abe started taking off his shirt. He looked fearfully at the tub
+of hot water.
+
+"There's no call to be scared," said Sarah. "That tub won't bite. Now
+I'm going down to the spring. By the time I get back, I want you to have
+yourself scrubbed all over."
+
+Abe stuck one toe into the water. He said, "Ouch!" and drew it out. He
+then tried again, and put in his whole foot. He put in his other foot.
+He sat down in the tub. By the time Sarah returned he was standing
+before the fire, dressed in the cut-down trousers and shirt of the late
+Mr. Johnston.
+
+Sarah seemed pleased. "You look like a different boy," she said. "Those
+trousers are a mite too big, but you'll soon grow into them."
+
+Abe was surprised how good it felt to be clean again. "Thank you, ma'am.
+Now I'd better get in some more wood."
+
+"We have plenty of wood," said Sarah. "You see that stool? You sit down
+and let me get at your hair. It looks like a heap of underbrush."
+
+Abe watched anxiously when she opened the top drawer of the bureau and
+took out a haw comb and a pair of scissors. I'll stand for it this time,
+he thought, because she's been so good to us. But if she pulls too
+hard--
+
+Mrs. Lincoln _did_ pull. But when Abe said "Ouch!" she patted his
+shoulder and waited a moment. He closed his eyes and screwed up his
+face, but he said nothing more. Perhaps she couldn't help pulling, he
+decided. Lock after lock she snipped off. He began to wonder if he was
+going to have any hair left by the time she got through.
+
+"I've been watching you, Abe. You're a right smart boy," she said. "Had
+much schooling?"
+
+"I've just been to school by littles."
+
+"Have you a mind to go again?"
+
+"There ain't any school since Master Crawford left. Anyhow, Pappy
+doesn't set much store by eddication."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What do you mean, Abe?"
+
+"He says I know how to read and write and cipher and that's enough for
+anyone."
+
+"You can read?" she asked.
+
+"Yes'm, but I haven't any books."
+
+"You can read and you haven't any books. I have books and I can't read."
+
+Abe looked at her, amazed. "You have _books_?"
+
+Sarah nodded, but said nothing more until she had finished cutting his
+hair. Then she led him over to the bureau.
+
+"Now see if you don't like yourself better without that brush heap on
+top of your head," she asked him.
+
+A boy with short neat hair gazed back at Abe from the mirror.
+
+"I still ain't the prettiest boy in Pigeon Creek," he drawled, "but
+there ain't quite so much left to be ugly. I'm right glad, ma'am, you
+cleared away the brush heap."
+
+Was he joking? He looked so solemn that Sarah could not be sure. Then he
+grinned. It was the first time that she had seen him smile.
+
+"You're a caution, Abe," she said. "Now sit yourself down over there at
+the table, and I'll show you my books."
+
+She opened the top drawer of the bureau and took out four worn little
+volumes. Although she could not read, she knew the titles: "Here they
+are: _Robinson Crusoe_, _Pilgrim's Progress_, _Sinbad the Sailor_, and
+_Aesop's Fables_."
+
+"Oh, ma'am, this book by Mr. Aesop is one the schoolmaster had. The
+stories are all about some smart talking animals."
+
+He seemed to have forgotten her, as he bent his neat shorn head down
+over the pages. He chuckled when he read something that amused him.
+Sarah watched him curiously. He was not like her John. He was not like
+any boy that she had ever known. But the hungry look in his eyes went
+straight to her heart.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He looked up at her shyly. "Ma'am," he said, "will you let me read these
+books sometimes?"
+
+"Why, Abe, you can read them any time you like. I'm giving them to you
+to keep."
+
+"Oh, _Mamma_!" The name slipped out as though he were used to saying it.
+He had a feeling that Nancy, his own mother, had never gone away.
+
+"You're my boy, now," Sarah told him, "and I aim to help you all I can.
+The next time a school keeps in these parts, I'm going to ask your pappy
+to let you and the other children go."
+
+"Thank you, ma'am," said Abe. "I mean--thank you, Mamma."
+
+
+
+
+6
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Many changes were taking place in the Lincoln cabin. Sarah persuaded Tom
+to cut two holes in the walls for windows, and she covered them with
+greased paper to let in the light. He made a wooden door that could be
+shut against the cold winter winds. Abe and Dennis gave the walls and
+low ceiling a coat of whitewash, and Sarah spread her bright rag rugs on
+the new wooden floor.
+
+"Aunt Sairy," Dennis told her, "you're some punkins. One just naturally
+has to be somebody when you're around."
+
+Abe smiled up at her shyly. "It is sort of like the magic in that story
+of Sinbad you gave me."
+
+The other children were asleep. Abe sprawled on the floor, making marks
+on a wooden shovel with a pointed stick. Tom, seated in one of his
+wife's chairs, was dozing on one side of the fireplace.
+
+Sarah put down her knitting and looked around the cabin. "The place
+does look right cozy," she replied. "What is that you're doing, Abe?"
+
+"Working my sums."
+
+Tom opened his eyes. "You know how to figure enough already. Put that
+shovel up and go to bed."
+
+Abe took a knife and scraped the figures from the wooden shovel. He
+placed it against one side of the fireplace. "Good night, Mamma," he
+said.
+
+"Good night, Abe."
+
+Sarah's eyes were troubled. She waited until Dennis had joined Abe in
+the loft, then turned to her husband. "I've been meaning to tell you,
+Tom, what a good pa you've been to my young ones."
+
+She saw that he was pleased. "I've tried to be a good mother to Abe and
+Sally, too," she went on.
+
+"You have been, Sairy. They took to you right off."
+
+"I'm right glad, but there's something else I want to talk to you about,
+Tom." He was nodding again in his chair, and she paused to make sure
+that he was listening. "Abe's a smart boy. I told him the next time a
+school keeps in these parts, I'd ask you to let him and the other
+children go."
+
+"Humph!" Tom grunted. "There ain't any school for him to go to. Anyway,
+he wastes enough time as 'tis. He's always got his nose buried in those
+books you brought."
+
+"That bothers me, too. I saw you cuff him the other day because he was
+reading."
+
+"I had to, Sairy. I told him to come out and chop some wood, but he up
+and laughed in my face."
+
+"He wasn't laughing at you, Tom. He was laughing at Sinbad."
+
+"Who in tarnation is Sinbad?"
+
+"A fellow in one of his books. Abe said that Sinbad sailed his flatboat
+up to a rock, and the rock was magnetized and pulled all the nails out
+of his boat. Then Sinbad fell into the water."
+
+"That's what I mean," Tom exploded. "Dennis told him that book was most
+likely lies, but Abe keeps on reading it. Where is all this book
+learning going to get him? More'n I ever had."
+
+"Maybe the Lord meant for young ones to be smarter than their parents,"
+said Sarah, "or the world might never get any better."
+
+Tom shook his head in dismay. "Women and their fool notions! If I don't
+watch out, you'll be spoiling the boy more'n his own mammy did."
+
+Sarah's cheeks were red as she bent over her knitting. Tom was right
+about one thing. There was no school for Abe to go to. But some day
+there would be. Every few weeks another clearing was made in the forest,
+and the neighbors gathered for a "house raising" to help put up a cabin.
+Then smoke would rise from a new chimney, and another new home would be
+started in the wilderness.
+
+With so many new settlers, there was usually plenty of work for Abe.
+Whenever Tom did not need him at home, he hired out at twenty-five cents
+a day. He gave this money to his father. That was the law, Tom said. Not
+until Abe was twenty-one would he be allowed to keep his wages for
+himself. As a hired boy, he plowed corn, chopped wood, and did all kinds
+of chores. He did not like farming, but he managed to have fun.
+
+"Pa taught me to work," Abe told one farmer who had hired him, "but he
+never taught me to love it."
+
+The farmer scratched his head. He couldn't understand a boy who was
+always reading, and if Abe wasn't reading he was telling jokes. The
+farmer thought that Abe was lazy.
+
+"Sometimes," the farmer said, "I get awful mad at you, Abe Lincoln. You
+crack your jokes and spin your yarns, if you want to, while the men are
+eating their dinner. But don't you keep them from working."
+
+The other farm hands liked to gather around Abe when they stopped to eat
+their noon meal. Sometimes he would stand on a tree stump and
+"speechify." The men would become so interested that they would be late
+getting back to the fields. Other times he would tell them stories that
+he had read in books or that he had heard from some traveler who had
+passed through Pigeon Creek. He nearly always had a funny story to tell.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Yet there was "something peculiarsome about Abe," as Dennis Hanks once
+said. He would be laughing one minute; the next minute he would look
+solemn and sad. He would walk along the narrow forest trails, a faraway
+look in his eyes. Someone would say "Howdy, Abe." Then he would grin and
+start "cracking jokes" again.
+
+Although he worked such long hours, Abe still found time to read. He sat
+up late and got up early in the morning, and Sarah made the children
+keep quiet when he wanted to study. Sometimes he took a book to work
+with him. Instead of talking to the other farm hands at noon, he'd go
+off by himself and read a few pages while he ate his dinner. People for
+miles around loaned him books. Sometimes he walked fifteen miles to
+Rockport, the county seat, to borrow books from John Pitcher, the town
+lawyer.
+
+"Everything I want to know is in books," he told Dennis. "My best friend
+is a man who can give me a book I ain't read."
+
+Late one afternoon, about two years after Sarah had arrived, Abe came
+home with a new book under his arm. Tom and Dennis had joined several of
+their neighbors in a big bear hunt and planned to be gone for several
+days. Abe planned to read--and read--and read.
+
+"What do you think, Mamma?" he asked. "I have a chance to read the
+Declaration of Independence."
+
+Sarah smiled into his eager eyes. "Now isn't that nice?"
+
+He showed her the book. It belonged to David Turnham, the constable. Mr.
+Turnham had said that Abe might borrow it for several days, if he
+promised to be careful.
+
+"What is it about?" Sarah asked.
+
+"It has the laws of Indiana in it, and it tells how the government of
+our country was started." Abe's voice took on a new tone of excitement.
+"It has the Declaration of Independence in it and the Constitution,
+too."
+
+He pulled a stool up to the fire and began to read. There was no sound
+in the little cabin except the steady click-click of Sarah's knitting
+needles. She glanced at him now and then. This tall, awkward boy had
+become very dear to her. As dear as her own children, perhaps even
+dearer, but he was harder to understand. No matter how much he learned,
+he wanted to learn more. He was always hungry, hungry for knowledge--not
+hungry for bacon and cornbread the way Johnny was. The idea made her
+chuckle.
+
+Abe did not hear. He laid the book on his knee and stared into the
+flames. His lips were moving, although he made no sound.
+
+"What are you saying to yourself?" Sarah asked. "You look so far away."
+
+"Why, Mamma." Abe looked up with a start. "I was just recollecting some
+of the words out of the Declaration of Independence. It says all men are
+created equal."
+
+"You don't mean to tell me!" Sarah was pleased because Abe was.
+
+"I'm going to learn as much of the Declaration as I can by heart, before
+I take the book back," he said. "That way I can always keep the words."
+
+"I declare," said Sarah, "you grow new ideas inside your head as fast as
+you add inches on top of it."
+
+
+
+
+7
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe went right on adding inches. By the time he was fourteen he was as
+tall as his father. Sally was working as a hired girl that summer for
+Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Crawford. Abe worked for them off and on. One
+afternoon he finished his chores early, and Mrs. Crawford sent him home.
+Abe was glad. Josiah had lent him a new book--a life of George
+Washington--and he wanted to start reading it.
+
+When he reached the Lincoln cabin, he found Betsy and Mathilda waiting
+outside for their mother. She stood before the mirror in the cabin
+putting on her sunbonnet.
+
+"Your pa and Dennis have gone squirrel hunting," she said, as she tied
+the strings in a neat bow beneath her chin. "The gals and I are going to
+visit a new neighbor. Will you keep an eye on Johnny and put some
+'taters on to boil for supper?"
+
+"Oh, Ma, not potatoes again?"
+
+"They will be right tasty with a mess of squirrel. Before you put the
+'taters on--"
+
+Abe patted the book inside his shirt front. "I can read?" he asked.
+
+"You can, after you go down to the horse trough and wash your head."
+
+"Wash my head? How come?" Abe wailed.
+
+"Take a look at that ceiling, and you'll know how come. See that dark
+spot? Your head made that. You're getting so tall you bump into the
+ceiling every time you climb into the loft."
+
+Abe rolled his eyes upward. "If some of that learning I've got cooped up
+in my head starts leaking out, how can I help it?"
+
+Sarah refused to be put off by any of his foolishness. "When you track
+dirt into the house, I can wash the floor," she said. "But I can't get
+to the ceiling so easy. It needs a new coat of whitewash, but there's no
+use in doing it if your head ain't clean."
+
+"All right," said Abe meekly.
+
+"Take a gourdful of soap with you," said Sarah. "And mind you, no
+reading until you finish washing your hair."
+
+He grumbled under his breath as he walked down to the horse trough. With
+a new book waiting to be read, washing his hair seemed a waste of time.
+But if that was what Sarah wanted, he would do it. He lathered his head
+with soap and ducked it into the water. Some of the soap got into his
+eyes and he began to sputter. He heard a giggle.
+
+"Hey, Johnny, is that you?" he said. "Get a bucket of water--quick!"
+
+Johnny, the eight-year-old stepbrother, was glad to oblige. He poured
+bucket after bucket of water over Abe's head. Finally all of the soap was
+rinsed out of his hair. Abe took the tail of his shirt and wiped the soap
+out of his eyes. Both boys were covered with water. The ground around the
+horse trough was like a muddy little swamp. Johnny was delighted. He liked
+to feel the mud squish up between his toes.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Look at me, Abe," he shouted. "Ain't we having fun?"
+
+Abe took his young stepbrother by the hand. His eyes were twinkling.
+"I've thought of something else that's fun. Come on, we're going to play
+a joke on Mamma."
+
+When Sarah returned to the cabin late that afternoon, she noticed that
+Abe's hair was still damp. He was very quiet as he stood by the
+fireplace and swung the big kettle outward. He dipped out the potatoes
+with an iron spoon. Tom and Dennis came in, both somewhat grumpy. They
+had not brought back a single squirrel.
+
+Only Johnny seemed in good spirits. He whispered in Mathilda's ear. They
+both began to giggle. By the time the family had gathered around the
+table, Betsy and Dennis had been let in on the secret, whatever it was.
+They were red in the face from trying not to laugh.
+
+"Quiet!" said Tom. "Quiet, while I say the blessing."
+
+"We thank thee. Lord--" he began.
+
+Tom usually gave thanks for each kind of food on the table. But today
+there was only a dish of dried-up potatoes. "We thank Thee, Lord," he
+went on, "for all these blessings."
+
+"Mighty poor blessings," said Abe.
+
+The girls giggled again. Dennis threw back his head and roared. Johnny
+was laughing so hard that he fell off his stool. He lay on the floor,
+rolling and shrieking.
+
+"I wish you young ones would stop carrying on," said Sarah, "and tell me
+what you're carrying on about."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Oh, Mamma, can't you see?" said Betsy. "Look up."
+
+Sarah gasped. Marching across the cabin ceiling were the muddy marks of
+two bare feet.
+
+"Don't they look like Johnny's feet?" Mathilda asked.
+
+"Johnny Johnston, you come right here," said Sarah sternly.
+
+Johnny picked himself up from the rag rug before the fireplace. He went
+over and stood before his mother. His blue eyes danced. This was one
+scolding that he looked forward to.
+
+"Now tell me the truth. What do you mean by--"
+
+Sarah paused. She could hardly scold her son for walking on the ceiling.
+
+Johnny had been told exactly what to say. "I got my feet all muddy down
+at the horse trough," he explained. "Then I walked on the ceiling."
+
+"You walked on the ceiling? Johnny Johnston, you know it's wicked to
+lie."
+
+"I'm not lying. Those are my footprints."
+
+Sarah looked again. The footprints were too small to belong to anyone
+but Johnny. She looked at Abe. He seemed to have taken a sudden liking
+for boiled potatoes and kept his eyes on his plate.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, is this some of your tomfoolery?"
+
+"I--I reckon so."
+
+"But how--"
+
+"It was easy," Johnny interrupted. "I held my legs stiff and Abe held me
+upside down, and I walked."
+
+Abe stood up, pushing back his stool. He glanced toward the door.
+
+Sarah was not often angry. When she was, she reminded her children of a
+mother hen ruffling its feathers. "Well, Abe, have you got anything to
+say for yourself?"
+
+Abe shook his head. Suddenly his joke did not seem quite so funny.
+
+"I declare!" said Sarah. "A big boy like you! You ought to be spanked."
+
+The children looked at tall, lanky Abe towering over their mother. They
+burst out laughing again. "Mamma's going to spank Abe!" they chanted.
+"Mamma's going to spank Abe."
+
+Dennis brought both hands down on the table with a loud whack. "That's a
+good one, that is," he roared.
+
+Sarah threw her apron over her head. The children watched the peculiar
+way the apron began to shake. When she took it down, they saw that she
+was laughing. She was laughing so hard that the tears ran down her
+cheeks.
+
+"I reckon I'll have to let you off, Abe," she said. "You'd be a mite too
+big for me to handle."
+
+Tom jumped up. "He ain't too big for me. He ain't too big for a
+good-sized hickory switch."
+
+Sarah bit her lip, her own brief anger forgotten. "Now, Tom," she
+protested.
+
+"You ain't going to talk me out of it this time."
+
+"I--I was aiming to whitewash the ceiling, Pa," said Abe. "Ma said it
+needed a fresh coat."
+
+Sarah looked relieved. "That is exactly what he can do. Whitewash the
+ceiling."
+
+"He can after I've given him a licking."
+
+Sarah put out her hand. "Sit down, Tom, and finish your 'taters before
+they get cold. I figure it this way. Before Abe starts reading that new
+book, he can whitewash the ceiling. The walls, too. That ought to learn
+him not to cut up any more didos."
+
+Sarah pulled down her mouth, trying to look stern. Tom sat down and
+started to eat his potato.
+
+"You're a good one, Sairy," he chuckled. "You sure know how to get work
+out of him."
+
+Abe looked at her gratefully. At the same time he was disappointed. He
+had been thinking about that book all afternoon.
+
+The next morning Sarah shooed everyone out of the cabin. Abe was down by
+the horse trough, mixing the whitewash in a big tub. By the time he
+returned, she had a bucket of hot water and a gourdful of soft soap
+ready. After washing the inside of the cabin he got busy with the
+whitewash. First he did the walls. Then he did the rafters and the
+ceiling. He cocked his head, gazing at the muddy footprints.
+
+"They make a right pretty picture, ma'am. Shall I leave them on for
+decoration?"
+
+Sarah, seated on a stool by the fireplace, looked up from her sewing.
+"Abe, you big scamp. You get that ceiling nice and white, or I'll be
+carrying out my threat."
+
+The corners of her mouth were twitching. Abe grinned, glad to be at
+peace with her again.
+
+"After I finish here," he asked, "do you have any more chores?"
+
+"No, Abe. I reckon there will be time for you to do some reading. But
+first, you finish your whitewashing. Then there's something I want to
+talk to you about."
+
+Abe dipped his brush into the whitewash again and again, until he had
+covered up the last telltale mark of Johnny's feet. The cabin was bright
+and shining when he finished. He pulled another stool up to the
+fireplace and sat facing Sarah.
+
+"I wasn't meaning to tell you just yet," she said. "Leastways until I
+had a chance to talk to your pa."
+
+"What is it, Mamma?"
+
+"There's a new neighbor come to Pigeon Creek," she said. "Man by the
+name of James Swaney. He is farming now, but he is fixing to keep a
+school next winter."
+
+Abe jumped up and stood looking down at her. "Do you reckon that Pa--"
+
+"Your pa is worried," Sarah interrupted. "Money-worried. He may have to
+sell some of his land. That's why he gets riled so easy--like
+yesterday."
+
+Abe flushed.
+
+"I want you to be careful," said Sarah. "Try not to get his dander up."
+
+"I'll try not to."
+
+"Maybe you recollect what I promised you when I first came. I said I'd
+ask your pa to let you go to school again. Now I'm a body that believes
+in keeping my promises. I just want to wait till he feels good."
+
+Sarah's sewing basket spilled to the floor, as Abe pulled her to her
+feet. He put his long arms around her waist and gave her a good bear
+hug.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, you're most choking me," she said breathlessly. "Here I
+was thinking how grown up you were getting to be. Now you be acting like
+a young one again."
+
+Abe kissed her on the cheek.
+
+
+
+
+8
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe sat up late, holding his book close to the flickering flames in the
+fireplace. As the rain drummed on the roof, his thoughts were far away.
+He was with General Washington in a small boat crossing the Delaware
+River on a cold Christmas night many years before. He was fighting the
+battle of Trenton with a handful of brave American soldiers. They must
+have wanted very much to be free, he decided, to be willing to fight so
+hard and suffer so much.
+
+"Isn't it getting too dark for you to see?" Sarah called sleepily.
+
+"Yes, Mamma."
+
+Carefully Abe placed the precious little volume between two logs in the
+wall of the cabin. This was his bookcase. As he climbed into the loft he
+wondered if the book told about the time George Washington became
+President. He would have to wait until morning to find out.
+
+He was up early. But his face grew pale when he reached for the book.
+During the night the rain had leaked in on it through a crack in the
+logs. The pages were wet and stuck together. The binding was warped.
+Sally was starting down the path toward the Crawford cabin when Abe
+called after her.
+
+"Wait! I'm coming with you."
+
+He thrust the book inside his buckskin shirt. Sally tried to comfort
+him, but Abe kept wondering what Mr. Crawford was going to say. He was a
+little scared of Josiah. Some of the boys called him "Old Bluenose"
+because of the large purple vein on the side of his nose. It made him
+look rather cross. He probably would want Abe to pay for the book, and
+Abe had no money.
+
+He opened the Crawford gate and marched up to the kitchen door. Josiah,
+his wife Elizabeth, and Sammy, their little boy, were having breakfast.
+When Abe explained what had happened, Mrs. Crawford patted his shoulder.
+He liked her. She was always nice to him, but he knew that her husband
+was the one who would decide about the book. Josiah took it in his big
+hands and looked at the stained pages.
+
+"Well, Abe," he said slowly, "I won't be hard on you. If you want to
+pull fodder three days for me, that ought to pay for the book."
+
+"Starting right now?"
+
+"Yep, starting right now." Josiah was actually smiling. "Then you can
+have the book to keep."
+
+Abe caught his breath. What a lucky boy he was! Three days' work and he
+could keep the book! He would have a chance to read about George
+Washington any time he wanted to.
+
+Never had he worked harder or faster than he did that morning. When the
+noon dinner bell rang, he seemed to be walking on air as he followed
+Josiah into the cabin. Sally was putting dinner on the table. Abe
+slipped up behind her and pulled one of her pigtails. Taken by surprise,
+she jumped and dropped a pitcher of cream. The pitcher did not break,
+but the cream spilled and spread over the kitchen floor.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Abe Lincoln! Look what you made me do!" cried Sally. "I just washed
+that floor. And look at that good cream going to waste."
+
+"'Tain't going to waste." Abe pointed to Elizabeth Crawford's cat, which
+was lapping up the delicious yellow stream. Then he began to sing:
+"Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!"
+
+"Stop trying to show off!" said Sally.
+
+She was angry, but Sammy, Elizabeth's little boy, shouted with delight.
+That was all the encouragement Abe needed. The fact that he could not
+carry a tune did not seem to bother him.
+
+  "Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!
+   Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!
+     Skip to my Lou, my darling."
+
+Sally was down on her hands and knees, wiping up the cream. "Stop
+singing that silly song, and help me."
+
+Instead, Abe danced a jig. He leaned down and pulled her other pigtail.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Sally's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo."
+
+"That's enough, Abe," said Elizabeth Crawford.
+
+"Skip to my Lou, my darling." He whirled around on his bare feet and
+made a sweeping bow. Sally was close to tears.
+
+"Abe, I told you to stop," said Elizabeth Crawford. "You ought to be
+ashamed, teasing your sister. If you keep on acting that way, what do
+you think is going to become of you?"
+
+"Me?" Abe drew himself up. "What's going to become of me? I'm going to
+be President."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him, a lanky barefoot boy with trousers too short.
+His shirt was in rags. His black hair was tousled. She sank into a
+chair, shaking with laughter. "A pretty President you'd make, now
+wouldn't you?"
+
+She had no sooner spoken than she wanted to take back the words. All of
+the joy went out of his face. Sally was too angry to notice.
+
+"Maybe you're going to be President," she said. "But first you'd better
+learn to behave."
+
+"I--I was just funning, Sally."
+
+Something in his voice made Sally look up. She saw the hurt expression
+in his eyes. "I know you were," she said hastily. "I'm not mad any
+more."
+
+Abe ate his dinner in silence. He did not seem to be the same boy who
+had been cutting up only a few minutes before. Elizabeth kept telling
+herself that she should not have laughed at him. He did try to show off
+sometimes. But he was a good boy. She thought more of him than of any of
+the other young folks in Pigeon Creek. Not for anything would she have
+hurt his feelings. When he pushed back his stool, she followed him out
+into the yard.
+
+"About your being President," she said. "I wasn't aiming to make fun of
+you. I just meant that you--with all your tricks and jokes--"
+
+"I reckon I know what you meant," said Abe quietly. "All the same, Mrs.
+Crawford, I don't always mean to delve and grub and such like."
+
+There was a look of determination on his face that she had not seen
+before. "I think a heap of you," she went on, "and I don't want to see
+you disappointed. It's a fine thing to be ambitious. But don't let
+reading about George Washington give you notions that can't come to
+anything."
+
+Abe threw back his shoulders. "I aim to study and get ready and then the
+chance will come."
+
+He lifted his battered straw hat, and started down the path toward the
+field. He walked with dignity. Elizabeth had not realized that he was so
+tall.
+
+"I declare," she said, "he really means it!"
+
+Sammy had come up and heard her. "Means what. Mamma?" he asked.
+
+Elizabeth took his hand. "Didn't you know, Sammy? Abe is fixing to be
+President some day."
+
+
+
+
+9
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+On Sunday morning the Lincolns went to church. All except Sarah. She had
+a headache.
+
+"I'll go, Ma," said Abe. "When I come back, I'll tell you what the
+preacher said."
+
+Sarah smiled at him fondly. Abe could listen to a sermon, then come home
+and repeat it almost word for word. "I'd rather hear you preachify," she
+said, "than the preacher himself."
+
+Tom and his family walked single file into the log meeting house and
+took their places on one of the long wooden benches. John Carter,
+sitting on the bench in front of them, turned and nodded. Carter had
+promised to buy the Lincolns' south field. He would have the papers
+ready for Tom to sign on Monday. Tom needed the money, but the very
+thought of selling any of his land made him grumpy. He twisted and
+turned on the hard wooden bench during the long sermon. He hardly heard
+a word that the preacher was saying.
+
+Abe leaned forward and listened eagerly. The preacher was a tall, thin
+man. He flung his arms about. His voice grew louder and hoarser as the
+morning passed. He paused only to catch his breath or when the members
+of the congregation shouted, "Amen." After the final hymn, he stood at
+the door shaking hands.
+
+"Brother Lincoln," he said, "I want you to meet up with a new neighbor.
+This here is Mr. Swaney."
+
+Tom shook hands. Then the preacher introduced Abe.
+
+"Are you the new schoolmaster?" Abe asked.
+
+"I don't figure on starting school till after harvest," Mr. Swaney
+replied. "Will you be one of my scholars?"
+
+"I'd sure like to come." Abe glanced at his father.
+
+"I reckon not," said Tom stiffly. "Abe has had as much schooling as he
+needs."
+
+Back at the cabin, Sarah had dinner on the table. Tom cheered up as he
+and Dennis started "swapping yarns." Both were good storytellers and
+each tried to tell a better story than the other.
+
+Abe did not like being left out of the conversation. "Pa," he asked,
+"can you answer me a question about something in the Bible?"
+
+"I figure I can answer any question you got sense enough to ask."
+
+Johnny and Mathilda nudged each other. They knew what was coming. One
+day when the preacher stopped by, Abe had asked him the same question.
+The preacher had been downright flustered when he couldn't answer.
+
+"It's just this, Pa," Abe went on. "Who was the father of Zebedee's
+children?"
+
+Tom flushed. "Any uppity young one can ask a question. But can he answer
+it? Suppose _you_ tell _me_ who was the father of Zebedee's children?"
+
+"I sort of figured," said Abe, "that Zebedee was."
+
+Everyone was laughing except Tom. Then he laughed, too. Sarah was glad.
+Abe had told her that Mr. Swaney was at church. She was going to talk to
+her husband that very afternoon about sending the children to school,
+and she wanted him to be in a good humor.
+
+"What did the preacher have to say?" she asked.
+
+"Well--" Tom was trying to remember. "What he said sort of got lost in
+the way he was saying it. How some of those preachers do hop and skip
+about!"
+
+"I like to hear a preacher who acts like he's fighting bees," said Abe.
+
+Sarah nodded. The description fitted the preacher "like his own
+moccasin," she said.
+
+"You menfolks wait outside," she added. "Soon as the gals and I get the
+dishes done, we'll be out to hear Abe preachify."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The afternoon was warm. Sarah fanned herself with her apron as she sat
+down at one end of a fallen log near the door. The rest of the family
+lined up beside her. Abe stood before them, his arms folded, as he
+repeated the sermon he had heard that morning. Now and then he paused
+and shook his finger in the faces of his congregation. He pounded with
+one fist on the palm of his other hand.
+
+"Brethern and sisters," said Abe, "there ain't no chore too big for the
+Lord, no chore too small. The Good Book says He knows when a sparrow
+falls. Yet He had time to turn this great big wilderness into this here
+land where we have our homes. Just think, folks, this Pigeon Creek had
+no one but Indians living here a few years back. And today we got cabins
+with smoke coming out of the chimneys. We got crops agrowing. We got a
+meeting house where we can come together and praise the Lord--"
+
+Abe paused.
+
+"Amen!" said Tom.
+
+"Amen!" said the others.
+
+"Don't forget," Abe went on, "all of this was the Lord's doing. Let us
+praise Him for His goodness."
+
+He reached down, plucked a fistful of grass, and mopped his forehead. In
+much the same way had the preacher used his bandanna handkerchief. The
+Lincoln family rose, sang "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," and
+church was over.
+
+The young folks drifted away. Tom stretched out on the grass for his
+Sunday afternoon nap.
+
+"Abe tells me that new Mr. Swaney was at church," Sarah said.
+
+Tom opened his eyes. Before he had a chance to go back to sleep, she
+spoke again.
+
+"He's fixing to keep a school next winter."
+
+"So I hear," said Tom cautiously.
+
+"He charges seventy-five cents for each scholar. Some schoolmasters
+charge a dollar."
+
+"Sounds like a lot of money."
+
+"Several of the neighbors are fixing to send their young ones," Sarah
+went on. "Mr. Swaney doesn't ask for cash money. He'll take skins or
+farm truck. We can manage that, I reckon."
+
+Tom yawned. "Plumb foolishness, if you ask me. But Johnny and Mathilda
+are your young ones. If you want to send them--"
+
+"I want Sally and Abe to go, too," Sarah interrupted. "Abe most of all.
+He is the one school will do the most good. He's the one who wants it
+most."
+
+Tom sat up. "I can spare the younger ones, but I need Abe. With us
+poorer than Job's turkey, you ought to know that."
+
+Sarah listened patiently. "I ain't talking about right now. Mr. Swaney
+won't start his school till winter. Farm work will be slack then."
+
+"I can hire Abe out to split rails, even in cold weather," Tom reminded
+her. "Maybe I can get some odd jobs as a carpenter, and Abe can help
+me."
+
+"Abe ain't no great hand at carpentry."
+
+"He can learn. Why, he's fourteen, Sairy. The idea, a big, strapping boy
+like that going to school. I tell you, I won't have it."
+
+"But I promised him."
+
+It was the first time that Tom had ever heard a quaver in his wife's
+voice. He looked away uneasily. "If you made a promise you can't keep,
+that's your lookout. You might as well stop nagging me, Sairy. My mind
+is made up."
+
+To make sure that there would be no more conversation on the subject, he
+got up and stalked across the grass. He lay down under another tree, out
+of hearing distance. Sarah sat on the log for a long time. Abe came back
+and sat down beside her. He could tell, by looking at her, that she had
+been talking to his father about letting him go to school. He knew,
+without asking any questions, that his father had said no.
+
+Sarah laid her hand on his knee. "Your pa is a good man," she said
+loyally. "Maybe he will change his mind."
+
+
+
+
+10
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+"Hurry up and eat your breakfast, Abe," said Tom the next morning. "We're
+going to cut corn for that skinflint, John Carter."
+
+Sarah passed her husband a plate of hot cornbread. "Why, Tom, it ain't
+fitting to talk that way about a neighbor. Before the children, too."
+
+Tom poured a generous helping of sorghum molasses over his bread. "I'm
+an honest man. It's fitting that I call Carter what he is, and he's a
+skinflint. He is only paying Abe and me ten cents a day."
+
+"Other folks pay you two-bits."
+
+"I ain't got any other work right now. Carter knows I need all the money
+I can lay my hands on. The way he beat me down on the price for my south
+field."
+
+"I wish you didn't have to sell."
+
+"Wishing won't do any good. I need cash money mighty bad. Remember, this
+farm ain't paid for yet."
+
+He got up and walked over to the chest. He picked up the sharp knife he
+used for cutting corn. "Get your knife, Abe, and come along."
+
+Abe walked behind his father along the path through the woods. "That Mr.
+Swaney was right nice," he said.
+
+Tom grunted.
+
+"He is waiting to start his school until after harvest," Abe went on.
+"Nat Grigsby is going. Allen Gentry is going, and he is two years older
+than me."
+
+"Allen's pa is a rich man," said Tom gruffly. "Maybe he's got money to
+burn, but poor folks like us have to earn our keep."
+
+"But, Pa--"
+
+"I declare, your tongue is loose at both ends today. Can't you stop
+plaguing me? First your ma, then you. You ought to see I'm worried."
+
+Abe said nothing more. He pulled a book out of the front of his shirt
+and began to read as he strode along the path. Tom looked back over his
+shoulder.
+
+"Don't let John Carter catch you with that book."
+
+"I brought it along so I can read while I eat my dinner. I'll put it
+away before we get to the Carter place."
+
+"Eddication!" said Tom in disgust "I never had any, and I get along
+better'n if I had. Take figuring. If a fellow owes me money, I take a
+burnt stick and make a mark on the wall. When he pays me, I take a
+dishrag and wipe the mark off. That's better than getting all hot and
+bothered trying to figure.
+
+"And writing? I can write my name and that's all the writing I need. But
+the most tomfoolery of all is reading. You don't see _me_ waste _my_
+time reading any books."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The path ended at the edge of the woods, and Tom opened the gate into
+the Carter cornfield. Row after row of tall corn stretched away in even,
+straight lines. Mr. Carter was waiting.
+
+"Ready to sign over that south field, Tom?" he asked. "A lawyer from
+Rockport is drawing up the papers. He is riding up with them this
+morning. I'll see you at dinner time."
+
+After John Carter had gone back to his cabin, Tom and Abe set to work.
+Using their sharp knives, they began cutting the corn close to the
+ground. They stood the tall golden stalks on end, tying them together in
+neat shocks or bundles. By the time the sun stood directly overhead,
+several long rows had been cut and stacked, and John Carter was coming
+toward them across the field. It was noon.
+
+Abe laid aside his knife, sat down on the rail fence, and pulled out his
+book. He took a piece of cornbread wrapped in a corn husk from his
+pocket. As he ate, he read, paying no attention to the conversation
+taking place a few feet away.
+
+"Come and sit down, Tom," said Carter.
+
+Tom sat on a tree stump. Carter was being more friendly than usual. He
+was carrying a gourd full of ink, which he placed on another stump. He
+set down a deerskin bag, which jingled pleasantly with coins. In one
+pocket he found a turkey-buzzard pen. From another he brought out an
+official-looking paper.
+
+"Here is the deed for the south field," he explained. "Here's a pen.
+I'll hold the ink for you. You make your mark right here."
+
+"I don't need to make my mark," said Tom proudly. "I know how to sign my
+name."
+
+"Then hurry up and do it. Mrs. Carter has dinner ready, and I got to get
+back to the house."
+
+Tom took the paper and looked at it uncertainly. "I don't sign any paper
+till I know what I'm signing. I want time to--to go over this careful
+like."
+
+He could make out a few of the words, and that was all. But not for
+anything would he admit that he could not read it.
+
+"You told me you wanted to sell," said Carter. "I said I would buy. I am
+keeping my part of the bargain. I even brought the money with me."
+
+Tom's face grew red. He looked down at the paper in his hand. He glanced
+at Abe seated on the fence. A struggle was taking place between pride
+and common sense. Common sense won.
+
+"Abe, come here," he called.
+
+Abe went on reading.
+
+Tom raised his voice. "Abe! When I tell you to come, I mean for you to
+come."
+
+The boy looked up from his book with a start. "Yes, Pa. Did you want
+me?"
+
+"Hustle over here and look at this paper. Carter is in a mighty big
+hurry for me to sign something I ain't had a chance to read."
+
+"You have had plenty of time to read it," said Carter. "But if you don't
+want to sell, I can call the whole deal off."
+
+Abe reached out a long arm and took the paper. He read it slowly. "Pa,"
+he asked, "don't you aim to sell Mr. Carter just the south field?"
+
+"You know I'm selling him just the south field," said Tom.
+
+"Then don't sign this."
+
+Carter picked up the money bag clanking with coins. He tossed it into
+the air and caught it neatly. Tom looked at it. He wanted that money! He
+looked at Abe.
+
+"Why shouldn't I sign?" he asked.
+
+"If you do, you'll be selling Mr. Carter most of your farm."
+
+John Carter was furious. "Don't try to tell me a country jake like you
+can read! That paper says the south field, as plain as the nose on your
+face."
+
+"It says that and a sight more, Mr. Carter," Abe drawled. "It says the
+north field, too. It says the east and the west fields. There wouldn't
+be much farm left for Pa, except the part our cabin is setting on."
+
+A dispute between men in Pigeon Creek usually ended in a fight. Tom
+Lincoln doubled up his fists. "Put them up, Carter."
+
+The two men rolled over and over in a confused tangle of arms and legs.
+Now Tom Lincoln was on top. Now it was John Carter. "Go it, Pa," Abe
+shouted from the fence. "Don't let that old skinflint get you down."
+After a few minutes. Carter lay on his back gasping for breath.
+
+"Nuf!" he cried, and Tom let him scramble to his feet.
+
+Carter began brushing himself off. "It ain't fitting to fight a
+neighbor," he whined, "just because of a mistake."
+
+"Mistake nothing!" Tom snorted. "Somebody lied, and it wasn't Abe."
+
+"I'll have a new paper made out, if you like," said Carter.
+
+Tom looked at him with scorn. "You ain't got enough money to buy my
+south field. But I'll thank you for the ten cents you owe us. Abe and I
+each did a half day's work."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom's right eye was swelling, and by the time he reached home it was
+closed. The bump on the side of his head was the size of a hen's egg.
+There was a long scratch down his cheek.
+
+Sarah was kneeling before the fireplace, raking ashes over the potatoes
+that she had put in to bake. She jumped up in alarm.
+
+"What's the matter? What happened?" she asked.
+
+"It was like Pa said," Abe told her. "Mr. Carter is a skinflint."
