F I K S T DAY AT SCHOOL. 
 
THE 
 
 PIONEER BOY, 
 
 HOW HE BECAME PRESIDENT. 
 
 WILLIAM M. THAYER, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THK BOBBIN BOY," "THB PRINTER BOY," "THK POO BOV 
 
 AND MERCHANT PRINCE," "WORKING AND WINNING," 
 
 "TALES FROM GENESIS IN TWO VOLUMES," ETC. 
 
 THIRTY-FIRST THOUSA.XD. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 H. B. FULLER AND COMPANY, 
 
 SUCCESSORS TO WALKER, FULLER, & COMPANY, 
 
 1867. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 
 WALKER, WISE. AND COMPANY, 
 In the Clerk s Office ot the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
 GIFT 
 
 Tresswork by John Wilson and Son. 
 
57 
 ,<? 
 
 Tvas 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THAT a boy, reared in a fioorless log-cabin of 
 the West to twenty-one years of age, should 
 work his way, by dint of perseverance, into the 
 legal profession, and finally become President of 
 the United States, is a fact of sufficient importance 
 to justify the inquiry, how it was done. This 
 humble volume answers that question, by telling 
 the story of his early life, and pointing out the 
 elements of his success. The imagination has done 
 no more than connect facts gathered from authen 
 tic sources. 
 
 While the chief object of the book is to show 
 how its hero won his position, it brings out, inci 
 dentally, the manners and customs of the times and 
 section of the country in which he was reared. 
 
 The author has intentionally avoided the provin- 
 
 MB52379 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 cialisms, and that singular perversion of the English 
 language, that characterized the poor people of 
 Kentucky and Indiana forty years ago. 
 
 Real names are generally used in the work. In 
 some instances, however, where objections to such a 
 use seemed to exist, fictitious names are employed. 
 
 To the persons, residing in five different States, 
 who have promptly and cordially assisted the au 
 thor, during the past year, in collecting materials 
 for the work, he gratefully records his thanks. 
 
 W. M. T. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. 
 
 First Day at School 17 
 
 THE SCENE. ABRAHAM LEARNING TO READ. CONVERSATION OF 
 HIS PARENTS ABOUT SLAVEUT. HIS FATHER S EARLY LIFE. VALUE 
 OF PENMANSHIP. WHERE THE SCENE OCCURRED. THE LINCOLN 
 FAMILY. A REMARKABLE MOTHER. A COMMON-SENSE FATHER. 
 ABRAHAM SEVEN YEARS OLD. HAZEL HIS TEACHER. DILWORTH S 
 SPELLING-BOOK, AND THE BIBLE. ABRAHAM S GRANDFATHER KILLED 
 BY THE INDIANS. HOW IT HAPPENED. THE SAD CONDITION OF 
 THE FAMILY AFTER HIS DEATH. DANIEL BOONE S EXPERIENCE WITH 
 THE INDIANS. THREE LITTLE GIRLS CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. 
 ADVICE ABOUT READING. 
 
 II. 
 
 The Neighbor s Call 31 
 
 THE ERRAND. THE CURSE OF SLAVERY TO THE POOR WHITES. 
 8ELBY, A DEGRADED WHITE. HIS VIEWS OF KNOWLEDGE. LIN 
 COLN S RESOLVE TO REMOVE TO FREE INDIANA. SELBY S INFIDEL 
 ITY. MRS. LINCOLN S REGARD FOB THE BIBLE. THREE THINGS 
 THAT SELBY S CHARACTER TAUGHT ABRAHAM: NOT TO SWEAR, EVII 
 OF IGNORANCE, AND THE MISERY OF INTEMPERANCE. HOW POOR 
 WHITES SOMETIMES INTERFERE WITH SLAVES. AN INCIDENT. MR, 
 LINCOLN S VIEWS OF THE EVILS OF SLAVERY CORRECT. 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 III. 
 
 A Brighter Prospect 40 
 
 HOW ABRAHAM SUCCEEDS AT SCHOOL. THE REPORT OF HAZEL. 
 ABRAHAM S SUDDEN ENTRANCE. COLBY S ARRIVAL. TALK ABOUT 
 SELLING THE PLACE. TIME FOR ANOTHER INTERVIEW. BOTH OF 
 THEM POOR. PRICE OF THE FARM. CONCLUSIONS OF MR. AND MRS. 
 LINCOLN. ABRAHAM CONTINUES AT SCHOOL. CALL OF PARSON 
 ELKINS. THEIR CONVERSATION. ABRAHAM A PIONEER BOY. 
 SLAVERY AGAIN. MRS. LINCOLN S SABBATH INSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 IY. 
 
 The Sabbath Lesson 50 
 
 SABBATH MORNING. THE BIBLE A SUNDAY TEXT-BOOK. STORY 
 OF MOSES, AND COMMENTS THEREON. STORY OF JOSEPH, AND RE 
 MARKS. THE STORY OF THE CROSS. QUESTIONS OF THE CHILDREN. 
 THE THIRD COMMANDMENT. THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT. THB 
 FIFTH COMMANDMENT. THE NINTH COMMANDMENT. COMMENTS 
 THEHEON. THAT FAMILY BIBLE, ITS INFLUENCE. PRAYER, AND 
 ABRAHAM TAUGHT TO PRAY. HIS PRECOCIOUS INQUIRIES. THE 
 LINCOLN CABIN A LIGHT IN THAT REGION. GREAT MEN HAVE GOOD 
 MOTHERS. MOTHER OF RANDOLPH. MOTHER OF JOHN QUINCY 
 ADAMS. MOTHER OF WASHINGTON. THB MOTHER OF ABRAHAM 
 LINCOLN. 
 
 V. 
 The Sale 63 
 
 THE FALL OF 1816. THE PURCHASER COMES. PRICE OF THE 
 PLACE. PROPOSES TO PAY FOR IT WITH WHISKEY. A DISCUSSION 
 ABOUT IT. HOW TO CARRY IT AND WHERE TO TURN IT INTO MONEY. 
 LINCOLN CONSULTS HIS WIFE. CONCLUDES TO TAKK IT. THE PRICE 
 PBK GALLON. THE QUANTITY. THE iJARGALN CLOSED. TUB Ajf- 
 
CONTEXTS. Vii 
 
 FAIK REVIEWED. TEMPERANCE PRINCIPLES THEN. TEMPER A.NCB 
 PRINCIPLES NOW. PURPOSES TO MOVE ON A FLAT-BOAT. ABRAHAM 
 MUST HELP. LIVE ONK MILE FROM THE ROLLING FORK,. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Pulling up Stakes 72 
 
 ARRANGEMENTS TO MOVE. VISIT OF PARSON ELKINS. ON THE 
 RIVER. ABRAHAM S AXE. HOW LONG TO BE GONE PUSHES INTO 
 THE STREAM. AN ACCIDKNT. UPSETS IN THE RIVER. MEN COME 
 TO HIS RKSCUE. EFFORTS TO RIGHT THE BOAT AND SAVE THE CARGO. 
 
 LOSES MOST OK THE WHISKEY. LEARNS WAY TO GO. LANDS AT 
 
 THOMPSON S FERRY. POSEY MOVES HIS GOODS CUTTING A ROAD 
 THROUGH THE WOODS. THEY COME TO A CABIN. REACH DESTINA 
 TION. LEFT HIS GOODS AND RETURNED FOR TTTS FAMILY. TAKES 
 THKM ON HORSES. A SEVEN DAYS JOURNKY. FEMALKS NOT TIMLD 
 THEN. MRS. DA VIES AND THE INDIANS. MRS. MERRILL S COURAGE. 
 
 MRS. LLNCOLN BRAVE. 
 
 VII. 
 
 The Pioneer Boy 85 
 
 CALLED BY HIS FATHER. HIS FIRST WORK. ITIS FATHER SHOOTS 
 A TURKEY. PROMISE THAT ABRAHAM SHALL FIRE. GAME PLENTY. 
 
 CUTTING LOGS FOR HOUSE, AND MR. NEALE AIDS. DESCRIPTION OF 
 
 THE LOG-HOUSE. HOW THEY MADE A BEDSTEAD. MAKING A TABLB 
 AND STOOLS. HOW IT WAS DONE. RAPID WORK. THE LOFT ABOVE, 
 ABRAHAM S PARLOR CHAMBER, THIS VIEW OF HIS HOME. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 * 
 
 The Grist-MiU 95 
 
 NEEDED BULLS TO GRIND. HOW ABRAHAM AND HIS FATHER MADB 
 A MILL. CUTTING THE LOG. BURNING HOLE IN IT. A 8PRLNG-POLB 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 AND PESTLE. EIGHTEEN MILES TO MILL. THE VALUE OF THE MILL. 
 ABRAHAM STILL LEARNING. GOOD LESSONS AND THE BIBLE. HE 
 LONGS FOR OTHER BOOKS. READ BY THE LIGHT OF THE FIRE, AS TOO 
 POOR TO HAVE CANDLES. PROSPECTS NOT VERY BRIGHT. 
 
 IX. 
 
 The Lucky Shot 104 
 
 SPRING COMES. SOWING SEED. THE WHISKEY AGAIN. WAS IT 
 BEST TO LOSE IT? DISCUSSION ABOUT IT. I LL TRY, AND WHAT IT 
 HAS DONE. ABRAHAM FIRES AT A TURKEY AND KILLS IT. ACCOUNT 
 OF GOOD MARKSMEN. DRIVING NAILS BY FIRING. SNUFFING A 
 CANDLE. SHOOTING NOT A PASTIME. HIS PHYSICAL CULTURE AND 
 COURAGE. CONCLUSION. 
 
 X. 
 Sorrow 112 
 
 HIS MOTHER SICK. ABRAHAM AWAKED. MRS. BRUNER SENT FOR, 
 ABRAHAM S LOVE AND ANXIETY. REMEDIES APPLIED. WORD 
 BENT TO MRS. GRANGER. HER WILLINGNESS TO DIE. HER WORDS TO 
 ABRAHAM. HER DEATH. PREPARATIONS FOR THE FUNERAL . 
 SPOT FOR GRAVE CHOSEN. NO MINISTER TO OFFICIATE. TESTIMONY 
 OF HER WORTH. SYMPATHY FOR ABRAHAM. HER GRAVE A 
 
 TEACHER, 
 
 XI. 
 
 Going up Higher 124 
 
 THE CHANGE. PILGRIM S PROGRESS BORROWED. ABRAHAM S 
 DELIGHT. A PRESENT OF JESOP S FABLES. BOTH RE-READ. COM 
 MITS THE FABLES TO MEMORY. DENNIS HANKS. LEARNING TO 
 
CONTEXTS. ix 
 
 WPTTK. HIS PROGRESS. HIS ENTHUSIASM. -WRITING ON SLABS, 
 STOOLS, AND THE GROUND. STUDY INTERFERES WITH WORK. HIS 
 FATHER S CENSURE. READS WEEM S LIFE OF WASHINGTON. WRITES 
 HIS NAME ON THE GROUND. LIKJE PASCAL. LIKE DAVID WILKLK. 
 HOW BOYS GO UP HIGHER, 
 
 XII. 
 
 The Letter and Visitor . . . .137 
 
 ABRAHAM S FIRST LETTER. WHAT WAS IN IT. HIS FATHER S 
 JOT OVER IT. WILL PARSON ELKINS COME? TALK ABOUT THE 
 
 LETTER. OTHERS COME TO GET HIM TO WRITE LETTERS FOR THEM. 
 THE NEXT THREE MONTHS. ABRAHAM SEES PARSON ELKINS COMING. 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH ABRAHAM AND HIS FATHER. THE FUNERAL SER 
 MON AT THE GRAVE. THE ASSEMBLY. IMPRESSION ON ABRAHAM. 
 HIS TROUBLE ABOUT THE RESURRECTION. HIS DESIRE TO KNOW THE 
 WHY AND WHEREFORE. HIS PRECOCITY AND CRITICISM OF SERMONS. 
 
 MORE ABOUT PIONEER PREACHERS. THE ONE WHO REFUSED A 
 TITLE-DEED. HENRY BIDLEMAN BASCOM. ACCOUNT OF HIS MINIS 
 TERS. PULPIT INFLUENCE. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 At School Again . . . . .154 
 
 A YEAR MORE. HIS FATHER MARRIED AGAIN. WARM GREETING 
 FOR HIS STEP-MOTHER. TALK ABOUT SCHOOL. BUCKSKIN SUIT OF 
 CLOTHES. GOES TO MR. CRAWFORD TO SCHOOL. GETS ON A STUMP 
 AND REPEATS A SERMON. HIS HABIT OF CLOSE ATTENTION. MR. 
 CRAWFORD SAW IT. DR. CHALMERS. THE ENGLISH STATESMAN. 
 MR. CRAWFORD S OPINION OF THE BOY. TALK WITH MR, LINCOLN. 
 CONFESSING HIS ERRORS. LIKK WASHINGTON CUTTING THE CHERRY- 
 TREE. SEE MATERNAL INFLUENCE. WRITING A LETTER FOR A 
 NEIGHBOR. WORDS OF ANOTHER ABOUT HIM. 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 XIV. 
 Still at School 165 
 
 KEEPING ALONG HIS ARITHMETIC. ERRAND FOR HIS MOTHER, AND 
 FOREGOES PLEASURES TO PERFORM IT. OVERTAKES DAVID. HI9 
 PUNCTUALITY. PROTESTS AGAINST CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. HIS TEN- 
 D!-;K FEELINGS. THE RULE OF THREE, AND HOW HE GOT ALONG WITH 
 IT. A DIFFICULTY BETWEEN JOHN AND DANIEL. ITS PROGRESS. 
 ABRAHAM A " PEACEMAKER." SETTLING DIFFICULTIES. END OF 
 SCHOOL-DAYS. LIFE OF HENRY CLAY, AND ITS INFLUENCE ON HLM 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 XV. 
 