+
+Sarah took Tom by the arm and made him sit down on a stool. She touched
+the swollen eye with gentle fingers.
+
+"It don't hurt much," he said.
+
+"I reckon Mr. Carter hurts more," Abe spoke up again. "He has two black
+eyes."
+
+Tom slapped his thigh and roared with laughter. "He sure does. But if it
+hadn't been for Abe--"
+
+He stopped, embarrassed. Sarah was soaking a cloth in a basin of cold
+water. She laid it on his eye.
+
+"What started it all?"
+
+"You tell them, Abe," said Tom.
+
+"That Mr. Carter ain't as smart as he thinks he is," Abe explained. "He
+had a paper for Pa to sign and tried to make out it was for just the
+south field. And do you know what, Mamma? When Pa asked me to read it,
+why, it was for almost our whole farm."
+
+"You don't mean to tell me!" said Sarah.
+
+"Carter said he'd have a new paper made out. But I told him," Tom added
+with a touch of pride, "I could do without his money."
+
+"Good for you!" Sarah said, beaming. "Don't you fret. We'll squeak
+through somehow. But what if you had signed that paper? The farm would
+have been sold right out from under us. I reckon we can feel mighty
+proud of Abe."
+
+"Well," Tom admitted, "it didn't hurt that he knew how to read. When did
+you say Mr. Swaney aims to start his school?"
+
+"Right after harvest," said Abe before his stepmother had a chance to
+answer.
+
+Tom ignored him and went on talking to his wife. "Now, mind you, Sairy,
+I ain't saying Abe needs any more eddication. I ain't saying it is
+fitting a son should know more'n his pa. But if you think the young ones
+should go to this new school for a spell, I won't say no."
+
+He rose and stalked out of the cabin. Then he came back and stuck his
+head in at the door.
+
+"Mind you, Abe, you forget to do your chores just one time, and that
+schoolmaster won't be seeing you again."
+
+"Come back in and sit down, Tom," said Sarah. "Supper is nearly ready.
+Besides, Abe has something that needs saying."
+
+Abe looked at his stepmother in surprise. Then he looked at his father.
+"I'm much obliged, Pa," he said.
+
+
+
+
+11
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+After a few weeks at Master Swaney's school, Abe had to stop and go to
+work again. When he was seventeen, he had a chance to attend another
+school kept by Azel Dorsey. Nearly every Friday afternoon there were
+special exercises and the scholars spoke pieces. For the final program
+on the last day of school, the boys had built a platform outside the log
+schoolhouse. Parents, brothers and sisters, and friends found seats on
+fallen logs and on the grass. They listened proudly as, one by one, the
+children came forward and each recited a poem or a speech.
+
+Master Dorsey walked to the front of the platform. He held up his hand
+for silence. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "we come to the last
+number on our program. Twenty-five years ago Thomas Jefferson became
+President of these United States. We shall now hear the speech he made
+that day. Abraham Lincoln will recite it for us."
+
+Sarah Lincoln, from under her pink sunbonnet, stole a glance at Tom. "I
+hope that Abe does well," she whispered.
+
+Abe did do well. He forgot that he was growing too fast, that his hands
+were too big, and that his trousers were too short. For a few minutes he
+made his audience forget it. Master Dorsey seemed to swell with pride.
+If that boy lives, he thought, he is going to be a noted man some day.
+Elizabeth Crawford, sitting in the front row, remembered what he had
+said about being President. If she closed her eyes, she could almost
+imagine that Thomas Jefferson was speaking. When Abe finished and made
+an awkward bow, she joined in the hearty burst of applause.
+
+"Do you know where he got that piece?" she asked her husband in a low
+voice. "From _The Kentucky Preceptor_, one of the books you loaned him.
+It makes a body feel good to think we helped him. Look at Mrs. Lincoln!
+She couldn't be more pleased if Abe was her own son."
+
+Sarah waited to walk home with him. "I was mighty proud of you today,"
+she said. "Why, what's the matter? You look mighty down-in-the-mouth for
+a boy who spoke his piece so well on the last day."
+
+"I was thinking that this is the last day," he answered. "The last day
+I'll ever go to school, most likely."
+
+"Well, you're seventeen now."
+
+"Yes, I'm seventeen, and I ain't had a year's schooling all told. I
+can't even talk proper. I forget and say 'ain't' though I know it
+ain't--I mean isn't right."
+
+"It seems to me you're educating yourself with all those books you
+read," said Sarah cheerfully.
+
+"I've already read all the books for miles around. Besides, I want to
+see places. I can't help it, Ma, I want to get away."
+
+Sarah looked at him fondly. She wished that she could find some way to
+help him.
+
+Abe found ways to help himself. He was never to go to school again, but
+he could walk to Rockport to attend trials in the log courthouse. He
+liked to listen to the lawyers argue their cases. Sometimes he would
+write down what they said on a piece of paper. Now and then he had a
+chance to borrow a book that he had not read before from some new
+settler. He read the old books over and over again. He liked to read the
+newspapers to which Mr. Gentry, Allen's father, subscribed. The papers
+told what was going on in the big world outside of Pigeon Creek.
+
+James Gentry owned the log store at the crossroads, where the little
+town, Gentryville, had grown up. His partner, William Jones, was one of
+Abe's best friends, and Abe spent nearly every evening at the store. It
+became the favorite meeting place for the men and boys who lived close
+by.
+
+"Howdy, Abe!" Everyone seemed to be saying it at once when he came in.
+
+"The Louisville paper came today," William Jones might add. "Here you
+are! The fellows have been waiting for you to holler out the news."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe sat on the counter, swinging his long legs, as he read the newspaper
+out loud. The men sat quietly, except when William got up to throw
+another log on the fire or to light another candle. Abe read on and on.
+After he finished the paper, they talked about what he had read. They
+argued about many things from politics to religion. They always wanted
+to know what Abe thought. Many times they stayed until nearly midnight
+listening to him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening, not long after Abe's nineteenth birthday, he walked home
+from the store in great excitement. He had been very sad since his
+sister Sally had died in January, but tonight he seemed more cheerful.
+Sarah looked up to find him standing in the doorway.
+
+"What do you think has happened, Ma?" he asked. "I am going to New
+Orleans."
+
+"How come, Abe?"
+
+Sarah knew that prosperous farmers sometimes loaded their corn and other
+farm products on big flatboats. These flatboats were floated down the
+Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where the cargoes were sold.
+But the Lincolns raised only enough for their own use. They never had
+anything left over to sell. Nor could they afford to build a flatboat
+for the long trip down the rivers.
+
+"How come?" Sarah asked again.
+
+Abe seized her around the waist and danced her across the floor. She was
+out of breath but laughing when he let her go.
+
+"Allen Gentry is taking a cargo of farm truck down to New Orleans to
+sell," he explained. "His pa has hired me to help on the flatboat. Mr.
+Gentry will pay me eight dollars a month. I reckon Pa will be pleased
+about that."
+
+Abe himself was pleased because he was going to see something of the
+world. New Orleans was seven hundred miles away. It was a big and
+important city. Sarah was pleased because this was the chance that Abe
+had been wanting.
+
+He had grown so tall that she had to throw back her head to look up at
+him. "I'm right glad for you," she said.
+
+
+
+
+12
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+To a boy brought up in the backwoods, the trip down the rivers was one
+long adventure. Abe sat at the forward oar, guiding the big flatboat
+through the calm, blue waters of the Ohio, while Allen cooked supper on
+deck. Afterwards Abe told stories.
+
+After they had reached the southern tip of Illinois, where the Ohio
+emptied into the yellow waters of the Mississippi, there was little time
+for stories. The boys never knew what to expect next. One minute the
+river would be quiet and calm. The next it would rise in the fury of a
+sudden storm. The waves rose in a yellow flood that poured over the
+deck. Allen at the back oar, Abe at the front oar, had a hard time
+keeping the big flatboat from turning over.
+
+At the end of each day, the boys tied up the boat at some place along
+the shore. One night after they had gone to sleep, several robbers crept
+on board. Abe and Allen awoke just in time. After a long, hard fight,
+the robbers turned and fled.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+These dangers only made their adventures seem more exciting. It was
+exciting, too, to be a part of the traffic of the river. They saw many
+other flatboats like their own. The biggest thrill was in watching the
+steamboats, with giant paddle wheels that turned the water into foam.
+Their decks were painted a gleaming white, and their brass rails shone
+in the sun. No wonder they were called "floating palaces," thought Abe.
+Sometimes passengers standing by the rail waved to the boys.
+
+Each day of their journey brought gentler breezes, warmer weather.
+Cottonwood and magnolia trees grew on the low swampy banks of both
+shores. The boys passed cotton fields, where gangs of Negro slaves were
+at work. Some of them were singing as they bent to pick the snowy white
+balls of cotton. A snatch of song came floating over the water:
+
+  "Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+   Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+   Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+     We're waiting for the Lord."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe leaned on his oar to listen. A few minutes later he pointed to a big
+house with tall white pillars in the middle of a beautiful garden.
+
+"Nice little cabin those folks have," he said drily. "Don't recollect
+seeing anything like that up in Pigeon Creek."
+
+"Why, Abe, you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait till you get to New
+Orleans."
+
+This was Allen's second trip, and he was eager to show Abe the sights. A
+few days later they were walking along the New Orleans waterfront. Ships
+from many different countries were tied up at the wharves. Negro slaves
+were rolling bales of cotton onto a steamboat. Other Negroes, toting
+huge baskets on their heads, passed by. Sailors from many lands,
+speaking strange tongues, rubbed elbows with fur trappers dressed in
+buckskins from the far Northwest. A cotton planter in a white suit
+glanced at the two youths from Pigeon Creek. He seemed amused. Abe
+looked down at his homespun blue jeans. He had not realized that all
+young men did not wear them.
+
+"Reckon we do look different from some of the folks down here," he said,
+as he and Allen turned into a narrow street.
+
+Here there were more people--always more people. The public square was
+crowded. Abe gazed in awe at the Cathedral. This tall Spanish church,
+with its two graceful towers, was so different from the log meeting
+house that the Lincolns attended.
+
+Nor was there anything back in Pigeon Creek like the tall plaster houses
+faded by time and weather into warm tones of pink and lavender and
+yellow. The balconies, or porches, on the upper floors had wrought iron
+railings, of such delicate design that they looked like iron lace.
+
+Once the boys paused before a wrought iron gate. At the end of a long
+passageway they could see a courtyard where flowers bloomed and a
+fountain splashed in the sunshine. Abe turned to watch a handsome
+carriage roll by over the cobblestones. He looked down the street toward
+the river, which sheltered ships from all over the world.
+
+"All this makes me feel a little like Sinbad," he said, "but I reckon
+even Sinbad never visited New Orleans. I sure do like it here."
+
+But soon Abe began to see other sights that made him sick at heart. He
+and Allen passed a warehouse where slaves were being sold at auction. A
+crowd had gathered inside. Several Negroes were standing on a platform
+called an auction block. One by one they stepped forward. A man called
+an auctioneer asked in a loud voice, "What am I offered? Who will make
+the first bid?"
+
+"Five hundred," called one man.
+
+"Six hundred," called another.
+
+The bids mounted higher. Each slave was sold to the man who bid, or
+offered to pay, the most money. One field hand and his wife were sold to
+different bidders. There were tears in the woman's dark eyes as he was
+led away. She knew that she would never see her husband again.
+
+"Let's get out of here," said Abe. "I can't stand any more."
+
+They walked back to their own flatboat tied up at one of the wharves.
+Allen got supper, but Abe could not eat.
+
+"Don't look like that," said Allen. "Many of the folks down here
+inherited their slaves, same as their land. Slavery ain't their fault."
+
+"I never said it was anybody's fault--at least not anybody who's living
+now. But it just ain't right for one man to own another."
+
+"Well, stop worrying. There's nothing you can do about it."
+
+"Maybe not," said Abe gloomily, "but I'm mighty glad there aren't any
+slaves in Indiana."
+
+Allen stayed on in New Orleans for several days to sell his cargo. It
+brought a good price. He then sold his flatboat, which would be broken
+up and used for lumber. Flatboats could not travel upstream. He and Abe
+would either have to walk back to Indiana, or they could take a
+steamboat.
+
+"We'd better not walk, carrying all this money," said Allen. "Pretty
+lonely country going home. We might get robbed."
+
+The steamboat trip was a piece of good fortune that Abe had not
+expected. He enjoyed talking with the other passengers. The speed at
+which they traveled seemed a miracle. It had taken the boys a month to
+make the trip downstream by flatboat. They were returning upstream in
+little more than a week. They were standing together by the rail when
+the cabins of Rockport, perched on a high wooded bluff, came into view.
+
+"It sure was good of your pa to give me this chance," said Abe. "I've
+seen some sights I wish I hadn't, but the trip has done me good. Sort of
+stretched my eyes and ears! Stretched me all over--inside, I mean." He
+laughed. "I don't need any stretching on the outside."
+
+Allen looked at his tall friend. They had been together most of the
+time. They had talked with the same people, visited the same places,
+seen the same sights. Already Allen was beginning to forget them. Now
+that he was almost home, it was as if he had never been away. But Abe
+seemed different. Somehow he had changed.
+
+"I can't figure it out," Allen told him. "You don't seem the same."
+
+"Maybe I'm not," said Abe. "I keep thinking about some of the things I
+saw."
+
+
+
+
+13
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The Lincolns were leaving Pigeon Creek. One day a letter had arrived
+from John Hanks, a cousin, who had gone to Illinois to live. The soil
+was richer there, the letter said. Why didn't Tom come, too, and bring
+his family? He would find it easier to make a living. Even the name of
+the river near John's home had a pleasant sound. It was called the
+Sangamon--an Indian word meaning "plenty to eat."
+
+"We're going," Tom decided. "I'm going to sell this farm and buy
+another. Do you want to come with us, Abe?"
+
+Two years had passed since Abe's return from New Orleans. Two years of
+hard work. Two years of looking forward to his next birthday. He was
+nearly twenty-one and could leave home if he wanted to.
+
+"Well, Pa--" he hesitated.
+
+Sarah was watching him, waiting for his answer.
+
+"I'll come with you," said Abe. "I'll stay long enough to help you get
+the new farm started."
+
+There were thirteen people in the Lincoln party: Tom and Sarah, Abe and
+Johnny, Betsy and Dennis Hanks who had been married for several years,
+Mathilda and her husband, and two sets of children. They made the
+journey in three big wagons, traveling over frozen roads and crossing
+icy streams. After two weeks they came to John Hanks' home on the
+prairies of Illinois. He made them welcome, then took them to see the
+place that he had selected for their farm. In the cold winter light it
+looked almost as desolate as Pigeon Creek had looked fourteen years
+before. Tom Lincoln was beginning all over again.
+
+This time he had more help. John Hanks had a great pile of logs split
+and ready to be used for their new cabin. Abe was now able to do a man's
+work. After the cabin was finished, he split enough rails to build a
+fence around the farm. Some of the new neighbors hired him to split logs
+for them.
+
+The following spring, he was offered other work that he liked much
+better. A man named Denton Offut was building a flatboat, which he
+planned to float down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and on to
+New Orleans. He hired Abe to help with the cargo. The two young men
+became friends. When Abe returned home after the long voyage, he had
+news for Sarah.
+
+"Ma," he said, "Denton is fixing to start a store up in New Salem.
+That's a village on the Sangamon River. He wants me to be his clerk."
+
+Sarah said nothing for a moment. If Abe went away to stay, the cabin
+would seem mighty lonesome. She would miss him terribly. But she wanted
+him to do whatever was best for him.
+
+"Mr. Offut said he'd pay me fifteen dollars a month," Abe added.
+
+That was more money than he had ever earned, thought Sarah. And now that
+he was over twenty-one, he could keep his wages for himself. "I reckon
+you'll be leaving soon," she said aloud.
+
+"Yes, Ma, I will." Telling her was harder than Abe had expected. "It is
+high time that I start out on my own."
+
+Sarah set to work to get his clothes ready. He was wearing his only pair
+of jeans, and there wasn't much else for him to take. She washed his
+shirts and the extra pair of socks that she had knit for him. He wrapped
+these up in a big cloth and tied the bundle to the end of a long stick.
+The next morning he was up early. After he told the rest of the family
+good-by, Sarah walked with him to the gate.
+
+Abe thrust the stick with his bundle over his shoulder. He had looked
+forward to starting out on his own--and now he was scared. Almost as
+scared as he had felt on that cold winter afternoon when his new mother
+had first arrived in Pigeon Creek. Because she had believed in him, he
+had started believing in himself. Her faith in him was still shining in
+her eyes as she looked up at him and tried to smile.
+
+He gave her a quick hug and hurried down the path.
+
+It was a long, long walk to New Salem, where Abe arrived on a hot summer
+day in 1831. This village, on a high bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+River, was bigger than Gentryville, bigger even than Rockport. As he
+wandered up and down the one street, bordered on both sides by a row of
+neat log houses, he counted more than twenty-five buildings. There were
+several stores, and he could see the mill down by the river.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He pushed his way through a crowd that had gathered before one of the
+houses. A worried-looking man, about ten years older than Abe, sat
+behind a table on the little porch. He was writing in a big book.
+
+"Howdy, Mister," said Abe. "What is all the excitement about?"
+
+"This is election day," the man replied, "and I am the clerk in charge.
+That is, I'm one of the clerks."
+
+He stopped to write down the name of one of the men who stood in line.
+He wrote the names of several other voters in his big book before he had
+a chance to talk to Abe again. Then he explained that the other clerk
+who was supposed to help him was sick.
+
+"I'm mighty busy," he went on. "Say listen, stranger, do you know how to
+write?"
+
+"I can make a few rabbit tracks," Abe said, grinning.
+
+"Maybe I can hire you to help me keep a record of the votes." The man
+rose and shook hands. "My name is Mentor Graham."
+
+By evening the younger man and the older one had become good friends.
+Mr. Graham was a schoolmaster, and he promised to help Abe with his
+studies. Soon Abe began to make other friends. Jack Kelso took him
+fishing. Abe did not care much about fishing, but he liked to hear Jack
+recite poetry by Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. They were Jack's
+favorite poets, and they became Abe's favorites, too.
+
+At the Rutledge Tavern, where Abe lived for a while, he met the owner's
+daughter, Ann Rutledge. Ann was sweet and pretty, with a glint of
+sunshine in her hair. They took long walks beside the river. It was easy
+to talk to Ann, and Abe told her some of his secret hopes. She thought
+that he was going to be a great man some day.
+
+Her father, James Rutledge, also took an interest in him. Abe was
+invited to join the New Salem Debating Society. The first time that he
+got up to talk, the other members expected him to spend the time telling
+funny stories. Instead he made a serious speech--and a very good one.
+
+"That young man has more than wit and fun in his head," Mr. Rutledge
+told his wife that night.
+
+Abe liked to make speeches, but he knew that he did not always speak
+correctly. One morning he was having breakfast at Mentor Graham's house.
+"I have a notion to study English grammar," he said.
+
+"If you expect to go before the public," Mentor answered, "I think it
+the best thing you can do."
+
+"If I had a grammar, I would commence now."
+
+Mentor thought for a moment. "There is no one in town who owns a
+grammar," he said finally. "But Mr. Vaner out in the country has one. He
+might lend you his copy."
+
+Abe got up from the table and walked six miles to the Vaner farm. When
+he returned, he carried an open book in his hands. He was studying
+grammar as he walked.
+
+Meanwhile he worked as a clerk in Denton Offut's store. Customers could
+buy all sorts of things there--tools and nails, needles and thread,
+mittens and calico, and tallow for making candles. One day a woman
+bought several yards of calico. After she left, Abe discovered that he
+had charged her six cents too much. That evening he walked six miles to
+give her the money. He was always doing things like that, and people
+began to call him "Honest Abe."
+
+Denton was so proud of his clerk that he could not help boasting. "Abe
+is the smartest man in the United States," he said. "Yes, and he can
+beat any man in the country running, jumping, or wrastling."
+
+A bunch of young roughnecks lived a few miles away in another settlement
+called Clary Grove. "That Denton Offut talks too much with his mouth,"
+they said angrily. They did not mind Abe being called smart. But they
+declared that no one could "out-wrastle" their leader, Jack Armstrong.
+One day they rushed into the store and dared Abe to fight with Jack.
+
+Abe laid down the book that he had been reading. "I don't hold with
+wooling and pulling," he said. "But if you want to fight, come on
+outside."
+
+The Clary Grove boys soon realized that Denton's clerk was a good
+wrestler. Jack, afraid that he was going to lose the fight, stepped on
+Abe's foot with the sharp heel of his boot. The sudden pain made Abe
+angry. The next thing that Jack knew he was being shaken back and forth
+until his teeth rattled. Then he was lying flat on his back in the dust.
+
+Jack's friends let out a howl of rage. Several of them rushed at Abe,
+all trying to fight him at the same time. He stood with his back against
+the store, his fists doubled up. He dared them to come closer. Jack
+picked himself up.
+
+"Stop it, fellows," he said. "I was beaten in a fair fight. If you ask
+me, this Abe Lincoln is the cleverest fellow that ever broke into the
+settlement."
+
+From then on Jack was one of Abe's best friends.
+
+A short time later Abe enlisted as a soldier in the Black Hawk War to
+help drive the Indians out of Illinois. The Clary Grove boys were in his
+company, and Abe was elected captain. Before his company had a chance to
+do any fighting, Blackhawk was captured in another part of Illinois and
+the war was over.
+
+When Abe came back to New Salem, he found himself out of a job. Denton
+Offut had left. The store had "winked out." Later, Abe and another young
+man, William Berry, decided to become partners. They borrowed money and
+started a store of their own.
+
+One day a wagon piled high with furniture stopped out in front. A man
+jumped down and explained that he and his family were moving West. The
+wagon was too crowded, and he had a barrel of odds and ends that he
+wanted to sell. Abe, always glad to oblige, agreed to pay fifty cents
+for it. Later, when he opened it, he had a wonderful surprise.
+
+The barrel contained a set of famous law books. He had seen those same
+books in Mr. Pitcher's law office in Rockport. Now that he owned a set
+of his own, he could read it any time he wished. Customers coming into
+the store usually found Abe lying on the counter, his nose buried in one
+of the new books. The more he read, the more interested he became.
+
+Perhaps he spent too much time reading, instead of attending to
+business. William Berry was lazy, and not a very satisfactory partner.
+The store of Lincoln and Berry did so little business that it had to
+close. The partners were left with many debts to pay. Then Berry died,
+and "Honest Abe" announced that he would pay all of the debts himself,
+no matter how long it took.
+
+For a while he was postmaster. A man on horseback brought the mail twice
+a week, and there were so few letters that Abe often carried them around
+in his hat until he could deliver them. He liked the job because it gave
+him a chance to read the newspapers to which the people in New Salem
+subscribed. But the pay was small, and he had to do all sorts of odd
+Jobs to earn enough to eat. On many days he would have gone hungry if
+Jack Armstrong and his wife, Hannah, had not invited him to dinner. When
+work was scarce he stayed with them two or three weeks at a time.
+
+He knew that he had to find a way to earn more money, and he decided to
+study surveying. It was a hard subject, but he borrowed some books and
+read them carefully. He studied so hard that in six weeks' time he took
+his first job as a surveyor.
+
+Sometimes when he was measuring a farm or laying out a new road, he
+would be gone for several weeks. People miles from New Salem knew who
+Abe Lincoln was. They laughed at him because he was so tall and awkward.
+They thought it funny that his trousers were always too short. But they
+also laughed at his jokes, and they liked him. He made so many new
+friends that he decided to be a candidate for the Illinois legislature.
+
+One day during the campaign he had a long talk with Major John T.
+Stuart. Major Stuart had been Abe's commander in the Black Hawk War. He
+was now a lawyer in Springfield, a larger town twenty miles away.
+
+"Why don't you study law?" he asked.
+
+Abe pursed his lips. "I'd sure like to," he drawled; then added with a
+grin: "But I don't know if I have enough sense."
+
+Major Stuart paid no attention to this last remark. "You have been
+reading law for pleasure," he went on. "Now go at it in earnest. I'll
+lend you the books you need."
+
+This was a chance that Abe could not afford to miss. Every few days he
+walked or rode on horseback to Springfield to borrow another volume.
+Sometimes he read forty pages on the way home. He was twenty-five years
+old, and there was no time to waste.
+
+Meanwhile he was making many speeches. He asked the voters in his part
+of Illinois to elect him to the legislature which made the laws for the
+state. They felt that "Honest Abe" was a man to be trusted and he was
+elected.
+
+Late in November Abe boarded the stagecoach for the ride to Vandalia,
+then the capital of the state. He looked very dignified in a new suit
+and high plug hat. In the crowd that gathered to tell him good-by, he
+could see many of his friends. There stood Coleman Smoot who had lent
+him money to buy his new clothes. Farther back he could see Mr. Rutledge
+and Ann, Hannah and Jack Armstrong, Mentor Graham, and others who had
+encouraged and helped him. And now he was on his way to represent them
+in the legislature. There was a chorus of "Good-by, Abe."
+
+Then, like an echo, the words came again in Ann's high, sweet voice:
+"Good-by, Abe!" He leaned far out the window and waved.
+
+He was thinking of Ann as the coach rolled over the rough road. He was
+thinking also of Sarah. If only she could see him now, he thought, as he
+glanced at the new hat resting on his knee.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+14
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The Legislature met for several weeks at a time. Between sessions, Abe
+worked at various jobs in New Salem and read his law books. Most of his
+studying was done early in the morning and late at night. He still found
+time to see a great deal of Ann Rutledge, and something of her gentle
+sweetness was to live on forever in his heart. After Ann died, he tried
+to forget his grief by studying harder than ever.
+
+The year that he was twenty-eight he took his examination, and was
+granted a lawyer's license. He decided to move to Springfield, which had
+recently been made the capital of the state.
+
+It was a cold March day when he rode into this thriving little town. He
+hitched his horse to the hitching rack in the public square and entered
+one of the stores. Joshua Speed, the owner, a young man about Abe's age,
+looked up with a friendly smile.
+
+"Howdy, Abe," he said. "So you are going to be one of us?"
+
+"I reckon so," Abe answered. "Say, Speed, I just bought myself a
+bedstead. How much would it cost me for a mattress and some pillows and
+blankets?"
+
+Joshua took a pencil from behind his ear. He did some figuring on a
+piece of paper. "I can fix you up for about seventeen dollars."
+
+Abe felt the money in his pocket. He had only seven dollars. His horse
+was borrowed, and he was still a thousand dollars in debt. Joshua saw
+that he was disappointed. He had heard Abe make speeches, and Abe was
+called one of the most promising young men in the legislature. Joshua
+liked him and wanted to know him better.
+
+"Why don't you stay with me, until you can do better?" he suggested. "I
+have a room over the store and a bed big enough for two."
+
+A grin broke over Abe's homely features. "Good!" he said. "Where is it?"
+
+"You'll find some stairs over there behind that pile of barrels. Go on
+up and make yourself at home."
+
+Abe enjoyed living with Joshua Speed, and he enjoyed living in
+Springfield. He soon became as popular as he had once been in Pigeon
+Creek and in New Salem. As the months and years went by, more and more
+people came to him whenever they needed a lawyer to advise them. For a
+long time he was poor, but little by little he paid off his debts. With
+his first big fee he bought a quarter section of land for his stepmother
+who had been so good to him.
+
+The part of his work that Abe liked best was "riding the circuit." In
+the spring and again in the fall, he saddled Old Buck, his horse, and
+set out with a judge and several other lawyers to visit some of the
+towns close by. These towns "on the circuit" were too small to have law
+courts of their own. In each town the lawyers argued the cases and the
+judge settled the disputes that had come up during the past six months.
+
+After supper they liked to gather at the inn to listen to Abe tell funny
+stories. "I laughed until I shook my ribs loose," said one dignified
+judge.
+
+The other lawyers often teased Abe. "You ought to charge your clients
+more money," they said, "or you will always be as poor as Job's turkey."
+
+One evening they held a mock trial. Abe was accused of charging such
+small fees that the other lawyers could not charge as much as they
+should. The judge looked as solemn as he did at a real trial.
+
+"You are guilty of an awful crime against the pockets of your brother
+lawyers," he said severely. "I hereby sentence you to pay a fine."
+
+There was a shout of laughter. "I'll pay the fine," said Abe
+good-naturedly. "But my own firm is never going to be known as Catchem &
+Cheatem."
+
+Meanwhile a young lady named Mary Todd had come to Springfield to live.
+Her father was a rich and important man in Kentucky. Mary was pretty and
+well educated. Abe was a little afraid of her, but one night at a party
+he screwed up his courage to ask her for a dance.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Miss Todd," he said, "I would like to dance with you the worst way."
+
+As he swept her around the dance floor, he bumped into other couples. He
+stepped on her toes. "Mr. Lincoln," said Mary, as she limped over to a
+chair, "you did dance with me the worst way--the very worst."
+
+She did not mind that he was not a good dancer. As she looked up into
+Abe's homely face, she decided that he had a great future ahead of him.
+She remembered something she had once said as a little girl: "When I
+grow up, I want to marry a man who will be President of the United
+States."
+
+Abe was not the only one who liked Mary Todd. Among the other young men
+who came to see her was another lawyer, Stephen A. Douglas. He was no
+taller than Mary herself, but he had such a large head and shoulders
+that he had been nicknamed "the Little Giant." He was handsome, and
+rich, and brilliant. His friends thought that he might be President some
+day.
+
+"No," said Mary, "Abe Lincoln has the better chance to succeed."
+
+Anyway, Abe was the man she loved. The next year they were married.
+
+"I mean to make him President of the United States," she wrote to a
+friend in Kentucky. "You will see that, as I always told you, I will yet
+be the President's wife."
+
+At first Mary thought that her dream was coming true. In 1846 Abe was
+elected a member of the United States Congress in Washington. He had
+made a good start as a political leader, and she was disappointed when
+he did not run for a second term. Back he came to Springfield to
+practice law again. By 1854 there were three lively boys romping through
+the rooms of the comfortable white house that he had bought for his
+family. Robert was eleven, Willie was four, and Tad was still a baby.
+The neighbors used to smile to see Lawyer Lincoln walking down the
+street carrying Tad on his shoulders, while Willie clung to his
+coattails. The boys adored their father.
+
+Mary did, too, but she wished that Abe would be more dignified. He sat
+reading in his shirt sleeves, and he got down on the floor to play with
+the boys. His wife did not think that was any way for a successful
+lawyer to act. It also worried her that he was no longer interested in
+politics.
+
+And then something happened that neither Mary nor Abe had ever expected.
+Their old friend, Stephen A. Douglas, who was now a Senator in
+Washington, suggested a new law. Thousands of settlers were going West
+to live, and in time they would form new states. The new law would make
+it possible for the people in each new state to own slaves, if most of
+the voters wanted to.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was so aroused and indignant that he almost forgot his
+law practice. He traveled around Illinois making speeches. There were no
+laws against having slaves in the South, but slavery must be kept out of
+territory that was still free, he said. The new states should be places
+"for poor people to go to better their condition." Not only that, but it
+was wrong for one man to own another. Terribly wrong.
+
+"If the Negro is a man," he told one audience, "then my ancient faith
+teaches me that all men are created equal."
+
+Perhaps he was thinking of the first time he had visited a slave market.
+He was remembering the words in the Declaration of Independence that had
+thrilled him as a boy.
+
+Two years later Abraham Lincoln was asked to be a candidate for the
+United States Senate. He would be running against Douglas. Abe wanted
+very much to be a Senator. Even more he wanted to keep slavery out of
+the new states. Taking part in the political campaign would give him a
+chance to say the things that he felt so deeply.
+
+"I am convinced I am good enough for it," he told a friend, "but in
+spite of it all I am saying to myself every day, 'It is too big a thing
+for you; you will never get it.' Mary insists, however, that I am going
+to be Senator and President of the United States, too."
+
+Perhaps it was his wife's faith in him that gave him the courage to
+try. Never was there a more exciting campaign. Never had the people of
+Illinois been so stirred as during that hot summer of 1858. A series of
+debates was held in seven different towns. The two candidates--Douglas,
+"the little Giant," and "Old Abe, the Giant Killer," as his friends
+called him--argued about slavery. People came from miles around to hear
+them.
+
+On the day of a debate, an open platform for the speakers was decorated
+with red-white-and-blue bunting. Flags flew from the housetops. When
+Senator Douglas arrived at the railroad station, his friends and
+admirers met him with a brass band. He drove to his hotel in a fine
+carriage.
+
+Abe had admirers, too. Sometimes a long procession met him at the
+station. Then Abe would be embarrassed. He did not like what he called
+"fizzlegigs and fireworks." But he laughed when his friends in one town
+drove him to his hotel in a hay wagon. This was their way of making fun
+of Douglas and his fine manners.
+
+Senator Douglas was an eloquent orator. While he was talking, some of
+Abe's friends would worry. Would Old Abe be able to answer? Would he be
+able to hold his own? Then Abe would unfold his long legs and stand up.
+"The Giant Killer" towered so high above "the Little Giant" that a
+titter ran through the crowd.
+
+When he came to the serious part of his speech, there was silence. His
+voice reached to the farthest corners of the crowd, as he reminded them
+what slavery really meant. He summed it up in a few words: "You work and
+toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it."
+
+Both men worked hard to be elected. And Douglas won. "I feel like the
+boy," said Abe, "who stubbed his toe. It hurts too bad to laugh, and I
+am too big to cry."
+
+All of those who loved him--Mary, his wife, in her neat white house;
+Sarah, his stepmother, in her little cabin, more than a hundred miles
+away; and his many friends--were disappointed. But not for long. The
+part he took in the Lincoln-Douglas debates made his name known
+throughout the United States.
+
+Abe Lincoln's chance was coming.
+
+
+
+
+15
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+During the next two years Abraham Lincoln was asked to make many
+speeches. "Let us have faith that right makes might," he told one
+audience in New York, "and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do
+our duty as we understand it."
+
+At the end of the speech, several thousand people rose to their feet,
+cheering and waving their handkerchiefs. His words were printed in
+newspapers. Throughout the Northern States, men and women began to think
+of him as the friend of freedom.
+
+By 1860 he was so well known that he was nominated for President of the
+United States. Stephen A. Douglas was nominated by another political
+party. Once more the two rivals were running for the same office.
+
+Several thousands of Abraham Lincoln's admirers called themselves "Wide
+Awakes." There were Wide Awake Clubs in near every Northern town. Night
+after night they marched in parades, carrying flaming torches and
+colored lanterns. And as they marched, they sang:
+
+  "Hurrah! for our cause--of all causes the best!
+   Hurrah! for Old Abe, Honest Abe of the West."
+
+No one enjoyed the campaign excitement more than did Willie and Tad
+Lincoln. They did their marching around the parlor carpet, singing
+another song:
+
+  "Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
+   Out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness,
+   Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
+     Down in Illinois."
+
+People everywhere were talking about Old Abe, and he received a great
+deal of mail. Some of the letters came from Pigeon Creek. Nat Grigsby,
+his old schoolmate, wrote that his Indiana friends were thinking of him.
+Dave Turnham wrote. It was in Dave's book that Abe had first read the
+Declaration of Independence. A package arrived from Josiah Crawford who
+had given him his _Life of Washington_. The package contained a piece of
+white oak wood. It was part of a rail that Abe had split when he was
+sixteen years old. Josiah thought that he might like to have it made
+into a cane.
+
+Hundreds of other letters came from people he had never seen. One from
+New York state made him smile.
+
+"I am a little girl only eleven years old," the letter read, "but want
+you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you
+won't think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are.... I
+have got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway and if
+you will let your whiskers grow I will try to get the rest of them to
+vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so
+thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands
+to vote for you and then you would be President...."
+
+The letter was signed "Grace Bedell." In less than two weeks she
+received an answer. Abraham Lincoln, who loved children, took her
+advice. By election day on November 6, 1860, he had started to grow a
+beard.
+
+He spent the evening of election day in the telegraph office. Report
+after report came in from different parts of the country. He was
+gaining. He was winning. After a while he knew--his friends knew--all
+Springfield knew--that Abraham Lincoln was to be the next President of
+the United States. Outside in the streets the crowds were celebrating.
+They were singing, shouting, shooting off cannons. Abe told his friends
+that he was "well-nigh upset with joy."
+
+"I guess I'd better go home now," he added. "There is a little woman
+there who would like to hear the news."
+
+Mary was asleep when he entered their bedroom. Her husband touched her
+on the shoulder. "Mary, Mary," he said with a low chuckle, "we are
+elected."
+
+By February the Lincolns were ready to move. Abe tied up the trunks and
+addressed them to "A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington, D.C." Before
+he left Illinois there was a visit he wanted to make to a log farmhouse
+a hundred and twenty-five miles southeast of Springfield. His father had
+been dead for ten years, but his stepmother was still living there.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Travel was slow in those days, and he had to change trains several
+times. There was plenty of time to think. He knew that hard days lay
+ahead. There were many Southerners who said that they were afraid to
+live under a President who was against slavery. Several Southern states
+had left the Union and were starting a country of their own. For the
+United States to be broken up into two different nations seemed to him
+the saddest thing that could possibly happen. As President, Abraham
+Lincoln would have a chance--he must make the chance--to preserve the
+Union. He could not know then that he would also have a chance to free
+the slaves--a chance to serve his country as had no other President
+since George Washington.
+
+His thoughts went back to his boyhood. Even then he had wanted to be
+President. What had once seemed an impossible dream was coming true. He
+thought of all the people who had encouraged and helped him. He thought
+of his mother who, more than any one person, had given him a chance to
+get ahead.
+
+"Mother!" Whenever Abe said the word, he was thinking of both Nancy and
+Sarah.
+
+Sarah was waiting by the window. A tall man in a high silk hat came
+striding up the path.
+
+"Abe! You've come!" She opened the door and looked up into the sad, wise
+face.
+
+"Of course, Mother." He gave her the kind of good bear hug he had given
+her when he was a boy. "I am leaving soon for Washington. Did you think
+I could go so far away without saying good-by?"
+
+The word spread rapidly that he was there. One after another the
+neighbors dropped in, until the little room was crowded. As he sat
+before the fireplace, talking with all who came, Sarah seemed to see,
+not a man about to become President, but a forlorn-looking little boy.
+She had loved that little boy from the moment she first saw him. He had
+always been a good son to her--a better son than her own John.
+
+When the last visitor had gone, she drew her chair closer. It was good
+to have a few minutes alone together.
+
+"Abe," she told him, "I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousand
+can say."
+
+He looked at her inquiringly.
+
+"You never gave me a cross word in your life. I reckon your mind and
+mine, that is--" she laughed, embarrassed, "what little mind I had,
+seemed to run together."
+
+He reached over and laid a big hand on her knee. She put her wrinkled,
+work-hardened hand on his.
+
+When the time came to say good-by, she could hardly keep the tears back.
+"Will I ever see you again?" she asked. "What if something should happen
+to you, Abe? I feel it in my heart--"
+
+"Now, now, Mother." He held her close. "Trust in the Lord and all will
+be well."
+
+"God bless you, Abraham."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He kissed her and was gone. "He was the best boy I ever saw," she
+thought, as she watched him drive away.
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT THE AUTHOR
+
+
+Growing up in southern Indiana, not far from where Abraham Lincoln spent
+his boyhood, Frances Cavanah has always had a special interest in
+Lincoln and the people who knew him. Furthermore, she is recognized
+today as one of America's leading writers of historical books for boys
+and girls. She has written many books for young people and has also been
+associate editor of _Child Life Magazine_. One of her most interesting
+and beautiful books is OUR COUNTRY'S STORY, a fascinating
+introduction to American history, told in terms simple enough for
+children under nine. Miss Cavanah now lives in Washington, D.C., and
+devotes all of her time to writing.
+
+
+ABOUT THE ARTIST
+
+Paula Hutchison was born in Helena, Montana, and attended schools in the
+State of Washington until she came east to attend Pratt Institute in
+Brooklyn, New York. After graduating, she studied for several years in
+Paris, London, and Florence and made painting trips to Cornwall, the
+English lake district, and Scotland. She now lives in a small town on
+the New Jersey shore where she and her husband have a six-acre farm, on
+which she has her studio. Miss Hutchison has illustrated a great many
+books for children and has also illustrated a number which she has
+written herself.
+
+The Library of Congress catalogs this book as follows:
+
+     Cavanah, Frances. Abe Lincoln gets his chance. Illustrated by Paula
+     Hutchison. Chicago, Rand McNally [1959] 92 p. illus. 24 cm. 1.
+     Lincoln, Abraham, Pres. U.S.--Fiction. I. Title PZ7.C28Ab
+     813.54 59-5789++
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 17315-8.txt or 17315-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/3/1/17315/
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
diff --git a/17315-8.zip b/17315-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6c872ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-8.zip
diff --git a/17315-h.zip b/17315-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e060d2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h.zip
diff --git a/17315-h/17315-h.htm b/17315-h/17315-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff41a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/17315-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,3405 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by FRANCES CAVANAH.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
+/*<![CDATA[  XML blockout */
+<!--
+    p {  margin-top: .75em;
+         text-align: justify;
+         margin-bottom: .75em;
+         }
+    h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {
+         text-align: center; /* all headings centered */
+         clear: both;
+         }
+    hr { width: 33%;
+	 margin-top: 2em;
+	 margin-bottom: 2em;
+         margin-left: auto;
+         margin-right: auto;
+         clear: both;
+       }
+
+    img {border:0;}
+    table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;}
+
+    body{margin-left: 10%;
+         margin-right: 10%;
+        }
+
+    .author {text-align: right; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .linenum  {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */
+    .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .pagenum  {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; visibility: hidden; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */
+
+    .bb       {border-bottom: solid 2px;}
+    .bl       {border-left: solid 2px;}
+    .bt       {border-top: solid 2px;}
+    .br       {border-right: solid 2px;}
+    .bbox     {border: solid 2px;}
+
+    .center   {text-align: center;}
+    .smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
+    .u        {text-decoration: underline;}
+
+    .caption  {font-weight: bold;}
+
+    .figcenter   {margin: auto; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figleft     {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top:
+                 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    .figright  {margin-left: 16em; margin-bottom: -1em;
+                 margin-top: -1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;}
+
+    // -->
+    /* XML end  ]]>*/
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
+
+Author: Frances Cavanah
+
+Illustrator: Paula Hutchison
+
+Release Date: December 15, 2005 [EBook #17315]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[Pg 4]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-010f.jpg" alt="Weekly Reader Motif." title="Weekly Reader Motif." /></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[Pg 5]</span></p>
+<h2>WEEKLY READER</h2>
+
+<h3>Children's Book Club</h3>
+
+<p class='center'>Education Center &middot; Columbus 16, Ohio</p>
+
+<h3>PRESENTS</h3>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-007f.jpg" alt="Cottage." title="Cottage." /></div>
+<h1>Abe Lincoln</h1>
+<h1>Gets His Chance</h1>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-005f.jpg" alt="Hat and Umbrella." title="Hat and Umbrella." /></div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[Pg 6]</span></p>
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-006f.jpg" alt="Abe felling a tree" title="Abe felling a tree" /></div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[Pg 7]</span></p>
+<hr style="width: 45%;" />
+
+
+<h3><i>by</i> FRANCES CAVANAH</h3>
+
+<h4><i>illustrated by</i> Paula Hutchison</h4>
+
+<p class='center'>RAND McNALLY &amp; COMPANY</p>
+
+<p class='center'>CHICAGO &middot; NEW YORK &middot; SAN FRANCISCO<br /><br /></p>
+
+<h4><b>PHILIP JAN NADELMAN</b><br /><br /></h4>
+
+<p class='center'><b>WEEKLY READER</b><br /><b>Children's Book Club</b><br /><b>Edition, 1959</b></p>
+
+<p class='center'>COPYRIGHT &copy; 1959 BY RAND MCNALLY &amp; COMPANY</p>
+
+<p class='center'>COPYRIGHT 1959 UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT UNION</p>
+
+<p class='center'>BY RAND McNALLY &amp; COMPANY</p>
+
+<p class='center'>ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</p>
+
+<p class='center'>PRINTED IN U.S.A.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>BY AMERICAN BOOK-STRATFORD PRESS, INC., N.Y.</p>
+
+<p class='center'>A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 59-5789</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<blockquote><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[Pg 9]</span>In writing this story of Abraham Lincoln, the author depended primarily
+on Lincoln's own statements and on the statements of his family and
+friends who had firsthand knowledge of his everyday life. In instances
+when dialogue had to be imagined, the conversation might logically have
+taken place in the light of known circumstances. Such descriptive
+details as were necessarily added were based on authentic accounts of
+pioneer times.</p>
+
+<p class='author'>F.C.</p></blockquote>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-009f.jpg" alt="Riding tackle." title="Riding tackle." /></div>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" width="60%" cellspacing="0" summary="TABLE OF CONTENTS">
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_1">CHAPTER 1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_2">CHAPTER 2</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_3">CHAPTER 3</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_4">CHAPTER 4</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_5">CHAPTER 5</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_6">CHAPTER 6</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_7">CHAPTER 7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_8">CHAPTER 8</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_9">CHAPTER 9</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_10">CHAPTER 10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_11">CHAPTER 11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_12">CHAPTER 12</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_13">CHAPTER 13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_14">CHAPTER 14</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_15">CHAPTER 15</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a href="images/map.png"><img src="images/map-tb.png" alt="Map of Abe's home states." title="Map of Abe's home states." /></a></div>
+<h4>States where Lincoln was born and lived.</h4>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[Pg 10]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[Pg 11]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_1" id="CHAPTER_1"></a>1</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-011f.jpg" alt="Mother and baby." title="Mother and baby." /></div>
+
+
+<p>There was a new boy baby at the Lincoln cabin! By cracky! thought Dennis
+Hanks as he hurried up the path, he was going to like having a boy
+cousin. They could go swimming together. Maybe they could play Indian.
+Dennis pushed open the cabin door.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is he?" he shouted. "Where is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sh!" A neighbor, who had come in to help, put her finger to her lips.
+"The baby is asleep."</p>
+
+<p>Nancy Lincoln was lying on the pole bed in a corner of the one-room
+house. She looked very white under the dark bearskin covering, but when
+she heard Dennis she raised her head. "It's all right, Denny," she said.
+"You can see him now."</p>
+
+<p>Dennis tiptoed over to the bed. A small bundle, wrapped in a homespun
+shawl, rested in the curve of Nancy's arm. When she pulled <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[Pg 12]</span>back the
+shawl, Dennis could not think of anything to say. The baby was so
+wrinkled and so red. It looked just like a cherry after the juice had
+been squeezed out.</p>
+
+<p>Nancy touched one of the tiny hands with the tip of her finger. "See his
+wee red fists and the way he throws them around!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"What's his name?" Dennis asked at last.</p>
+
+<p>"We're calling him after his grandpappy. Abraham Lincoln!"</p>
+
+<p>"That great big name for that scrawny little mite?"</p>
+
+<p>Nancy sounded hurt. "Give him a chance to grow, will you?"</p>
+
+<p>Then she saw that Dennis was only teasing. "You wait!" she went on. "It
+won't be long before Abe will be running around in buckskin breeches and
+a coonskin cap."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, maybe&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and Tom Lincoln, the baby's father, came in. With him
+was Aunt Betsy Sparrow. She kissed Nancy and carried the baby over to a
+stool by the fireplace. Making little cooing noises under her breath,
+she dressed him in a white shirt and a yellow flannel petticoat. Sally
+Lincoln, two years old, who did not know quite what to make of the new
+brother, came over and stood beside her. Dennis drew up another stool
+and watched.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Betsy looked across at him and smiled. Dennis, an orphan, lived
+with her and she knew that he was often lonely. There weren't many
+people living in Kentucky in the year 1809, and Dennis had no boys to
+play with.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you're mighty tickled to have a new cousin," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I guess so," said Dennis slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"Want to hold him?"</p>
+
+<p>Dennis was not quite sure whether he did or not. Before he could answer,
+Aunt Betsy laid the baby in his arms. Sally edged closer. She started to
+put out her hand, but pulled it back. Abraham was so small that she was
+afraid to touch him.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you fret, Sally," said Dennis. "Cousin Nancy said that he is
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[Pg 13]</span>going to grow. And when he does, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm
+going to teach him to swim."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-013f.jpg" alt="Abe as a young boy." title="Abe as a young boy." /></div>
+
+<p>Looking down into the tiny red face, Dennis felt a sudden warm glow in
+his heart. "Yes, and we can go fishing down at the creek. When I go to
+the mill to get the corn ground, he can come along. He can ride behind
+me on the horse, and when it goes cloppety-clop&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Dennis swung the baby back and forth. It puckered up its face and began
+to cry. Dennis caught his breath in dismay. How could such a large noise
+come out of such a small body?</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Aunt, take him quick!"</p>
+
+<p>He looked at Cousin Nancy out of the corner of his eye. "I reckon he'll
+never come to much."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, Dennis Hanks, I want you to behave," said Aunt Betsy, but this
+time Nancy paid no attention to his teasing. She held out her arms for
+her son and cuddled him against her breast.</p>
+
+<p>"As I told you," she said gaily, "you have to give him a chance to
+grow."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[Pg 14]</span>It was almost dark by the time Aunt Betsy had tidied the one-room
+cabin. She cooked some dried berries for Nancy, and fed Sally. Dennis
+begged to spend the night. After his aunt had put on her shawl and left
+for her own cabin, he curled up in a bearskin on the floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Denny," asked Nancy, "what day is this?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's Sunday&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean what day of the month."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't rightly know, Cousin Nancy."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember now," she went on. "It is the twelfth day of February.
+February 12, 1809! Little Abe's birthday!"</p>
+
+<p>Outside the wind rose, whistling through the bare branches of the trees.
+There was a blast of cold air as the door opened. Tom came in, his arms
+piled high with wood. He knelt on the dirt floor to build up the fire,
+and the rising flames lit the log walls with a faint red glow.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you glad it's a boy, Tom?" Nancy asked as he lay down beside her.
+"I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Tom, but when she spoke to him again, he did not answer. He
+was asleep. She could see his tired face in the firelight. Life had been
+hard for Tom; it was hard for most pioneers. She hoped that their
+children would have things a little easier. The baby whimpered, and she
+held him closer.</p>
+
+<p>Denny's voice piped up: "Cousin Nancy, will Abe ever grow to be as big
+as me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bigger'n you are now," she told him.</p>
+
+<p>"Will he grow as big as Cousin Tom?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bigger'n anybody, maybe."</p>
+
+<p>Nancy looked down at her son, now peacefully asleep. She made a song for
+him, a song so soft it was almost a whisper: "Abe&mdash;Abe," she crooned.
+"Abe Lincoln, you be going to grow&mdash;and grow&mdash;and grow!"</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[Pg 15]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_2" id="CHAPTER_2"></a>2</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-015f.jpg" alt="Abe learns to swim." title="Abe learns to swim." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Abraham Lincoln did grow. He seemed to grow bigger every day. By the
+time he was seven, he was as tall as his sister, although Sally was two
+years older. That fall their father made a trip up to Indiana.</p>
+
+<p>"Why did Pappy go so far away?" Sally asked one afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>"When is he coming home?" asked Abe.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty soon, most likely."</p>
+
+<p>Nancy laid down her sewing and tried to explain. Their pa had had a hard
+time making a living for them. He was looking for a better farm. Tom was
+also a carpenter. Maybe some of the new settlers who were going to
+Indiana to live would give him work. Anyway, he thought that poor folks
+were better off up there.</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked surprised. He had never thought about being poor. There were
+so many things that he liked to do in Kentucky. He liked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[Pg 16]</span>to go swimming
+with Dennis after his chores were done. There were fish to be caught and
+caves to explore. He and Sally had had a chance to go to school for a
+few weeks. Abe could write his name, just like his father. He could read
+much better. Tom knew a few words, but his children could read whole
+sentences.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-016f.jpg" alt="Walking with Pa and a horse." title="Walking with Pa and a horse." /></div>
+
+<p>Abe leaned up against his mother. "Tell us the story with our names," he
+begged.</p>
+
+<p>Nancy put her arm around him. She often told the children stories from
+the Bible. One of their favorites was about Abraham and Sarah. "Now the
+Lord said unto Abraham," she began&mdash;and stopped to listen.</p>
+
+<p>The door opened, and Tom Lincoln stood grinning down at them. "Well,
+folks," he said, "we're moving to Indiany."</p>
+
+<p>Nancy and the children, taken by surprise, asked questions faster than
+Tom could answer them. He had staked out a claim about a hundred miles
+to the north, at a place called Pigeon Creek. He was buying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[Pg 17]</span>the land
+from the government and could take his time to pay for it. He wanted to
+start for Indiana at once, before the weather got any colder.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-017f.jpg" alt="Nancy and Sally riding." title="Nancy and Sally riding." /></div>
+
+<p>It did not take long to get ready. A few possessions&mdash;a skillet, several
+pans, the water buckets, the fire shovel, a few clothes, a homespun
+blanket, a patchwork quilt, and several bearskins&mdash;were packed on the
+back of one of the horses. Nancy and Sally rode on the other horse. Abe
+and his father walked. At night they camped along the way.</p>
+
+<p>When at last they reached the Ohio River, Abe stared in surprise. It was
+so blue, so wide, so much bigger than the creek where he and Dennis had
+gone swimming. There were so many boats. One of them, a long low raft,
+was called a ferry. The Lincolns went right on board with their pack
+horses, and it carried them across the shining water to the wooded
+shores of Indiana.</p>
+
+<p>Indiana was a much wilder place than Kentucky. There was no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[Pg 18]</span>road
+leading to Pigeon Creek; only a path through the forest. It was so
+narrow that sometimes Tom had to clear away some underbrush before they
+could go on. Or else he had to stop to cut down a tree that stood in
+their way. Abe, who was big and strong for his age, had his own little
+ax. He helped his father all he could.</p>
+
+<p>Fourteen miles north of the river, they came to a cleared place in the
+forest. Tom called it his "farm." He hastily put up a shelter&mdash;a camp
+made of poles and brush and leaves&mdash;where they could stay until he had
+time to build a cabin. It had only three walls. The fourth side was left
+open, and in this open space Tom built a fire. The children helped their
+mother to unpack, and she mixed batter for cornbread in a big iron
+skillet. She cut up a squirrel that Tom had shot earlier in the day, and
+cooked it over the campfire.</p>
+
+<p>"Now if you will fetch me your plates," she said, "we'll have our
+supper."</p>
+
+<p>The plates were only slabs of bark. On each slab Nancy put a piece of
+fried squirrel and a hunk of cornbread. The children sank down on one of
+the bearskins to eat their first meal in their new home. By this time it
+was quite dark. They could see only a few feet beyond the circle of
+light made by their campfire.</p>
+
+<p>Nancy shivered. She knew that they had neighbors. Tom had told her there
+were seven other families living at Pigeon Creek. But the trees were so
+tall, the night so black, that she had a strange feeling that they were
+the only people alive for miles around.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you like it here, Mammy?" Abe asked. To him this camping out was
+an adventure, but he wanted his mother to like it, too.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just feeling a little cold," she told him.</p>
+
+<p>"I like it," said Sally decidedly. "But it is sort of scary. Are you
+scared, Abe?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me?" Abe stuck out his chest. "What is there to be scared of?"</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a long-drawn-out howl came from the forest. Another
+seemed to come from just beyond their campfire. Then another and
+another&mdash;each howl louder and closer. The black cur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[Pg 19]</span>tain of the night
+was pierced by two green spots of light. The children huddled against
+their mother, but Tom Lincoln laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon I know what you're scared of. A wolf."</p>
+
+<p>"A wolf?" Sally shrieked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yep. See its green eyes. But it won't come near our fire."</p>
+
+<p>He got up and threw on another log. As the flames blazed higher, the
+green lights disappeared. There was a crashing sound in the underbrush.</p>
+
+<p>"Hear him running away? Cowardly varmint!" Tom sat down again. "No wolf
+will hurt us if we keep our fire going."</p>
+
+<p>It was a busy winter. Abe worked side by side with his father. How that
+boy can chop! thought Nancy, as she heard the sound of his ax biting
+into wood. Tree after tree had to be cut down before crops could be
+planted. With the coming of spring, he helped his father to plow the
+stumpy ground. He learned to plow a straight furrow. He planted seeds in
+the furrows.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, some of the neighbors helped Tom build a cabin. It had
+one room, with a tiny loft above. The floor was packed-down dirt. There
+were no windows. The only door was a long, up-and-down hole cut in one
+wall and covered by a bearskin. But Tom had made a table and several
+three-legged stools, and there was a pole bed in one corner. Nancy was
+glad to be living in a real house again, and she kept it neat and clean.</p>
+
+<p>She was no longer lonely. Aunt Betsy and her husband, Uncle Thomas,
+brought Dennis with them from Kentucky to live in the shelter near the
+Lincoln cabin. Several other new settlers arrived, settlers with
+children. A schoolmaster, Andrew Crawford, decided to start a school.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you'll have a chance to go, Abe," Nancy told him. "You know what
+the schoolmaster down in Kentucky said. He said you were a learner."</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked up at her and smiled. He was going to like living in Indiana!</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[Pg 20]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_3" id="CHAPTER_3"></a>3</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-020f.jpg" alt="Sally keeping house." title="Sally keeping house." /></div>
+
+
+<p>But sad days were coming to Pigeon Creek. There was a terrible sickness.
+Aunt Betsy and Uncle Thomas died, and Dennis came to live with the
+Lincolns. Then Nancy was taken ill. After she died, her family felt that
+nothing would ever be the same again.</p>
+
+<p>Sally tried to keep house, but she was only twelve. The one little room
+and the loft above looked dirtier and more and more gloomy as the weeks
+went by. Sally found that cooking for four people was not easy. The
+smoke from the fireplace got into her eyes. Some days Tom brought home a
+rabbit or a squirrel for her to fry. On other days, it was too cold to
+go hunting. Then there was only cornbread to eat and Sally's cornbread
+wasn't very good.</p>
+
+<p>It was hard to know who missed Nancy more&mdash;Tom or the children. He sat
+around the cabin looking cross and glum. The ground <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[Pg 21]</span>was frozen, so very
+little work could be done on the farm. He decided, when Andrew Crawford
+started his school, that Abe and Sally might as well go. There was
+nothing else for them to do, and Nancy would have wanted it.</p>
+
+<p>For the first time since his mother's death Abe seemed to cheer up.
+Every morning, except when there were chores to do at home, he and Sally
+took a path through the woods to the log schoolhouse. Master Crawford
+kept a "blab" school. The "scholars," as he called his pupils, studied
+their lessons out loud. The louder they shouted, the better he liked it.
+If a scholar didn't know his lesson, he had to stand in the corner with
+a long pointed cap on his head. This was called a dunce cap.</p>
+
+<p>One boy who never had to wear a dunce cap was Abe Lincoln. He was too
+smart. His side won nearly every spelling match. He was good at
+figuring, and he had the best handwriting of anyone at school. Master
+Crawford taught reading from the Bible, but he had several other books
+from which he read aloud. Among Abe's favorite stories were the ones
+about some wise animals that talked. They were by a man named Aesop who
+had lived hundreds of years before.</p>
+
+<p>Abe even made up compositions of his own. He called them "sentences."
+One day he found some of the boys being cruel to a terrapin, or turtle.
+He made them stop. Then he wrote a composition in which he said that
+animals had feelings the same as folks.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes Abe's sentences rhymed. There was one rhyme that the children
+thought was a great joke:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Abe Lincoln, his hand and pen,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">He will be good, but God knows when."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"That Abe Lincoln is funny enough to make a cat laugh," they said.</p>
+
+<p>They always had a good time watching Abe during the class in "Manners."
+Once a week Master Crawford had them practice being ladies and
+gentlemen. One scholar would pretend to be a stranger <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[Pg 22]</span>who had just
+arrived in Pigeon Creek. He would leave the schoolhouse, come back,
+and knock at the door. Another scholar would greet "the stranger," lead
+him around the room, and introduce him.</p>
+
+<p>One day it was Abe's turn to do the introducing. He opened the door to
+find his best friend, Nat Grigsby, waiting outside. Nat bowed low, from
+the waist. Abe bowed. His buckskin trousers, already too short, slipped
+up still farther, showing several inches of his bare leg. He looked so
+solemn that some of the girls giggled. The schoolmaster frowned and
+pounded on his desk. The giggling stopped.</p>
+
+<p>"Master Crawford," said Abe, "this here is Mr. Grigsby. His pa just
+moved to these parts. He figures on coming to your school."</p>
+
+<p>Andrew Crawford rose and bowed. "Welcome," he said. "Mr. Lincoln,
+introduce Mr. Grigsby to the other scholars."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-022f.jpg" alt="Abe at school." title="Abe at school." /></div>
+
+<p>The children sat on two long benches made of split logs. Abe led Nat
+down the length of the front bench. Each girl rose and made a curtsy.
+Nat bowed. Each boy rose and bowed. Nat returned the bow. Abe kept
+saying funny things under his breath that the school<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[Pg 23]</span>master could not
+hear. But the children heard, and they could hardly keep from laughing
+out loud.</p>
+
+<p>Sally sat on the second bench. "Mrs. Lincoln," said Abe in a high
+falsetto voice, "this here be Mr. Grigsby."</p>
+
+<p>While she was making her curtsy, Sally's cheeks suddenly grew red.
+"Don't let on I told you, Mr. Grigsby," Abe whispered, "but Mrs. Lincoln
+bakes the worst cornbread of anyone in Pigeon Creek."</p>
+
+<p>Sally forgot that they were having a lesson in manners. "Don't you dare
+talk about my cornbread," she said angrily.</p>
+
+<p>The little log room rocked with laughter. This time Master Crawford had
+also heard Abe's remark. He walked over to the corner where he kept a
+bundle of switches. He picked one up and laid it across his desk.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have no more monkeyshines," he said severely. "Go on with the
+introducing."</p>
+
+<p>One day Abe almost got into real trouble. He had started for school
+early, as he often did, so that he could read one of Master Crawford's
+books. He was feeling sad as he walked through the woods; he seemed to
+miss his mother more each day. When he went into the schoolhouse, he
+looked up and saw a pair of deer antlers. Master Crawford had gone
+hunting. He had shot a deer and nailed the antlers above the door.</p>
+
+<p>What a wonderful place to swing! thought Abe. He leaped up and caught
+hold of the prongs. He began swinging back and forth.</p>
+
+<p>CRASH! One prong came off in his hand, and he fell to the floor. He
+hurried to his seat, hoping that the master would not notice.</p>
+
+<p>But Master Crawford was proud of those antlers. When he saw what had
+happened, he picked up the switch on his desk. It made a swishing sound
+as he swung it back and forth.</p>
+
+<p>"Who broke my deer antlers?" he shouted.</p>
+
+<p>No one answered. Abe hunched down as far as he could on the bench. He
+seemed to be trying to hide inside his buckskin shirt.</p>
+
+<p>Master Crawford repeated his question. "Who broke my deer <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[Pg 24]</span>antlers? I
+aim to find out, if I have to thrash every scholar in this school."</p>
+
+<p>All of the children looked scared, Abe most of all. But he stood up. He
+marched up to Master Crawford's desk and held out the broken prong that
+he had been hiding in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I did it, sir," he said. "I didn't mean to do it, but I hung on the
+antlers and they broke. I wouldn't have done it, if I had thought they'd
+a broke."</p>
+
+<p>The other scholars thought that Abe would get a licking. Instead, Master
+Crawford told him to stay in after school. They had a long talk. He
+liked Abe's honesty in owning up to what he had done. He knew how much
+he missed his mother. Perhaps he understood that sometimes a boy "cuts
+up" to try to forget how sad he feels.</p>
+
+<p>Abe felt sadder than ever after Master Crawford moved away from Pigeon
+Creek. Then Tom Lincoln left. One morning he rode off on horseback
+without telling anyone where he was going. Several days went by. Even
+easy-going Dennis was worried when Tom did not return.</p>
+
+<p>Abe did most of the chores. In the evening he practiced his sums. Master
+Crawford had taught him to do easy problems in arithmetic, and he did
+not want to forget what he had learned. He had no pen, no ink, not even
+a piece of paper. He took a burnt stick from the fireplace and worked
+his sums on a flat board.</p>
+
+<p>He wished that he had a book to read. Instead, he tried to remember the
+stories that the schoolmaster had told. He repeated them to Sally and
+Dennis, as they huddled close to the fire to keep warm. He said them
+again to himself after he went to bed in the loft.</p>
+
+<p>There were words in some of the stories that Abe did not understand. He
+tried to figure out what the words meant. He thought about the people in
+the stories. He thought about the places mentioned and wondered what
+they were like.</p>
+
+<p>There were thoughts inside Abraham Lincoln's head that even Sally did
+not know anything about.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[Pg 25]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_4" id="CHAPTER_4"></a>4</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-025f.jpg" alt="Abe eating Sally's cornbread." title="Abe eating Sally's cornbread." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Abe took another bite of cornbread and swallowed hard. "Don't you like
+it?" asked Sally anxiously. "I know it doesn't taste like the cornbread
+Mammy used to make."</p>
+
+<p>She looked around the room. The furniture was the same as their mother
+had used&mdash;a homemade table and a few three-legged stools. The same
+bearskin hung before the hole in the wall that was their only door. But
+Nancy had kept the cabin clean. She had known how to build a fire that
+didn't smoke. Sally glanced down at her faded linsey-woolsey dress,
+soiled with soot. The dirt floor felt cold to her bare feet. Her last
+pair of moccasins had worn out weeks ago.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind the cornbread&mdash;at least, not much." Abe finished his
+piece, down to the last crumb. "If I seem down in the mouth, Sally, it
+is just because&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[Pg 26]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-026f.jpg" alt="Abe at the fireplace." title="Abe at the fireplace." /></div>
+<p>He walked over to the fireplace, where he stood with his back to the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>"He misses Nancy," said Dennis bluntly, "the same as the rest of us.
+Then Tom has been gone for quite a spell."</p>
+
+<p>Sally put her hand on Abe's shoulder. "I'm scared. Do you reckon
+something has happened to Pappy? Isn't he ever coming back?"</p>
+
+<p>Abe stared into the fire. He was thinking of the wolves and panthers
+loose in the woods. There were many dangers for a man riding alone over
+the rough forest paths. The boy wanted to say something to comfort
+Sally, but he had to tell the truth. "I don't know, I&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped to listen. Few travelers passed by their cabin in the winter,
+but he was sure that he heard a faint noise in the distance. It sounded
+like the creak of wheels. The noise came again&mdash;this time much closer. A
+man's voice was shouting: "Get-up! Get-up!"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it's Pappy!" Abe pushed aside the bearskin and rushed outside.
+Sally and Dennis were right behind him.</p>
+
+<p>"It <i>is</i> Pappy," Sally cried. "But look&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Tom Lincoln had left Pigeon Creek on horseback. He was returning in a
+wagon drawn by four horses. He was not alone. A strange woman sat beside
+him, holding a small boy in her lap. Two girls, one about Sally's age,
+the other about eight, stood behind her. The wagon was piled high with
+furniture&mdash;more furniture than the Lincoln children had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[Pg 27]</span>"Whoa, there!" Tom Lincoln pulled at the reins and brought the wagon to
+a stop before the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Here we are, Sarah." He jumped down and held out his hand to help the
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>She was very neat looking, tall and straight, with neat little curls
+showing at the edge of her brown hood. She said, "Tsch! Tsch!" when she
+saw Tom's children. She stared at their soiled clothing, their matted
+hair, their faces smudged with soot. "Tsch! Tsch!" she said again, and
+Abe felt hot all over in spite of the cold wind. He dug the toe of his
+moccasin into the frozen ground.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe! Sally!" their father said. "I've brought you a new mammy. This
+here is the Widow Johnston. That is, she was the Widow Johnston." He
+cleared his throat. "She is Mrs. Lincoln now. I've been back to Kentucky
+to get myself a wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy!" The new Mrs. Lincoln was trying to sound cheerful. She beckoned
+to the children in the wagon. They jumped down and stood beside her.
+"These here are my young ones," she went on. "The big gal is Betsy. The
+other one is Mathilda. This little shaver is Johnny."</p>
+
+<p>Dennis came forward to be introduced, but he had eyes only for Betsy.
+She gave him a coy look out of her china-blue eyes. Tilda smiled shyly
+at Sally. Both of the Johnston girls wore pretty linsey-woolsey dresses
+under their shawls and neat moccasins on their feet. Sally, looking down
+at her own soiled dress and bare toes, wished that she could run away
+and hide. Abe said "Howdy" somewhere down inside his stomach.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, Tom's new wife, looked around the littered yard, then at the
+cabin. It did not even have a window! It did not have a door that would
+open and shut&mdash;only a ragged bearskin flapping in the wind. She had
+known Tom since he was a boy and had always liked him. Her first
+husband, Mr. Johnston, had died some time before, and when Tom had
+returned to Kentucky and asked her to marry him, she had said yes. He
+had told her that his children needed a mother's care, and he was right.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[Pg 28]</span>Poor young ones! she thought. Aloud she said, "Well, let's not all
+stand out here and freeze. Can't we go inside and get warm?"</p>
+
+<p>The inside of the cabin seemed almost as cold as the outdoors. And even
+more untidy. Johnny clung to his mother's skirt and started to cry. He
+wanted to go back to Kentucky. His sisters peered through the gloom,
+trying to see in the dim light. Sally was sure that they were looking at
+her. She sat down hastily and tucked her feet as far back as she could
+under the stool. Abe stood quite still, watching this strange woman who
+had come without warning to take his mother's place.</p>
+
+<p>She smiled at him. He did not smile back.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she turned and looked around. Her clear gray eyes took in every
+nook, every crack of the miserable little one-room house. She noticed
+the dirty bearskins piled on the pole bed in the corner. She saw the
+pegs in the wall that led to the loft. The fire smoldering in the
+fireplace gave out more smoke than heat.</p>
+
+<p>"The first thing we'd better do," she said, taking off her bonnet, "is
+to build up that fire. Then we'll get some victuals ready. I reckon
+everybody will feel better when we've had a bite to eat."</p>
+
+<p>From that moment things began to happen in the Lincoln cabin. Tom went
+out to the wagon to unhitch the horses. Dennis brought in more firewood.
+Abe and Mathilda started for the spring, swinging the water pail between
+them. Betsy mixed a fresh batch of cornbread in the iron skillet, and
+Sally set it on the hearth to bake. Tom came back from the wagon,
+carrying a comb of honey and a slab of bacon, and soon the magic smell
+of frying bacon filled the air. There were no dishes, but Sally kept
+large pieces of bark in the cupboard. Eight people sat down at the one
+little table, but no one seemed to mind that it was crowded.</p>
+
+<p>The Lincoln children had almost forgotten how good bacon could taste.
+Abe ate in silence, his eyes on his plate. Sally seemed to feel much
+better. Sitting between her stepsisters, she was soon chattering with
+them as though they were old friends. Once she called the new Mrs.
+Lincoln "Mamma," just as her own daughters did.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[Pg 29]</span> Dennis sat on the other
+side of Betsy. He seemed to be enjoying himself most of all. He sopped
+up his last drop of golden honey on his last piece of cornbread.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-029f.jpg" alt="Gathered round the table." title="Gathered round the table." /></div>
+
+<p>"I declare," he said, grinning, "we ain't had a meal like this since
+Nancy died."</p>
+
+<p>Abe jumped up at the mention of his mother's name. He was afraid that he
+was going to cry. He had started for the door, when he felt his father's
+rough hand on his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe Lincoln, you set right down there and finish your cornbread."</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked up at Tom out of frightened gray eyes. But he shook his head.
+"I can't, Pa."</p>
+
+<p>"A nice way to treat your new ma!" Tom Lincoln sounded both angry and
+embarrassed. "You clean up your plate or I'll give you a good hiding."</p>
+
+<p>The young Johnstons gasped. Abe could hear Sally's whisper: "Please,
+Abe! Do as Pa says." Then he heard another voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Let the boy be, Tom." It was Sarah Lincoln speaking.</p>
+
+<p>There was something about the way she said it that made Abe decide to
+come back and sit down. He managed somehow to eat the rest of his
+cornbread. He looked up and saw that she was smiling at him again. He
+almost smiled back.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked relieved. "Abe and I," she said, "are going to have plenty
+of chance to get acquainted."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[Pg 30]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_5" id="CHAPTER_5"></a>5</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-030f.jpg" alt="Abe fetching water." title="Abe fetching water." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Sarah Rose from the table. "There's a lot of work to be done here," she
+announced, "before we can bring in my plunder." She meant her furniture
+and other possessions in the wagon. "First, we'll need plenty of hot
+water. Who wants to go to the spring?"</p>
+
+<p>She was looking at Abe. "I'll go, ma'am." He grabbed the water bucket
+and hurried through the door.</p>
+
+<p>Abe made several trips to the spring that afternoon. Each bucket full of
+water that he brought back was poured into the big iron kettle over the
+fireplace. Higher and higher roared the flames. When Sarah wasn't asking
+for more water, she was asking for more wood. The steady chop-chop of
+Tom's ax could be heard from the wood lot.</p>
+
+<p>Everyone was working, even Dennis. Sarah gave him a pan of soap and hot
+water and told him to wash the cabin walls. The girls <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[Pg 31]</span>scrubbed the
+table, the three-legged stools, and the corner cupboard inside and out.
+Sarah climbed the peg ladder to peer into the loft.</p>
+
+<p>"Tsch! Tsch!" she said, when she saw the corn husks and dirty bearskins
+on which the boys had been sleeping. "Take them out and burn them, Tom."</p>
+
+<p>"Burn them?" he protested.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and burn the covers on the downstairs bed, too. I reckon I have
+enough feather beds and blankets to go around. We're starting fresh in
+this house. We'll soon have it looking like a different place."</p>
+
+<p>Not since Nancy died had the cabin had such a thorough cleaning. Then
+came the most remarkable part of that remarkable afternoon&mdash;the
+unloading of the wagon. Sarah's pots and pans shone from much scouring.
+Her wooden platters and dishes were spotless. And the furniture! She had
+chairs with real backs, a table, and a big chest filled with clothes.
+There was one bureau that had cost forty-five dollars. Abe ran his
+finger over the shining dark wood. Sarah hung a small mirror above it
+and he gasped when he looked at his reflection. This was the first
+looking glass that he had ever seen.</p>
+
+<p>Most remarkable of all were the feather beds. One was laid on the pole
+bed, downstairs. Another was placed on a clean bearskin in the opposite
+corner to provide a sleeping place for the girls. The third was carried
+to the loft for the three boys. When Abe went to bed that night, he sank
+down gratefully into the comfortable feathers. The homespun blanket that
+covered him was soft and warm.</p>
+
+<p>On either side, Dennis and Johnny were asleep. Abe lay between them,
+wide awake, staring into the darkness. The new Mrs. Lincoln was good and
+kind. He knew that. She had seemed pleased when Sally called her
+"Mamma." Somehow he couldn't. There was still a lonesome place in his
+heart for his own mother.</p>
+
+<p>Something else was worrying him. Before going to bed, Sarah Lincoln had
+looked at him and Sally out of her calm gray eyes. "Tomorrow I aim to
+make you young ones look more human," she said. Abe wondered what she
+meant.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[Pg 32]</span>He found out the next morning. Tom and Dennis left early to go hunting.
+Abe went out to chop wood for the fireplace. When he came back, he met
+the three girls going down the path. Sally was walking between her two
+stepsisters, but what a different Sally! She wore a neat, pretty dress
+that had belonged to Betsy. She had on Sarah's shawl. Her hair was
+combed in two neat pigtails. Her face had a clean, scrubbed look. Her
+eyes were sparkling. She was taking Betsy and Mathilda to call on one of
+the neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-by, Mamma," she called.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah stood in the doorway, waving to the girls. Then she saw Abe, his
+arms piled high with wood. "Come in," she said. "Sally has had her bath.
+Now I've got a tub of good hot water and a gourd full of soap waiting
+for you. Skedaddle out of those old clothes and throw them in the fire."</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't got any others." Abe looked terrified.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't aim to pluck your feathers without giving you some new ones."
+Sarah laughed. "I sat up late last night, cutting down a pair of Mr.
+Johnston's old pants. I got a shirt, too, laid out here on the bed."</p>
+
+<p>Slowly Abe started taking off his shirt. He looked fearfully at the tub
+of hot water.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no call to be scared," said Sarah. "That tub won't bite. Now
+I'm going down to the spring. By the time I get back, I want you to have
+yourself scrubbed all over."</p>
+
+<p>Abe stuck one toe into the water. He said, "Ouch!" and drew it out. He
+then tried again, and put in his whole foot. He put in his other foot.
+He sat down in the tub. By the time Sarah returned he was standing
+before the fire, dressed in the cut-down trousers and shirt of the late
+Mr. Johnston.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah seemed pleased. "You look like a different boy," she said. "Those
+trousers are a mite too big, but you'll soon grow into them."</p>
+
+<p>Abe was surprised how good it felt to be clean again. "Thank you, ma'am.
+Now I'd better get in some more wood."</p>
+
+<p>"We have plenty of wood," said Sarah. "You see that stool? You <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[Pg 33]</span>sit down
+and let me get at your hair. It looks like a heap of underbrush."</p>
+
+<p>Abe watched anxiously when she opened the top drawer of the bureau and
+took out a haw comb and a pair of scissors. I'll stand for it this time,
+he thought, because she's been so good to us. But if she pulls too
+hard&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Lincoln <i>did</i> pull. But when Abe said "Ouch!" she patted his
+shoulder and waited a moment. He closed his eyes and screwed up his
+face, but he said nothing more. Perhaps she couldn't help pulling, he
+decided. Lock after lock she snipped off. He began to wonder if he was
+going to have any hair left by the time she got through.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been watching you, Abe. You're a right smart boy," she said. "Had
+much schooling?"</p>
+
+<p>"I've just been to school by littles."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you a mind to go again?"</p>
+
+<p>"There ain't any school since Master Crawford left. Anyhow, Pappy
+doesn't set much store by eddication."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-033f.jpg" alt="Cutting Abe's hair." title="Cutting Abe's hair." /></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[Pg 34]</span>"What do you mean, Abe?"</p>
+
+<p>"He says I know how to read and write and cipher and that's enough for
+anyone."</p>
+
+<p>"You can read?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes'm, but I haven't any books."</p>
+
+<p>"You can read and you haven't any books. I have books and I can't read."</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked at her, amazed. "You have <i>books</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah nodded, but said nothing more until she had finished cutting his
+hair. Then she led him over to the bureau.</p>
+
+<p>"Now see if you don't like yourself better without that brush heap on
+top of your head," she asked him.</p>
+
+<p>A boy with short neat hair gazed back at Abe from the mirror.</p>
+
+<p>"I still ain't the prettiest boy in Pigeon Creek," he drawled, "but
+there ain't quite so much left to be ugly. I'm right glad, ma'am, you
+cleared away the brush heap."</p>
+
+<p>Was he joking? He looked so solemn that Sarah could not be sure. Then he
+grinned. It was the first time that she had seen him smile.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a caution, Abe," she said. "Now sit yourself down over there at
+the table, and I'll show you my books."</p>
+
+<p>She opened the top drawer of the bureau and took out four worn little
+volumes. Although she could not read, she knew the titles: "Here they
+are: <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, <i>Pilgrim's Progress</i>, <i>Sinbad the Sailor</i>, and
+<i>Aesop's Fables</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, ma'am, this book by Mr. Aesop is one the schoolmaster had. The
+stories are all about some smart talking animals."</p>
+
+<p>He seemed to have forgotten her, as he bent his neat shorn head down
+over the pages. He chuckled when he read something that amused him.