 A Trial and Treasure . . . .174 
 
 ABRAHAM S VIEW OF WASHINGTON. RAMSAY S LIFE OF WASHING 
 TON. WAY TO BORROW IT. SUCCEEDS IN GETTING IT. THE IN 
 TERVIEW. MANLY CONSIDERATION ABOUT PRESERVING IT. THE 
 STORM, AND THE BORROWED BOOK WET. NOT ASHAMED TO DO RIGHT. 
 RETURNS THE BOOK AND PROFFERS PA.Y. AGREES TO CUT CORN 
 TO PAY FOR IT. MR. CRAWFORD S OPINION OF THE BOY. WORKS 
 THREE DAYS TO PAY FOR THE BOOK. CARRIES IT HOME. HIS 
 HONORABLE AND HONEST CONDUCT AN EXAMPLE FOR BOYS. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 EiyJdcen Years Old 188 
 
 WHAT HE IS AT EIGHTEEN. HIS LIBRARY, TO WHICH IS ADDED LIFE 
 OF FRANKLIN AND PLUTARCH S LIVES. HIS FAIR REPUTATION. A 
 HOUSE-RAISING. ABRAHAM GOES. HIS FATHER GOES TO MARKET. 
 A "TRUCK-WAGON." MARKET WHERE? COMING HOME FROM 
 HOUSE-RAISING. OLD MYES IN THE DITCH DRUNK. THEY CARRY 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 HIM TO DALE S. ABRAHAM STAYS ALL NIGHT WITH HIM. AN IL 
 LUSTRATION OF HIS KINDNESS OF HEAKT. DEATH OF HIS SISTER. 
 ONE MORE EVENT. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Trip to Nev) Orleans . . . .197 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH I ETERS ABOUT TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. SEES 
 HIS FATHER. BARGAIN TO GO. MR. PETERS S ELDEST SON. 
 ABRAHAM S DKLIGHT. ACCOUNT OF FLAT-BOATMEN. CARGOES 
 CARRIED ON FLAT-BOATS. HOW MERCHANTS TRADED THEN. 
 THE TRIP EIGHTEEN HUNDRED MILES. HIS FATHER S FEELINGS. 
 COMMENCES THE VOYAGE. CONVERSATIONS WITH HIS COMPANION ON 
 TIIK WAY. TIED UP BOAT AT NIGHT. A THRILLING SCENE. FIGHT 
 WITH NEGROES WHO ATTEMPT TO MURDER THEM. THE NEGROES 
 DRIVEN OFF. A SUCCESSFUL TRIP. ASCRIBED TO ABRAHAM S TACT, 
 JUDGMENT, AND FIDELITY. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Removal to Illinois 212 
 
 NEWS FROM ILLINOIS. HANKS SENT TO RECONNOITRE. TWO 
 YEARS BEFORE THEY DECIDE. THREE FAMILIES AND TWELVE PER 
 SONS TO GO- ABRAHAM FREE, BUT STILL A FAITHFUL SON. HOW 
 PEOPLE MOVED THEN, A DESCRIPTION. TWO HUNDRED MILES TO GO. 
 
 THEY START. HOW THEY CROSS KASKASKIA RIVER. ENERGY. 
 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE JOURNEY. WHERE THEY SETTLE. BUILD A 
 LOG-HOUSE. PLANT TEN ACRES OF CORN. ABRAHAM SPLITTING 
 RAILS TO FENCE. THESE ARE THE RAILS OF WHICH SO MUCH HAS 
 BEEN SAID. LOUIS PHILIPPE. THE WINTER OF THE " GREAT SNOW." 
 
 HOW ABRAHAM SAVED THE FAMILY FROM SUFFERING. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Nciv Friends 222 
 
 LEAVING HOME. HIS FEELINGS. HIS PARENTS FEELINGS. 
 LABORS FOR ONE ARMSTRONG. STUDIES HIS LEISURE MOMENTS. 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 WHAT ARMSTRONG THINKS OF HIM. PROPOSITION TO GIVE HIM A 
 HOME THERE. ABRAHAM S HONESTY AGAIN. HOW IT WON THB 
 PEOPLE NEAR PETERSBURG. CHOSEN JUDGE BY BOTH CONTENDING 
 PARTIES. HOW HE CAME TO BE CALLED " HONEST ABE." STUDYING 
 IN ARMSTRONG CABIN IN WINTER. BUYS SOME BOOKS. STUDIES 
 ARITHMETIC. GOOD NEWS FOR ABRAHAM. AGREES TO GO ON FLAT- 
 BOAT TO NEW ORLEANS. BIDS ARMSTRONG ADIEU. HIS GRATITUDE. 
 
 HIS SUCCESS. HIRED TO TAKE CARE OF A STORE AND MILL IN NEW 
 SALEM. 
 
 XX. 
 
 A Merchant s Clerk 231 
 
 HIS IMPORTANCE IN THE PLACE. DREW A CIRCLE AROUND HIM. 
 INSTANCE OF HONEST DEALING. DOES BUSINESS AS IF IT WAS HIS 
 OWN. HIS STORY-TELLING* POWERS AND KNOWLEDGE OF HISTORY. 
 
 CONFIDENCE IN HIM, AND THE REASON FOR IT. WORDS FROM MER 
 CHANT S MAGAZINE. STUDYING GRAMMAR. DISCUSSION WITH A 
 COMPANION ABOUT IT. MASTERS IT IN HIS LEISURE HOURS. FUR 
 THER DISPUTE WITH HIS COMPANION. RICHARD YATES. NEIGHBORS 
 TOOK FRIENDS TO VISIT HIM. DINNER, AND THE BOWL OF MILK UP- 
 BET. ABRAHAM S UNWILLINGNESS TO MAKE TROUBLE. AIDED i 
 
 GRAMMAR BY W. GREENE. LIKE ALEXANDER MURRAY. REMARKS 
 
 XXI. 
 