+Sarah watched him curiously. He was not like her John. He was not like
+any boy that she had ever known. But the hungry look in his eyes went
+straight to her heart.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[Pg 35]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-035f.jpg" alt="Abe reading." title="Abe reading." /></div>
+<p>He looked up at her shyly. "Ma'am," he said, "will you let me read these
+books sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Abe, you can read them any time you like. I'm giving them to you
+to keep."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, <i>Mamma</i>!" The name slipped out as though he were used to saying it.
+He had a feeling that Nancy, his own mother, had never gone away.</p>
+
+<p>"You're my boy, now," Sarah told him, "and I aim to help you all I can.
+The next time a school keeps in these parts, I'm going to ask your pappy
+to let you and the other children go."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, ma'am," said Abe. "I mean&mdash;thank you, Mamma."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[Pg 36]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_6" id="CHAPTER_6"></a>6</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-036f.jpg" alt="Sarah makes the cabin into a home." title="Sarah makes the cabin into a home." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Many changes were taking place in the Lincoln cabin. Sarah persuaded Tom
+to cut two holes in the walls for windows, and she covered them with
+greased paper to let in the light. He made a wooden door that could be
+shut against the cold winter winds. Abe and Dennis gave the walls and
+low ceiling a coat of whitewash, and Sarah spread her bright rag rugs on
+the new wooden floor.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Sairy," Dennis told her, "you're some punkins. One just naturally
+has to be somebody when you're around."</p>
+
+<p>Abe smiled up at her shyly. "It is sort of like the magic in that story
+of Sinbad you gave me."</p>
+
+<p>The other children were asleep. Abe sprawled on the floor, making marks
+on a wooden shovel with a pointed stick. Tom, seated in one of his
+wife's chairs, was dozing on one side of the fireplace.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[Pg 37]</span>Sarah put down her knitting and looked around the cabin. "The place
+does look right cozy," she replied. "What is that you're doing, Abe?"</p>
+
+<p>"Working my sums."</p>
+
+<p>Tom opened his eyes. "You know how to figure enough already. Put that
+shovel up and go to bed."</p>
+
+<p>Abe took a knife and scraped the figures from the wooden shovel. He
+placed it against one side of the fireplace. "Good night, Mamma," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Abe."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's eyes were troubled. She waited until Dennis had joined Abe in
+the loft, then turned to her husband. "I've been meaning to tell you,
+Tom, what a good pa you've been to my young ones."</p>
+
+<p>She saw that he was pleased. "I've tried to be a good mother to Abe and
+Sally, too," she went on.</p>
+
+<p>"You have been, Sairy. They took to you right off."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm right glad, but there's something else I want to talk to you about,
+Tom." He was nodding again in his chair, and she paused to make sure
+that he was listening. "Abe's a smart boy. I told him the next time a
+school keeps in these parts, I'd ask you to let him and the other
+children go."</p>
+
+<p>"Humph!" Tom grunted. "There ain't any school for him to go to. Anyway,
+he wastes enough time as 'tis. He's always got his nose buried in those
+books you brought."</p>
+
+<p>"That bothers me, too. I saw you cuff him the other day because he was
+reading."</p>
+
+<p>"I had to, Sairy. I told him to come out and chop some wood, but he up
+and laughed in my face."</p>
+
+<p>"He wasn't laughing at you, Tom. He was laughing at Sinbad."</p>
+
+<p>"Who in tarnation is Sinbad?"</p>
+
+<p>"A fellow in one of his books. Abe said that Sinbad sailed his flatboat
+up to a rock, and the rock was magnetized and pulled all the nails out
+of his boat. Then Sinbad fell into the water."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[Pg 38]</span>"That's what I mean," Tom exploded. "Dennis told him that book was most
+likely lies, but Abe keeps on reading it. Where is all this book
+learning going to get him? More'n I ever had."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe the Lord meant for young ones to be smarter than their parents,"
+said Sarah, "or the world might never get any better."</p>
+
+<p>Tom shook his head in dismay. "Women and their fool notions! If I don't
+watch out, you'll be spoiling the boy more'n his own mammy did."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's cheeks were red as she bent over her knitting. Tom was right
+about one thing. There was no school for Abe to go to. But some day
+there would be. Every few weeks another clearing was made in the forest,
+and the neighbors gathered for a "house raising" to help put up a cabin.
+Then smoke would rise from a new chimney, and another new home would be
+started in the wilderness.</p>
+
+<p>With so many new settlers, there was usually plenty of work for Abe.
+Whenever Tom did not need him at home, he hired out at twenty-five cents
+a day. He gave this money to his father. That was the law, Tom said. Not
+until Abe was twenty-one would he be allowed to keep his wages for
+himself. As a hired boy, he plowed corn, chopped wood, and did all kinds
+of chores. He did not like farming, but he managed to have fun.</p>
+
+<p>"Pa taught me to work," Abe told one farmer who had hired him, "but he
+never taught me to love it."</p>
+
+<p>The farmer scratched his head. He couldn't understand a boy who was
+always reading, and if Abe wasn't reading he was telling jokes. The
+farmer thought that Abe was lazy.</p>
+
+<p>"Sometimes," the farmer said, "I get awful mad at you, Abe Lincoln. You
+crack your jokes and spin your yarns, if you want to, while the men are
+eating their dinner. But don't you keep them from working."</p>
+
+<p>The other farm hands liked to gather around Abe when they stopped to eat
+their noon meal. Sometimes he would stand on a tree stump and
+"speechify." The men would become so interested that they would be late
+getting back to the fields. Other times he would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[Pg 39]</span>tell them stories that
+he had read in books or that he had heard from some traveler who had
+passed through Pigeon Creek. He nearly always had a funny story to tell.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-039f.jpg" alt="Abe telling funny stories." title="Abe telling funny stories." /></div>
+
+<p>Yet there was "something peculiarsome about Abe," as Dennis Hanks once
+said. He would be laughing one minute; the next minute he would look
+solemn and sad. He would walk along the narrow forest trails, a faraway
+look in his eyes. Someone would say "Howdy, Abe." Then he would grin and
+start "cracking jokes" again.</p>
+
+<p>Although he worked such long hours, Abe still found time to read. He sat
+up late and got up early in the morning, and Sarah made the children
+keep quiet when he wanted to study. Sometimes he took a book to work
+with him. Instead of talking to the other farm hands at noon, he'd go
+off by himself and read a few pages while he ate his dinner. People for
+miles around loaned him books. Sometimes he walked fifteen miles to
+Rockport, the county seat, to borrow books from John Pitcher, the town
+lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>"Everything I want to know is in books," he told Dennis. "My best friend
+is a man who can give me a book I ain't read."</p>
+
+<p>Late one afternoon, about two years after Sarah had arrived, Abe came
+home with a new book under his arm. Tom and Dennis had joined several of
+their neighbors in a big bear hunt and planned to be gone for several
+days. Abe planned to read&mdash;and read&mdash;and read.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[Pg 40]</span>"What do you think, Mamma?" he asked. "I have a chance to read the
+Declaration of Independence."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah smiled into his eager eyes. "Now isn't that nice?"</p>
+
+<p>He showed her the book. It belonged to David Turnham, the constable. Mr.
+Turnham had said that Abe might borrow it for several days, if he
+promised to be careful.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it about?" Sarah asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It has the laws of Indiana in it, and it tells how the government of
+our country was started." Abe's voice took on a new tone of excitement.
+"It has the Declaration of Independence in it and the Constitution,
+too."</p>
+
+<p>He pulled a stool up to the fire and began to read. There was no sound
+in the little cabin except the steady click-click of Sarah's knitting
+needles. She glanced at him now and then. This tall, awkward boy had
+become very dear to her. As dear as her own children, perhaps even
+dearer, but he was harder to understand. No matter how much he learned,
+he wanted to learn more. He was always hungry, hungry for knowledge&mdash;not
+hungry for bacon and cornbread the way Johnny was. The idea made her
+chuckle.</p>
+
+<p>Abe did not hear. He laid the book on his knee and stared into the
+flames. His lips were moving, although he made no sound.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you saying to yourself?" Sarah asked. "You look so far away."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Mamma." Abe looked up with a start. "I was just recollecting some
+of the words out of the Declaration of Independence. It says all men are
+created equal."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean to tell me!" Sarah was pleased because Abe was.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to learn as much of the Declaration as I can by heart, before
+I take the book back," he said. "That way I can always keep the words."</p>
+
+<p>"I declare," said Sarah, "you grow new ideas inside your head as fast as
+you add inches on top of it."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[Pg 41]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_7" id="CHAPTER_7"></a>7</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-041f.jpg" alt="Abe growing taller." title="Abe growing taller." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Abe went right on adding inches. By the time he was fourteen he was as
+tall as his father. Sally was working as a hired girl that summer for
+Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Crawford. Abe worked for them off and on. One
+afternoon he finished his chores early, and Mrs. Crawford sent him home.
+Abe was glad. Josiah had lent him a new book&mdash;a life of George
+Washington&mdash;and he wanted to start reading it.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the Lincoln cabin, he found Betsy and Mathilda waiting
+outside for their mother. She stood before the mirror in the cabin
+putting on her sunbonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Your pa and Dennis have gone squirrel hunting," she said, as she tied
+the strings in a neat bow beneath her chin. "The gals and I are going to
+visit a new neighbor. Will you keep an eye on Johnny and put some
+'taters on to boil for supper?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[Pg 42]</span>"Oh, Ma, not potatoes again?"</p>
+
+<p>"They will be right tasty with a mess of squirrel. Before you put the
+'taters on&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Abe patted the book inside his shirt front. "I can read?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"You can, after you go down to the horse trough and wash your head."</p>
+
+<p>"Wash my head? How come?" Abe wailed.</p>
+
+<p>"Take a look at that ceiling, and you'll know how come. See that dark
+spot? Your head made that. You're getting so tall you bump into the
+ceiling every time you climb into the loft."</p>
+
+<p>Abe rolled his eyes upward. "If some of that learning I've got cooped up
+in my head starts leaking out, how can I help it?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah refused to be put off by any of his foolishness. "When you track
+dirt into the house, I can wash the floor," she said. "But I can't get
+to the ceiling so easy. It needs a new coat of whitewash, but there's no
+use in doing it if your head ain't clean."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said Abe meekly.</p>
+
+<p>"Take a gourdful of soap with you," said Sarah. "And mind you, no
+reading until you finish washing your hair."</p>
+
+<p>He grumbled under his breath as he walked down to the horse trough. With
+a new book waiting to be read, washing his hair seemed a waste of time.
+But if that was what Sarah wanted, he would do it. He lathered his head
+with soap and ducked it into the water. Some of the soap got into his
+eyes and he began to sputter. He heard a giggle.</p>
+
+<p>"Hey, Johnny, is that you?" he said. "Get a bucket of water&mdash;quick!"</p>
+
+<p>Johnny, the eight-year-old stepbrother, was glad to oblige. He poured
+bucket after bucket of water over Abe's head. Finally all of the soap
+was rinsed out of his hair. Abe took the tail of his shirt and wiped the
+soap out of his eyes. Both boys were covered with water. The ground
+around the horse trough was like a muddy little swamp.
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[Pg 43]</span>
+Johnny was delighted. He liked to feel the mud squish up between his
+toes.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-043f.jpg" alt="Abe washing his hair." title="Abe washing his hair." /></div>
+
+<p>"Look at me, Abe," he shouted. "Ain't we having fun?"</p>
+
+<p>Abe took his young stepbrother by the hand. His eyes were twinkling.
+"I've thought of something else that's fun. Come on, we're going to play
+a joke on Mamma."</p>
+
+<p>When Sarah returned to the cabin late that afternoon, she noticed that
+Abe's hair was still damp. He was very quiet as he stood by the
+fireplace and swung the big kettle outward. He dipped out the potatoes
+with an iron spoon. Tom and Dennis came in, both somewhat grumpy. They
+had not brought back a single squirrel.</p>
+
+<p>Only Johnny seemed in good spirits. He whispered in Mathilda's ear. They
+both began to giggle. By the time the family had gathered around the
+table, Betsy and Dennis had been let in on the secret, whatever it was.
+They were red in the face from trying not to laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Quiet!" said Tom. "Quiet, while I say the blessing."</p>
+
+<p>"We thank thee. Lord&mdash;" he began.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[Pg 44]</span>Tom usually gave thanks for each kind of food on the table. But today
+there was only a dish of dried-up potatoes. "We thank Thee, Lord," he
+went on, "for all these blessings."</p>
+
+<p>"Mighty poor blessings," said Abe.</p>
+
+<p>The girls giggled again. Dennis threw back his head and roared. Johnny
+was laughing so hard that he fell off his stool. He lay on the floor,
+rolling and shrieking.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you young ones would stop carrying on," said Sarah, "and tell me
+what you're carrying on about."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-044f.jpg" alt="Muddy footprints on the ceiling." title="Muddy footprints on the ceiling." /></div>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mamma, can't you see?" said Betsy. "Look up."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah gasped. Marching across the cabin ceiling were the muddy marks of
+two bare feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't they look like Johnny's feet?" Mathilda asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Johnny Johnston, you come right here," said Sarah sternly.</p>
+
+<p>Johnny picked himself up from the rag rug before the fireplace. He went
+over and stood before his mother. His blue eyes danced. This was one
+scolding that he looked forward to.</p>
+
+<p>"Now tell me the truth. What do you mean by&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah paused. She could hardly scold her son for walking on the ceiling.</p>
+
+<p>Johnny had been told exactly what to say. "I got my feet all muddy down
+at the horse trough," he explained. "Then I walked on the ceiling."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[Pg 45]</span>"You walked on the ceiling? Johnny Johnston, you know it's wicked to
+lie."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not lying. Those are my footprints."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked again. The footprints were too small to belong to anyone
+but Johnny. She looked at Abe. He seemed to have taken a sudden liking
+for boiled potatoes and kept his eyes on his plate.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe Lincoln, is this some of your tomfoolery?"</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I reckon so."</p>
+
+<p>"But how&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It was easy," Johnny interrupted. "I held my legs stiff and Abe held me
+upside down, and I walked."</p>
+
+<p>Abe stood up, pushing back his stool. He glanced toward the door.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was not often angry. When she was, she reminded her children of a
+mother hen ruffling its feathers. "Well, Abe, have you got anything to
+say for yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>Abe shook his head. Suddenly his joke did not seem quite so funny.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare!" said Sarah. "A big boy like you! You ought to be spanked."</p>
+
+<p>The children looked at tall, lanky Abe towering over their mother. They
+burst out laughing again. "Mamma's going to spank Abe!" they chanted.
+"Mamma's going to spank Abe."</p>
+
+<p>Dennis brought both hands down on the table with a loud whack. "That's a
+good one, that is," he roared.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah threw her apron over her head. The children watched the peculiar
+way the apron began to shake. When she took it down, they saw that she
+was laughing. She was laughing so hard that the tears ran down her
+cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon I'll have to let you off, Abe," she said. "You'd be a mite too
+big for me to handle."</p>
+
+<p>Tom jumped up. "He ain't too big for me. He ain't too big for a
+good-sized hickory switch."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[Pg 46]</span>Sarah bit her lip, her own brief anger forgotten. "Now, Tom," she
+protested.</p>
+
+<p>"You ain't going to talk me out of it this time."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I was aiming to whitewash the ceiling, Pa," said Abe. "Ma said it
+needed a fresh coat."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked relieved. "That is exactly what he can do. Whitewash the
+ceiling."</p>
+
+<p>"He can after I've given him a licking."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah put out her hand. "Sit down, Tom, and finish your 'taters before
+they get cold. I figure it this way. Before Abe starts reading that new
+book, he can whitewash the ceiling. The walls, too. That ought to learn
+him not to cut up any more didos."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah pulled down her mouth, trying to look stern. Tom sat down and
+started to eat his potato.</p>
+
+<p>"You're a good one, Sairy," he chuckled. "You sure know how to get work
+out of him."</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked at her gratefully. At the same time he was disappointed. He
+had been thinking about that book all afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Sarah shooed everyone out of the cabin. Abe was down by
+the horse trough, mixing the whitewash in a big tub. By the time he
+returned, she had a bucket of hot water and a gourdful of soft soap
+ready. After washing the inside of the cabin he got busy with the
+whitewash. First he did the walls. Then he did the rafters and the
+ceiling. He cocked his head, gazing at the muddy footprints.</p>
+
+<p>"They make a right pretty picture, ma'am. Shall I leave them on for
+decoration?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, seated on a stool by the fireplace, looked up from her sewing.
+"Abe, you big scamp. You get that ceiling nice and white, or I'll be
+carrying out my threat."</p>
+
+<p>The corners of her mouth were twitching. Abe grinned, glad to be at
+peace with her again.</p>
+
+<p>"After I finish here," he asked, "do you have any more chores?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[Pg 47]</span>"No, Abe. I reckon there will be time for you to do some reading. But
+first, you finish your whitewashing. Then there's something I want to
+talk to you about."</p>
+
+<p>Abe dipped his brush into the whitewash again and again, until he had
+covered up the last telltale mark of Johnny's feet. The cabin was bright
+and shining when he finished. He pulled another stool up to the
+fireplace and sat facing Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"I wasn't meaning to tell you just yet," she said. "Leastways until I
+had a chance to talk to your pa."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, Mamma?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's a new neighbor come to Pigeon Creek," she said. "Man by the
+name of James Swaney. He is farming now, but he is fixing to keep a
+school next winter."</p>
+
+<p>Abe jumped up and stood looking down at her. "Do you reckon that Pa&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Your pa is worried," Sarah interrupted. "Money-worried. He may have to
+sell some of his land. That's why he gets riled so easy&mdash;like
+yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>Abe flushed.</p>
+
+<p>"I want you to be careful," said Sarah. "Try not to get his dander up."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try not to."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you recollect what I promised you when I first came. I said I'd
+ask your pa to let you go to school again. Now I'm a body that believes
+in keeping my promises. I just want to wait till he feels good."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's sewing basket spilled to the floor, as Abe pulled her to her
+feet. He put his long arms around her waist and gave her a good bear
+hug.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe Lincoln, you're most choking me," she said breathlessly. "Here I
+was thinking how grown up you were getting to be. Now you be acting like
+a young one again."</p>
+
+<p>Abe kissed her on the cheek.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[Pg 48]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_8" id="CHAPTER_8"></a>8</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-048f.jpg" alt="Abe sat up late, reading." title="Abe sat up late, reading." /></div>
+
+
+<p>Abe sat up late, holding his book close to the flickering flames in the
+fireplace. As the rain drummed on the roof, his thoughts were far away.
+He was with General Washington in a small boat crossing the Delaware
+River on a cold Christmas night many years before. He was fighting the
+battle of Trenton with a handful of brave American soldiers. They must
+have wanted very much to be free, he decided, to be willing to fight so
+hard and suffer so much.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it getting too dark for you to see?" Sarah called sleepily.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Mamma."</p>
+
+<p>Carefully Abe placed the precious little volume between two logs in the
+wall of the cabin. This was his bookcase. As he climbed into the loft he
+wondered if the book told about the time George Washington became
+President. He would have to wait until morning to find out.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[Pg 49]</span>He was up early. But his face grew pale when he reached for the book.
+During the night the rain had leaked in on it through a crack in the
+logs. The pages were wet and stuck together. The binding was warped.
+Sally was starting down the path toward the Crawford cabin when Abe
+called after her.</p>
+
+<p>"Wait! I'm coming with you."</p>
+
+<p>He thrust the book inside his buckskin shirt. Sally tried to comfort
+him, but Abe kept wondering what Mr. Crawford was going to say. He was a
+little scared of Josiah. Some of the boys called him "Old Bluenose"
+because of the large purple vein on the side of his nose. It made him
+look rather cross. He probably would want Abe to pay for the book, and
+Abe had no money.</p>
+
+<p>He opened the Crawford gate and marched up to the kitchen door. Josiah,
+his wife Elizabeth, and Sammy, their little boy, were having breakfast.
+When Abe explained what had happened, Mrs. Crawford patted his shoulder.
+He liked her. She was always nice to him, but he knew that her husband
+was the one who would decide about the book. Josiah took it in his big
+hands and looked at the stained pages.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Abe," he said slowly, "I won't be hard on you. If you want to
+pull fodder three days for me, that ought to pay for the book."</p>
+
+<p>"Starting right now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yep, starting right now." Josiah was actually smiling. "Then you can
+have the book to keep."</p>
+
+<p>Abe caught his breath. What a lucky boy he was! Three days' work and he
+could keep the book! He would have a chance to read about George
+Washington any time he wanted to.</p>
+
+<p>Never had he worked harder or faster than he did that morning. When the
+noon dinner bell rang, he seemed to be walking on air as he followed
+Josiah into the cabin. Sally was putting dinner on the table. Abe
+slipped up behind her and pulled one of her pigtails. Taken by surprise,
+she jumped and dropped a pitcher of cream. The pitcher did not break,
+but the cream spilled and spread over the kitchen floor.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[Pg 50]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-050f.jpg" alt="Abe makes Sally spill the cream." title="Abe makes Sally spill the cream." /></div>
+<p>"Abe Lincoln! Look what you made me do!" cried Sally. "I just washed
+that floor. And look at that good cream going to waste."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tain't going to waste." Abe pointed to Elizabeth Crawford's cat, which
+was lapping up the delicious yellow stream. Then he began to sing:
+"Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop trying to show off!" said Sally.</p>
+
+<p>She was angry, but Sammy, Elizabeth's little boy, shouted with delight.
+That was all the encouragement Abe needed. The fact that he could not
+carry a tune did not seem to bother him.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Skip to my Lou, my darling."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Sally was down on her hands and knees, wiping up the cream. "Stop
+singing that silly song, and help me."</p>
+
+<p>Instead, Abe danced a jig. He leaned down and pulled her other pigtail.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[Pg 51]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-051f.jpg" alt="The cat cleans up the cream." title="The cat cleans up the cream." /></div>
+<p>"Sally's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo."</p>
+
+<p>"That's enough, Abe," said Elizabeth Crawford.</p>
+
+<p>"Skip to my Lou, my darling." He whirled around on his bare feet and
+made a sweeping bow. Sally was close to tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe, I told you to stop," said Elizabeth Crawford. "You ought to be
+ashamed, teasing your sister. If you keep on acting that way, what do
+you think is going to become of you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me?" Abe drew himself up. "What's going to become of me? I'm going to
+be President."</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth looked at him, a lanky barefoot boy with trousers too short.
+His shirt was in rags. His black hair was tousled. She sank into a
+chair, shaking with laughter. "A pretty President you'd make, now
+wouldn't you?"</p>
+
+<p>She had no sooner spoken than she wanted to take back the words. All of
+the joy went out of his face. Sally was too angry to notice.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[Pg 52]</span>"Maybe you're going to be President," she said. "But first you'd better
+learn to behave."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I was just funning, Sally."</p>
+
+<p>Something in his voice made Sally look up. She saw the hurt expression
+in his eyes. "I know you were," she said hastily. "I'm not mad any
+more."</p>
+
+<p>Abe ate his dinner in silence. He did not seem to be the same boy who
+had been cutting up only a few minutes before. Elizabeth kept telling
+herself that she should not have laughed at him. He did try to show off
+sometimes. But he was a good boy. She thought more of him than of any of
+the other young folks in Pigeon Creek. Not for anything would she have
+hurt his feelings. When he pushed back his stool, she followed him out
+into the yard.</p>
+
+<p>"About your being President," she said. "I wasn't aiming to make fun of
+you. I just meant that you&mdash;with all your tricks and jokes&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon I know what you meant," said Abe quietly. "All the same, Mrs.
+Crawford, I don't always mean to delve and grub and such like."</p>
+
+<p>There was a look of determination on his face that she had not seen
+before. "I think a heap of you," she went on, "and I don't want to see
+you disappointed. It's a fine thing to be ambitious. But don't let
+reading about George Washington give you notions that can't come to
+anything."</p>
+
+<p>Abe threw back his shoulders. "I aim to study and get ready and then the
+chance will come."</p>
+
+<p>He lifted his battered straw hat, and started down the path toward the
+field. He walked with dignity. Elizabeth had not realized that he was so
+tall.</p>
+
+<p>"I declare," she said, "he really means it!"</p>
+
+<p>Sammy had come up and heard her. "Means what. Mamma?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Elizabeth took his hand. "Didn't you know, Sammy? Abe is fixing to be
+President some day."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[Pg 53]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_9" id="CHAPTER_9"></a>9</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-053f.jpg" alt="The Lincolns on their way to church." title="The Lincolns on their way to church." /></div>
+<p>On Sunday morning the Lincolns went to church. All except Sarah. She had
+a headache.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll go, Ma," said Abe. "When I come back, I'll tell you what the
+preacher said."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah smiled at him fondly. Abe could listen to a sermon, then come home
+and repeat it almost word for word. "I'd rather hear you preachify," she
+said, "than the preacher himself."</p>
+
+<p>Tom and his family walked single file into the log meeting house and
+took their places on one of the long wooden benches. John Carter,
+sitting on the bench in front of them, turned and nodded. Carter had
+promised to buy the Lincolns' south field. He would have the papers
+ready for Tom to sign on Monday. Tom needed the money, but the very
+thought of selling any of his land made him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[Pg 54]</span>grumpy. He twisted and
+turned on the hard wooden bench during the long sermon. He hardly heard
+a word that the preacher was saying.</p>
+
+<p>Abe leaned forward and listened eagerly. The preacher was a tall, thin
+man. He flung his arms about. His voice grew louder and hoarser as the
+morning passed. He paused only to catch his breath or when the members
+of the congregation shouted, "Amen." After the final hymn, he stood at
+the door shaking hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Brother Lincoln," he said, "I want you to meet up with a new neighbor.
+This here is Mr. Swaney."</p>
+
+<p>Tom shook hands. Then the preacher introduced Abe.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you the new schoolmaster?" Abe asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't figure on starting school till after harvest," Mr. Swaney
+replied. "Will you be one of my scholars?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd sure like to come." Abe glanced at his father.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon not," said Tom stiffly. "Abe has had as much schooling as he
+needs."</p>
+
+<p>Back at the cabin, Sarah had dinner on the table. Tom cheered up as he
+and Dennis started "swapping yarns." Both were good storytellers and
+each tried to tell a better story than the other.</p>
+
+<p>Abe did not like being left out of the conversation. "Pa," he asked,
+"can you answer me a question about something in the Bible?"</p>
+
+<p>"I figure I can answer any question you got sense enough to ask."</p>
+
+<p>Johnny and Mathilda nudged each other. They knew what was coming. One
+day when the preacher stopped by, Abe had asked him the same question.
+The preacher had been downright flustered when he couldn't answer.</p>
+
+<p>"It's just this, Pa," Abe went on. "Who was the father of Zebedee's
+children?"</p>
+
+<p>Tom flushed. "Any uppity young one can ask a question. But can he answer
+it? Suppose <i>you</i> tell <i>me</i> who was the father of Zebedee's children?"</p>
+
+<p>"I sort of figured," said Abe, "that Zebedee was."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[Pg 55]</span>Everyone was laughing except Tom. Then he laughed, too. Sarah was glad.
+Abe had told her that Mr. Swaney was at church. She was going to talk to
+her husband that very afternoon about sending the children to school,
+and she wanted him to be in a good humor.</p>
+
+<p>"What did the preacher have to say?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well&mdash;" Tom was trying to remember. "What he said sort of got lost in
+the way he was saying it. How some of those preachers do hop and skip
+about!"</p>
+
+<p>"I like to hear a preacher who acts like he's fighting bees," said Abe.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah nodded. The description fitted the preacher "like his own
+moccasin," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"You menfolks wait outside," she added. "Soon as the gals and I get the
+dishes done, we'll be out to hear Abe preachify."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-055f.jpg" alt="Abe repeats the sermon." title="Abe repeats the sermon." /></div>
+
+<p>The afternoon was warm. Sarah fanned herself with her apron as she sat
+down at one end of a fallen log near the door. The rest of the family
+lined up beside her. Abe stood before them, his arms folded, as he
+repeated the sermon he had heard that morning. Now and then he paused
+and shook his finger in the faces of his congregation. He pounded with
+one fist on the palm of his other hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Brethern and sisters," said Abe, "there ain't no chore too big <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[Pg 56]</span>for the
+Lord, no chore too small. The Good Book says He knows when a sparrow
+falls. Yet He had time to turn this great big wilderness into this here
+land where we have our homes. Just think, folks, this Pigeon Creek had
+no one but Indians living here a few years back. And today we got cabins
+with smoke coming out of the chimneys. We got crops agrowing. We got a
+meeting house where we can come together and praise the Lord&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Abe paused.</p>
+
+<p>"Amen!" said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Amen!" said the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget," Abe went on, "all of this was the Lord's doing. Let us
+praise Him for His goodness."</p>
+
+<p>He reached down, plucked a fistful of grass, and mopped his forehead. In
+much the same way had the preacher used his bandanna handkerchief. The
+Lincoln family rose, sang "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," and
+church was over.</p>
+
+<p>The young folks drifted away. Tom stretched out on the grass for his
+Sunday afternoon nap.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe tells me that new Mr. Swaney was at church," Sarah said.</p>
+
+<p>Tom opened his eyes. Before he had a chance to go back to sleep, she
+spoke again.</p>
+
+<p>"He's fixing to keep a school next winter."</p>
+
+<p>"So I hear," said Tom cautiously.</p>
+
+<p>"He charges seventy-five cents for each scholar. Some schoolmasters
+charge a dollar."</p>
+
+<p>"Sounds like a lot of money."</p>
+
+<p>"Several of the neighbors are fixing to send their young ones," Sarah
+went on. "Mr. Swaney doesn't ask for cash money. He'll take skins or
+farm truck. We can manage that, I reckon."</p>
+
+<p>Tom yawned. "Plumb foolishness, if you ask me. But Johnny and Mathilda
+are your young ones. If you want to send them&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I want Sally and Abe to go, too," Sarah interrupted. "Abe most <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[Pg 57]</span>of all.
+He is the one school will do the most good. He's the one who wants it
+most."</p>
+
+<p>Tom sat up. "I can spare the younger ones, but I need Abe. With us
+poorer than Job's turkey, you ought to know that."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah listened patiently. "I ain't talking about right now. Mr. Swaney
+won't start his school till winter. Farm work will be slack then."</p>
+
+<p>"I can hire Abe out to split rails, even in cold weather," Tom reminded
+her. "Maybe I can get some odd jobs as a carpenter, and Abe can help
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"Abe ain't no great hand at carpentry."</p>
+
+<p>"He can learn. Why, he's fourteen, Sairy. The idea, a big, strapping boy
+like that going to school. I tell you, I won't have it."</p>
+
+<p>"But I promised him."</p>
+
+<p>It was the first time that Tom had ever heard a quaver in his wife's
+voice. He looked away uneasily. "If you made a promise you can't keep,
+that's your lookout. You might as well stop nagging me, Sairy. My mind
+is made up."</p>
+
+<p>To make sure that there would be no more conversation on the subject, he
+got up and stalked across the grass. He lay down under another tree, out
+of hearing distance. Sarah sat on the log for a long time. Abe came back
+and sat down beside her. He could tell, by looking at her, that she had
+been talking to his father about letting him go to school. He knew,
+without asking any questions, that his father had said no.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah laid her hand on his knee. "Your pa is a good man," she said
+loyally. "Maybe he will change his mind."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[Pg 58]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_10" id="CHAPTER_10"></a>10</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-058f.jpg" alt="Walking through the corn." title="Walking through the corn." /></div>
+
+
+<p>"Hurry up and eat your breakfast, Abe," said Tom the next morning. "We're
+going to cut corn for that skinflint, John Carter."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah passed her husband a plate of hot cornbread. "Why, Tom, it ain't
+fitting to talk that way about a neighbor. Before the children, too."</p>
+
+<p>Tom poured a generous helping of sorghum molasses over his bread. "I'm
+an honest man. It's fitting that I call Carter what he is, and he's a
+skinflint. He is only paying Abe and me ten cents a day."</p>
+
+<p>"Other folks pay you two-bits."</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't got any other work right now. Carter knows I need all the money
+I can lay my hands on. The way he beat me down on the price for my south
+field."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[Pg 59]</span>"I wish you didn't have to sell."</p>
+
+<p>"Wishing won't do any good. I need cash money mighty bad. Remember, this
+farm ain't paid for yet."</p>
+
+<p>He got up and walked over to the chest. He picked up the sharp knife he
+used for cutting corn. "Get your knife, Abe, and come along."</p>
+
+<p>Abe walked behind his father along the path through the woods. "That Mr.
+Swaney was right nice," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Tom grunted.</p>
+
+<p>"He is waiting to start his school until after harvest," Abe went on.
+"Nat Grigsby is going. Allen Gentry is going, and he is two years older
+than me."</p>
+
+<p>"Allen's pa is a rich man," said Tom gruffly. "Maybe he's got money to
+burn, but poor folks like us have to earn our keep."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Pa&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I declare, your tongue is loose at both ends today. Can't you stop
+plaguing me? First your ma, then you. You ought to see I'm worried."</p>
+
+<p>Abe said nothing more. He pulled a book out of the front of his shirt
+and began to read as he strode along the path. Tom looked back over his
+shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let John Carter catch you with that book."</p>
+
+<p>"I brought it along so I can read while I eat my dinner. I'll put it
+away before we get to the Carter place."</p>
+
+<p>"Eddication!" said Tom in disgust "I never had any, and I get along
+better'n if I had. Take figuring. If a fellow owes me money, I take a
+burnt stick and make a mark on the wall. When he pays me, I take a
+dishrag and wipe the mark off. That's better than getting all hot and
+bothered trying to figure.</p>
+
+<p>"And writing? I can write my name and that's all the writing I need. But
+the most tomfoolery of all is reading. You don't see <i>me</i> waste <i>my</i>
+time reading any books."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[Pg 60]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-060f.jpg" alt="Stacking the cornstalks." title="Stacking the cornstalks." /></div>
+<p>The path ended at the edge of the woods, and Tom opened the gate into
+the Carter cornfield. Row after row of tall corn stretched away in even,
+straight lines. Mr. Carter was waiting.</p>
+
+<p>"Ready to sign over that south field, Tom?" he asked. "A lawyer from
+Rockport is drawing up the papers. He is riding up with them this
+morning. I'll see you at dinner time."</p>
+
+<p>After John Carter had gone back to his cabin, Tom and Abe set to work.
+Using their sharp knives, they began cutting the corn close to the
+ground. They stood the tall golden stalks on end, tying them together in
+neat shocks or bundles. By the time the sun stood directly overhead,
+several long rows had been cut and stacked, and John Carter was coming
+toward them across the field. It was noon.</p>
+
+<p>Abe laid aside his knife, sat down on the rail fence, and pulled out his
+book. He took a piece of cornbread wrapped in a corn husk from his
+pocket. As he ate, he read, paying no attention to the conversation
+taking place a few feet away.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[Pg 61]</span>"Come and sit down, Tom," said Carter.</p>
+
+<p>Tom sat on a tree stump. Carter was being more friendly than usual. He
+was carrying a gourd full of ink, which he placed on another stump. He
+set down a deerskin bag, which jingled pleasantly with coins. In one
+pocket he found a turkey-buzzard pen. From another he brought out an
+official-looking paper.</p>
+
+<p>"Here is the deed for the south field," he explained. "Here's a pen.
+I'll hold the ink for you. You make your mark right here."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't need to make my mark," said Tom proudly. "I know how to sign my
+name."</p>
+
+<p>"Then hurry up and do it. Mrs. Carter has dinner ready, and I got to get
+back to the house."</p>
+
+<p>Tom took the paper and looked at it uncertainly. "I don't sign any paper
+till I know what I'm signing. I want time to&mdash;to go over this careful
+like."</p>
+
+<p>He could make out a few of the words, and that was all. But not for
+anything would he admit that he could not read it.</p>
+
+<p>"You told me you wanted to sell," said Carter. "I said I would buy. I am
+keeping my part of the bargain. I even brought the money with me."</p>
+
+<p>Tom's face grew red. He looked down at the paper in his hand. He glanced
+at Abe seated on the fence. A struggle was taking place between pride
+and common sense. Common sense won.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe, come here," he called.</p>
+
+<p>Abe went on reading.</p>
+
+<p>Tom raised his voice. "Abe! When I tell you to come, I mean for you to
+come."</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked up from his book with a start. "Yes, Pa. Did you want
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hustle over here and look at this paper. Carter is in a mighty big
+hurry for me to sign something I ain't had a chance to read."</p>
+
+<p>"You have had plenty of time to read it," said Carter. "But if you don't
+want to sell, I can call the whole deal off."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[Pg 62]</span>Abe reached out a long arm and took the paper. He read it slowly. "Pa,"
+he asked, "don't you aim to sell Mr. Carter just the south field?"</p>
+
+<p>"You know I'm selling him just the south field," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"Then don't sign this."</p>
+
+<p>Carter picked up the money bag clanking with coins. He tossed it into
+the air and caught it neatly. Tom looked at it. He wanted that money! He
+looked at Abe.</p>
+
+<p>"Why shouldn't I sign?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"If you do, you'll be selling Mr. Carter most of your farm."</p>
+
+<p>John Carter was furious. "Don't try to tell me a country jake like you
+can read! That paper says the south field, as plain as the nose on your
+face."</p>
+
+<p>"It says that and a sight more, Mr. Carter," Abe drawled. "It says the
+north field, too. It says the east and the west fields. There wouldn't
+be much farm left for Pa, except the part our cabin is setting on."</p>
+
+<p>A dispute between men in Pigeon Creek usually ended in a fight. Tom
+Lincoln doubled up his fists. "Put them up, Carter."</p>
+
+<p>The two men rolled over and over in a confused tangle of arms and legs.
+Now Tom Lincoln was on top. Now it was John Carter. "Go it, Pa," Abe
+shouted from the fence. "Don't let that old skinflint get you down."
+After a few minutes. Carter lay on his back gasping for breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Nuf!" he cried, and Tom let him scramble to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>Carter began brushing himself off. "It ain't fitting to fight a
+neighbor," he whined, "just because of a mistake."</p>
+
+<p>"Mistake nothing!" Tom snorted. "Somebody lied, and it wasn't Abe."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll have a new paper made out, if you like," said Carter.</p>
+
+<p>Tom looked at him with scorn. "You ain't got enough money to buy my
+south field. But I'll thank you for the ten cents you owe us. Abe and I
+each did a half day's work."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[Pg 63]</span></p>
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-063f.jpg" alt="Tom fighting." title="Tom fighting." /></div>
+
+<p>Tom's right eye was swelling, and by the time he reached home it was
+closed. The bump on the side of his head was the size of a hen's egg.
+There was a long scratch down his cheek.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was kneeling before the fireplace, raking ashes over the potatoes
+that she had put in to bake. She jumped up in alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter? What happened?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"It was like Pa said," Abe told her. "Mr. Carter is a skinflint."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah took Tom by the arm and made him sit down on a stool. She touched
+the swollen eye with gentle fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"It don't hurt much," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon Mr. Carter hurts more," Abe spoke up again. "He has two black
+eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Tom slapped his thigh and roared with laughter. "He sure does. But if it
+hadn't been for Abe&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He stopped, embarrassed. Sarah was soaking a cloth in a basin of cold
+water. She laid it on his eye.</p>
+
+<p>"What started it all?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[Pg 64]</span>"You tell them, Abe," said Tom.</p>
+
+<p>"That Mr. Carter ain't as smart as he thinks he is," Abe explained. "He
+had a paper for Pa to sign and tried to make out it was for just the
+south field. And do you know what, Mamma? When Pa asked me to read it,
+why, it was for almost our whole farm."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean to tell me!" said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Carter said he'd have a new paper made out. But I told him," Tom added
+with a touch of pride, "I could do without his money."</p>
+
+<p>"Good for you!" Sarah said, beaming. "Don't you fret. We'll squeak
+through somehow. But what if you had signed that paper? The farm would
+have been sold right out from under us. I reckon we can feel mighty
+proud of Abe."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," Tom admitted, "it didn't hurt that he knew how to read. When did
+you say Mr. Swaney aims to start his school?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right after harvest," said Abe before his stepmother had a chance to
+answer.</p>
+
+<p>Tom ignored him and went on talking to his wife. "Now, mind you, Sairy,
+I ain't saying Abe needs any more eddication. I ain't saying it is
+fitting a son should know more'n his pa. But if you think the young ones
+should go to this new school for a spell, I won't say no."</p>
+
+<p>He rose and stalked out of the cabin. Then he came back and stuck his
+head in at the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Mind you, Abe, you forget to do your chores just one time, and that
+schoolmaster won't be seeing you again."</p>
+
+<p>"Come back in and sit down, Tom," said Sarah. "Supper is nearly ready.
+Besides, Abe has something that needs saying."</p>
+
+<p>Abe looked at his stepmother in surprise. Then he looked at his father.
+"I'm much obliged, Pa," he said.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[Pg 65]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_11" id="CHAPTER_11"></a>11</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-065f.jpg" alt="The children reciting poems." title="The children reciting poems." /></div>
+
+
+<p>After a few weeks at Master Swaney's school, Abe had to stop and go to
+work again. When he was seventeen, he had a chance to attend another
+school kept by Azel Dorsey. Nearly every Friday afternoon there were
+special exercises and the scholars spoke pieces. For the final program
+on the last day of school, the boys had built a platform outside the log
+schoolhouse. Parents, brothers and sisters, and friends found seats on
+fallen logs and on the grass. They listened proudly as, one by one, the
+children came forward and each recited a poem or a speech.</p>
+
+<p>Master Dorsey walked to the front of the platform. He held up his hand
+for silence. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "we come to the last
+number on our program. Twenty-five years ago Thomas Jefferson became
+President of these United States. We shall now hear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[Pg 66]</span>the speech he made
+that day. Abraham Lincoln will recite it for us."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah Lincoln, from under her pink sunbonnet, stole a glance at Tom. "I
+hope that Abe does well," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>Abe did do well. He forgot that he was growing too fast, that his hands
+were too big, and that his trousers were too short. For a few minutes he
+made his audience forget it. Master Dorsey seemed to swell with pride.
+If that boy lives, he thought, he is going to be a noted man some day.
+Elizabeth Crawford, sitting in the front row, remembered what he had
+said about being President. If she closed her eyes, she could almost
+imagine that Thomas Jefferson was speaking. When Abe finished and made
+an awkward bow, she joined in the hearty burst of applause.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know where he got that piece?" she asked her husband in a low
+voice. "From <i>The Kentucky Preceptor</i>, one of the books you loaned him.
+It makes a body feel good to think we helped him. Look at Mrs. Lincoln!
+She couldn't be more pleased if Abe was her own son."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah waited to walk home with him. "I was mighty proud of you today,"
+she said. "Why, what's the matter? You look mighty down-in-the-mouth for
+a boy who spoke his piece so well on the last day."</p>
+
+<p>"I was thinking that this is the last day," he answered. "The last day
+I'll ever go to school, most likely."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you're seventeen now."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I'm seventeen, and I ain't had a year's schooling all told. I
+can't even talk proper. I forget and say 'ain't' though I know it
+ain't&mdash;I mean isn't right."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me you're educating yourself with all those books you
+read," said Sarah cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I've already read all the books for miles around. Besides, I want to
+see places. I can't help it, Ma, I want to get away."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked at him fondly. She wished that she could find some way to
+help him.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[Pg 67]</span>Abe found ways to help himself. He was never to go to school again, but
+he could walk to Rockport to attend trials in the log courthouse. He
+liked to listen to the lawyers argue their cases. Sometimes he would
+write down what they said on a piece of paper. Now and then he had a
+chance to borrow a book that he had not read before from some new
+settler. He read the old books over and over again. He liked to read the
+newspapers to which Mr. Gentry, Allen's father, subscribed. The papers
+told what was going on in the big world outside of Pigeon Creek.</p>
+
+<p>James Gentry owned the log store at the crossroads, where the little
+town, Gentryville, had grown up. His partner, William Jones, was one of
+Abe's best friends, and Abe spent nearly every evening at the store. It
+became the favorite meeting place for the men and boys who lived close
+by.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Abe!" Everyone seemed to be saying it at once when he came in.</p>
+
+<p>"The Louisville paper came today," William Jones might add. "Here you
+are! The fellows have been waiting for you to holler out the news."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-067f.jpg" alt="Abe reads the newspaper out loud." title="Abe reads the newspaper out loud." /></div>
+
+<p>Abe sat on the counter, swinging his long legs, as he read the newspaper
+out loud. The men sat quietly, except when William got up to throw
+another log on the fire or to light another candle. Abe <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[Pg 68]</span>read on and on.
+After he finished the paper, they talked about what he had read. They
+argued about many things from politics to religion. They always wanted
+to know what Abe thought. Many times they stayed until nearly midnight
+listening to him.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>One evening, not long after Abe's nineteenth birthday, he walked home
+from the store in great excitement. He had been very sad since his
+sister Sally had died in January, but tonight he seemed more cheerful.
+Sarah looked up to find him standing in the doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think has happened, Ma?" he asked. "I am going to New
+Orleans."</p>
+
+<p>"How come, Abe?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah knew that prosperous farmers sometimes loaded their corn and other
+farm products on big flatboats. These flatboats were floated down the
+Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where the cargoes were sold.
+But the Lincolns raised only enough for their own use. They never had
+anything left over to sell. Nor could they afford to build a flatboat
+for the long trip down the rivers.</p>
+
+<p>"How come?" Sarah asked again.</p>
+
+<p>Abe seized her around the waist and danced her across the floor. She was
+out of breath but laughing when he let her go.</p>
+
+<p>"Allen Gentry is taking a cargo of farm truck down to New Orleans to
+sell," he explained. "His pa has hired me to help on the flatboat. Mr.
+Gentry will pay me eight dollars a month. I reckon Pa will be pleased
+about that."</p>
+
+<p>Abe himself was pleased because he was going to see something of the
+world. New Orleans was seven hundred miles away. It was a big and
+important city. Sarah was pleased because this was the chance that Abe
+had been wanting.</p>
+
+<p>He had grown so tall that she had to throw back her head to look up at
+him. "I'm right glad for you," she said.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[Pg 69]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_12" id="CHAPTER_12"></a>12</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-069f.jpg" alt="A trip down the river." title="A trip down the river." /></div>
+
+
+<p>To a boy brought up in the backwoods, the trip down the rivers was one
+long adventure. Abe sat at the forward oar, guiding the big flatboat
+through the calm, blue waters of the Ohio, while Allen cooked supper on
+deck. Afterwards Abe told stories.</p>
+
+<p>After they had reached the southern tip of Illinois, where the Ohio
+emptied into the yellow waters of the Mississippi, there was little time
+for stories. The boys never knew what to expect next. One minute the
+river would be quiet and calm. The next it would rise in the fury of a
+sudden storm. The waves rose in a yellow flood that poured over the
+deck. Allen at the back oar, Abe at the front oar, had a hard time
+keeping the big flatboat from turning over.</p>
+
+<p>At the end of each day, the boys tied up the boat at some place <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[Pg 70]</span>along
+the shore. One night after they had gone to sleep, several robbers crept
+on board. Abe and Allen awoke just in time. After a long, hard fight,
+the robbers turned and fled.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-070f.jpg" alt="Danger make the river trip more exciting." title="Danger make the river trip more exciting." /></div>
+
+<p>These dangers only made their adventures seem more exciting. It was
+exciting, too, to be a part of the traffic of the river. They saw many
+other flatboats like their own. The biggest thrill was in watching the
+steamboats, with giant paddle wheels that turned the water into foam.
+Their decks were painted a gleaming white, and their brass rails shone
+in the sun. No wonder they were called "floating palaces," thought Abe.
+Sometimes passengers standing by the rail waved to the boys.</p>
+
+<p>Each day of their journey brought gentler breezes, warmer weather.
+Cottonwood and magnolia trees grew on the low swampy banks of both
+shores. The boys passed cotton fields, where gangs of Negro slaves were
+at work. Some of them were singing as they bent to pick the snowy white
+balls of cotton. A snatch of song came floating over the water:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Oh, brother, don't get weary,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Oh, brother, don't get weary,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Oh, brother, don't get weary,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">We're waiting for the Lord."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[Pg 71]</span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-071f.jpg" alt="Abe leaned on his oar." title="Abe leaned on his oar." /></div>
+<p>Abe leaned on his oar to listen. A few minutes later he pointed to a big
+house with tall white pillars in the middle of a beautiful garden.</p>
+
+<p>"Nice little cabin those folks have," he said drily. "Don't recollect
+seeing anything like that up in Pigeon Creek."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Abe, you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait till you get to New
+Orleans."</p>
+
+<p>This was Allen's second trip, and he was eager to show Abe the sights. A
+few days later they were walking along the New Orleans waterfront. Ships
+from many different countries were tied up at the wharves. Negro slaves
+were rolling bales of cotton onto a steamboat. Other Negroes, toting
+huge baskets on their heads, passed by. Sailors from many lands,
+speaking strange tongues, rubbed elbows with fur trappers dressed in
+buckskins from the far Northwest. A cotton planter in a white suit
+glanced at the two youths from Pigeon Creek. He seemed amused. Abe
+looked down at his homespun blue jeans. He had not realized that all
+young men did not wear them.</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon we do look different from some of the folks down here," he said,
+as he and Allen turned into a narrow street.</p>
+
+<p>Here there were more people&mdash;always more people. The public square was
+crowded. Abe gazed in awe at the Cathedral. This tall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[Pg 72]</span> Spanish church,
+with its two graceful towers, was so different from the log meeting
+house that the Lincolns attended.</p>
+
+<p>Nor was there anything back in Pigeon Creek like the tall plaster houses
+faded by time and weather into warm tones of pink and lavender and
+yellow. The balconies, or porches, on the upper floors had wrought iron
+railings, of such delicate design that they looked like iron lace.</p>
+
+<p>Once the boys paused before a wrought iron gate. At the end of a long
+passageway they could see a courtyard where flowers bloomed and a
+fountain splashed in the sunshine. Abe turned to watch a handsome
+carriage roll by over the cobblestones. He looked down the street toward
+the river, which sheltered ships from all over the world.</p>
+
+<p>"All this makes me feel a little like Sinbad," he said, "but I reckon
+even Sinbad never visited New Orleans. I sure do like it here."</p>
+
+<p>But soon Abe began to see other sights that made him sick at heart. He
+and Allen passed a warehouse where slaves were being sold at auction. A
+crowd had gathered inside. Several Negroes were standing on a platform
+called an auction block. One by one they stepped forward. A man called
+an auctioneer asked in a loud voice, "What am I offered? Who will make
+the first bid?"</p>
+
+<p>"Five hundred," called one man.</p>
+
+<p>"Six hundred," called another.</p>
+
+<p>The bids mounted higher. Each slave was sold to the man who bid, or
+offered to pay, the most money. One field hand and his wife were sold to
+different bidders. There were tears in the woman's dark eyes as he was
+led away. She knew that she would never see her husband again.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's get out of here," said Abe. "I can't stand any more."</p>
+
+<p>They walked back to their own flatboat tied up at one of the wharves.
+Allen got supper, but Abe could not eat.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't look like that," said Allen. "Many of the folks down here
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[Pg 73]</span>inherited their slaves, same as their land. Slavery ain't their fault."</p>
+
+<p>"I never said it was anybody's fault&mdash;at least not anybody who's living
+now. But it just ain't right for one man to own another."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, stop worrying. There's nothing you can do about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe not," said Abe gloomily, "but I'm mighty glad there aren't any
+slaves in Indiana."</p>
+
+<p>Allen stayed on in New Orleans for several days to sell his cargo. It
+brought a good price. He then sold his flatboat, which would be broken
+up and used for lumber. Flatboats could not travel upstream. He and Abe
+would either have to walk back to Indiana, or they could take a
+steamboat.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better not walk, carrying all this money," said Allen. "Pretty
+lonely country going home. We might get robbed."</p>
+
+<p>The steamboat trip was a piece of good fortune that Abe had not
+expected. He enjoyed talking with the other passengers. The speed at
+which they traveled seemed a miracle. It had taken the boys a month to
+make the trip downstream by flatboat. They were returning upstream in
+little more than a week. They were standing together by the rail when
+the cabins of Rockport, perched on a high wooded bluff, came into view.</p>
+
+<p>"It sure was good of your pa to give me this chance," said Abe. "I've
+seen some sights I wish I hadn't, but the trip has done me good. Sort of
+stretched my eyes and ears! Stretched me all over&mdash;inside, I mean." He
+laughed. "I don't need any stretching on the outside."</p>
+
+<p>Allen looked at his tall friend. They had been together most of the
+time. They had talked with the same people, visited the same places,
+seen the same sights. Already Allen was beginning to forget them. Now
+that he was almost home, it was as if he had never been away. But Abe
+seemed different. Somehow he had changed.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't figure it out," Allen told him. "You don't seem the same."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I'm not," said Abe. "I keep thinking about some of the things I
+saw."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[Pg 74]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_13" id="CHAPTER_13"></a>13</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-074f.jpg" alt="A letter arrived from John Hanks." title="A letter arrived from John Hanks." /></div>
+
+
+<p>The Lincolns were leaving Pigeon Creek. One day a letter had arrived
+from John Hanks, a cousin, who had gone to Illinois to live. The soil
+was richer there, the letter said. Why didn't Tom come, too, and bring
+his family? He would find it easier to make a living. Even the name of
+the river near John's home had a pleasant sound. It was called the
+Sangamon&mdash;an Indian word meaning "plenty to eat."</p>
+
+<p>"We're going," Tom decided. "I'm going to sell this farm and buy
+another. Do you want to come with us, Abe?"</p>
+
+<p>Two years had passed since Abe's return from New Orleans. Two years of
+hard work. Two years of looking forward to his next birthday. He was
+nearly twenty-one and could leave home if he wanted to.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Pa&mdash;" he hesitated.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was watching him, waiting for his answer.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[Pg 75]</span>"I'll come with you," said Abe. "I'll stay long enough to help you get
+the new farm started."</p>
+
+<p>There were thirteen people in the Lincoln party: Tom and Sarah, Abe and
+Johnny, Betsy and Dennis Hanks who had been married for several years,
+Mathilda and her husband, and two sets of children. They made the
+journey in three big wagons, traveling over frozen roads and crossing
+icy streams. After two weeks they came to John Hanks' home on the
+prairies of Illinois. He made them welcome, then took them to see the
+place that he had selected for their farm. In the cold winter light it
+looked almost as desolate as Pigeon Creek had looked fourteen years
+before. Tom Lincoln was beginning all over again.</p>
+
+<p>This time he had more help. John Hanks had a great pile of logs split
+and ready to be used for their new cabin. Abe was now able to do a man's
+work. After the cabin was finished, he split enough rails to build a
+fence around the farm. Some of the new neighbors hired him to split logs
+for them.</p>
+
+<p>The following spring, he was offered other work that he liked much
+better. A man named Denton Offut was building a flatboat, which he
+planned to float down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and on to
+New Orleans. He hired Abe to help with the cargo. The two young men
+became friends. When Abe returned home after the long voyage, he had
+news for Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Ma," he said, "Denton is fixing to start a store up in New Salem.
+That's a village on the Sangamon River. He wants me to be his clerk."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah said nothing for a moment. If Abe went away to stay, the cabin
+would seem mighty lonesome. She would miss him terribly. But she wanted
+him to do whatever was best for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Offut said he'd pay me fifteen dollars a month," Abe added.</p>
+
+<p>That was more money than he had ever earned, thought Sarah. And now that
+he was over twenty-one, he could keep his wages for himself. "I reckon
+you'll be leaving soon," she said aloud.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[Pg 76]</span>"Yes, Ma, I will." Telling her was harder than Abe had expected. "It is
+high time that I start out on my own."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah set to work to get his clothes ready. He was wearing his only pair
+of jeans, and there wasn't much else for him to take. She washed his
+shirts and the extra pair of socks that she had knit for him. He wrapped
+these up in a big cloth and tied the bundle to the end of a long stick.
+The next morning he was up early. After he told the rest of the family
+good-by, Sarah walked with him to the gate.</p>
+
+<p>Abe thrust the stick with his bundle over his shoulder. He had looked
+forward to starting out on his own&mdash;and now he was scared. Almost as
+scared as he had felt on that cold winter afternoon when his new mother
+had first arrived in Pigeon Creek. Because she had believed in him, he
+had started believing in himself. Her faith in him was still shining in
+her eyes as she looked up at him and tried to smile.</p>
+
+<p>He gave her a quick hug and hurried down the path.</p>
+
+<p>It was a long, long walk to New Salem, where Abe arrived on a hot summer
+day in 1831. This village, on a high bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+River, was bigger than Gentryville, bigger even than Rockport. As he
+wandered up and down the one street, bordered on both sides by a row of
+neat log houses, he counted more than twenty-five buildings. There were
+several stores, and he could see the mill down by the river.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-076f.jpg" alt="Abe sets off for New Salem." title="Abe sets off for New Salem." /></div>
+
+<p>He pushed his way through a crowd that had gathered before one of the
+houses. A worried-looking man, about ten years older than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[Pg 77]</span> Abe, sat
+behind a table on the little porch. He was writing in a big book.</p>
+
+<p>"Howdy, Mister," said Abe. "What is all the excitement about?"</p>
+
+<p>"This is election day," the man replied, "and I am the clerk in charge.
+That is, I'm one of the clerks."</p>
+
+<p>He stopped to write down the name of one of the men who stood in line.
+He wrote the names of several other voters in his big book before he had
+a chance to talk to Abe again. Then he explained that the other clerk
+who was supposed to help him was sick.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm mighty busy," he went on. "Say listen, stranger, do you know how to
+write?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can make a few rabbit tracks," Abe said, grinning.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe I can hire you to help me keep a record of the votes." The man
+rose and shook hands. "My name is Mentor Graham."</p>
+
+<p>By evening the younger man and the older one had become good friends.
+Mr. Graham was a schoolmaster, and he promised to help Abe with his
+studies. Soon Abe began to make other friends. Jack Kelso took him
+fishing. Abe did not care much about fishing, but he liked to hear Jack
+recite poetry by Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. They were Jack's
+favorite poets, and they became Abe's favorites, too.</p>
+
+<p>At the Rutledge Tavern, where Abe lived for a while, he met the owner's
+daughter, Ann Rutledge. Ann was sweet and pretty, with a glint of
+sunshine in her hair. They took long walks beside the river. It was easy
+to talk to Ann, and Abe told her some of his secret hopes. She thought
+that he was going to be a great man some day.</p>
+
+<p>Her father, James Rutledge, also took an interest in him. Abe was
+invited to join the New Salem Debating Society. The first time that he
+got up to talk, the other members expected him to spend the time telling
+funny stories. Instead he made a serious speech&mdash;and a very good one.</p>
+
+<p>"That young man has more than wit and fun in his head," Mr. Rutledge
+told his wife that night.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[Pg 78]</span>Abe liked to make speeches, but he knew that he did not always speak
+correctly. One morning he was having breakfast at Mentor Graham's house.
+"I have a notion to study English grammar," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"If you expect to go before the public," Mentor answered, "I think it
+the best thing you can do."</p>
+
+<p>"If I had a grammar, I would commence now."</p>
+
+<p>Mentor thought for a moment. "There is no one in town who owns a
+grammar," he said finally. "But Mr. Vaner out in the country has one. He
+might lend you his copy."</p>
+
+<p>Abe got up from the table and walked six miles to the Vaner farm. When
+he returned, he carried an open book in his hands. He was studying
+grammar as he walked.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he worked as a clerk in Denton Offut's store. Customers could
+buy all sorts of things there&mdash;tools and nails, needles and thread,
+mittens and calico, and tallow for making candles. One day a woman
+bought several yards of calico. After she left, Abe discovered that he
+had charged her six cents too much. That evening he walked six miles to
+give her the money. He was always doing things like that, and people
+began to call him "Honest Abe."</p>
+
+<p>Denton was so proud of his clerk that he could not help boasting. "Abe
+is the smartest man in the United States," he said. "Yes, and he can
+beat any man in the country running, jumping, or wrastling."</p>
+
+<p>A bunch of young roughnecks lived a few miles away in another settlement
+called Clary Grove. "That Denton Offut talks too much with his mouth,"
+they said angrily. They did not mind Abe being called smart. But they
+declared that no one could "out-wrastle" their leader, Jack Armstrong.
+One day they rushed into the store and dared Abe to fight with Jack.</p>
+
+<p>Abe laid down the book that he had been reading. "I don't hold with
+wooling and pulling," he said. "But if you want to fight, come on
+outside."</p>
+
+<p>The Clary Grove boys soon realized that Denton's clerk was a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[Pg 79]</span>good
+wrestler. Jack, afraid that he was going to lose the fight, stepped on
+Abe's foot with the sharp heel of his boot. The sudden pain made Abe
+angry. The next thing that Jack knew he was being shaken back and forth
+until his teeth rattled. Then he was lying flat on his back in the dust.</p>
+
+<p>Jack's friends let out a howl of rage. Several of them rushed at Abe,
+all trying to fight him at the same time. He stood with his back against
+the store, his fists doubled up. He dared them to come closer. Jack
+picked himself up.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop it, fellows," he said. "I was beaten in a fair fight. If you ask
+me, this Abe Lincoln is the cleverest fellow that ever broke into the
+settlement."</p>
+
+<p>From then on Jack was one of Abe's best friends.</p>
+
+<p>A short time later Abe enlisted as a soldier in the Black Hawk War to
+help drive the Indians out of Illinois. The Clary Grove boys were in his
+company, and Abe was elected captain. Before his company had a chance to
+do any fighting, Blackhawk was captured in another part of Illinois and
+the war was over.</p>
+
+<p>When Abe came back to New Salem, he found himself out of a job. Denton
+Offut had left. The store had "winked out." Later, Abe and another young
+man, William Berry, decided to become partners. They borrowed money and
+started a store of their own.</p>
+
+<p>One day a wagon piled high with furniture stopped out in front. A man
+jumped down and explained that he and his family were moving West. The
+wagon was too crowded, and he had a barrel of odds and ends that he
+wanted to sell. Abe, always glad to oblige, agreed to pay fifty cents
+for it. Later, when he opened it, he had a wonderful surprise.</p>
+
+<p>The barrel contained a set of famous law books. He had seen those same
+books in Mr. Pitcher's law office in Rockport. Now that he owned a set
+of his own, he could read it any time he wished. Customers coming into
+the store usually found Abe lying on the counter, his nose buried in one
+of the new books. The more he read, the more interested he became.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[Pg 80]</span>Perhaps he spent too much time reading, instead of attending to
+business. William Berry was lazy, and not a very satisfactory partner.
+The store of Lincoln and Berry did so little business that it had to
+close. The partners were left with many debts to pay. Then Berry died,
+and "Honest Abe" announced that he would pay all of the debts himself,
+no matter how long it took.</p>
+
+<p>For a while he was postmaster. A man on horseback brought the mail twice
+a week, and there were so few letters that Abe often carried them around
+in his hat until he could deliver them. He liked the job because it gave
+him a chance to read the newspapers to which the people in New Salem
+subscribed. But the pay was small, and he had to do all sorts of odd
+Jobs to earn enough to eat. On many days he would have gone hungry if
+Jack Armstrong and his wife, Hannah, had not invited him to dinner. When
+work was scarce he stayed with them two or three weeks at a time.</p>
+
+<p>He knew that he had to find a way to earn more money, and he decided to
+study surveying. It was a hard subject, but he borrowed some books and
+read them carefully. He studied so hard that in six weeks' time he took
+his first job as a surveyor.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes when he was measuring a farm or laying out a new road, he
+would be gone for several weeks. People miles from New Salem knew who
+Abe Lincoln was. They laughed at him because he was so tall and awkward.
+They thought it funny that his trousers were always too short. But they
+also laughed at his jokes, and they liked him. He made so many new
+friends that he decided to be a candidate for the Illinois legislature.</p>
+
+<p>One day during the campaign he had a long talk with Major John T.
+Stuart. Major Stuart had been Abe's commander in the Black Hawk War. He
+was now a lawyer in Springfield, a larger town twenty miles away.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you study law?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Abe pursed his lips. "I'd sure like to," he drawled; then added with a
+grin: "But I don't know if I have enough sense."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[Pg 81]</span>Major Stuart paid no attention to this last remark. "You have been
+reading law for pleasure," he went on. "Now go at it in earnest. I'll
+lend you the books you need."</p>
+
+<p>This was a chance that Abe could not afford to miss. Every few days he
+walked or rode on horseback to Springfield to borrow another volume.
+Sometimes he read forty pages on the way home. He was twenty-five years
+old, and there was no time to waste.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile he was making many speeches. He asked the voters in his part
+of Illinois to elect him to the legislature which made the laws for the
+state. They felt that "Honest Abe" was a man to be trusted and he was
+elected.</p>
+
+<p>Late in November Abe boarded the stagecoach for the ride to Vandalia,
+then the capital of the state. He looked very dignified in a new suit
+and high plug hat. In the crowd that gathered to tell him good-by, he
+could see many of his friends. There stood Coleman Smoot who had lent
+him money to buy his new clothes. Farther back he could see Mr. Rutledge
+and Ann, Hannah and Jack Armstrong, Mentor Graham, and others who had
+encouraged and helped him. And now he was on his way to represent them
+in the legislature. There was a chorus of "Good-by, Abe."</p>
+
+<p>Then, like an echo, the words came again in Ann's high, sweet voice:
+"Good-by, Abe!" He leaned far out the window and waved.</p>
+
+<p>He was thinking of Ann as the coach rolled over the rough road. He was
+thinking also of Sarah. If only she could see him now, he thought, as he
+glanced at the new hat resting on his knee.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-081f.jpg" alt="Abe in the coach." title="Abe in the coach" /></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[Pg 82]</span></p>
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_14" id="CHAPTER_14"></a>14</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-082f.jpg" alt="Abe on horseback." title="Abe on horseback." /></div>
+
+
+<p>The Legislature met for several weeks at a time. Between sessions, Abe
+worked at various jobs in New Salem and read his law books. Most of his
+studying was done early in the morning and late at night. He still found
+time to see a great deal of Ann Rutledge, and something of her gentle
+sweetness was to live on forever in his heart. After Ann died, he tried
+to forget his grief by studying harder than ever.</p>
+
+<p>The year that he was twenty-eight he took his examination, and was
+granted a lawyer's license. He decided to move to Springfield, which had
+recently been made the capital of the state.</p>
+
+<p>It was a cold March day when he rode into this thriving little town. He
+hitched his horse to the hitching rack in the public square and entered
+one of the stores. Joshua Speed, the owner, a young man about Abe's age,
+looked up with a friendly smile.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[Pg 83]</span>"Howdy, Abe," he said. "So you are going to be one of us?"</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon so," Abe answered. "Say, Speed, I just bought myself a
+bedstead. How much would it cost me for a mattress and some pillows and
+blankets?"</p>
+
+<p>Joshua took a pencil from behind his ear. He did some figuring on a
+piece of paper. "I can fix you up for about seventeen dollars."</p>
+
+<p>Abe felt the money in his pocket. He had only seven dollars. His horse
+was borrowed, and he was still a thousand dollars in debt. Joshua saw
+that he was disappointed. He had heard Abe make speeches, and Abe was
+called one of the most promising young men in the legislature. Joshua
+liked him and wanted to know him better.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you stay with me, until you can do better?" he suggested. "I
+have a room over the store and a bed big enough for two."</p>
+
+<p>A grin broke over Abe's homely features. "Good!" he said. "Where is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find some stairs over there behind that pile of barrels. Go on
+up and make yourself at home."</p>
+
+<p>Abe enjoyed living with Joshua Speed, and he enjoyed living in
+Springfield. He soon became as popular as he had once been in Pigeon
+Creek and in New Salem. As the months and years went by, more and more
+people came to him whenever they needed a lawyer to advise them. For a
+long time he was poor, but little by little he paid off his debts. With
+his first big fee he bought a quarter section of land for his stepmother
+who had been so good to him.</p>
+
+<p>The part of his work that Abe liked best was "riding the circuit." In
+the spring and again in the fall, he saddled Old Buck, his horse, and
+set out with a judge and several other lawyers to visit some of the
+towns close by. These towns "on the circuit" were too small to have law
+courts of their own. In each town the lawyers argued the cases and the
+judge settled the disputes that had come up during the past six months.</p>
+
+<p>After supper they liked to gather at the inn to listen to Abe tell funny
+stories. "I laughed until I shook my ribs loose," said one dignified
+judge.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[Pg 84]</span>The other lawyers often teased Abe. "You ought to charge your clients
+more money," they said, "or you will always be as poor as Job's turkey."</p>
+
+<p>One evening they held a mock trial. Abe was accused of charging such
+small fees that the other lawyers could not charge as much as they
+should. The judge looked as solemn as he did at a real trial.</p>
+
+<p>"You are guilty of an awful crime against the pockets of your brother
+lawyers," he said severely. "I hereby sentence you to pay a fine."</p>
+
+<p>There was a shout of laughter. "I'll pay the fine," said Abe
+good-naturedly. "But my own firm is never going to be known as Catchem &amp;
+Cheatem."</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile a young lady named Mary Todd had come to Springfield to live.
+Her father was a rich and important man in Kentucky. Mary was pretty and
+well educated. Abe was a little afraid of her, but one night at a party
+he screwed up his courage to ask her for a dance.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-084f.jpg" alt="Abe dances with Mary." title="Abe dances with Mary." /></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[Pg 85]</span>"Miss Todd," he said, "I would like to dance with you the worst way."</p>
+
+<p>As he swept her around the dance floor, he bumped into other couples. He
+stepped on her toes. "Mr. Lincoln," said Mary, as she limped over to a
+chair, "you did dance with me the worst way&mdash;the very worst."</p>
+
+<p>She did not mind that he was not a good dancer. As she looked up into
+Abe's homely face, she decided that he had a great future ahead of him.
+She remembered something she had once said as a little girl: "When I
+grow up, I want to marry a man who will be President of the United
+States."</p>
+
+<p>Abe was not the only one who liked Mary Todd. Among the other young men
+who came to see her was another lawyer, Stephen A. Douglas. He was no
+taller than Mary herself, but he had such a large head and shoulders
+that he had been nicknamed "the Little Giant." He was handsome, and
+rich, and brilliant. His friends thought that he might be President some
+day.</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Mary, "Abe Lincoln has the better chance to succeed."</p>
+
+<p>Anyway, Abe was the man she loved. The next year they were married.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to make him President of the United States," she wrote to a
+friend in Kentucky. "You will see that, as I always told you, I will yet
+be the President's wife."</p>
+
+<p>At first Mary thought that her dream was coming true. In 1846 Abe was
+elected a member of the United States Congress in Washington. He had
+made a good start as a political leader, and she was disappointed when
+he did not run for a second term. Back he came to Springfield to
+practice law again. By 1854 there were three lively boys romping through
+the rooms of the comfortable white house that he had bought for his
+family. Robert was eleven, Willie was four, and Tad was still a baby.
+The neighbors used to smile to see Lawyer Lincoln walking down the
+street carrying Tad on his shoulders, while Willie clung to his
+coattails. The boys adored their father.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[Pg 86]</span>Mary did, too, but she wished that Abe would be more dignified. He sat
+reading in his shirt sleeves, and he got down on the floor to play with
+the boys. His wife did not think that was any way for a successful
+lawyer to act. It also worried her that he was no longer interested in
+politics.</p>
+
+<p>And then something happened that neither Mary nor Abe had ever expected.
+Their old friend, Stephen A. Douglas, who was now a Senator in
+Washington, suggested a new law. Thousands of settlers were going West
+to live, and in time they would form new states. The new law would make
+it possible for the people in each new state to own slaves, if most of
+the voters wanted to.</p>
+
+<p>Abraham Lincoln was so aroused and indignant that he almost forgot his
+law practice. He traveled around Illinois making speeches. There were no
+laws against having slaves in the South, but slavery must be kept out of
+territory that was still free, he said. The new states should be places
+"for poor people to go to better their condition." Not only that, but it
+was wrong for one man to own another. Terribly wrong.</p>
+
+<p>"If the Negro is a man," he told one audience, "then my ancient faith
+teaches me that all men are created equal."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps he was thinking of the first time he had visited a slave market.
+He was remembering the words in the Declaration of Independence that had
+thrilled him as a boy.</p>
+
+<p>Two years later Abraham Lincoln was asked to be a candidate for the
+United States Senate. He would be running against Douglas. Abe wanted
+very much to be a Senator. Even more he wanted to keep slavery out of
+the new states. Taking part in the political campaign would give him a
+chance to say the things that he felt so deeply.</p>
+
+<p>"I am convinced I am good enough for it," he told a friend, "but in
+spite of it all I am saying to myself every day, 'It is too big a thing
+for you; you will never get it.' Mary insists, however, that I am going
+to be Senator and President of the United States, too."</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps it was his wife's faith in him that gave him the courage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[Pg 87]</span>to
+try. Never was there a more exciting campaign. Never had the people of
+Illinois been so stirred as during that hot summer of 1858. A series of
+debates was held in seven different towns. The two candidates&mdash;Douglas,
+"the little Giant," and "Old Abe, the Giant Killer," as his friends
+called him&mdash;argued about slavery. People came from miles around to hear
+them.</p>
+
+<p>On the day of a debate, an open platform for the speakers was decorated
+with red-white-and-blue bunting. Flags flew from the housetops. When
+Senator Douglas arrived at the railroad station, his friends and
+admirers met him with a brass band. He drove to his hotel in a fine
+carriage.</p>
+
+<p>Abe had admirers, too. Sometimes a long procession met him at the
+station. Then Abe would be embarrassed. He did not like what he called
+"fizzlegigs and fireworks." But he laughed when his friends in one town
+drove him to his hotel in a hay wagon. This was their way of making fun
+of Douglas and his fine manners.</p>
+
+<p>Senator Douglas was an eloquent orator. While he was talking, some of
+Abe's friends would worry. Would Old Abe be able to answer? Would he be
+able to hold his own? Then Abe would unfold his long legs and stand up.
+"The Giant Killer" towered so high above "the Little Giant" that a
+titter ran through the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>When he came to the serious part of his speech, there was silence. His
+voice reached to the farthest corners of the crowd, as he reminded them
+what slavery really meant. He summed it up in a few words: "You work and
+toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it."</p>
+
+<p>Both men worked hard to be elected. And Douglas won. "I feel like the
+boy," said Abe, "who stubbed his toe. It hurts too bad to laugh, and I
+am too big to cry."</p>
+
+<p>All of those who loved him&mdash;Mary, his wife, in her neat white house;
+Sarah, his stepmother, in her little cabin, more than a hundred miles
+away; and his many friends&mdash;were disappointed. But not for long. The
+part he took in the Lincoln-Douglas debates made his name known
+throughout the United States.</p>
+
+<p>Abe Lincoln's chance was coming.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[Pg 88]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="CHAPTER_15" id="CHAPTER_15"></a>15</h2>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-088f.jpg" alt="As they marched, they sang." title="As they marched, they sang." /></div>
+
+<p>During the next two years Abraham Lincoln was asked to make many
+speeches. "Let us have faith that right makes might," he told one
+audience in New York, "and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do
+our duty as we understand it."</p>
+
+<p>At the end of the speech, several thousand people rose to their feet,
+cheering and waving their handkerchiefs. His words were printed in
+newspapers. Throughout the Northern States, men and women began to think
+of him as the friend of freedom.</p>
+
+<p>By 1860 he was so well known that he was nominated for President of the
+United States. Stephen A. Douglas was nominated by another political
+party. Once more the two rivals were running for the same office.</p>
+
+<p>Several thousands of Abraham Lincoln's admirers called them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[Pg 89]</span>selves "Wide
+Awakes." There were Wide Awake Clubs in near every Northern town. Night
+after night they marched in parades, carrying flaming torches and
+colored lanterns. And as they marched, they sang:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Hurrah! for our cause&mdash;of all causes the best!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Hurrah! for Old Abe, Honest Abe of the West."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>No one enjoyed the campaign excitement more than did Willie and Tad
+Lincoln. They did their marching around the parlor carpet, singing
+another song:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1.3em;">Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2.3em;">Down in Illinois."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>People everywhere were talking about Old Abe, and he received a great
+deal of mail. Some of the letters came from Pigeon Creek. Nat Grigsby,
+his old schoolmate, wrote that his Indiana friends were thinking of him.
+Dave Turnham wrote. It was in Dave's book that Abe had first read the
+Declaration of Independence. A package arrived from Josiah Crawford who
+had given him his <i>Life of Washington</i>. The package contained a piece of
+white oak wood. It was part of a rail that Abe had split when he was
+sixteen years old. Josiah thought that he might like to have it made
+into a cane.</p>
+
+<p>Hundreds of other letters came from people he had never seen. One from
+New York state made him smile.</p>
+
+<p>"I am a little girl only eleven years old," the letter read, "but want
+you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you
+won't think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are.... I
+have got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway and if
+you will let your whiskers grow I will try to get the rest of them to
+vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so
+thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[Pg 90]</span>tease their husbands
+to vote for you and then you would be President...."</p>
+
+<p>The letter was signed "Grace Bedell." In less than two weeks she
+received an answer. Abraham Lincoln, who loved children, took her
+advice. By election day on November 6, 1860, he had started to grow a
+beard.</p>
+
+<p>He spent the evening of election day in the telegraph office. Report
+after report came in from different parts of the country. He was
+gaining. He was winning. After a while he knew&mdash;his friends knew&mdash;all
+Springfield knew&mdash;that Abraham Lincoln was to be the next President of
+the United States. Outside in the streets the crowds were celebrating.