 Captain in the Black-Hawk War . .245 
 
 THE BLACK-HAWK WAR BREAKS OUT. ABRAHAM THE FIRST TO EN 
 LIST. TALK WITH HIS COMPANION. DESIRE TO RAISE A WHOLE 
 COMPANY IN NEW SALEM. THEY GET THE PRIVILEGE. THE COM 
 PANY RAISED. CHOICE OF OFFICERS. SECRET PLAN TO MAKE ABRA 
 HAM CAPTAIN. ITS SUCCESS. HIS SURPRISE. A SCENE. ABRA 
 HAM LIFTS A BARREL OF WHISKEY. WHY HE DOES IT. HIS TEM 
 PERANCE PRINCIPLES. THE EVENING AFTER, AND GREENE S PROMISE 
 TO ABRAHAM NOT TO BET AGAIN OR GAMBLE. THE COMPANY OFF TO 
 WAR. TIME UP, AND ABRAHAM RE-ENLISTS TWICE. HIS EFFICIENCY 
 AND COURAGE IN THE ARMY. 
 
CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 XXII. 
 Plans and Progress 254 
 
 HIS RETURN. PROPOSAL TO SEND HIM TO THE LEGISLATURE. IN 
 TERVIEW WITH A FRIEND ABOUT IT. DISCUSSION WITH OLDER PER 
 SONS. A " CLAY MAN." NOT ELECTED, YET A TRIUMPH. DECIDES 
 TO SETTLE IN NEW SALEM. BUYS STORE AND SELLS AGAIN. CON 
 VERSATION ABOUT BECOMING A LAWYER, AND HIS OBJECTIONS. 
 STUDIES SURVEYING WITH CALHOUN. BECOMES A GOOD SURVEYOR. 
 BUSINESS PLENTY. WORKS AT IT STEADILY A YEAE. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Success and its Results . . . .265 
 
 THE SUMMER OF 1834. LINCOLN A CANDIDATE FOR REPRESENTA 
 TIVE. HIS POPULARITY. TALK ABOUT POLITICIANS. HIS MOD 
 ESTY. HIS ELECTION. SCENE AFTERWARDS. REFUSES TO TREAT 
 HIS COMPANIONS WITH STRONG DRINK. HIS DECISION. GOING TO 
 
 LEGISLATURE. INTERVIEW WITH HON. J. T. STUART ABOUT STUDYING 
 LAW. HIS ADVICE AND OFFER OF BOOKS. FACTS PRESENTED. 
 HENRY CLAY S EARLY LIFE. THE RESULT. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 Working and Winning .... 274 
 
 THE NEWS. WHAT PEOPLE THOUGHT OF HIS STUDYING LAW. HI3 
 VIEWS OF ECONOMY OF TIME. DECLINES GOING TO A PARTY. 
 WALKS TWENTY-TWO MILES FOR HIS LAW-BOOKS. BLACKSTONE S 
 COMMENTARIES IN FOUR VOLUMES CARRIED TWENTY-TWO MILES. 
 EXAMINED IN FIKST VOLUME, STUDIED WHEN WALKING. DEVO 
 TION TO STUDY. HIS INTERVIEW WITH THE IGNORANT FARMER. A 
 PLACE FOR LAWYERS. GIVES UP PARTIES AND PLEASURES. ENJOYS 
 STUDY BEST. REASON OF IT. ARCHIMEDES. PROFESSOR HAYNES. 
 MADE RAPID PROGRESS, WORKED AND WON. ONE MORE SCENE. 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 The Tragedy 288 
 
 A MAN KILLED. EXCITEMENT. DONE IN A DRUNKEN MELEE AT A 
 CAMP-MEETING. ARREST OF JOE ARMSTRONG. TIDINGS TRAVEL 
 TO HIS NATIVE PLACE. HIS FORMER LIFE, AND GENERAL CENSURE. 
 
 HIS MOTHER S GRIEF. KINDNESS OF MR. JONES. EFFORT TO GET- 
 COUNSEL. LETTER FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN. HOPE REVIVES. 
 
 LINCOLN S EFFORT TO DELAY TRIAL TILL EXCITEMENT is OVER. UN 
 RAVELS A CONSPIRACY. TIME OF THE TRIAL. WITNESSES EXAM- 
 
 IM-:D. A PERJURER. ins EXPOSURE. LINCOLN S ELOQUENT PLEA. 
 
 CARRIES THE CROWD. ARMSTRONG NOT GUILTY. HIS MOTHER 
 OVERCOME. GRATITUDE TO LINCOLN. CASE OF ALEXANDER H. STK- 
 PHENS. LINCOLN A PATRIOT. 
 
 XXVI. 
 Conclusion 306 
 
 ItOW FAR TRACED HIS LIFE. HIS LIFE SINCE THAT PERIOD. 
 FOUNDATION OF CHARACTER LAID IN CHILDHOOD. MATERNAL INFLU 
 ENCE. ENERGY, PERSEVERANCE, AND DECISION. DOING THINGS 
 WELL. HABITS OF STUDY. SELF-CONTROL. NOT ABOVE HIS BUSI 
 NESS. INFLUENCE OF ANCESTORS. OPPOSITION TO SLAVERY. HIS 
 LIBRARY. HIS HONESTY AGAIN. TESTIMONY OF ONE WHO KNOWS. 
 
 THE MAN WHAT THE BOY WAS. 
 
 
THE PIONEEE BOY, 
 
 i. 
 
 FIEST DAY AT SCHOOL. 
 
 A BRIGHT spring morning, flooding hill and 
 valley with its golden light, an old log-house 
 with its humble tenants at the door, and the hero of 
 our volume starting forth to receive his first lesson 
 at school, is the scene that opens to our view. 
 
 " A great day for you, my boy," said his mother ; 
 " it J s better than silver and gold to know how to 
 read." 
 
 "Do the best you can," added his father; "it s 
 only a short time that you have to learn." 
 
 " I 11 try," replied the lad, then just seven years 
 old ; and he went off in high spirits. 
 
 " There s not much need of telling him to do his 
 best," said his mother, as he started off, addressing 
 her remark to her husband ; " he 11 do that any 
 how." 
 
 " It won t do him any hurt to jog his mind a little 
 
18 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 on the subject," responded the father, whose good 
 opinion of his boy was not a whit below that of the 
 mother. " He s so set on learnin to read, that I 
 don t think there s much danger of his not doin 
 well." 
 
 "He would make a good scholar if he had a 
 chance," continued the mother ; " but there s noth 
 ing here for poor white folks to enjoy, so we can t 
 expect much." 
 
 " / don t mean to live a great many more years, 
 where we are known only as 4 poor white trash " ; 
 and the father said this with an emphasis that showed 
 determination. He did not refer so much to the 
 lack of intellectual advantages, however, as to the 
 oppression that the poor whites experienced from 
 the existence of slavery, though he appreciated the 
 fact that the advantages for acquiring knowledge 
 were far greater in the Free States. 
 
 " You mean, if God wills," suggested his wife. 
 
 " Of course ; and I think it is his will that we 
 should do better if we can." 
 
 " It would seem so ; but our lot appears to be 
 cast in this part of the country, and our experience 
 is hardly so bad as that of our ancestors here." 
 
 " It s bad enough ; and it don t make my lot any 
 less hard to know that my father was hardly so well 
 off as I am. I was knocked about from pillar to 
 post year after year, and never had a chance to learn 
 the first letter of the alphabet." 
 
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL. 19 
 
 " Your father fared worse than that. And, now I 
 think of it, you must tell Abe all about your fa 
 ther s experience ; it will interest him. I begun to 
 tell him about it the other day, and his eyes were 
 big as saucers. You know more about it than I do, 
 and can tell it better." 
 
 " Those were dark days, and it pains me to speak 
 of them ; but I think he ought to know about it, 
 and I will tell him the first chance I have." 
 
 " Yes, every child ought to know about his ances 
 tors, and learn to shun their vices and imitate their 
 virtues." 
 
 " I know that ; but we were talkin about his 
 learnin to read. Hazel can t do much for him, 
 for he don t know much himself." 
 
 " He may know enough to make him a reader," 
 said his wife. 
 
 " He might, if I could afford to send him to him 
 long enough; but the longest time will be only a 
 few weeks." 
 
 " Perhaps that will do. Only get him started, 
 and he will go on learning himself, he is so eager. 
 Won t have to beat things into his head much." 
 
 "That may be; but there s writin , too; it s 
 about as necessary for him to learn to write as to 
 read. I know what it is to go without either." 
 
 " Providence may open a way yet," continued his 
 wife. " It ain t best to borrow too much trouble. 
 We must have faith in God." 
 
20 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " I don t dispute that ; but faith won t learn 
 Abe to read and write." 
 
 " I m not sure about that ; it may open the way. 
 Faith kept Daniel out of the lions jaws, and it may 
 keep Abe out of the jaws of ignorance." 
 
 "A pretty good idea, after all," replied her hus 
 band, somewhat amused at her manner of enforcing 
 the subject. " It is pretty certain that faith will 
 keep folks in good spirits, even in hard times," 
 referring to the hopeful, cheerful view that his wife 
 usually took of passing experience. 
 
 "We will stop here to say, that this scene occurred 
 in Hardin County, Kentucky, forty-seven years ago. 
 The poor man and wife who conversed as above 
 lived in a log-house, that is represented in the fron 
 tispiece, a dwelling without a floor, furnished 
 with four or five three-legged stools, pots, kettles, 
 spider, Dutch-oven, and something that answered 
 for a bed. The man s name was Thomas Lincoln, 
 and both he and his wife were members of the Bap 
 tist Church, in good standing. Mrs. Lincoln, par 
 ticularly, was a whole-hearted Christian, and the 
 influence of her godly example and precepts was 
 felt by each member of the family. She was a 
 woman of marked natural abilities, but of little cul 
 ture. She could read, but was not able to write. 
 Her good judgment and sound common sense, 
 united with her strong mental powers and deep 
 toned piety, made her a remarkable woman. 
 
FIKST DAY AT SCHOOL. 21 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was not so highly endowed by nature, 
 yet he was superior to most of his neighbors in all 
 the attributes of respectable manhood. He was of 
 rather a practical turn of mind, and a somewhat 
 close observer of men and things. He could neither 
 read nor write, with this exception, that he could 
 write his name so that some people could read it. 
 His father before him was poor, and, what was worse, 
 he was killed by the Indians when Thomas was a 
 boy, so that the latter was sent adrift to shift for 
 himself. Hard times and harder fortune oppressed 
 him everywhere that he went, and he had all he 
 could do to earn enough to keep soul and body 
 together, without going to school a single day. He 
 realized his deficiencies, and thought all the more 
 of learning, because he was deprived of it himself. 
 He was a kind, industrious, practical, pious man, 
 and his determination and perseverance enabled him 
 to accomplish whatever he undertook. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln had a son and daughter at 
 the time to which we refer, and another son died 
 in infancy a few years before. The daughter was 
 the eldest child, and the living son, whose name 
 was that staid, suggestive one of the Bible, ABRA 
 HAM, was next in age, and he was born February 
 12th, 1809. He was not often called by his real 
 name, either by his parents or other people, but by 
 that rather homely abbreviation, " Abe." For some 
 reason, this nickname has stuck to him all the way 
 
22 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 through life, in spite of learning, honor, and high 
 official dignity. This may arise from the fact that 
 his real, name is long, homely, and difficult to utter, 
 while the abbreviation is short and easily spoken. 
 Also, of the two, we think the nickname is the more 
 attractive, although the real name is suggestive of a 
 moral beauty that challenges universal respect. 
 
 Abraham was seven years old when he was sent 
 to school, for the first time, to one Hazel, who came 
 to live in the neighborhood. Tiiere were no schools 
 nor school-houses in the region, and few of the people 
 around could read. But this Hazel could read and 
 write ; but beyond this he made a poor figure. For 
 a small sum he taught a few children at his house, 
 and Abraham was one of the number. His parents 
 were so anxious that he should know how to read 
 and write, that they managed to save enough out of 
 their penury to send him to school a few weeks. 
 They considered Abraham a remarkable boy, and 
 the sequel will prove that they had reason to 
 think so. 
 
 The frontispiece shows Abraham with a dilapi 
 dated book in his hand. It is a copy of Dilworth s 
 Spelling-Book, that had come into the family in 
 some way unknown to the writer. All the books 
 the family could boast were the Bible, a catechism, 
 and this old school-book. 
 
 He was not very well clad, but this was the best 
 suit of clothes that he had ; indeed, he had no other. 
 
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL. 23 
 
 His parents did well, in their poverty, to provide 
 him with one suit at a time. Few of their neighbors 
 could do better. 
 
 Abraham was delighted with going to school, and 
 he had much to say at the close of the first day. 
 
 " Much better off than I ever was," said his 
 father. " I never went to school one day in my 
 life." 
 
 " Why did n t you go some ? " 
 
 " Because my father was killed by the Injins, and 
 then I had to work for my bread, and besides I never 
 lived where there was any school." 
 
 "Now tell Abe," said his mother, speaking to 
 her husband, " about his grandfather. He was 
 named for him, and he ought to know about him." 
 
 " Was I named for grandpa ? " the boy inquired. 
 
 " Yes, you was named for him, and you ought to 
 know what a hard time he had." 
 
 " Do tell me, father," said Abraham. " I want 
 to hear about him. Was he killed by the Injins ? " 
 
 " Yes," answered his father ; " and I will tell you 
 all about it. He was born in Kockingham County, 
 Virginia, and removed from there to this State in 
 the year 1780, almost forty years ago. I was a 
 very little boy then." 
 