+They were singing, shouting, shooting off cannons. Abe told his friends
+that he was "well-nigh upset with joy."</p>
+
+<p>"I guess I'd better go home now," he added. "There is a little woman
+there who would like to hear the news."</p>
+
+<p>Mary was asleep when he entered their bedroom. Her husband touched her
+on the shoulder. "Mary, Mary," he said with a low chuckle, "we are
+elected."</p>
+
+<p>By February the Lincolns were ready to move. Abe tied up the trunks and
+addressed them to "A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington, D.C." Before
+he left Illinois there was a visit he wanted to make to a log farmhouse
+a hundred and twenty-five miles southeast of Springfield. His father had
+been dead for ten years, but his stepmother was still living there.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-090f.jpg" alt="Abe's packed bags." title="Abe's packed bags." /></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[Pg 91]</span>Travel was slow in those days, and he had to change trains several
+times. There was plenty of time to think. He knew that hard days lay
+ahead. There were many Southerners who said that they were afraid to
+live under a President who was against slavery. Several Southern states
+had left the Union and were starting a country of their own. For the
+United States to be broken up into two different nations seemed to him
+the saddest thing that could possibly happen. As President, Abraham
+Lincoln would have a chance&mdash;he must make the chance&mdash;to preserve the
+Union. He could not know then that he would also have a chance to free
+the slaves&mdash;a chance to serve his country as had no other President
+since George Washington.</p>
+
+<p>His thoughts went back to his boyhood. Even then he had wanted to be
+President. What had once seemed an impossible dream was coming true. He
+thought of all the people who had encouraged and helped him. He thought
+of his mother who, more than any one person, had given him a chance to
+get ahead.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother!" Whenever Abe said the word, he was thinking of both Nancy and
+Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was waiting by the window. A tall man in a high silk hat came
+striding up the path.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe! You've come!" She opened the door and looked up into the sad, wise
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, Mother." He gave her the kind of good bear hug he had given
+her when he was a boy. "I am leaving soon for Washington. Did you think
+I could go so far away without saying good-by?"</p>
+
+<p>The word spread rapidly that he was there. One after another the
+neighbors dropped in, until the little room was crowded. As he sat
+before the fireplace, talking with all who came, Sarah seemed to see,
+not a man about to become President, but a forlorn-looking little boy.
+She had loved that little boy from the moment she first saw him. He had
+always been a good son to her&mdash;a better son than her own John.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[Pg 92]</span>When the last visitor had gone, she drew her chair closer. It was good
+to have a few minutes alone together.</p>
+
+<p>"Abe," she told him, "I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousand
+can say."</p>
+
+<p>He looked at her inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"You never gave me a cross word in your life. I reckon your mind and
+mine, that is&mdash;" she laughed, embarrassed, "what little mind I had,
+seemed to run together."</p>
+
+<p>He reached over and laid a big hand on her knee. She put her wrinkled,
+work-hardened hand on his.</p>
+
+<p>When the time came to say good-by, she could hardly keep the tears back.
+"Will I ever see you again?" she asked. "What if something should happen
+to you, Abe? I feel it in my heart&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Now, now, Mother." He held her close. "Trust in the Lord and all will
+be well."</p>
+
+<p>"God bless you, Abraham."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/illus-092f.jpg" alt="Abe says goodbye to his mother." title="Abe says goodbye to his mother." /></div>
+
+<p>He kissed her and was gone. "He was the best boy I ever saw," she
+thought, as she watched him drive away.<br /><br /></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h3><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[Pg 93]</span>ABOUT THE AUTHOR</h3>
+
+
+<p>Growing up in southern Indiana, not far from where Abraham Lincoln spent
+his boyhood, Frances Cavanah has always had a special interest in
+Lincoln and the people who knew him. Furthermore, she is recognized
+today as one of America's leading writers of historical books for boys
+and girls. She has written many books for young people and has also been
+associate editor of <i>Child Life Magazine</i>. One of her most interesting
+and beautiful books is <span class="smcap">Our Country's Story</span>, a fascinating
+introduction to American history, told in terms simple enough for
+children under nine. Miss Cavanah now lives in Washington, D.C., and
+devotes all of her time to writing.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h3>ABOUT THE ARTIST</h3>
+
+<p>Paula Hutchison was born in Helena, Montana, and attended schools in the
+State of Washington until she came east to attend Pratt Institute in
+Brooklyn, New York. After graduating, she studied for several years in
+Paris, London, and Florence and made painting trips to Cornwall, the
+English lake district, and Scotland. She now lives in a small town on
+the New Jersey shore where she and her husband have a six-acre farm, on
+which she has her studio. Miss Hutchison has illustrated a great many
+books for children and has also illustrated a number which she has
+written herself.</p>
+
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<p>The Library of Congress catalogs this book as follows:</p>
+<p style="margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.5in">Cavanah, Frances. Abe Lincoln gets his chance. Illustrated by Paula
+Hutchison. Chicago, Rand McNally [1959] 92 p. illus. 24 cm. 1.
+Lincoln, Abraham, Pres. U.S.&mdash;Fiction. <span class="smcap">i</span>. Title PZ7.C28Ab
+813.54 59-5789 &Dagger;</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 17315-h.htm or 17315-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/3/1/17315/
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
+
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-005f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-005f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ecfe7d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-005f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-006f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-006f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f69af30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-006f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-007f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-007f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a3b2a65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-007f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-009f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-009f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a871c22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-009f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-010f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-010f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..965a345
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-010f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-011f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-011f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..37d85b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-011f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-013f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-013f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c932a76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-013f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-015f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-015f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0839a37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-015f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-016f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-016f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3856f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-016f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-017f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-017f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bc739cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-017f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-020f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-020f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d77a743
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-020f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-022f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-022f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13ebd14
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-022f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-025f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-025f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c990836
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-025f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-026f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-026f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4448ae5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-026f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-029f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-029f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..124c8a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-029f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-030f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-030f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7644d92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-030f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-033f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-033f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fcb4163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-033f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-035f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-035f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..627df22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-035f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-036f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-036f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29cb656
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-036f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-039f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-039f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..275dee6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-039f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-041f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-041f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0e46040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-041f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-043f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-043f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..170e742
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-043f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-044f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-044f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d4e9d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-044f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-048f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-048f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..635d570
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-048f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-050f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-050f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c68eae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-050f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-051f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-051f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0978ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-051f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-053f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-053f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84663ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-053f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-055f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-055f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2794936
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-055f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-058f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-058f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e114a09
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-058f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-060f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-060f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3db4998
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-060f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-063f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-063f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c707ec7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-063f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-065f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-065f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..44078ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-065f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-067f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-067f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bfbbe6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-067f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-069f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-069f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e2c21c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-069f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-070f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-070f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e18c4c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-070f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-071f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-071f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2433782
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-071f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-074f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-074f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edbe7b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-074f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-076f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-076f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f523e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-076f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-081f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-081f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8fce513
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-081f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-082f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-082f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8922f8c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-082f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-084f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-084f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccb26c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-084f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-088f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-088f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9f9016b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-088f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-090f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-090f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d6c79db
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-090f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/illus-092f.jpg b/17315-h/images/illus-092f.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b83f2ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/illus-092f.jpg
diff --git a/17315-h/images/map-tb.png b/17315-h/images/map-tb.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d640536
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/map-tb.png
diff --git a/17315-h/images/map.png b/17315-h/images/map.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80b58fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315-h/images/map.png
diff --git a/17315.txt b/17315.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..208786d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3271 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
+
+Author: Frances Cavanah
+
+Illustrator: Paula Hutchison
+
+Release Date: December 15, 2005 [EBook #17315]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+~WEEKLY READER~
+
+Children's Book Club
+
+Education Center . Columbus 16, Ohio
+
+PRESENTS
+
+
+~Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance~
+
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration]
+
+_by_ ~FRANCES CAVANAH~
+
+_illustrated by_ Paula Hutchison
+
+
+RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+CHICAGO . NEW YORK . SAN FRANCISCO
+
+
+_This book is dedicated to my grandnephew_
+
+~PHILIP JAN NADELMAN~
+
+
+~WEEKLY READER   Children's Book Club   Edition, 1959~
+
+COPYRIGHT (c) 1959 BY RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+COPYRIGHT 1959 UNDER INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT UNION
+
+BY RAND McNALLY & COMPANY
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+PRINTED IN U.S.A.
+
+BY AMERICAN BOOK-STRATFORD PRESS, INC., N.Y.
+
+A LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER: 59-5789
+
+
+
+
+In writing this story of Abraham Lincoln, the author depended primarily
+on Lincoln's own statements and on the statements of his family and
+friends who had firsthand knowledge of his everyday life. In instances
+when dialogue had to be imagined, the conversation might logically have
+taken place in the light of known circumstances. Such descriptive
+details as were necessarily added were based on authentic accounts of
+pioneer times.
+
+F.C.
+
+[Illustration]
+[Illustration: Map of States where Lincoln was born and lived]
+
+
+
+
+1
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+There was a new boy baby at the Lincoln cabin! By cracky! thought Dennis
+Hanks as he hurried up the path, he was going to like having a boy
+cousin. They could go swimming together. Maybe they could play Indian.
+Dennis pushed open the cabin door.
+
+"Where is he?" he shouted. "Where is he?"
+
+"Sh!" A neighbor, who had come in to help, put her finger to her lips.
+"The baby is asleep."
+
+Nancy Lincoln was lying on the pole bed in a corner of the one-room
+house. She looked very white under the dark bearskin covering, but when
+she heard Dennis she raised her head. "It's all right, Denny," she said.
+"You can see him now."
+
+Dennis tiptoed over to the bed. A small bundle, wrapped in a homespun
+shawl, rested in the curve of Nancy's arm. When she pulled back the
+shawl, Dennis could not think of anything to say. The baby was so
+wrinkled and so red. It looked just like a cherry after the juice had
+been squeezed out.
+
+Nancy touched one of the tiny hands with the tip of her finger. "See his
+wee red fists and the way he throws them around!" she said.
+
+"What's his name?" Dennis asked at last.
+
+"We're calling him after his grandpappy. Abraham Lincoln!"
+
+"That great big name for that scrawny little mite?"
+
+Nancy sounded hurt. "Give him a chance to grow, will you?"
+
+Then she saw that Dennis was only teasing. "You wait!" she went on. "It
+won't be long before Abe will be running around in buckskin breeches and
+a coonskin cap."
+
+"Well, maybe--"
+
+The door opened, and Tom Lincoln, the baby's father, came in. With him
+was Aunt Betsy Sparrow. She kissed Nancy and carried the baby over to a
+stool by the fireplace. Making little cooing noises under her breath,
+she dressed him in a white shirt and a yellow flannel petticoat. Sally
+Lincoln, two years old, who did not know quite what to make of the new
+brother, came over and stood beside her. Dennis drew up another stool
+and watched.
+
+Aunt Betsy looked across at him and smiled. Dennis, an orphan, lived
+with her and she knew that he was often lonely. There weren't many
+people living in Kentucky in the year 1809, and Dennis had no boys to
+play with.
+
+"I reckon you're mighty tickled to have a new cousin," she said.
+
+"I--I guess so," said Dennis slowly.
+
+"Want to hold him?"
+
+Dennis was not quite sure whether he did or not. Before he could answer,
+Aunt Betsy laid the baby in his arms. Sally edged closer. She started to
+put out her hand, but pulled it back. Abraham was so small that she was
+afraid to touch him.
+
+"Don't you fret, Sally," said Dennis. "Cousin Nancy said that he is
+going to grow. And when he does, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm
+going to teach him to swim."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Looking down into the tiny red face, Dennis felt a sudden warm glow in
+his heart. "Yes, and we can go fishing down at the creek. When I go to
+the mill to get the corn ground, he can come along. He can ride behind
+me on the horse, and when it goes cloppety-clop--"
+
+Dennis swung the baby back and forth. It puckered up its face and began
+to cry. Dennis caught his breath in dismay. How could such a large noise
+come out of such a small body?
+
+"Here, Aunt, take him quick!"
+
+He looked at Cousin Nancy out of the corner of his eye. "I reckon he'll
+never come to much."
+
+"Now, Dennis Hanks, I want you to behave," said Aunt Betsy, but this
+time Nancy paid no attention to his teasing. She held out her arms for
+her son and cuddled him against her breast.
+
+"As I told you," she said gaily, "you have to give him a chance to
+grow."
+
+It was almost dark by the time Aunt Betsy had tidied the one-room
+cabin. She cooked some dried berries for Nancy, and fed Sally. Dennis
+begged to spend the night. After his aunt had put on her shawl and left
+for her own cabin, he curled up in a bearskin on the floor.
+
+"Denny," asked Nancy, "what day is this?"
+
+"It's Sunday--"
+
+"I mean what day of the month."
+
+"I don't rightly know, Cousin Nancy."
+
+"I remember now," she went on. "It is the twelfth day of February.
+February 12, 1809! Little Abe's birthday!"
+
+Outside the wind rose, whistling through the bare branches of the trees.
+There was a blast of cold air as the door opened. Tom came in, his arms
+piled high with wood. He knelt on the dirt floor to build up the fire,
+and the rising flames lit the log walls with a faint red glow.
+
+"Are you glad it's a boy, Tom?" Nancy asked as he lay down beside her.
+"I am."
+
+"Yes," said Tom, but when she spoke to him again, he did not answer. He
+was asleep. She could see his tired face in the firelight. Life had been
+hard for Tom; it was hard for most pioneers. She hoped that their
+children would have things a little easier. The baby whimpered, and she
+held him closer.
+
+Denny's voice piped up: "Cousin Nancy, will Abe ever grow to be as big
+as me?"
+
+"Bigger'n you are now," she told him.
+
+"Will he grow as big as Cousin Tom?"
+
+"Bigger'n anybody, maybe."
+
+Nancy looked down at her son, now peacefully asleep. She made a song for
+him, a song so soft it was almost a whisper: "Abe--Abe," she crooned.
+"Abe Lincoln, you be going to grow--and grow--and grow!"
+
+
+
+
+2
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abraham Lincoln did grow. He seemed to grow bigger every day. By the
+time he was seven, he was as tall as his sister, although Sally was two
+years older. That fall their father made a trip up to Indiana.
+
+"Why did Pappy go so far away?" Sally asked one afternoon.
+
+"When is he coming home?" asked Abe.
+
+"Pretty soon, most likely."
+
+Nancy laid down her sewing and tried to explain. Their pa had had a hard
+time making a living for them. He was looking for a better farm. Tom was
+also a carpenter. Maybe some of the new settlers who were going to
+Indiana to live would give him work. Anyway, he thought that poor folks
+were better off up there.
+
+Abe looked surprised. He had never thought about being poor. There were
+so many things that he liked to do in Kentucky. He liked to go swimming
+with Dennis after his chores were done. There were fish to be caught and
+caves to explore. He and Sally had had a chance to go to school for a
+few weeks. Abe could write his name, just like his father. He could read
+much better. Tom knew a few words, but his children could read whole
+sentences.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe leaned up against his mother. "Tell us the story with our names," he
+begged.
+
+Nancy put her arm around him. She often told the children stories from
+the Bible. One of their favorites was about Abraham and Sarah. "Now the
+Lord said unto Abraham," she began--and stopped to listen.
+
+The door opened, and Tom Lincoln stood grinning down at them. "Well,
+folks," he said, "we're moving to Indiany."
+
+Nancy and the children, taken by surprise, asked questions faster than
+Tom could answer them. He had staked out a claim about a hundred miles
+to the north, at a place called Pigeon Creek. He was buying the land
+from the government and could take his time to pay for it. He wanted to
+start for Indiana at once, before the weather got any colder.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+It did not take long to get ready. A few possessions--a skillet, several
+pans, the water buckets, the fire shovel, a few clothes, a homespun
+blanket, a patchwork quilt, and several bearskins--were packed on the
+back of one of the horses. Nancy and Sally rode on the other horse. Abe
+and his father walked. At night they camped along the way.
+
+When at last they reached the Ohio River, Abe stared in surprise. It was
+so blue, so wide, so much bigger than the creek where he and Dennis had
+gone swimming. There were so many boats. One of them, a long low raft,
+was called a ferry. The Lincolns went right on board with their pack
+horses, and it carried them across the shining water to the wooded
+shores of Indiana.
+
+Indiana was a much wilder place than Kentucky. There was no road
+leading to Pigeon Creek; only a path through the forest. It was so
+narrow that sometimes Tom had to clear away some underbrush before they
+could go on. Or else he had to stop to cut down a tree that stood in
+their way. Abe, who was big and strong for his age, had his own little
+ax. He helped his father all he could.
+
+Fourteen miles north of the river, they came to a cleared place in the
+forest. Tom called it his "farm." He hastily put up a shelter--a camp
+made of poles and brush and leaves--where they could stay until he had
+time to build a cabin. It had only three walls. The fourth side was left
+open, and in this open space Tom built a fire. The children helped their
+mother to unpack, and she mixed batter for cornbread in a big iron
+skillet. She cut up a squirrel that Tom had shot earlier in the day, and
+cooked it over the campfire.
+
+"Now if you will fetch me your plates," she said, "we'll have our
+supper."
+
+The plates were only slabs of bark. On each slab Nancy put a piece of
+fried squirrel and a hunk of cornbread. The children sank down on one of
+the bearskins to eat their first meal in their new home. By this time it
+was quite dark. They could see only a few feet beyond the circle of
+light made by their campfire.
+
+Nancy shivered. She knew that they had neighbors. Tom had told her there
+were seven other families living at Pigeon Creek. But the trees were so
+tall, the night so black, that she had a strange feeling that they were
+the only people alive for miles around.
+
+"Don't you like it here, Mammy?" Abe asked. To him this camping out was
+an adventure, but he wanted his mother to like it, too.
+
+"I'm just feeling a little cold," she told him.
+
+"I like it," said Sally decidedly. "But it is sort of scary. Are you
+scared, Abe?"
+
+"Me?" Abe stuck out his chest. "What is there to be scared of?"
+
+At that moment a long-drawn-out howl came from the forest. Another
+seemed to come from just beyond their campfire. Then another and
+another--each howl louder and closer. The black curtain of the night
+was pierced by two green spots of light. The children huddled against
+their mother, but Tom Lincoln laughed.
+
+"I reckon I know what you're scared of. A wolf."
+
+"A wolf?" Sally shrieked.
+
+"Yep. See its green eyes. But it won't come near our fire."
+
+He got up and threw on another log. As the flames blazed higher, the
+green lights disappeared. There was a crashing sound in the underbrush.
+
+"Hear him running away? Cowardly varmint!" Tom sat down again. "No wolf
+will hurt us if we keep our fire going."
+
+It was a busy winter. Abe worked side by side with his father. How that
+boy can chop! thought Nancy, as she heard the sound of his ax biting
+into wood. Tree after tree had to be cut down before crops could be
+planted. With the coming of spring, he helped his father to plow the
+stumpy ground. He learned to plow a straight furrow. He planted seeds in
+the furrows.
+
+In the meantime, some of the neighbors helped Tom build a cabin. It had
+one room, with a tiny loft above. The floor was packed-down dirt. There
+were no windows. The only door was a long, up-and-down hole cut in one
+wall and covered by a bearskin. But Tom had made a table and several
+three-legged stools, and there was a pole bed in one corner. Nancy was
+glad to be living in a real house again, and she kept it neat and clean.
+
+She was no longer lonely. Aunt Betsy and her husband, Uncle Thomas,
+brought Dennis with them from Kentucky to live in the shelter near the
+Lincoln cabin. Several other new settlers arrived, settlers with
+children. A schoolmaster, Andrew Crawford, decided to start a school.
+
+"Maybe you'll have a chance to go, Abe," Nancy told him. "You know what
+the schoolmaster down in Kentucky said. He said you were a learner."
+
+Abe looked up at her and smiled. He was going to like living in Indiana!
+
+
+
+
+3
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+But sad days were coming to Pigeon Creek. There was a terrible sickness.
+Aunt Betsy and Uncle Thomas died, and Dennis came to live with the
+Lincolns. Then Nancy was taken ill. After she died, her family felt that
+nothing would ever be the same again.
+
+Sally tried to keep house, but she was only twelve. The one little room
+and the loft above looked dirtier and more and more gloomy as the weeks
+went by. Sally found that cooking for four people was not easy. The
+smoke from the fireplace got into her eyes. Some days Tom brought home a
+rabbit or a squirrel for her to fry. On other days, it was too cold to
+go hunting. Then there was only cornbread to eat and Sally's cornbread
+wasn't very good.
+
+It was hard to know who missed Nancy more--Tom or the children. He sat
+around the cabin looking cross and glum. The ground was frozen, so very
+little work could be done on the farm. He decided, when Andrew Crawford
+started his school, that Abe and Sally might as well go. There was
+nothing else for them to do, and Nancy would have wanted it.
+
+For the first time since his mother's death Abe seemed to cheer up.
+Every morning, except when there were chores to do at home, he and Sally
+took a path through the woods to the log schoolhouse. Master Crawford
+kept a "blab" school. The "scholars," as he called his pupils, studied
+their lessons out loud. The louder they shouted, the better he liked it.
+If a scholar didn't know his lesson, he had to stand in the corner with
+a long pointed cap on his head. This was called a dunce cap.
+
+One boy who never had to wear a dunce cap was Abe Lincoln. He was too
+smart. His side won nearly every spelling match. He was good at
+figuring, and he had the best handwriting of anyone at school. Master
+Crawford taught reading from the Bible, but he had several other books
+from which he read aloud. Among Abe's favorite stories were the ones
+about some wise animals that talked. They were by a man named Aesop who
+had lived hundreds of years before.
+
+Abe even made up compositions of his own. He called them "sentences."
+One day he found some of the boys being cruel to a terrapin, or turtle.
+He made them stop. Then he wrote a composition in which he said that
+animals had feelings the same as folks.
+
+Sometimes Abe's sentences rhymed. There was one rhyme that the children
+thought was a great joke:
+
+  "Abe Lincoln, his hand and pen,
+   He will be good, but God knows when."
+
+"That Abe Lincoln is funny enough to make a cat laugh," they said.
+
+They always had a good time watching Abe during the class in "Manners."
+Once a week Master Crawford had them practice being ladies and
+gentlemen. One scholar would pretend to be a stranger who had just
+arrived in Pigeon Creek. He would leave the schoolhouse, come back,
+and knock at the door. Another scholar would greet "the stranger," lead
+him around the room, and introduce him.
+
+One day it was Abe's turn to do the introducing. He opened the door to
+find his best friend, Nat Grigsby, waiting outside. Nat bowed low, from
+the waist. Abe bowed. His buckskin trousers, already too short, slipped
+up still farther, showing several inches of his bare leg. He looked so
+solemn that some of the girls giggled. The schoolmaster frowned and
+pounded on his desk. The giggling stopped.
+
+"Master Crawford," said Abe, "this here is Mr. Grigsby. His pa just
+moved to these parts. He figures on coming to your school."
+
+Andrew Crawford rose and bowed. "Welcome," he said. "Mr. Lincoln,
+introduce Mr. Grigsby to the other scholars."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The children sat on two long benches made of split logs. Abe led Nat
+down the length of the front bench. Each girl rose and made a curtsy.
+Nat bowed. Each boy rose and bowed. Nat returned the bow. Abe kept
+saying funny things under his breath that the schoolmaster could not
+hear. But the children heard, and they could hardly keep from laughing
+out loud.
+
+Sally sat on the second bench. "Mrs. Lincoln," said Abe in a high
+falsetto voice, "this here be Mr. Grigsby."
+
+While she was making her curtsy, Sally's cheeks suddenly grew red.
+"Don't let on I told you, Mr. Grigsby," Abe whispered, "but Mrs. Lincoln
+bakes the worst cornbread of anyone in Pigeon Creek."
+
+Sally forgot that they were having a lesson in manners. "Don't you dare
+talk about my cornbread," she said angrily.
+
+The little log room rocked with laughter. This time Master Crawford had
+also heard Abe's remark. He walked over to the corner where he kept a
+bundle of switches. He picked one up and laid it across his desk.
+
+"We'll have no more monkeyshines," he said severely. "Go on with the
+introducing."
+
+One day Abe almost got into real trouble. He had started for school
+early, as he often did, so that he could read one of Master Crawford's
+books. He was feeling sad as he walked through the woods; he seemed to
+miss his mother more each day. When he went into the schoolhouse, he
+looked up and saw a pair of deer antlers. Master Crawford had gone
+hunting. He had shot a deer and nailed the antlers above the door.
+
+What a wonderful place to swing! thought Abe. He leaped up and caught
+hold of the prongs. He began swinging back and forth.
+
+CRASH! One prong came off in his hand, and he fell to the floor. He
+hurried to his seat, hoping that the master would not notice.
+
+But Master Crawford was proud of those antlers. When he saw what had
+happened, he picked up the switch on his desk. It made a swishing sound
+as he swung it back and forth.
+
+"Who broke my deer antlers?" he shouted.
+
+No one answered. Abe hunched down as far as he could on the bench. He
+seemed to be trying to hide inside his buckskin shirt.
+
+Master Crawford repeated his question. "Who broke my deer antlers? I
+aim to find out, if I have to thrash every scholar in this school."
+
+All of the children looked scared, Abe most of all. But he stood up. He
+marched up to Master Crawford's desk and held out the broken prong that
+he had been hiding in his hand.
+
+"I did it, sir," he said. "I didn't mean to do it, but I hung on the
+antlers and they broke. I wouldn't have done it, if I had thought they'd
+a broke."
+
+The other scholars thought that Abe would get a licking. Instead, Master
+Crawford told him to stay in after school. They had a long talk. He
+liked Abe's honesty in owning up to what he had done. He knew how much
+he missed his mother. Perhaps he understood that sometimes a boy "cuts
+up" to try to forget how sad he feels.
+
+Abe felt sadder than ever after Master Crawford moved away from Pigeon
+Creek. Then Tom Lincoln left. One morning he rode off on horseback
+without telling anyone where he was going. Several days went by. Even
+easy-going Dennis was worried when Tom did not return.
+
+Abe did most of the chores. In the evening he practiced his sums. Master
+Crawford had taught him to do easy problems in arithmetic, and he did
+not want to forget what he had learned. He had no pen, no ink, not even
+a piece of paper. He took a burnt stick from the fireplace and worked
+his sums on a flat board.
+
+He wished that he had a book to read. Instead, he tried to remember the
+stories that the schoolmaster had told. He repeated them to Sally and
+Dennis, as they huddled close to the fire to keep warm. He said them
+again to himself after he went to bed in the loft.
+
+There were words in some of the stories that Abe did not understand. He
+tried to figure out what the words meant. He thought about the people in
+the stories. He thought about the places mentioned and wondered what
+they were like.
+
+There were thoughts inside Abraham Lincoln's head that even Sally did
+not know anything about.
+
+
+
+
+4
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe took another bite of cornbread and swallowed hard. "Don't you like
+it?" asked Sally anxiously. "I know it doesn't taste like the cornbread
+Mammy used to make."
+
+She looked around the room. The furniture was the same as their mother
+had used--a homemade table and a few three-legged stools. The same
+bearskin hung before the hole in the wall that was their only door. But
+Nancy had kept the cabin clean. She had known how to build a fire that
+didn't smoke. Sally glanced down at her faded linsey-woolsey dress,
+soiled with soot. The dirt floor felt cold to her bare feet. Her last
+pair of moccasins had worn out weeks ago.
+
+"I don't mind the cornbread--at least, not much." Abe finished his
+piece, down to the last crumb. "If I seem down in the mouth, Sally, it
+is just because--"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He walked over to the fireplace, where he stood with his back to the
+room.
+
+"He misses Nancy," said Dennis bluntly, "the same as the rest of us.
+Then Tom has been gone for quite a spell."
+
+Sally put her hand on Abe's shoulder. "I'm scared. Do you reckon
+something has happened to Pappy? Isn't he ever coming back?"
+
+Abe stared into the fire. He was thinking of the wolves and panthers
+loose in the woods. There were many dangers for a man riding alone over
+the rough forest paths. The boy wanted to say something to comfort
+Sally, but he had to tell the truth. "I don't know, I--"
+
+He stopped to listen. Few travelers passed by their cabin in the winter,
+but he was sure that he heard a faint noise in the distance. It sounded
+like the creak of wheels. The noise came again--this time much closer. A
+man's voice was shouting: "Get-up! Get-up!"
+
+"Maybe it's Pappy!" Abe pushed aside the bearskin and rushed outside.
+Sally and Dennis were right behind him.
+
+"It _is_ Pappy," Sally cried. "But look--"
+
+Tom Lincoln had left Pigeon Creek on horseback. He was returning in a
+wagon drawn by four horses. He was not alone. A strange woman sat beside
+him, holding a small boy in her lap. Two girls, one about Sally's age,
+the other about eight, stood behind her. The wagon was piled high with
+furniture--more furniture than the Lincoln children had ever seen.
+
+"Whoa, there!" Tom Lincoln pulled at the reins and brought the wagon to
+a stop before the door.
+
+"Here we are, Sarah." He jumped down and held out his hand to help the
+woman.
+
+She was very neat looking, tall and straight, with neat little curls
+showing at the edge of her brown hood. She said, "Tsch! Tsch!" when she
+saw Tom's children. She stared at their soiled clothing, their matted
+hair, their faces smudged with soot. "Tsch! Tsch!" she said again, and
+Abe felt hot all over in spite of the cold wind. He dug the toe of his
+moccasin into the frozen ground.
+
+"Abe! Sally!" their father said. "I've brought you a new mammy. This
+here is the Widow Johnston. That is, she was the Widow Johnston." He
+cleared his throat. "She is Mrs. Lincoln now. I've been back to Kentucky
+to get myself a wife."
+
+"Howdy!" The new Mrs. Lincoln was trying to sound cheerful. She beckoned
+to the children in the wagon. They jumped down and stood beside her.
+"These here are my young ones," she went on. "The big gal is Betsy. The
+other one is Mathilda. This little shaver is Johnny."
+
+Dennis came forward to be introduced, but he had eyes only for Betsy.
+She gave him a coy look out of her china-blue eyes. Tilda smiled shyly
+at Sally. Both of the Johnston girls wore pretty linsey-woolsey dresses
+under their shawls and neat moccasins on their feet. Sally, looking down
+at her own soiled dress and bare toes, wished that she could run away
+and hide. Abe said "Howdy" somewhere down inside his stomach.
+
+Sarah, Tom's new wife, looked around the littered yard, then at the
+cabin. It did not even have a window! It did not have a door that would
+open and shut--only a ragged bearskin flapping in the wind. She had
+known Tom since he was a boy and had always liked him. Her first
+husband, Mr. Johnston, had died some time before, and when Tom had
+returned to Kentucky and asked her to marry him, she had said yes. He
+had told her that his children needed a mother's care, and he was right.
+
+Poor young ones! she thought. Aloud she said, "Well, let's not all
+stand out here and freeze. Can't we go inside and get warm?"
+
+The inside of the cabin seemed almost as cold as the outdoors. And even
+more untidy. Johnny clung to his mother's skirt and started to cry. He
+wanted to go back to Kentucky. His sisters peered through the gloom,
+trying to see in the dim light. Sally was sure that they were looking at
+her. She sat down hastily and tucked her feet as far back as she could
+under the stool. Abe stood quite still, watching this strange woman who
+had come without warning to take his mother's place.
+
+She smiled at him. He did not smile back.
+
+Slowly she turned and looked around. Her clear gray eyes took in every
+nook, every crack of the miserable little one-room house. She noticed
+the dirty bearskins piled on the pole bed in the corner. She saw the
+pegs in the wall that led to the loft. The fire smoldering in the
+fireplace gave out more smoke than heat.
+
+"The first thing we'd better do," she said, taking off her bonnet, "is
+to build up that fire. Then we'll get some victuals ready. I reckon
+everybody will feel better when we've had a bite to eat."
+
+From that moment things began to happen in the Lincoln cabin. Tom went
+out to the wagon to unhitch the horses. Dennis brought in more firewood.
+Abe and Mathilda started for the spring, swinging the water pail between
+them. Betsy mixed a fresh batch of cornbread in the iron skillet, and
+Sally set it on the hearth to bake. Tom came back from the wagon,
+carrying a comb of honey and a slab of bacon, and soon the magic smell
+of frying bacon filled the air. There were no dishes, but Sally kept
+large pieces of bark in the cupboard. Eight people sat down at the one
+little table, but no one seemed to mind that it was crowded.
+
+The Lincoln children had almost forgotten how good bacon could taste.
+Abe ate in silence, his eyes on his plate. Sally seemed to feel much
+better. Sitting between her stepsisters, she was soon chattering with
+them as though they were old friends. Once she called the new Mrs.
+Lincoln "Mamma," just as her own daughters did. Dennis sat on the other
+side of Betsy. He seemed to be enjoying himself most of all. He sopped
+up his last drop of golden honey on his last piece of cornbread.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I declare," he said, grinning, "we ain't had a meal like this since
+Nancy died."
+
+Abe jumped up at the mention of his mother's name. He was afraid that he
+was going to cry. He had started for the door, when he felt his father's
+rough hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, you set right down there and finish your cornbread."
+
+Abe looked up at Tom out of frightened gray eyes. But he shook his head.
+"I can't, Pa."
+
+"A nice way to treat your new ma!" Tom Lincoln sounded both angry and
+embarrassed. "You clean up your plate or I'll give you a good hiding."
+
+The young Johnstons gasped. Abe could hear Sally's whisper: "Please,
+Abe! Do as Pa says." Then he heard another voice.
+
+"Let the boy be, Tom." It was Sarah Lincoln speaking.
+
+There was something about the way she said it that made Abe decide to
+come back and sit down. He managed somehow to eat the rest of his
+cornbread. He looked up and saw that she was smiling at him again. He
+almost smiled back.
+
+Sarah looked relieved. "Abe and I," she said, "are going to have plenty
+of chance to get acquainted."
+
+
+
+
+5
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Sarah Rose from the table. "There's a lot of work to be done here," she
+announced, "before we can bring in my plunder." She meant her furniture
+and other possessions in the wagon. "First, we'll need plenty of hot
+water. Who wants to go to the spring?"
+
+She was looking at Abe. "I'll go, ma'am." He grabbed the water bucket
+and hurried through the door.
+
+Abe made several trips to the spring that afternoon. Each bucket full of
+water that he brought back was poured into the big iron kettle over the
+fireplace. Higher and higher roared the flames. When Sarah wasn't asking
+for more water, she was asking for more wood. The steady chop-chop of
+Tom's ax could be heard from the wood lot.
+
+Everyone was working, even Dennis. Sarah gave him a pan of soap and hot
+water and told him to wash the cabin walls. The girls scrubbed the
+table, the three-legged stools, and the corner cupboard inside and out.
+Sarah climbed the peg ladder to peer into the loft.
+
+"Tsch! Tsch!" she said, when she saw the corn husks and dirty bearskins
+on which the boys had been sleeping. "Take them out and burn them, Tom."
+
+"Burn them?" he protested.
+
+"Yes, and burn the covers on the downstairs bed, too. I reckon I have
+enough feather beds and blankets to go around. We're starting fresh in
+this house. We'll soon have it looking like a different place."
+
+Not since Nancy died had the cabin had such a thorough cleaning. Then
+came the most remarkable part of that remarkable afternoon--the
+unloading of the wagon. Sarah's pots and pans shone from much scouring.
+Her wooden platters and dishes were spotless. And the furniture! She had
+chairs with real backs, a table, and a big chest filled with clothes.
+There was one bureau that had cost forty-five dollars. Abe ran his
+finger over the shining dark wood. Sarah hung a small mirror above it
+and he gasped when he looked at his reflection. This was the first
+looking glass that he had ever seen.
+
+Most remarkable of all were the feather beds. One was laid on the pole
+bed, downstairs. Another was placed on a clean bearskin in the opposite
+corner to provide a sleeping place for the girls. The third was carried
+to the loft for the three boys. When Abe went to bed that night, he sank
+down gratefully into the comfortable feathers. The homespun blanket that
+covered him was soft and warm.
+
+On either side, Dennis and Johnny were asleep. Abe lay between them,
+wide awake, staring into the darkness. The new Mrs. Lincoln was good and
+kind. He knew that. She had seemed pleased when Sally called her
+"Mamma." Somehow he couldn't. There was still a lonesome place in his
+heart for his own mother.
+
+Something else was worrying him. Before going to bed, Sarah Lincoln had
+looked at him and Sally out of her calm gray eyes. "Tomorrow I aim to
+make you young ones look more human," she said. Abe wondered what she
+meant.
+
+He found out the next morning. Tom and Dennis left early to go hunting.
+Abe went out to chop wood for the fireplace. When he came back, he met
+the three girls going down the path. Sally was walking between her two
+stepsisters, but what a different Sally! She wore a neat, pretty dress
+that had belonged to Betsy. She had on Sarah's shawl. Her hair was
+combed in two neat pigtails. Her face had a clean, scrubbed look. Her
+eyes were sparkling. She was taking Betsy and Mathilda to call on one of
+the neighbors.
+
+"Good-by, Mamma," she called.
+
+Sarah stood in the doorway, waving to the girls. Then she saw Abe, his
+arms piled high with wood. "Come in," she said. "Sally has had her bath.
+Now I've got a tub of good hot water and a gourd full of soap waiting
+for you. Skedaddle out of those old clothes and throw them in the fire."
+
+"I ain't got any others." Abe looked terrified.
+
+"I don't aim to pluck your feathers without giving you some new ones."
+Sarah laughed. "I sat up late last night, cutting down a pair of Mr.
+Johnston's old pants. I got a shirt, too, laid out here on the bed."
+
+Slowly Abe started taking off his shirt. He looked fearfully at the tub
+of hot water.
+
+"There's no call to be scared," said Sarah. "That tub won't bite. Now
+I'm going down to the spring. By the time I get back, I want you to have
+yourself scrubbed all over."
+
+Abe stuck one toe into the water. He said, "Ouch!" and drew it out. He
+then tried again, and put in his whole foot. He put in his other foot.
+He sat down in the tub. By the time Sarah returned he was standing
+before the fire, dressed in the cut-down trousers and shirt of the late
+Mr. Johnston.
+
+Sarah seemed pleased. "You look like a different boy," she said. "Those
+trousers are a mite too big, but you'll soon grow into them."
+
+Abe was surprised how good it felt to be clean again. "Thank you, ma'am.
+Now I'd better get in some more wood."
+
+"We have plenty of wood," said Sarah. "You see that stool? You sit down
+and let me get at your hair. It looks like a heap of underbrush."
+
+Abe watched anxiously when she opened the top drawer of the bureau and
+took out a haw comb and a pair of scissors. I'll stand for it this time,
+he thought, because she's been so good to us. But if she pulls too
+hard--
+
+Mrs. Lincoln _did_ pull. But when Abe said "Ouch!" she patted his
+shoulder and waited a moment. He closed his eyes and screwed up his
+face, but he said nothing more. Perhaps she couldn't help pulling, he
+decided. Lock after lock she snipped off. He began to wonder if he was
+going to have any hair left by the time she got through.
+
+"I've been watching you, Abe. You're a right smart boy," she said. "Had
+much schooling?"
+
+"I've just been to school by littles."
+
+"Have you a mind to go again?"
+
+"There ain't any school since Master Crawford left. Anyhow, Pappy
+doesn't set much store by eddication."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What do you mean, Abe?"
+
+"He says I know how to read and write and cipher and that's enough for
+anyone."
+
+"You can read?" she asked.