 " How little ? small as I ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " Not so large as you are. I wa n t more than 
 two or three years old. I was the youngest child. 
 Well, I -was saying that your grandfather came 
 
24 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 here when it was all a wilderness, and there wa n t 
 any neighbors nearer than two or three miles for 
 some years, and there were many Injins all about, 
 and they hated white men, and " 
 
 " What made them hate the white men ? " in 
 quired the boy, who had become intensely inter 
 ested in the story. 
 
 " Because tlie white men first came to this coun 
 try, and drove them away from their lands. As I 
 was saying, he had to clear up land for a farm, and 
 he did it as fast as he could, a little every year. 
 It was very hard work, and very dangerous work, 
 too, and he had to carry his gun witli him into the 
 woods, so as to fight the Injins if they came. The 
 Injins were very cruel, and sometimes they attacked 
 a family, and killed them all with the tomahawk. 
 Once they killed a whole family within a few miles 
 of here, and all the white men around, got to 
 gether, and went after them ; but they could n t 
 find em. 
 
 " Well, after your grandfather had lived here 
 about four years, and he was clearing up some land 
 a few miles off, he was killed by the Injins. He 
 was alone in the woods ; and we thought they came 
 upon him suddenly, before he had time to get at 
 his gun." 
 
 " How do you know that, if he was alone ? " asked 
 Abraham. 
 
 " Because his gun was found where he probably 
 
FIKST DAY AT SCHOOL. 26 
 
 laid it down, and he was discovered right side of 
 a tree that he was cutting, some distance from 
 his gun." 
 
 " Why didn t the Injins carry off his gun ? " 
 
 " They did n t see it, as it was a little distance 
 from him, and they did n t think, probably, that he 
 had one. 
 
 "As he didn t come home at night as usual, we 
 thought that somethin dreadful had happened, and 
 search was made, and the next moriiin his dead 
 body was found. The Injins had scalped him, and 
 carried off his axe." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln continued : " You can t tell how we 
 felt when the worst was known. And when his 
 dead body was brought home, it seemed as if we 
 should die. He was our protector, and the family 
 depended on him for support. Where should we 
 look for bread ? What would become of us in the 
 wilderness ? We could n t help thinkin of these 
 things ; and the future was dark enough." 
 
 " What did you do ? " inquired Abraham, whose 
 deepest feelings were reached by the narrative. 
 
 " We did the best we could. Your grandmother 
 worked hard to support me, while my brothers and 
 sisters, who were older, went away to get a liviii 
 where they could. But two or three years after, 
 she was so poor that I had to go away, too, and I 
 had no home again till I married, and came to live 
 here. There is no telliu how much I suffered for 
 
 2 
 
26 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 several years, and how unhappy I was to be sent 
 away from home when I was not twelve years old. 
 Yet I had to go, there was no other way to do. 
 I must go or starve. You can imagine, my boy, 
 how you would feel to lose your father, and then be 
 obliged to leave your mother, and go off among 
 strangers to earn your bread." 
 
 " God be praised that you have a better lot," ex 
 claimed Mrs. Lincoln. " You would n t know how 
 to endure it, my dear child, and I should n t know 
 how to have you." 
 
 Abraham was too full to speak. The tears stood 
 in his eye, and his chin quivered as his mother 
 spoke. 
 
 " Yes," continued his father, " it would take me 
 a week to tell you all I have heard your grandpa 
 say about those dark days. The very year he came 
 here, in 1780, the Injins attacked the settlers in 
 great force. All the men were ordered to organize 
 into companies, and Daniel Boone, * the great hun 
 ter of Kentucky/ was made a lieutenant-colonel, 
 and all the forces were put under the charge of 
 General Clark. They started to meet the enemy, 
 and found them near the Lower Blue Licks. Here 
 they fought a terrible battle, and the Injins beat, 
 and cut up our men badly. Boone s son was 
 wounded, and his father tried to carry him away 
 in the retreat. He plunged into the river with him 
 on his back, but the boy died before he reached the 
 
FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL. 27 
 
 other side. By the time Boone got over the river, 
 he looked around and saw that the Injins were 
 swimming after him ; so he had to throw down his 
 dead son, and run for his life. He got away, and 
 reached Bryan s Station in safety." 
 
 " 0, how thankful we ought to be that we do not 
 live in such trying times ! " exclaimed his mother, 
 addressing her remark to Abraham, who was filled 
 with wonder at the recital. " Now," she continued, 
 " tell him about those children that the Injins car 
 ried off. That was dreadful." 
 
 " Do tell it father," said Abraham. 
 
 "That was some little time before," his father 
 went on to say. " Three little girls, belonging to 
 the fort at Boonsboro, and one of them was Boone s 
 daughter, crossed the Kentucky River in a canoe 
 that they were playing with. When they reached 
 the other side, several Injins rushed out of the 
 bushes into the river, and drew the canoe ashore, 
 and seized the little girls to run off with them. 
 The girls were scared almost to death, and they 
 screamed so loud that they were heard at the fort. 
 The men there ran out to help them, but by the 
 time they reached the canoe, the Injins had run off 
 with the little girls. It was now about night, so 
 that it would be vain to follow them, and they 
 resolved to prepare all the men they could muster 
 at the fort, and start after them early in the 
 morning. 
 
28 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " At break of day a strong party of white men 
 started after the girls ; but they did not overtake 
 them until near the close of the day. When they 
 had travelled about forty miles, they discovered 
 them at a short distance. They had encamped for 
 the night, and were cooking their supper. Fearing 
 that the Injins would kill the girls as soon as they 
 found that they were closely pursued, it was a part 
 of the white men s plan to shoot them before they 
 had a chance. Therefore, as soon as they got fair 
 sight of the Injins, they all fired at them at once, 
 taking good care not to hit the children. It was so 
 sudden to the red-skins, that they were scared half 
 out of their wits, and run away, leaving the girls 
 and all their weapons." 
 
 " How glad the little children must have been 
 to see their fathers again ! " said Mrs. Lincoln. 
 " Don t you think they were, Abe ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed," replied the boy, with a glow of 
 satisfaction lighting up his intelligent face. " Were 
 they in the woods all the night before ? " 
 
 " Yes," replied his father ; " and they want more 
 pleased to see their fathers than their fathers were 
 to see them. The men might have followed the 
 Injins, and killed them all before they had gone a 
 mile, but they were so glad to find the girls that 
 they didn t care for anything else." 
 
 "Nobody will blame them," added Mrs. Lincoln ; 
 " they did well to get their children again. But you 
 
FIRST DAT AT SCHOOL. 29 
 
 have heard enough now," turning to Abraham, 
 " and I hope you will be thankful for your home. * 
 
 " So do I," continued his father ; " the poorest 
 home is better than none : I know it by sad expe 
 rience." 
 