+
+"Yes'm, but I haven't any books."
+
+"You can read and you haven't any books. I have books and I can't read."
+
+Abe looked at her, amazed. "You have _books_?"
+
+Sarah nodded, but said nothing more until she had finished cutting his
+hair. Then she led him over to the bureau.
+
+"Now see if you don't like yourself better without that brush heap on
+top of your head," she asked him.
+
+A boy with short neat hair gazed back at Abe from the mirror.
+
+"I still ain't the prettiest boy in Pigeon Creek," he drawled, "but
+there ain't quite so much left to be ugly. I'm right glad, ma'am, you
+cleared away the brush heap."
+
+Was he joking? He looked so solemn that Sarah could not be sure. Then he
+grinned. It was the first time that she had seen him smile.
+
+"You're a caution, Abe," she said. "Now sit yourself down over there at
+the table, and I'll show you my books."
+
+She opened the top drawer of the bureau and took out four worn little
+volumes. Although she could not read, she knew the titles: "Here they
+are: _Robinson Crusoe_, _Pilgrim's Progress_, _Sinbad the Sailor_, and
+_Aesop's Fables_."
+
+"Oh, ma'am, this book by Mr. Aesop is one the schoolmaster had. The
+stories are all about some smart talking animals."
+
+He seemed to have forgotten her, as he bent his neat shorn head down
+over the pages. He chuckled when he read something that amused him.
+Sarah watched him curiously. He was not like her John. He was not like
+any boy that she had ever known. But the hungry look in his eyes went
+straight to her heart.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He looked up at her shyly. "Ma'am," he said, "will you let me read these
+books sometimes?"
+
+"Why, Abe, you can read them any time you like. I'm giving them to you
+to keep."
+
+"Oh, _Mamma_!" The name slipped out as though he were used to saying it.
+He had a feeling that Nancy, his own mother, had never gone away.
+
+"You're my boy, now," Sarah told him, "and I aim to help you all I can.
+The next time a school keeps in these parts, I'm going to ask your pappy
+to let you and the other children go."
+
+"Thank you, ma'am," said Abe. "I mean--thank you, Mamma."
+
+
+
+
+6
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Many changes were taking place in the Lincoln cabin. Sarah persuaded Tom
+to cut two holes in the walls for windows, and she covered them with
+greased paper to let in the light. He made a wooden door that could be
+shut against the cold winter winds. Abe and Dennis gave the walls and
+low ceiling a coat of whitewash, and Sarah spread her bright rag rugs on
+the new wooden floor.
+
+"Aunt Sairy," Dennis told her, "you're some punkins. One just naturally
+has to be somebody when you're around."
+
+Abe smiled up at her shyly. "It is sort of like the magic in that story
+of Sinbad you gave me."
+
+The other children were asleep. Abe sprawled on the floor, making marks
+on a wooden shovel with a pointed stick. Tom, seated in one of his
+wife's chairs, was dozing on one side of the fireplace.
+
+Sarah put down her knitting and looked around the cabin. "The place
+does look right cozy," she replied. "What is that you're doing, Abe?"
+
+"Working my sums."
+
+Tom opened his eyes. "You know how to figure enough already. Put that
+shovel up and go to bed."
+
+Abe took a knife and scraped the figures from the wooden shovel. He
+placed it against one side of the fireplace. "Good night, Mamma," he
+said.
+
+"Good night, Abe."
+
+Sarah's eyes were troubled. She waited until Dennis had joined Abe in
+the loft, then turned to her husband. "I've been meaning to tell you,
+Tom, what a good pa you've been to my young ones."
+
+She saw that he was pleased. "I've tried to be a good mother to Abe and
+Sally, too," she went on.
+
+"You have been, Sairy. They took to you right off."
+
+"I'm right glad, but there's something else I want to talk to you about,
+Tom." He was nodding again in his chair, and she paused to make sure
+that he was listening. "Abe's a smart boy. I told him the next time a
+school keeps in these parts, I'd ask you to let him and the other
+children go."
+
+"Humph!" Tom grunted. "There ain't any school for him to go to. Anyway,
+he wastes enough time as 'tis. He's always got his nose buried in those
+books you brought."
+
+"That bothers me, too. I saw you cuff him the other day because he was
+reading."
+
+"I had to, Sairy. I told him to come out and chop some wood, but he up
+and laughed in my face."
+
+"He wasn't laughing at you, Tom. He was laughing at Sinbad."
+
+"Who in tarnation is Sinbad?"
+
+"A fellow in one of his books. Abe said that Sinbad sailed his flatboat
+up to a rock, and the rock was magnetized and pulled all the nails out
+of his boat. Then Sinbad fell into the water."
+
+"That's what I mean," Tom exploded. "Dennis told him that book was most
+likely lies, but Abe keeps on reading it. Where is all this book
+learning going to get him? More'n I ever had."
+
+"Maybe the Lord meant for young ones to be smarter than their parents,"
+said Sarah, "or the world might never get any better."
+
+Tom shook his head in dismay. "Women and their fool notions! If I don't
+watch out, you'll be spoiling the boy more'n his own mammy did."
+
+Sarah's cheeks were red as she bent over her knitting. Tom was right
+about one thing. There was no school for Abe to go to. But some day
+there would be. Every few weeks another clearing was made in the forest,
+and the neighbors gathered for a "house raising" to help put up a cabin.
+Then smoke would rise from a new chimney, and another new home would be
+started in the wilderness.
+
+With so many new settlers, there was usually plenty of work for Abe.
+Whenever Tom did not need him at home, he hired out at twenty-five cents
+a day. He gave this money to his father. That was the law, Tom said. Not
+until Abe was twenty-one would he be allowed to keep his wages for
+himself. As a hired boy, he plowed corn, chopped wood, and did all kinds
+of chores. He did not like farming, but he managed to have fun.
+
+"Pa taught me to work," Abe told one farmer who had hired him, "but he
+never taught me to love it."
+
+The farmer scratched his head. He couldn't understand a boy who was
+always reading, and if Abe wasn't reading he was telling jokes. The
+farmer thought that Abe was lazy.
+
+"Sometimes," the farmer said, "I get awful mad at you, Abe Lincoln. You
+crack your jokes and spin your yarns, if you want to, while the men are
+eating their dinner. But don't you keep them from working."
+
+The other farm hands liked to gather around Abe when they stopped to eat
+their noon meal. Sometimes he would stand on a tree stump and
+"speechify." The men would become so interested that they would be late
+getting back to the fields. Other times he would tell them stories that
+he had read in books or that he had heard from some traveler who had
+passed through Pigeon Creek. He nearly always had a funny story to tell.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Yet there was "something peculiarsome about Abe," as Dennis Hanks once
+said. He would be laughing one minute; the next minute he would look
+solemn and sad. He would walk along the narrow forest trails, a faraway
+look in his eyes. Someone would say "Howdy, Abe." Then he would grin and
+start "cracking jokes" again.
+
+Although he worked such long hours, Abe still found time to read. He sat
+up late and got up early in the morning, and Sarah made the children
+keep quiet when he wanted to study. Sometimes he took a book to work
+with him. Instead of talking to the other farm hands at noon, he'd go
+off by himself and read a few pages while he ate his dinner. People for
+miles around loaned him books. Sometimes he walked fifteen miles to
+Rockport, the county seat, to borrow books from John Pitcher, the town
+lawyer.
+
+"Everything I want to know is in books," he told Dennis. "My best friend
+is a man who can give me a book I ain't read."
+
+Late one afternoon, about two years after Sarah had arrived, Abe came
+home with a new book under his arm. Tom and Dennis had joined several of
+their neighbors in a big bear hunt and planned to be gone for several
+days. Abe planned to read--and read--and read.
+
+"What do you think, Mamma?" he asked. "I have a chance to read the
+Declaration of Independence."
+
+Sarah smiled into his eager eyes. "Now isn't that nice?"
+
+He showed her the book. It belonged to David Turnham, the constable. Mr.
+Turnham had said that Abe might borrow it for several days, if he
+promised to be careful.
+
+"What is it about?" Sarah asked.
+
+"It has the laws of Indiana in it, and it tells how the government of
+our country was started." Abe's voice took on a new tone of excitement.
+"It has the Declaration of Independence in it and the Constitution,
+too."
+
+He pulled a stool up to the fire and began to read. There was no sound
+in the little cabin except the steady click-click of Sarah's knitting
+needles. She glanced at him now and then. This tall, awkward boy had
+become very dear to her. As dear as her own children, perhaps even
+dearer, but he was harder to understand. No matter how much he learned,
+he wanted to learn more. He was always hungry, hungry for knowledge--not
+hungry for bacon and cornbread the way Johnny was. The idea made her
+chuckle.
+
+Abe did not hear. He laid the book on his knee and stared into the
+flames. His lips were moving, although he made no sound.
+
+"What are you saying to yourself?" Sarah asked. "You look so far away."
+
+"Why, Mamma." Abe looked up with a start. "I was just recollecting some
+of the words out of the Declaration of Independence. It says all men are
+created equal."
+
+"You don't mean to tell me!" Sarah was pleased because Abe was.
+
+"I'm going to learn as much of the Declaration as I can by heart, before
+I take the book back," he said. "That way I can always keep the words."
+
+"I declare," said Sarah, "you grow new ideas inside your head as fast as
+you add inches on top of it."
+
+
+
+
+7
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe went right on adding inches. By the time he was fourteen he was as
+tall as his father. Sally was working as a hired girl that summer for
+Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Crawford. Abe worked for them off and on. One
+afternoon he finished his chores early, and Mrs. Crawford sent him home.
+Abe was glad. Josiah had lent him a new book--a life of George
+Washington--and he wanted to start reading it.
+
+When he reached the Lincoln cabin, he found Betsy and Mathilda waiting
+outside for their mother. She stood before the mirror in the cabin
+putting on her sunbonnet.
+
+"Your pa and Dennis have gone squirrel hunting," she said, as she tied
+the strings in a neat bow beneath her chin. "The gals and I are going to
+visit a new neighbor. Will you keep an eye on Johnny and put some
+'taters on to boil for supper?"
+
+"Oh, Ma, not potatoes again?"
+
+"They will be right tasty with a mess of squirrel. Before you put the
+'taters on--"
+
+Abe patted the book inside his shirt front. "I can read?" he asked.
+
+"You can, after you go down to the horse trough and wash your head."
+
+"Wash my head? How come?" Abe wailed.
+
+"Take a look at that ceiling, and you'll know how come. See that dark
+spot? Your head made that. You're getting so tall you bump into the
+ceiling every time you climb into the loft."
+
+Abe rolled his eyes upward. "If some of that learning I've got cooped up
+in my head starts leaking out, how can I help it?"
+
+Sarah refused to be put off by any of his foolishness. "When you track
+dirt into the house, I can wash the floor," she said. "But I can't get
+to the ceiling so easy. It needs a new coat of whitewash, but there's no
+use in doing it if your head ain't clean."
+
+"All right," said Abe meekly.
+
+"Take a gourdful of soap with you," said Sarah. "And mind you, no
+reading until you finish washing your hair."
+
+He grumbled under his breath as he walked down to the horse trough. With
+a new book waiting to be read, washing his hair seemed a waste of time.
+But if that was what Sarah wanted, he would do it. He lathered his head
+with soap and ducked it into the water. Some of the soap got into his
+eyes and he began to sputter. He heard a giggle.
+
+"Hey, Johnny, is that you?" he said. "Get a bucket of water--quick!"
+
+Johnny, the eight-year-old stepbrother, was glad to oblige. He poured
+bucket after bucket of water over Abe's head. Finally all of the soap was
+rinsed out of his hair. Abe took the tail of his shirt and wiped the soap
+out of his eyes. Both boys were covered with water. The ground around the
+horse trough was like a muddy little swamp. Johnny was delighted. He liked
+to feel the mud squish up between his toes.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Look at me, Abe," he shouted. "Ain't we having fun?"
+
+Abe took his young stepbrother by the hand. His eyes were twinkling.
+"I've thought of something else that's fun. Come on, we're going to play
+a joke on Mamma."
+
+When Sarah returned to the cabin late that afternoon, she noticed that
+Abe's hair was still damp. He was very quiet as he stood by the
+fireplace and swung the big kettle outward. He dipped out the potatoes
+with an iron spoon. Tom and Dennis came in, both somewhat grumpy. They
+had not brought back a single squirrel.
+
+Only Johnny seemed in good spirits. He whispered in Mathilda's ear. They
+both began to giggle. By the time the family had gathered around the
+table, Betsy and Dennis had been let in on the secret, whatever it was.
+They were red in the face from trying not to laugh.
+
+"Quiet!" said Tom. "Quiet, while I say the blessing."
+
+"We thank thee. Lord--" he began.
+
+Tom usually gave thanks for each kind of food on the table. But today
+there was only a dish of dried-up potatoes. "We thank Thee, Lord," he
+went on, "for all these blessings."
+
+"Mighty poor blessings," said Abe.
+
+The girls giggled again. Dennis threw back his head and roared. Johnny
+was laughing so hard that he fell off his stool. He lay on the floor,
+rolling and shrieking.
+
+"I wish you young ones would stop carrying on," said Sarah, "and tell me
+what you're carrying on about."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Oh, Mamma, can't you see?" said Betsy. "Look up."
+
+Sarah gasped. Marching across the cabin ceiling were the muddy marks of
+two bare feet.
+
+"Don't they look like Johnny's feet?" Mathilda asked.
+
+"Johnny Johnston, you come right here," said Sarah sternly.
+
+Johnny picked himself up from the rag rug before the fireplace. He went
+over and stood before his mother. His blue eyes danced. This was one
+scolding that he looked forward to.
+
+"Now tell me the truth. What do you mean by--"
+
+Sarah paused. She could hardly scold her son for walking on the ceiling.
+
+Johnny had been told exactly what to say. "I got my feet all muddy down
+at the horse trough," he explained. "Then I walked on the ceiling."
+
+"You walked on the ceiling? Johnny Johnston, you know it's wicked to
+lie."
+
+"I'm not lying. Those are my footprints."
+
+Sarah looked again. The footprints were too small to belong to anyone
+but Johnny. She looked at Abe. He seemed to have taken a sudden liking
+for boiled potatoes and kept his eyes on his plate.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, is this some of your tomfoolery?"
+
+"I--I reckon so."
+
+"But how--"
+
+"It was easy," Johnny interrupted. "I held my legs stiff and Abe held me
+upside down, and I walked."
+
+Abe stood up, pushing back his stool. He glanced toward the door.
+
+Sarah was not often angry. When she was, she reminded her children of a
+mother hen ruffling its feathers. "Well, Abe, have you got anything to
+say for yourself?"
+
+Abe shook his head. Suddenly his joke did not seem quite so funny.
+
+"I declare!" said Sarah. "A big boy like you! You ought to be spanked."
+
+The children looked at tall, lanky Abe towering over their mother. They
+burst out laughing again. "Mamma's going to spank Abe!" they chanted.
+"Mamma's going to spank Abe."
+
+Dennis brought both hands down on the table with a loud whack. "That's a
+good one, that is," he roared.
+
+Sarah threw her apron over her head. The children watched the peculiar
+way the apron began to shake. When she took it down, they saw that she
+was laughing. She was laughing so hard that the tears ran down her
+cheeks.
+
+"I reckon I'll have to let you off, Abe," she said. "You'd be a mite too
+big for me to handle."
+
+Tom jumped up. "He ain't too big for me. He ain't too big for a
+good-sized hickory switch."
+
+Sarah bit her lip, her own brief anger forgotten. "Now, Tom," she
+protested.
+
+"You ain't going to talk me out of it this time."
+
+"I--I was aiming to whitewash the ceiling, Pa," said Abe. "Ma said it
+needed a fresh coat."
+
+Sarah looked relieved. "That is exactly what he can do. Whitewash the
+ceiling."
+
+"He can after I've given him a licking."
+
+Sarah put out her hand. "Sit down, Tom, and finish your 'taters before
+they get cold. I figure it this way. Before Abe starts reading that new
+book, he can whitewash the ceiling. The walls, too. That ought to learn
+him not to cut up any more didos."
+
+Sarah pulled down her mouth, trying to look stern. Tom sat down and
+started to eat his potato.
+
+"You're a good one, Sairy," he chuckled. "You sure know how to get work
+out of him."
+
+Abe looked at her gratefully. At the same time he was disappointed. He
+had been thinking about that book all afternoon.
+
+The next morning Sarah shooed everyone out of the cabin. Abe was down by
+the horse trough, mixing the whitewash in a big tub. By the time he
+returned, she had a bucket of hot water and a gourdful of soft soap
+ready. After washing the inside of the cabin he got busy with the
+whitewash. First he did the walls. Then he did the rafters and the
+ceiling. He cocked his head, gazing at the muddy footprints.
+
+"They make a right pretty picture, ma'am. Shall I leave them on for
+decoration?"
+
+Sarah, seated on a stool by the fireplace, looked up from her sewing.
+"Abe, you big scamp. You get that ceiling nice and white, or I'll be
+carrying out my threat."
+
+The corners of her mouth were twitching. Abe grinned, glad to be at
+peace with her again.
+
+"After I finish here," he asked, "do you have any more chores?"
+
+"No, Abe. I reckon there will be time for you to do some reading. But
+first, you finish your whitewashing. Then there's something I want to
+talk to you about."
+
+Abe dipped his brush into the whitewash again and again, until he had
+covered up the last telltale mark of Johnny's feet. The cabin was bright
+and shining when he finished. He pulled another stool up to the
+fireplace and sat facing Sarah.
+
+"I wasn't meaning to tell you just yet," she said. "Leastways until I
+had a chance to talk to your pa."
+
+"What is it, Mamma?"
+
+"There's a new neighbor come to Pigeon Creek," she said. "Man by the
+name of James Swaney. He is farming now, but he is fixing to keep a
+school next winter."
+
+Abe jumped up and stood looking down at her. "Do you reckon that Pa--"
+
+"Your pa is worried," Sarah interrupted. "Money-worried. He may have to
+sell some of his land. That's why he gets riled so easy--like
+yesterday."
+
+Abe flushed.
+
+"I want you to be careful," said Sarah. "Try not to get his dander up."
+
+"I'll try not to."
+
+"Maybe you recollect what I promised you when I first came. I said I'd
+ask your pa to let you go to school again. Now I'm a body that believes
+in keeping my promises. I just want to wait till he feels good."
+
+Sarah's sewing basket spilled to the floor, as Abe pulled her to her
+feet. He put his long arms around her waist and gave her a good bear
+hug.
+
+"Abe Lincoln, you're most choking me," she said breathlessly. "Here I
+was thinking how grown up you were getting to be. Now you be acting like
+a young one again."
+
+Abe kissed her on the cheek.
+
+
+
+
+8
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Abe sat up late, holding his book close to the flickering flames in the
+fireplace. As the rain drummed on the roof, his thoughts were far away.
+He was with General Washington in a small boat crossing the Delaware
+River on a cold Christmas night many years before. He was fighting the
+battle of Trenton with a handful of brave American soldiers. They must
+have wanted very much to be free, he decided, to be willing to fight so
+hard and suffer so much.
+
+"Isn't it getting too dark for you to see?" Sarah called sleepily.
+
+"Yes, Mamma."
+
+Carefully Abe placed the precious little volume between two logs in the
+wall of the cabin. This was his bookcase. As he climbed into the loft he
+wondered if the book told about the time George Washington became
+President. He would have to wait until morning to find out.
+
+He was up early. But his face grew pale when he reached for the book.
+During the night the rain had leaked in on it through a crack in the
+logs. The pages were wet and stuck together. The binding was warped.
+Sally was starting down the path toward the Crawford cabin when Abe
+called after her.
+
+"Wait! I'm coming with you."
+
+He thrust the book inside his buckskin shirt. Sally tried to comfort
+him, but Abe kept wondering what Mr. Crawford was going to say. He was a
+little scared of Josiah. Some of the boys called him "Old Bluenose"
+because of the large purple vein on the side of his nose. It made him
+look rather cross. He probably would want Abe to pay for the book, and
+Abe had no money.
+
+He opened the Crawford gate and marched up to the kitchen door. Josiah,
+his wife Elizabeth, and Sammy, their little boy, were having breakfast.
+When Abe explained what had happened, Mrs. Crawford patted his shoulder.
+He liked her. She was always nice to him, but he knew that her husband
+was the one who would decide about the book. Josiah took it in his big
+hands and looked at the stained pages.
+
+"Well, Abe," he said slowly, "I won't be hard on you. If you want to
+pull fodder three days for me, that ought to pay for the book."
+
+"Starting right now?"
+
+"Yep, starting right now." Josiah was actually smiling. "Then you can
+have the book to keep."
+
+Abe caught his breath. What a lucky boy he was! Three days' work and he
+could keep the book! He would have a chance to read about George
+Washington any time he wanted to.
+
+Never had he worked harder or faster than he did that morning. When the
+noon dinner bell rang, he seemed to be walking on air as he followed
+Josiah into the cabin. Sally was putting dinner on the table. Abe
+slipped up behind her and pulled one of her pigtails. Taken by surprise,
+she jumped and dropped a pitcher of cream. The pitcher did not break,
+but the cream spilled and spread over the kitchen floor.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Abe Lincoln! Look what you made me do!" cried Sally. "I just washed
+that floor. And look at that good cream going to waste."
+
+"'Tain't going to waste." Abe pointed to Elizabeth Crawford's cat, which
+was lapping up the delicious yellow stream. Then he began to sing:
+"Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!"
+
+"Stop trying to show off!" said Sally.
+
+She was angry, but Sammy, Elizabeth's little boy, shouted with delight.
+That was all the encouragement Abe needed. The fact that he could not
+carry a tune did not seem to bother him.
+
+  "Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!
+   Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!
+     Skip to my Lou, my darling."
+
+Sally was down on her hands and knees, wiping up the cream. "Stop
+singing that silly song, and help me."
+
+Instead, Abe danced a jig. He leaned down and pulled her other pigtail.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Sally's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo."
+
+"That's enough, Abe," said Elizabeth Crawford.
+
+"Skip to my Lou, my darling." He whirled around on his bare feet and
+made a sweeping bow. Sally was close to tears.
+
+"Abe, I told you to stop," said Elizabeth Crawford. "You ought to be
+ashamed, teasing your sister. If you keep on acting that way, what do
+you think is going to become of you?"
+
+"Me?" Abe drew himself up. "What's going to become of me? I'm going to
+be President."
+
+Elizabeth looked at him, a lanky barefoot boy with trousers too short.
+His shirt was in rags. His black hair was tousled. She sank into a
+chair, shaking with laughter. "A pretty President you'd make, now
+wouldn't you?"
+
+She had no sooner spoken than she wanted to take back the words. All of
+the joy went out of his face. Sally was too angry to notice.
+
+"Maybe you're going to be President," she said. "But first you'd better
+learn to behave."
+
+"I--I was just funning, Sally."
+
+Something in his voice made Sally look up. She saw the hurt expression
+in his eyes. "I know you were," she said hastily. "I'm not mad any
+more."
+
+Abe ate his dinner in silence. He did not seem to be the same boy who
+had been cutting up only a few minutes before. Elizabeth kept telling
+herself that she should not have laughed at him. He did try to show off
+sometimes. But he was a good boy. She thought more of him than of any of
+the other young folks in Pigeon Creek. Not for anything would she have
+hurt his feelings. When he pushed back his stool, she followed him out
+into the yard.
+
+"About your being President," she said. "I wasn't aiming to make fun of
+you. I just meant that you--with all your tricks and jokes--"
+
+"I reckon I know what you meant," said Abe quietly. "All the same, Mrs.
+Crawford, I don't always mean to delve and grub and such like."
+
+There was a look of determination on his face that she had not seen
+before. "I think a heap of you," she went on, "and I don't want to see
+you disappointed. It's a fine thing to be ambitious. But don't let
+reading about George Washington give you notions that can't come to
+anything."
+
+Abe threw back his shoulders. "I aim to study and get ready and then the
+chance will come."
+
+He lifted his battered straw hat, and started down the path toward the
+field. He walked with dignity. Elizabeth had not realized that he was so
+tall.
+
+"I declare," she said, "he really means it!"
+
+Sammy had come up and heard her. "Means what. Mamma?" he asked.
+
+Elizabeth took his hand. "Didn't you know, Sammy? Abe is fixing to be
+President some day."
+
+
+
+
+9
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+On Sunday morning the Lincolns went to church. All except Sarah. She had
+a headache.
+
+"I'll go, Ma," said Abe. "When I come back, I'll tell you what the
+preacher said."
+
+Sarah smiled at him fondly. Abe could listen to a sermon, then come home
+and repeat it almost word for word. "I'd rather hear you preachify," she
+said, "than the preacher himself."
+
+Tom and his family walked single file into the log meeting house and
+took their places on one of the long wooden benches. John Carter,
+sitting on the bench in front of them, turned and nodded. Carter had
+promised to buy the Lincolns' south field. He would have the papers
+ready for Tom to sign on Monday. Tom needed the money, but the very
+thought of selling any of his land made him grumpy. He twisted and
+turned on the hard wooden bench during the long sermon. He hardly heard
+a word that the preacher was saying.
+
+Abe leaned forward and listened eagerly. The preacher was a tall, thin
+man. He flung his arms about. His voice grew louder and hoarser as the
+morning passed. He paused only to catch his breath or when the members
+of the congregation shouted, "Amen." After the final hymn, he stood at
+the door shaking hands.
+
+"Brother Lincoln," he said, "I want you to meet up with a new neighbor.
+This here is Mr. Swaney."
+
+Tom shook hands. Then the preacher introduced Abe.
+
+"Are you the new schoolmaster?" Abe asked.
+
+"I don't figure on starting school till after harvest," Mr. Swaney
+replied. "Will you be one of my scholars?"
+
+"I'd sure like to come." Abe glanced at his father.
+
+"I reckon not," said Tom stiffly. "Abe has had as much schooling as he
+needs."
+
+Back at the cabin, Sarah had dinner on the table. Tom cheered up as he
+and Dennis started "swapping yarns." Both were good storytellers and
+each tried to tell a better story than the other.
+
+Abe did not like being left out of the conversation. "Pa," he asked,
+"can you answer me a question about something in the Bible?"
+
+"I figure I can answer any question you got sense enough to ask."
+
+Johnny and Mathilda nudged each other. They knew what was coming. One
+day when the preacher stopped by, Abe had asked him the same question.
+The preacher had been downright flustered when he couldn't answer.
+
+"It's just this, Pa," Abe went on. "Who was the father of Zebedee's
+children?"
+
+Tom flushed. "Any uppity young one can ask a question. But can he answer
+it? Suppose _you_ tell _me_ who was the father of Zebedee's children?"
+
+"I sort of figured," said Abe, "that Zebedee was."
+
+Everyone was laughing except Tom. Then he laughed, too. Sarah was glad.
+Abe had told her that Mr. Swaney was at church. She was going to talk to
+her husband that very afternoon about sending the children to school,
+and she wanted him to be in a good humor.
+
+"What did the preacher have to say?" she asked.
+
+"Well--" Tom was trying to remember. "What he said sort of got lost in
+the way he was saying it. How some of those preachers do hop and skip
+about!"
+
+"I like to hear a preacher who acts like he's fighting bees," said Abe.
+
+Sarah nodded. The description fitted the preacher "like his own
+moccasin," she said.
+
+"You menfolks wait outside," she added. "Soon as the gals and I get the
+dishes done, we'll be out to hear Abe preachify."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The afternoon was warm. Sarah fanned herself with her apron as she sat
+down at one end of a fallen log near the door. The rest of the family
+lined up beside her. Abe stood before them, his arms folded, as he
+repeated the sermon he had heard that morning. Now and then he paused
+and shook his finger in the faces of his congregation. He pounded with
+one fist on the palm of his other hand.
+
+"Brethern and sisters," said Abe, "there ain't no chore too big for the
+Lord, no chore too small. The Good Book says He knows when a sparrow
+falls. Yet He had time to turn this great big wilderness into this here
+land where we have our homes. Just think, folks, this Pigeon Creek had
+no one but Indians living here a few years back. And today we got cabins
+with smoke coming out of the chimneys. We got crops agrowing. We got a
+meeting house where we can come together and praise the Lord--"
+
+Abe paused.
+
+"Amen!" said Tom.
+
+"Amen!" said the others.
+
+"Don't forget," Abe went on, "all of this was the Lord's doing. Let us
+praise Him for His goodness."
+
+He reached down, plucked a fistful of grass, and mopped his forehead. In
+much the same way had the preacher used his bandanna handkerchief. The
+Lincoln family rose, sang "Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow," and
+church was over.
+
+The young folks drifted away. Tom stretched out on the grass for his
+Sunday afternoon nap.
+
+"Abe tells me that new Mr. Swaney was at church," Sarah said.
+
+Tom opened his eyes. Before he had a chance to go back to sleep, she
+spoke again.
+
+"He's fixing to keep a school next winter."
+
+"So I hear," said Tom cautiously.
+
+"He charges seventy-five cents for each scholar. Some schoolmasters
+charge a dollar."
+
+"Sounds like a lot of money."
+
+"Several of the neighbors are fixing to send their young ones," Sarah
+went on. "Mr. Swaney doesn't ask for cash money. He'll take skins or
+farm truck. We can manage that, I reckon."
+
+Tom yawned. "Plumb foolishness, if you ask me. But Johnny and Mathilda
+are your young ones. If you want to send them--"
+
+"I want Sally and Abe to go, too," Sarah interrupted. "Abe most of all.
+He is the one school will do the most good. He's the one who wants it
+most."
+
+Tom sat up. "I can spare the younger ones, but I need Abe. With us
+poorer than Job's turkey, you ought to know that."
+
+Sarah listened patiently. "I ain't talking about right now. Mr. Swaney
+won't start his school till winter. Farm work will be slack then."
+
+"I can hire Abe out to split rails, even in cold weather," Tom reminded
+her. "Maybe I can get some odd jobs as a carpenter, and Abe can help
+me."
+
+"Abe ain't no great hand at carpentry."
+
+"He can learn. Why, he's fourteen, Sairy. The idea, a big, strapping boy
+like that going to school. I tell you, I won't have it."
+
+"But I promised him."
+
+It was the first time that Tom had ever heard a quaver in his wife's
+voice. He looked away uneasily. "If you made a promise you can't keep,
+that's your lookout. You might as well stop nagging me, Sairy. My mind
+is made up."
+
+To make sure that there would be no more conversation on the subject, he
+got up and stalked across the grass. He lay down under another tree, out
+of hearing distance. Sarah sat on the log for a long time. Abe came back
+and sat down beside her. He could tell, by looking at her, that she had
+been talking to his father about letting him go to school. He knew,
+without asking any questions, that his father had said no.
+
+Sarah laid her hand on his knee. "Your pa is a good man," she said
+loyally. "Maybe he will change his mind."
+
+
+
+
+10
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+"Hurry up and eat your breakfast, Abe," said Tom the next morning. "We're
+going to cut corn for that skinflint, John Carter."
+
+Sarah passed her husband a plate of hot cornbread. "Why, Tom, it ain't
+fitting to talk that way about a neighbor. Before the children, too."
+
+Tom poured a generous helping of sorghum molasses over his bread. "I'm
+an honest man. It's fitting that I call Carter what he is, and he's a
+skinflint. He is only paying Abe and me ten cents a day."
+
+"Other folks pay you two-bits."
+
+"I ain't got any other work right now. Carter knows I need all the money
+I can lay my hands on. The way he beat me down on the price for my south
+field."
+
+"I wish you didn't have to sell."
+
+"Wishing won't do any good. I need cash money mighty bad. Remember, this
+farm ain't paid for yet."
+
+He got up and walked over to the chest. He picked up the sharp knife he
+used for cutting corn. "Get your knife, Abe, and come along."
+
+Abe walked behind his father along the path through the woods. "That Mr.
+Swaney was right nice," he said.
+
+Tom grunted.
+
+"He is waiting to start his school until after harvest," Abe went on.
+"Nat Grigsby is going. Allen Gentry is going, and he is two years older
+than me."
+
+"Allen's pa is a rich man," said Tom gruffly. "Maybe he's got money to
+burn, but poor folks like us have to earn our keep."
+
+"But, Pa--"
+
+"I declare, your tongue is loose at both ends today. Can't you stop
+plaguing me? First your ma, then you. You ought to see I'm worried."
+
+Abe said nothing more. He pulled a book out of the front of his shirt
+and began to read as he strode along the path. Tom looked back over his
+shoulder.
+
+"Don't let John Carter catch you with that book."
+
+"I brought it along so I can read while I eat my dinner. I'll put it
+away before we get to the Carter place."
+
+"Eddication!" said Tom in disgust "I never had any, and I get along
+better'n if I had. Take figuring. If a fellow owes me money, I take a
+burnt stick and make a mark on the wall. When he pays me, I take a
+dishrag and wipe the mark off. That's better than getting all hot and
+bothered trying to figure.
+
+"And writing? I can write my name and that's all the writing I need. But
+the most tomfoolery of all is reading. You don't see _me_ waste _my_
+time reading any books."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The path ended at the edge of the woods, and Tom opened the gate into
+the Carter cornfield. Row after row of tall corn stretched away in even,
+straight lines. Mr. Carter was waiting.
+
+"Ready to sign over that south field, Tom?" he asked. "A lawyer from
+Rockport is drawing up the papers. He is riding up with them this
+morning. I'll see you at dinner time."
+
+After John Carter had gone back to his cabin, Tom and Abe set to work.
+Using their sharp knives, they began cutting the corn close to the
+ground. They stood the tall golden stalks on end, tying them together in
+neat shocks or bundles. By the time the sun stood directly overhead,
+several long rows had been cut and stacked, and John Carter was coming
+toward them across the field. It was noon.
+
+Abe laid aside his knife, sat down on the rail fence, and pulled out his
+book. He took a piece of cornbread wrapped in a corn husk from his
+pocket. As he ate, he read, paying no attention to the conversation
+taking place a few feet away.
+
+"Come and sit down, Tom," said Carter.
+
+Tom sat on a tree stump. Carter was being more friendly than usual. He
+was carrying a gourd full of ink, which he placed on another stump. He
+set down a deerskin bag, which jingled pleasantly with coins. In one
+pocket he found a turkey-buzzard pen. From another he brought out an
+official-looking paper.
+
+"Here is the deed for the south field," he explained. "Here's a pen.
+I'll hold the ink for you. You make your mark right here."
+
+"I don't need to make my mark," said Tom proudly. "I know how to sign my
+name."
+
+"Then hurry up and do it. Mrs. Carter has dinner ready, and I got to get
+back to the house."
+
+Tom took the paper and looked at it uncertainly. "I don't sign any paper
+till I know what I'm signing. I want time to--to go over this careful
+like."
+
+He could make out a few of the words, and that was all. But not for
+anything would he admit that he could not read it.
+
+"You told me you wanted to sell," said Carter. "I said I would buy. I am
+keeping my part of the bargain. I even brought the money with me."
+
+Tom's face grew red. He looked down at the paper in his hand. He glanced
+at Abe seated on the fence. A struggle was taking place between pride
+and common sense. Common sense won.
+
+"Abe, come here," he called.
+
+Abe went on reading.
+
+Tom raised his voice. "Abe! When I tell you to come, I mean for you to
+come."
+
+The boy looked up from his book with a start. "Yes, Pa. Did you want
+me?"
+
+"Hustle over here and look at this paper. Carter is in a mighty big
+hurry for me to sign something I ain't had a chance to read."
+
+"You have had plenty of time to read it," said Carter. "But if you don't
+want to sell, I can call the whole deal off."
+
+Abe reached out a long arm and took the paper. He read it slowly. "Pa,"
+he asked, "don't you aim to sell Mr. Carter just the south field?"
+
+"You know I'm selling him just the south field," said Tom.
+
+"Then don't sign this."
+
+Carter picked up the money bag clanking with coins. He tossed it into
+the air and caught it neatly. Tom looked at it. He wanted that money! He
+looked at Abe.
+
+"Why shouldn't I sign?" he asked.
+
+"If you do, you'll be selling Mr. Carter most of your farm."
+
+John Carter was furious. "Don't try to tell me a country jake like you
+can read! That paper says the south field, as plain as the nose on your
+face."
+
+"It says that and a sight more, Mr. Carter," Abe drawled. "It says the
+north field, too. It says the east and the west fields. There wouldn't
+be much farm left for Pa, except the part our cabin is setting on."
+
+A dispute between men in Pigeon Creek usually ended in a fight. Tom
+Lincoln doubled up his fists. "Put them up, Carter."
+
+The two men rolled over and over in a confused tangle of arms and legs.
+Now Tom Lincoln was on top. Now it was John Carter. "Go it, Pa," Abe
+shouted from the fence. "Don't let that old skinflint get you down."
+After a few minutes. Carter lay on his back gasping for breath.
+
+"Nuf!" he cried, and Tom let him scramble to his feet.
+
+Carter began brushing himself off. "It ain't fitting to fight a
+neighbor," he whined, "just because of a mistake."
+
+"Mistake nothing!" Tom snorted. "Somebody lied, and it wasn't Abe."
+
+"I'll have a new paper made out, if you like," said Carter.
+
+Tom looked at him with scorn. "You ain't got enough money to buy my
+south field. But I'll thank you for the ten cents you owe us. Abe and I
+each did a half day's work."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tom's right eye was swelling, and by the time he reached home it was
+closed. The bump on the side of his head was the size of a hen's egg.
+There was a long scratch down his cheek.
+
+Sarah was kneeling before the fireplace, raking ashes over the potatoes
+that she had put in to bake. She jumped up in alarm.
+
+"What's the matter? What happened?" she asked.
+
+"It was like Pa said," Abe told her. "Mr. Carter is a skinflint."
+
+Sarah took Tom by the arm and made him sit down on a stool. She touched
+the swollen eye with gentle fingers.
+
+"It don't hurt much," he said.
+
+"I reckon Mr. Carter hurts more," Abe spoke up again. "He has two black
+eyes."
+
+Tom slapped his thigh and roared with laughter. "He sure does. But if it
+hadn't been for Abe--"
+
+He stopped, embarrassed. Sarah was soaking a cloth in a basin of cold
+water. She laid it on his eye.
+
+"What started it all?"
+
+"You tell them, Abe," said Tom.
+
+"That Mr. Carter ain't as smart as he thinks he is," Abe explained. "He
+had a paper for Pa to sign and tried to make out it was for just the
+south field. And do you know what, Mamma? When Pa asked me to read it,
+why, it was for almost our whole farm."
+
+"You don't mean to tell me!" said Sarah.
+
+"Carter said he'd have a new paper made out. But I told him," Tom added
+with a touch of pride, "I could do without his money."
+
+"Good for you!" Sarah said, beaming. "Don't you fret. We'll squeak
+through somehow. But what if you had signed that paper? The farm would
+have been sold right out from under us. I reckon we can feel mighty
+proud of Abe."
+
+"Well," Tom admitted, "it didn't hurt that he knew how to read. When did
+you say Mr. Swaney aims to start his school?"
+
+"Right after harvest," said Abe before his stepmother had a chance to
+answer.
+
+Tom ignored him and went on talking to his wife. "Now, mind you, Sairy,
+I ain't saying Abe needs any more eddication. I ain't saying it is
+fitting a son should know more'n his pa. But if you think the young ones
+should go to this new school for a spell, I won't say no."
+
+He rose and stalked out of the cabin. Then he came back and stuck his
+head in at the door.