 Abraham drew a long sigh, as if relieved by the 
 thought that his little cabin was not surrounded 
 with such perils. He had listened with rapt atten 
 tion to the thrilling stories of his grandfather s time, 
 and he was glad the lines had fallen to him in 
 pleasanter places. 
 
 " You see now, Abe, how much better you fare 
 than your father did ; and you see, too, why ho 
 never learned to read," said his mother. 
 
 " I m glad that such Injins don t live about here," 
 he replied. 
 
 " And you should be thankful that you fare as 
 well as you do, and make the most of your opportu 
 nities," continued his mother. 
 
 " Learn to read in a few weeks if you can, Abe," 
 said his father ; " for it ain t long that you can have 
 Hazel to help you." 
 
 " How long do you think, father ? " 
 
 " Just as long as I can pay for. I want you 
 should know how to read and write, and not be so 
 ignorant as I am. Perhaps you can learn some 
 thing about ciphering yourself when you are older." 
 
 " Mr. Hazel says I can learn to read real quick if 
 I try." 
 
80 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " I have no doubt of it," replied his father. 
 
 " And then you can read the Bible, and all the 
 good stories in it that I have told you," were the 
 words of his mother. 
 
 " And it will be a pleasure to you as long as you 
 live," continued his father. " If I could live my 
 life over again, I would learn to read somehow." 
 
 A neighbor called, and the conversation with 
 Abraham was broken off. The next chapter will 
 disclose what followed. 
 
II. 
 
 THE NEIGHBOE S CALL, 
 
 " "VYTALL, neighbor Lincoln," said the man, " I 
 T T called to tell you where you can sell your 
 place, I reckon. You know we talked about it 
 t other day." 
 
 " I remember it," answered Mr. Lincoln ; " and I 
 want to sell out, and make my tracks to some place 
 where the curse of slavery is not found." 
 
 " Where would you go ? " 
 
 " I would go to Indiana. Slavery is shut out from 
 there, and there is a chance for a poor white man to 
 be somebody. But who wants to buy ? " 
 
 " A feller by the name of Cordy, I believe. I 
 was told about him to-day." 
 
 " Where does he live ? " 
 
 " Down the river somewhere ; I hain t seen him." 
 
 " And you don t know anything about him ? " 
 
 " No ; only he wants to buy a place about here 
 somewhere, and I thought of you. I can find out 
 about him, and send him word that you will sell, if 
 you want I should." 
 
 " I wish you would ; though I sha n t leave here 
 till fall, now I m gettin my plantiu in." 
 
32 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " A good long time he 11 have, then, to make a 
 bargain. 
 
 " Yes ; and Abe will have a chance to learn 
 Bomethin this summer. He went to school to-day 
 for the first time." 
 
 " That s more than my boys have done. If I can 
 cover their backs and keep them from cryin for 
 bread, it s all I can do." 
 
 " I can t do but little more than that," said Mr. 
 Lincoln ; " but Abe takes so to books, that I want 
 he should learn to read and write." 
 
 " Could n t he get along as well as his father 
 without it?" 
 
 " / never got along very well without it : I d 
 give all I have now to know how to read and 
 write ? " 
 
 " Pshaw ! " exclaimed the neighbor ; " I would n t 
 do any such thing. It don t give anybody victuals 
 and clothes." 
 
 " I don t know about that. At any rate, I don t 
 want Abe to be as ignorant as I am. If his mother 
 could n t read, we should have a sorry time here." 
 
 " It s no worse for you than t is for me." 
 
 " That may be : it s bad enough for all of us ; 
 and it helps keep us down with the niggers." 
 
 " You don t think so ? " 
 
 " Upon my word I do. It s for the interest of 
 slaveholders to promote ignorance, and hence there 
 is the most ignorance where there is the most 
 
THE NEIGHBOR S CALL. 83 
 
 slavery. They can oppress poor ignorant white 
 men like us more than they can those who know 
 somethin ." 
 
 " I don t see it so." 
 
 " Well, I do ; and I m determined to go where a 
 man is not disgraced by his labor." 
 
 " If you can find such a place," answered the 
 neighbor. 
 
 " I can find such a place everywhere that free 
 dom is, but nowhere that slavery is tolerated. 
 Slaveholders don t consider us any better, nor 
 hardly so good, as their niggers; and the niggers 
 never think of calling us anything but poor white 
 trash. " 
 
 " I don t care for that." 
 
 " I do ; and I shall get away from it as soon as 
 possible after the summer is through." 
 
 " And your boy can read," added the man. 
 
 " Yes ; and that I mean shall happen anyhow. I 
 would rather have him read and write than to own 
 a farm, if he can t have but one." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! nonsense," retorted the neighbor. 
 " You don t mean it." 
 
 " Whether my husband means it or not," said 
 Mrs. Lincoln, who had listened to the conversation, 
 " I would rather Abe would be able to read the 
 Bible than to own a farm, if he can t have but 
 one." 
 
 " The Bible, hey ! " exclaimed the man, accom- 
 
 2* 
 
34 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 panying the remark with an oath ; " why did n t 
 you say a last year s almanac ? " and he intended 
 this last remark as a slur upon the Word of God. 
 
 " I am surprised, Mr. Selby " (this was the man s 
 name), " at your talk," continued Mrs. Lincoln. 
 " The Bible is the word of God, and it becomes us 
 all to study it, and learn our duty. I want my 
 children to make it their daily companion." 
 
 " Their daily fiddlestick ! " answered Mr. Selby, 
 contemptuously, rising from his seat to go out. 
 " But what say you, Lincoln, shall I send that feller 
 word about your selliu* out ? " 
 
 " I would like to have you. Perhaps he can get 
 around here in the course of the summer." 
 
 Mr. Selby left. He was an ignorant man, unable 
 to read or write, and also a despiser of religion. 
 Neither had he any idea of the value of knowledge, 
 and was satisfied that his children should grow up 
 with no more knowledge than he had himself. He 
 was content to live in degradation, with just enough 
 food and clothing to sustain existence. He was very 
 intemperate, also, and so profane that he seldom 
 conversed a minute without uttering an oath. In 
 this respect he was the opposite of Mr. Lincoln, 
 whose good sense and Christian principles made him 
 desirous of being in better circumstances. While 
 Selby never dreamed that slavery rendered his con 
 dition more degraded, Lincoln was continually re 
 volving the thought that his family suffered from 
 
THE NEIGHBOR S CALL. 35 
 
 the existence of slavery, and that in a Free State his 
 advantages would be greater. 
 
 " He is to be pitied," said Mrs. Lincoln, when the 
 wicked man went out. " L hope you will take 
 warning from him, Abe, on three points." 
 
 " I know what one of them is," said Abraham. 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " He swears," answered the boy. 
 