+
+"Mind you, Abe, you forget to do your chores just one time, and that
+schoolmaster won't be seeing you again."
+
+"Come back in and sit down, Tom," said Sarah. "Supper is nearly ready.
+Besides, Abe has something that needs saying."
+
+Abe looked at his stepmother in surprise. Then he looked at his father.
+"I'm much obliged, Pa," he said.
+
+
+
+
+11
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+After a few weeks at Master Swaney's school, Abe had to stop and go to
+work again. When he was seventeen, he had a chance to attend another
+school kept by Azel Dorsey. Nearly every Friday afternoon there were
+special exercises and the scholars spoke pieces. For the final program
+on the last day of school, the boys had built a platform outside the log
+schoolhouse. Parents, brothers and sisters, and friends found seats on
+fallen logs and on the grass. They listened proudly as, one by one, the
+children came forward and each recited a poem or a speech.
+
+Master Dorsey walked to the front of the platform. He held up his hand
+for silence. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "we come to the last
+number on our program. Twenty-five years ago Thomas Jefferson became
+President of these United States. We shall now hear the speech he made
+that day. Abraham Lincoln will recite it for us."
+
+Sarah Lincoln, from under her pink sunbonnet, stole a glance at Tom. "I
+hope that Abe does well," she whispered.
+
+Abe did do well. He forgot that he was growing too fast, that his hands
+were too big, and that his trousers were too short. For a few minutes he
+made his audience forget it. Master Dorsey seemed to swell with pride.
+If that boy lives, he thought, he is going to be a noted man some day.
+Elizabeth Crawford, sitting in the front row, remembered what he had
+said about being President. If she closed her eyes, she could almost
+imagine that Thomas Jefferson was speaking. When Abe finished and made
+an awkward bow, she joined in the hearty burst of applause.
+
+"Do you know where he got that piece?" she asked her husband in a low
+voice. "From _The Kentucky Preceptor_, one of the books you loaned him.
+It makes a body feel good to think we helped him. Look at Mrs. Lincoln!
+She couldn't be more pleased if Abe was her own son."
+
+Sarah waited to walk home with him. "I was mighty proud of you today,"
+she said. "Why, what's the matter? You look mighty down-in-the-mouth for
+a boy who spoke his piece so well on the last day."
+
+"I was thinking that this is the last day," he answered. "The last day
+I'll ever go to school, most likely."
+
+"Well, you're seventeen now."
+
+"Yes, I'm seventeen, and I ain't had a year's schooling all told. I
+can't even talk proper. I forget and say 'ain't' though I know it
+ain't--I mean isn't right."
+
+"It seems to me you're educating yourself with all those books you
+read," said Sarah cheerfully.
+
+"I've already read all the books for miles around. Besides, I want to
+see places. I can't help it, Ma, I want to get away."
+
+Sarah looked at him fondly. She wished that she could find some way to
+help him.
+
+Abe found ways to help himself. He was never to go to school again, but
+he could walk to Rockport to attend trials in the log courthouse. He
+liked to listen to the lawyers argue their cases. Sometimes he would
+write down what they said on a piece of paper. Now and then he had a
+chance to borrow a book that he had not read before from some new
+settler. He read the old books over and over again. He liked to read the
+newspapers to which Mr. Gentry, Allen's father, subscribed. The papers
+told what was going on in the big world outside of Pigeon Creek.
+
+James Gentry owned the log store at the crossroads, where the little
+town, Gentryville, had grown up. His partner, William Jones, was one of
+Abe's best friends, and Abe spent nearly every evening at the store. It
+became the favorite meeting place for the men and boys who lived close
+by.
+
+"Howdy, Abe!" Everyone seemed to be saying it at once when he came in.
+
+"The Louisville paper came today," William Jones might add. "Here you
+are! The fellows have been waiting for you to holler out the news."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe sat on the counter, swinging his long legs, as he read the newspaper
+out loud. The men sat quietly, except when William got up to throw
+another log on the fire or to light another candle. Abe read on and on.
+After he finished the paper, they talked about what he had read. They
+argued about many things from politics to religion. They always wanted
+to know what Abe thought. Many times they stayed until nearly midnight
+listening to him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One evening, not long after Abe's nineteenth birthday, he walked home
+from the store in great excitement. He had been very sad since his
+sister Sally had died in January, but tonight he seemed more cheerful.
+Sarah looked up to find him standing in the doorway.
+
+"What do you think has happened, Ma?" he asked. "I am going to New
+Orleans."
+
+"How come, Abe?"
+
+Sarah knew that prosperous farmers sometimes loaded their corn and other
+farm products on big flatboats. These flatboats were floated down the
+Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where the cargoes were sold.
+But the Lincolns raised only enough for their own use. They never had
+anything left over to sell. Nor could they afford to build a flatboat
+for the long trip down the rivers.
+
+"How come?" Sarah asked again.
+
+Abe seized her around the waist and danced her across the floor. She was
+out of breath but laughing when he let her go.
+
+"Allen Gentry is taking a cargo of farm truck down to New Orleans to
+sell," he explained. "His pa has hired me to help on the flatboat. Mr.
+Gentry will pay me eight dollars a month. I reckon Pa will be pleased
+about that."
+
+Abe himself was pleased because he was going to see something of the
+world. New Orleans was seven hundred miles away. It was a big and
+important city. Sarah was pleased because this was the chance that Abe
+had been wanting.
+
+He had grown so tall that she had to throw back her head to look up at
+him. "I'm right glad for you," she said.
+
+
+
+
+12
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+To a boy brought up in the backwoods, the trip down the rivers was one
+long adventure. Abe sat at the forward oar, guiding the big flatboat
+through the calm, blue waters of the Ohio, while Allen cooked supper on
+deck. Afterwards Abe told stories.
+
+After they had reached the southern tip of Illinois, where the Ohio
+emptied into the yellow waters of the Mississippi, there was little time
+for stories. The boys never knew what to expect next. One minute the
+river would be quiet and calm. The next it would rise in the fury of a
+sudden storm. The waves rose in a yellow flood that poured over the
+deck. Allen at the back oar, Abe at the front oar, had a hard time
+keeping the big flatboat from turning over.
+
+At the end of each day, the boys tied up the boat at some place along
+the shore. One night after they had gone to sleep, several robbers crept
+on board. Abe and Allen awoke just in time. After a long, hard fight,
+the robbers turned and fled.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+These dangers only made their adventures seem more exciting. It was
+exciting, too, to be a part of the traffic of the river. They saw many
+other flatboats like their own. The biggest thrill was in watching the
+steamboats, with giant paddle wheels that turned the water into foam.
+Their decks were painted a gleaming white, and their brass rails shone
+in the sun. No wonder they were called "floating palaces," thought Abe.
+Sometimes passengers standing by the rail waved to the boys.
+
+Each day of their journey brought gentler breezes, warmer weather.
+Cottonwood and magnolia trees grew on the low swampy banks of both
+shores. The boys passed cotton fields, where gangs of Negro slaves were
+at work. Some of them were singing as they bent to pick the snowy white
+balls of cotton. A snatch of song came floating over the water:
+
+  "Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+   Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+   Oh, brother, don't get weary,
+     We're waiting for the Lord."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Abe leaned on his oar to listen. A few minutes later he pointed to a big
+house with tall white pillars in the middle of a beautiful garden.
+
+"Nice little cabin those folks have," he said drily. "Don't recollect
+seeing anything like that up in Pigeon Creek."
+
+"Why, Abe, you haven't seen anything yet. Just wait till you get to New
+Orleans."
+
+This was Allen's second trip, and he was eager to show Abe the sights. A
+few days later they were walking along the New Orleans waterfront. Ships
+from many different countries were tied up at the wharves. Negro slaves
+were rolling bales of cotton onto a steamboat. Other Negroes, toting
+huge baskets on their heads, passed by. Sailors from many lands,
+speaking strange tongues, rubbed elbows with fur trappers dressed in
+buckskins from the far Northwest. A cotton planter in a white suit
+glanced at the two youths from Pigeon Creek. He seemed amused. Abe
+looked down at his homespun blue jeans. He had not realized that all
+young men did not wear them.
+
+"Reckon we do look different from some of the folks down here," he said,
+as he and Allen turned into a narrow street.
+
+Here there were more people--always more people. The public square was
+crowded. Abe gazed in awe at the Cathedral. This tall Spanish church,
+with its two graceful towers, was so different from the log meeting
+house that the Lincolns attended.
+
+Nor was there anything back in Pigeon Creek like the tall plaster houses
+faded by time and weather into warm tones of pink and lavender and
+yellow. The balconies, or porches, on the upper floors had wrought iron
+railings, of such delicate design that they looked like iron lace.
+
+Once the boys paused before a wrought iron gate. At the end of a long
+passageway they could see a courtyard where flowers bloomed and a
+fountain splashed in the sunshine. Abe turned to watch a handsome
+carriage roll by over the cobblestones. He looked down the street toward
+the river, which sheltered ships from all over the world.
+
+"All this makes me feel a little like Sinbad," he said, "but I reckon
+even Sinbad never visited New Orleans. I sure do like it here."
+
+But soon Abe began to see other sights that made him sick at heart. He
+and Allen passed a warehouse where slaves were being sold at auction. A
+crowd had gathered inside. Several Negroes were standing on a platform
+called an auction block. One by one they stepped forward. A man called
+an auctioneer asked in a loud voice, "What am I offered? Who will make
+the first bid?"
+
+"Five hundred," called one man.
+
+"Six hundred," called another.
+
+The bids mounted higher. Each slave was sold to the man who bid, or
+offered to pay, the most money. One field hand and his wife were sold to
+different bidders. There were tears in the woman's dark eyes as he was
+led away. She knew that she would never see her husband again.
+
+"Let's get out of here," said Abe. "I can't stand any more."
+
+They walked back to their own flatboat tied up at one of the wharves.
+Allen got supper, but Abe could not eat.
+
+"Don't look like that," said Allen. "Many of the folks down here
+inherited their slaves, same as their land. Slavery ain't their fault."
+
+"I never said it was anybody's fault--at least not anybody who's living
+now. But it just ain't right for one man to own another."
+
+"Well, stop worrying. There's nothing you can do about it."
+
+"Maybe not," said Abe gloomily, "but I'm mighty glad there aren't any
+slaves in Indiana."
+
+Allen stayed on in New Orleans for several days to sell his cargo. It
+brought a good price. He then sold his flatboat, which would be broken
+up and used for lumber. Flatboats could not travel upstream. He and Abe
+would either have to walk back to Indiana, or they could take a
+steamboat.
+
+"We'd better not walk, carrying all this money," said Allen. "Pretty
+lonely country going home. We might get robbed."
+
+The steamboat trip was a piece of good fortune that Abe had not
+expected. He enjoyed talking with the other passengers. The speed at
+which they traveled seemed a miracle. It had taken the boys a month to
+make the trip downstream by flatboat. They were returning upstream in
+little more than a week. They were standing together by the rail when
+the cabins of Rockport, perched on a high wooded bluff, came into view.
+
+"It sure was good of your pa to give me this chance," said Abe. "I've
+seen some sights I wish I hadn't, but the trip has done me good. Sort of
+stretched my eyes and ears! Stretched me all over--inside, I mean." He
+laughed. "I don't need any stretching on the outside."
+
+Allen looked at his tall friend. They had been together most of the
+time. They had talked with the same people, visited the same places,
+seen the same sights. Already Allen was beginning to forget them. Now
+that he was almost home, it was as if he had never been away. But Abe
+seemed different. Somehow he had changed.
+
+"I can't figure it out," Allen told him. "You don't seem the same."
+
+"Maybe I'm not," said Abe. "I keep thinking about some of the things I
+saw."
+
+
+
+
+13
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The Lincolns were leaving Pigeon Creek. One day a letter had arrived
+from John Hanks, a cousin, who had gone to Illinois to live. The soil
+was richer there, the letter said. Why didn't Tom come, too, and bring
+his family? He would find it easier to make a living. Even the name of
+the river near John's home had a pleasant sound. It was called the
+Sangamon--an Indian word meaning "plenty to eat."
+
+"We're going," Tom decided. "I'm going to sell this farm and buy
+another. Do you want to come with us, Abe?"
+
+Two years had passed since Abe's return from New Orleans. Two years of
+hard work. Two years of looking forward to his next birthday. He was
+nearly twenty-one and could leave home if he wanted to.
+
+"Well, Pa--" he hesitated.
+
+Sarah was watching him, waiting for his answer.
+
+"I'll come with you," said Abe. "I'll stay long enough to help you get
+the new farm started."
+
+There were thirteen people in the Lincoln party: Tom and Sarah, Abe and
+Johnny, Betsy and Dennis Hanks who had been married for several years,
+Mathilda and her husband, and two sets of children. They made the
+journey in three big wagons, traveling over frozen roads and crossing
+icy streams. After two weeks they came to John Hanks' home on the
+prairies of Illinois. He made them welcome, then took them to see the
+place that he had selected for their farm. In the cold winter light it
+looked almost as desolate as Pigeon Creek had looked fourteen years
+before. Tom Lincoln was beginning all over again.
+
+This time he had more help. John Hanks had a great pile of logs split
+and ready to be used for their new cabin. Abe was now able to do a man's
+work. After the cabin was finished, he split enough rails to build a
+fence around the farm. Some of the new neighbors hired him to split logs
+for them.
+
+The following spring, he was offered other work that he liked much
+better. A man named Denton Offut was building a flatboat, which he
+planned to float down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and on to
+New Orleans. He hired Abe to help with the cargo. The two young men
+became friends. When Abe returned home after the long voyage, he had
+news for Sarah.
+
+"Ma," he said, "Denton is fixing to start a store up in New Salem.
+That's a village on the Sangamon River. He wants me to be his clerk."
+
+Sarah said nothing for a moment. If Abe went away to stay, the cabin
+would seem mighty lonesome. She would miss him terribly. But she wanted
+him to do whatever was best for him.
+
+"Mr. Offut said he'd pay me fifteen dollars a month," Abe added.
+
+That was more money than he had ever earned, thought Sarah. And now that
+he was over twenty-one, he could keep his wages for himself. "I reckon
+you'll be leaving soon," she said aloud.
+
+"Yes, Ma, I will." Telling her was harder than Abe had expected. "It is
+high time that I start out on my own."
+
+Sarah set to work to get his clothes ready. He was wearing his only pair
+of jeans, and there wasn't much else for him to take. She washed his
+shirts and the extra pair of socks that she had knit for him. He wrapped
+these up in a big cloth and tied the bundle to the end of a long stick.
+The next morning he was up early. After he told the rest of the family
+good-by, Sarah walked with him to the gate.
+
+Abe thrust the stick with his bundle over his shoulder. He had looked
+forward to starting out on his own--and now he was scared. Almost as
+scared as he had felt on that cold winter afternoon when his new mother
+had first arrived in Pigeon Creek. Because she had believed in him, he
+had started believing in himself. Her faith in him was still shining in
+her eyes as she looked up at him and tried to smile.
+
+He gave her a quick hug and hurried down the path.
+
+It was a long, long walk to New Salem, where Abe arrived on a hot summer
+day in 1831. This village, on a high bluff overlooking the Sangamon
+River, was bigger than Gentryville, bigger even than Rockport. As he
+wandered up and down the one street, bordered on both sides by a row of
+neat log houses, he counted more than twenty-five buildings. There were
+several stores, and he could see the mill down by the river.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He pushed his way through a crowd that had gathered before one of the
+houses. A worried-looking man, about ten years older than Abe, sat
+behind a table on the little porch. He was writing in a big book.
+
+"Howdy, Mister," said Abe. "What is all the excitement about?"
+
+"This is election day," the man replied, "and I am the clerk in charge.
+That is, I'm one of the clerks."
+
+He stopped to write down the name of one of the men who stood in line.
+He wrote the names of several other voters in his big book before he had
+a chance to talk to Abe again. Then he explained that the other clerk
+who was supposed to help him was sick.
+
+"I'm mighty busy," he went on. "Say listen, stranger, do you know how to
+write?"
+
+"I can make a few rabbit tracks," Abe said, grinning.
+
+"Maybe I can hire you to help me keep a record of the votes." The man
+rose and shook hands. "My name is Mentor Graham."
+
+By evening the younger man and the older one had become good friends.
+Mr. Graham was a schoolmaster, and he promised to help Abe with his
+studies. Soon Abe began to make other friends. Jack Kelso took him
+fishing. Abe did not care much about fishing, but he liked to hear Jack
+recite poetry by Robert Burns and William Shakespeare. They were Jack's
+favorite poets, and they became Abe's favorites, too.
+
+At the Rutledge Tavern, where Abe lived for a while, he met the owner's
+daughter, Ann Rutledge. Ann was sweet and pretty, with a glint of
+sunshine in her hair. They took long walks beside the river. It was easy
+to talk to Ann, and Abe told her some of his secret hopes. She thought
+that he was going to be a great man some day.
+
+Her father, James Rutledge, also took an interest in him. Abe was
+invited to join the New Salem Debating Society. The first time that he
+got up to talk, the other members expected him to spend the time telling
+funny stories. Instead he made a serious speech--and a very good one.
+
+"That young man has more than wit and fun in his head," Mr. Rutledge
+told his wife that night.
+
+Abe liked to make speeches, but he knew that he did not always speak
+correctly. One morning he was having breakfast at Mentor Graham's house.
+"I have a notion to study English grammar," he said.
+
+"If you expect to go before the public," Mentor answered, "I think it
+the best thing you can do."
+
+"If I had a grammar, I would commence now."
+
+Mentor thought for a moment. "There is no one in town who owns a
+grammar," he said finally. "But Mr. Vaner out in the country has one. He
+might lend you his copy."
+
+Abe got up from the table and walked six miles to the Vaner farm. When
+he returned, he carried an open book in his hands. He was studying
+grammar as he walked.
+
+Meanwhile he worked as a clerk in Denton Offut's store. Customers could
+buy all sorts of things there--tools and nails, needles and thread,
+mittens and calico, and tallow for making candles. One day a woman
+bought several yards of calico. After she left, Abe discovered that he
+had charged her six cents too much. That evening he walked six miles to
+give her the money. He was always doing things like that, and people
+began to call him "Honest Abe."
+
+Denton was so proud of his clerk that he could not help boasting. "Abe
+is the smartest man in the United States," he said. "Yes, and he can
+beat any man in the country running, jumping, or wrastling."
+
+A bunch of young roughnecks lived a few miles away in another settlement
+called Clary Grove. "That Denton Offut talks too much with his mouth,"
+they said angrily. They did not mind Abe being called smart. But they
+declared that no one could "out-wrastle" their leader, Jack Armstrong.
+One day they rushed into the store and dared Abe to fight with Jack.
+
+Abe laid down the book that he had been reading. "I don't hold with
+wooling and pulling," he said. "But if you want to fight, come on
+outside."
+
+The Clary Grove boys soon realized that Denton's clerk was a good
+wrestler. Jack, afraid that he was going to lose the fight, stepped on
+Abe's foot with the sharp heel of his boot. The sudden pain made Abe
+angry. The next thing that Jack knew he was being shaken back and forth
+until his teeth rattled. Then he was lying flat on his back in the dust.
+
+Jack's friends let out a howl of rage. Several of them rushed at Abe,
+all trying to fight him at the same time. He stood with his back against
+the store, his fists doubled up. He dared them to come closer. Jack
+picked himself up.
+
+"Stop it, fellows," he said. "I was beaten in a fair fight. If you ask
+me, this Abe Lincoln is the cleverest fellow that ever broke into the
+settlement."
+
+From then on Jack was one of Abe's best friends.
+
+A short time later Abe enlisted as a soldier in the Black Hawk War to
+help drive the Indians out of Illinois. The Clary Grove boys were in his
+company, and Abe was elected captain. Before his company had a chance to
+do any fighting, Blackhawk was captured in another part of Illinois and
+the war was over.
+
+When Abe came back to New Salem, he found himself out of a job. Denton
+Offut had left. The store had "winked out." Later, Abe and another young
+man, William Berry, decided to become partners. They borrowed money and
+started a store of their own.
+
+One day a wagon piled high with furniture stopped out in front. A man
+jumped down and explained that he and his family were moving West. The
+wagon was too crowded, and he had a barrel of odds and ends that he
+wanted to sell. Abe, always glad to oblige, agreed to pay fifty cents
+for it. Later, when he opened it, he had a wonderful surprise.
+
+The barrel contained a set of famous law books. He had seen those same
+books in Mr. Pitcher's law office in Rockport. Now that he owned a set
+of his own, he could read it any time he wished. Customers coming into
+the store usually found Abe lying on the counter, his nose buried in one
+of the new books. The more he read, the more interested he became.
+
+Perhaps he spent too much time reading, instead of attending to
+business. William Berry was lazy, and not a very satisfactory partner.
+The store of Lincoln and Berry did so little business that it had to
+close. The partners were left with many debts to pay. Then Berry died,
+and "Honest Abe" announced that he would pay all of the debts himself,
+no matter how long it took.
+
+For a while he was postmaster. A man on horseback brought the mail twice
+a week, and there were so few letters that Abe often carried them around
+in his hat until he could deliver them. He liked the job because it gave
+him a chance to read the newspapers to which the people in New Salem
+subscribed. But the pay was small, and he had to do all sorts of odd
+Jobs to earn enough to eat. On many days he would have gone hungry if
+Jack Armstrong and his wife, Hannah, had not invited him to dinner. When
+work was scarce he stayed with them two or three weeks at a time.
+
+He knew that he had to find a way to earn more money, and he decided to
+study surveying. It was a hard subject, but he borrowed some books and
+read them carefully. He studied so hard that in six weeks' time he took
+his first job as a surveyor.
+
+Sometimes when he was measuring a farm or laying out a new road, he
+would be gone for several weeks. People miles from New Salem knew who
+Abe Lincoln was. They laughed at him because he was so tall and awkward.
+They thought it funny that his trousers were always too short. But they
+also laughed at his jokes, and they liked him. He made so many new
+friends that he decided to be a candidate for the Illinois legislature.
+
+One day during the campaign he had a long talk with Major John T.
+Stuart. Major Stuart had been Abe's commander in the Black Hawk War. He
+was now a lawyer in Springfield, a larger town twenty miles away.
+
+"Why don't you study law?" he asked.
+
+Abe pursed his lips. "I'd sure like to," he drawled; then added with a
+grin: "But I don't know if I have enough sense."
+
+Major Stuart paid no attention to this last remark. "You have been
+reading law for pleasure," he went on. "Now go at it in earnest. I'll
+lend you the books you need."
+
+This was a chance that Abe could not afford to miss. Every few days he
+walked or rode on horseback to Springfield to borrow another volume.
+Sometimes he read forty pages on the way home. He was twenty-five years
+old, and there was no time to waste.
+
+Meanwhile he was making many speeches. He asked the voters in his part
+of Illinois to elect him to the legislature which made the laws for the
+state. They felt that "Honest Abe" was a man to be trusted and he was
+elected.
+
+Late in November Abe boarded the stagecoach for the ride to Vandalia,
+then the capital of the state. He looked very dignified in a new suit
+and high plug hat. In the crowd that gathered to tell him good-by, he
+could see many of his friends. There stood Coleman Smoot who had lent
+him money to buy his new clothes. Farther back he could see Mr. Rutledge
+and Ann, Hannah and Jack Armstrong, Mentor Graham, and others who had
+encouraged and helped him. And now he was on his way to represent them
+in the legislature. There was a chorus of "Good-by, Abe."
+
+Then, like an echo, the words came again in Ann's high, sweet voice:
+"Good-by, Abe!" He leaned far out the window and waved.
+
+He was thinking of Ann as the coach rolled over the rough road. He was
+thinking also of Sarah. If only she could see him now, he thought, as he
+glanced at the new hat resting on his knee.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+14
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The Legislature met for several weeks at a time. Between sessions, Abe
+worked at various jobs in New Salem and read his law books. Most of his
+studying was done early in the morning and late at night. He still found
+time to see a great deal of Ann Rutledge, and something of her gentle
+sweetness was to live on forever in his heart. After Ann died, he tried
+to forget his grief by studying harder than ever.
+
+The year that he was twenty-eight he took his examination, and was
+granted a lawyer's license. He decided to move to Springfield, which had
+recently been made the capital of the state.
+
+It was a cold March day when he rode into this thriving little town. He
+hitched his horse to the hitching rack in the public square and entered
+one of the stores. Joshua Speed, the owner, a young man about Abe's age,
+looked up with a friendly smile.
+
+"Howdy, Abe," he said. "So you are going to be one of us?"
+
+"I reckon so," Abe answered. "Say, Speed, I just bought myself a
+bedstead. How much would it cost me for a mattress and some pillows and
+blankets?"
+
+Joshua took a pencil from behind his ear. He did some figuring on a
+piece of paper. "I can fix you up for about seventeen dollars."
+
+Abe felt the money in his pocket. He had only seven dollars. His horse
+was borrowed, and he was still a thousand dollars in debt. Joshua saw
+that he was disappointed. He had heard Abe make speeches, and Abe was
+called one of the most promising young men in the legislature. Joshua
+liked him and wanted to know him better.
+
+"Why don't you stay with me, until you can do better?" he suggested. "I
+have a room over the store and a bed big enough for two."
+
+A grin broke over Abe's homely features. "Good!" he said. "Where is it?"
+
+"You'll find some stairs over there behind that pile of barrels. Go on
+up and make yourself at home."
+
+Abe enjoyed living with Joshua Speed, and he enjoyed living in
+Springfield. He soon became as popular as he had once been in Pigeon
+Creek and in New Salem. As the months and years went by, more and more
+people came to him whenever they needed a lawyer to advise them. For a
+long time he was poor, but little by little he paid off his debts. With
+his first big fee he bought a quarter section of land for his stepmother
+who had been so good to him.
+
+The part of his work that Abe liked best was "riding the circuit." In
+the spring and again in the fall, he saddled Old Buck, his horse, and
+set out with a judge and several other lawyers to visit some of the
+towns close by. These towns "on the circuit" were too small to have law
+courts of their own. In each town the lawyers argued the cases and the
+judge settled the disputes that had come up during the past six months.
+
+After supper they liked to gather at the inn to listen to Abe tell funny
+stories. "I laughed until I shook my ribs loose," said one dignified
+judge.
+
+The other lawyers often teased Abe. "You ought to charge your clients
+more money," they said, "or you will always be as poor as Job's turkey."
+
+One evening they held a mock trial. Abe was accused of charging such
+small fees that the other lawyers could not charge as much as they
+should. The judge looked as solemn as he did at a real trial.
+
+"You are guilty of an awful crime against the pockets of your brother
+lawyers," he said severely. "I hereby sentence you to pay a fine."
+
+There was a shout of laughter. "I'll pay the fine," said Abe
+good-naturedly. "But my own firm is never going to be known as Catchem &
+Cheatem."
+
+Meanwhile a young lady named Mary Todd had come to Springfield to live.
+Her father was a rich and important man in Kentucky. Mary was pretty and
+well educated. Abe was a little afraid of her, but one night at a party
+he screwed up his courage to ask her for a dance.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Miss Todd," he said, "I would like to dance with you the worst way."
+
+As he swept her around the dance floor, he bumped into other couples. He
+stepped on her toes. "Mr. Lincoln," said Mary, as she limped over to a
+chair, "you did dance with me the worst way--the very worst."
+
+She did not mind that he was not a good dancer. As she looked up into
+Abe's homely face, she decided that he had a great future ahead of him.
+She remembered something she had once said as a little girl: "When I
+grow up, I want to marry a man who will be President of the United
+States."
+
+Abe was not the only one who liked Mary Todd. Among the other young men
+who came to see her was another lawyer, Stephen A. Douglas. He was no
+taller than Mary herself, but he had such a large head and shoulders
+that he had been nicknamed "the Little Giant." He was handsome, and
+rich, and brilliant. His friends thought that he might be President some
+day.
+
+"No," said Mary, "Abe Lincoln has the better chance to succeed."
+
+Anyway, Abe was the man she loved. The next year they were married.
+
+"I mean to make him President of the United States," she wrote to a
+friend in Kentucky. "You will see that, as I always told you, I will yet
+be the President's wife."
+
+At first Mary thought that her dream was coming true. In 1846 Abe was
+elected a member of the United States Congress in Washington. He had
+made a good start as a political leader, and she was disappointed when
+he did not run for a second term. Back he came to Springfield to
+practice law again. By 1854 there were three lively boys romping through
+the rooms of the comfortable white house that he had bought for his
+family. Robert was eleven, Willie was four, and Tad was still a baby.
+The neighbors used to smile to see Lawyer Lincoln walking down the
+street carrying Tad on his shoulders, while Willie clung to his
+coattails. The boys adored their father.
+
+Mary did, too, but she wished that Abe would be more dignified. He sat
+reading in his shirt sleeves, and he got down on the floor to play with
+the boys. His wife did not think that was any way for a successful
+lawyer to act. It also worried her that he was no longer interested in
+politics.
+
+And then something happened that neither Mary nor Abe had ever expected.
+Their old friend, Stephen A. Douglas, who was now a Senator in
+Washington, suggested a new law. Thousands of settlers were going West
+to live, and in time they would form new states. The new law would make
+it possible for the people in each new state to own slaves, if most of
+the voters wanted to.
+
+Abraham Lincoln was so aroused and indignant that he almost forgot his
+law practice. He traveled around Illinois making speeches. There were no
+laws against having slaves in the South, but slavery must be kept out of
+territory that was still free, he said. The new states should be places
+"for poor people to go to better their condition." Not only that, but it
+was wrong for one man to own another. Terribly wrong.
+
+"If the Negro is a man," he told one audience, "then my ancient faith
+teaches me that all men are created equal."
+
+Perhaps he was thinking of the first time he had visited a slave market.
+He was remembering the words in the Declaration of Independence that had
+thrilled him as a boy.
+
+Two years later Abraham Lincoln was asked to be a candidate for the
+United States Senate. He would be running against Douglas. Abe wanted
+very much to be a Senator. Even more he wanted to keep slavery out of
+the new states. Taking part in the political campaign would give him a
+chance to say the things that he felt so deeply.
+
+"I am convinced I am good enough for it," he told a friend, "but in
+spite of it all I am saying to myself every day, 'It is too big a thing
+for you; you will never get it.' Mary insists, however, that I am going
+to be Senator and President of the United States, too."
+
+Perhaps it was his wife's faith in him that gave him the courage to
+try. Never was there a more exciting campaign. Never had the people of
+Illinois been so stirred as during that hot summer of 1858. A series of
+debates was held in seven different towns. The two candidates--Douglas,
+"the little Giant," and "Old Abe, the Giant Killer," as his friends
+called him--argued about slavery. People came from miles around to hear
+them.
+
+On the day of a debate, an open platform for the speakers was decorated
+with red-white-and-blue bunting. Flags flew from the housetops. When
+Senator Douglas arrived at the railroad station, his friends and
+admirers met him with a brass band. He drove to his hotel in a fine
+carriage.
+
+Abe had admirers, too. Sometimes a long procession met him at the
+station. Then Abe would be embarrassed. He did not like what he called
+"fizzlegigs and fireworks." But he laughed when his friends in one town
+drove him to his hotel in a hay wagon. This was their way of making fun
+of Douglas and his fine manners.
+
+Senator Douglas was an eloquent orator. While he was talking, some of
+Abe's friends would worry. Would Old Abe be able to answer? Would he be
+able to hold his own? Then Abe would unfold his long legs and stand up.
+"The Giant Killer" towered so high above "the Little Giant" that a
+titter ran through the crowd.
+
+When he came to the serious part of his speech, there was silence. His
+voice reached to the farthest corners of the crowd, as he reminded them
+what slavery really meant. He summed it up in a few words: "You work and
+toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it."
+
+Both men worked hard to be elected. And Douglas won. "I feel like the
+boy," said Abe, "who stubbed his toe. It hurts too bad to laugh, and I
+am too big to cry."
+
+All of those who loved him--Mary, his wife, in her neat white house;
+Sarah, his stepmother, in her little cabin, more than a hundred miles
+away; and his many friends--were disappointed. But not for long. The
+part he took in the Lincoln-Douglas debates made his name known
+throughout the United States.
+
+Abe Lincoln's chance was coming.
+
+
+
+
+15
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+During the next two years Abraham Lincoln was asked to make many
+speeches. "Let us have faith that right makes might," he told one
+audience in New York, "and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to do
+our duty as we understand it."
+
+At the end of the speech, several thousand people rose to their feet,
+cheering and waving their handkerchiefs. His words were printed in
+newspapers. Throughout the Northern States, men and women began to think
+of him as the friend of freedom.
+
+By 1860 he was so well known that he was nominated for President of the
+United States. Stephen A. Douglas was nominated by another political
+party. Once more the two rivals were running for the same office.
+
+Several thousands of Abraham Lincoln's admirers called themselves "Wide
+Awakes." There were Wide Awake Clubs in near every Northern town. Night
+after night they marched in parades, carrying flaming torches and
+colored lanterns. And as they marched, they sang:
+
+  "Hurrah! for our cause--of all causes the best!
+   Hurrah! for Old Abe, Honest Abe of the West."
+
+No one enjoyed the campaign excitement more than did Willie and Tad
+Lincoln. They did their marching around the parlor carpet, singing
+another song:
+
+  "Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
+   Out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness,
+   Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness,
+     Down in Illinois."
+
+People everywhere were talking about Old Abe, and he received a great
+deal of mail. Some of the letters came from Pigeon Creek. Nat Grigsby,
+his old schoolmate, wrote that his Indiana friends were thinking of him.
+Dave Turnham wrote. It was in Dave's book that Abe had first read the
+Declaration of Independence. A package arrived from Josiah Crawford who
+had given him his _Life of Washington_. The package contained a piece of
+white oak wood. It was part of a rail that Abe had split when he was
+sixteen years old. Josiah thought that he might like to have it made
+into a cane.
+
+Hundreds of other letters came from people he had never seen. One from
+New York state made him smile.
+
+"I am a little girl only eleven years old," the letter read, "but want
+you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you
+won't think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are.... I
+have got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway and if
+you will let your whiskers grow I will try to get the rest of them to
+vote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is so
+thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands
+to vote for you and then you would be President...."
+
+The letter was signed "Grace Bedell." In less than two weeks she
+received an answer. Abraham Lincoln, who loved children, took her
+advice. By election day on November 6, 1860, he had started to grow a
+beard.
+
+He spent the evening of election day in the telegraph office. Report
+after report came in from different parts of the country. He was
+gaining. He was winning. After a while he knew--his friends knew--all
+Springfield knew--that Abraham Lincoln was to be the next President of
+the United States. Outside in the streets the crowds were celebrating.
+They were singing, shouting, shooting off cannons. Abe told his friends
+that he was "well-nigh upset with joy."
+
+"I guess I'd better go home now," he added. "There is a little woman
+there who would like to hear the news."
+
+Mary was asleep when he entered their bedroom. Her husband touched her
+on the shoulder. "Mary, Mary," he said with a low chuckle, "we are
+elected."
+
+By February the Lincolns were ready to move. Abe tied up the trunks and
+addressed them to "A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington, D.C." Before
+he left Illinois there was a visit he wanted to make to a log farmhouse
+a hundred and twenty-five miles southeast of Springfield. His father had
+been dead for ten years, but his stepmother was still living there.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Travel was slow in those days, and he had to change trains several
+times. There was plenty of time to think. He knew that hard days lay
+ahead. There were many Southerners who said that they were afraid to
+live under a President who was against slavery. Several Southern states
+had left the Union and were starting a country of their own. For the
+United States to be broken up into two different nations seemed to him
+the saddest thing that could possibly happen. As President, Abraham
+Lincoln would have a chance--he must make the chance--to preserve the
+Union. He could not know then that he would also have a chance to free
+the slaves--a chance to serve his country as had no other President
+since George Washington.
+
+His thoughts went back to his boyhood. Even then he had wanted to be
+President. What had once seemed an impossible dream was coming true. He
+thought of all the people who had encouraged and helped him. He thought
+of his mother who, more than any one person, had given him a chance to
+get ahead.
+
+"Mother!" Whenever Abe said the word, he was thinking of both Nancy and
+Sarah.
+
+Sarah was waiting by the window. A tall man in a high silk hat came
+striding up the path.
+
+"Abe! You've come!" She opened the door and looked up into the sad, wise
+face.
+
+"Of course, Mother." He gave her the kind of good bear hug he had given
+her when he was a boy. "I am leaving soon for Washington. Did you think
+I could go so far away without saying good-by?"
+
+The word spread rapidly that he was there. One after another the
+neighbors dropped in, until the little room was crowded. As he sat
+before the fireplace, talking with all who came, Sarah seemed to see,
+not a man about to become President, but a forlorn-looking little boy.
+She had loved that little boy from the moment she first saw him. He had
+always been a good son to her--a better son than her own John.
+
+When the last visitor had gone, she drew her chair closer. It was good
+to have a few minutes alone together.
+
+"Abe," she told him, "I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousand
+can say."
+
+He looked at her inquiringly.
+
+"You never gave me a cross word in your life. I reckon your mind and
+mine, that is--" she laughed, embarrassed, "what little mind I had,
+seemed to run together."
+
+He reached over and laid a big hand on her knee. She put her wrinkled,
+work-hardened hand on his.
+
+When the time came to say good-by, she could hardly keep the tears back.
+"Will I ever see you again?" she asked. "What if something should happen
+to you, Abe? I feel it in my heart--"
+
+"Now, now, Mother." He held her close. "Trust in the Lord and all will
+be well."
+
+"God bless you, Abraham."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+He kissed her and was gone. "He was the best boy I ever saw," she
+thought, as she watched him drive away.
+
+
+
+
+ABOUT THE AUTHOR
+
+
+Growing up in southern Indiana, not far from where Abraham Lincoln spent
+his boyhood, Frances Cavanah has always had a special interest in
+Lincoln and the people who knew him. Furthermore, she is recognized
+today as one of America's leading writers of historical books for boys
+and girls. She has written many books for young people and has also been
+associate editor of _Child Life Magazine_. One of her most interesting
+and beautiful books is OUR COUNTRY'S STORY, a fascinating
+introduction to American history, told in terms simple enough for
+children under nine. Miss Cavanah now lives in Washington, D.C., and
+devotes all of her time to writing.
+
+
+ABOUT THE ARTIST
+
+Paula Hutchison was born in Helena, Montana, and attended schools in the
+State of Washington until she came east to attend Pratt Institute in
+Brooklyn, New York. After graduating, she studied for several years in
+Paris, London, and Florence and made painting trips to Cornwall, the
+English lake district, and Scotland. She now lives in a small town on
+the New Jersey shore where she and her husband have a six-acre farm, on
+which she has her studio. Miss Hutchison has illustrated a great many
+books for children and has also illustrated a number which she has
+written herself.
+
+The Library of Congress catalogs this book as follows:
+
+     Cavanah, Frances. Abe Lincoln gets his chance. Illustrated by Paula
+     Hutchison. Chicago, Rand McNally [1959] 92 p. illus. 24 cm. 1.
+     Lincoln, Abraham, Pres. U.S.--Fiction. I. Title PZ7.C28Ab
+     813.54 59-5789++
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance, by Frances Cavanah
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ABE LINCOLN GETS HIS CHANCE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 17315.txt or 17315.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/3/1/17315/
+
+Produced by Mark C. Orton, Janet Blenkinship and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+*** END: FULL LICENSE ***
+
diff --git a/17315.zip b/17315.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..60d9acf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/17315.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35976e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #17315 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17315)