 " That is one thing. He is a very wicked man to 
 take the name of God in vain. What Command 
 ment did he violate ? " 
 
 " The third," answered Abraham, who could 
 repeat the Ten Commandments readily. 
 
 u Very well ; and what does God say he will not 
 do with him who takes his name in vain." 
 
 " He will not hold 1 im guiltless that taketh his 
 name in vain," replied Abraham. 
 
 " A very good reason for never using profane lan 
 guage. And now, can you tell me either of the 
 other points on which I want his character to warn 
 you ? " 
 
 Abraham could not think of them, and so his 
 mother continued : " Ignorance is another thing. 
 Mr. Selby can t read, and, what is worse, he don t 
 want to. His ignorance makes him appear alto 
 gether more degraded. You don t want to be such 
 a man as he is, do you ? " 
 
 " No, mother, 1 don t mean to be." 
 
 " Then do the best you can to learn to read, and 
 
86 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 be good. But now for the other thing against which 
 his example warns you, it is intemperance. Mr. 
 Selby gets drunk sometimes." 
 
 " Was he drunk to-night ? " inquired Abraham. 
 
 " He wa n t sober, though he wa n t very drunk. 
 But his intemperate habits have made him a miser 
 able man." 
 
 " Does it make everybody like him ? " the boy 
 asked. 
 
 " It makes all intemperate men very degraded, 
 and it is a great sin against God. It destroys the 
 soul, too. The drunkard cannot inherit the king 
 dom of God ! I hope you will remember this, and 
 always avoid intemperance." 
 
 It should be remarked, that the custom of using 
 intoxicating drinks at that day was general. Mrs. 
 Lincoln did not expect her boy would refuse to taste 
 of the same, but she meant to warn him against 
 using strong drink immoderately. Whiskey was 
 the most common intoxicating beverage then drank, 
 and its baneful effects were widely spread. Mr. 
 Selby was a painful example of intemperate habits 
 for Abraham to view. His mother was wise in 
 pointing him to this cause of degradation in the 
 ruined man. It had its influence upon his after life, 
 as we shall see. 
 
 There is no doubt that the slaveholders had some 
 occasion to treat the poor whites with neglect, if not 
 with harsher measures, inasmuch as many of them 
 
THE NEIGHBOR S CALL. 37" 
 
 were degraded like Selby, and for a pittance fur 
 nished whiskey to the slaves. We have just met 
 with the following recital by an eyewitness, that 
 illustrates this point: 
 
 " The overseer appeared at the avenue of orange- 
 trees, and presently drew rein beside us, his coun 
 tenance exhibiting marks of dissatisfaction. 
 
 " i I ve had trouble with them boys over to my 
 place, Colonel/ he said, briefly, and looking lower- 
 ingly around, as though he would be disposed to 
 resent any listening to his report on the part of the 
 negroes. 
 
 " Why, what s the matter with them ? asked 
 his employer, hastily. 
 
 " Well, it pears they got some rot-gut two gal 
 lons of it from somewheres last night, and of 
 course all got drunk, down to the old shanty be 
 hind the gin : they went thar so s I should n t sus 
 picion nothin . They played cards and quarrelled 
 and fit ; and Harry s John, he cut Timberlake bad, 
 cut Walkie, too, cross the hand, but ain t hurt 
 him much. 
 
 " Harry s John ! I always knew that nigger had 
 an ugly temper ! I 11 sell him, by ! I won t 
 have him on the place a week longer. Is Timber- 
 lake badly hurt? 
 
 " He s nigh killed, I reckon. Got a bad stick in 
 the ribs, and a cut in the shoulder, and one in the 
 
38 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 face. Bled like a dog, he did ! Reckon he may 
 get over it. I ve done what I could for him. 
 
 " Where did they get the liquor from ? 
 
 " < I don t know. Most likely from old Whalley, 
 down to the landing. He s mean enough for any 
 thing. 
 
 " If I can prove it on him, I 11 run him out of 
 the country ! I 11 I 11 I 11 shoot him ! And 
 the Colonel continued his imprecations, this time 
 directing them toward the supposed vender of the 
 whiskey. 
 
 " These men are the curse of the country ! the 
 curse of the country ! he repeated, excitedly, 
 4 these mean, low, thieving, sneaking, pilfering poor 
 ivhites ! They teach our negroes to steal ; they sell 
 them liquor; they do everything to corrupt and 
 demoralize them. That s how they live. The 
 slaves are respectable, compared to them. They 
 ought to be slaves themselves. 
 
 Now this incident discloses the fact, that some 
 of the poor whites give occasion for the slaveholders 
 to treat them with contempt, on account of their 
 doling out liquor to negroes, and in other ways in 
 citing them to evil deeds. Some of the oppression 
 experienced by the poor whites may arise from this ; 
 and yet the views of Mr. Lincoln were correct in 
 the main, namely, that the whites were oppressed 
 on account of the disgrace that slavery attached to 
 
THE NEIGHBOR S CALL. 39 
 
 labor. One poor drunken white like Selby might 
 sell liquor to the negroes, and encourage them to 
 steal ; but this would furnish no reason for treating 
 a temperate, honest, pious man like Lincoln with 
 contempt. It was only the presence of slavery that 
 could do this. 
 
 No wonder that Mr. Lincoln was hostile to the 
 system ! nor that he was resolved to get away from 
 it with his family as soon as possible ! For a series 
 of years he had been feeling more and more deeply 
 upon the subject, until he had fully resolved to 
 remove to a Free State. 
 
III. 
 
 A BRIGHTER PEOSPECT. 
 
 FOUR weeks passed. 
 " I ve seen Mr. Hazel to-day," said Mr. Lin 
 coln to his wife. 
 
 u And what does he say about Abe ? " she in 
 quired. 
 
 " That he is gettin along the best of any boy he 
 has had." 
 
 " I knew that he was gettin along well, because 
 I have tried him. He will be able to read some 
 before long." 
 
 " So Hazel said." 
 
 " How about his conduct ? " 
 
 " He don t want no better boy than he is." 
 
 "Did he say so?" 
 
 " Yes, he gave him just as good a name as he 
 could." 
 
 " I m glad of that, though it is no more than I 
 expected." 
 
 " So am I glad ; I want he should learn to read 
 before we move away." 
 
 " Then you really think you shall go." 
 
A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. 41 
 
 " Certainly I do, if I can sell out." 
 
 " You ve heard nothing from the man that Selby 
 told about ? " 
 
 " Not a word, though he may get around yet." 
 
 " Suppose he does not ? " 
 
 " There will be somebody to buy, I have no 
 doubt." 
 
 " I don t know about that ; it is a hard place to 
 sell anything here. Perhaps we shall have to stay 
 awhile longer." 
 
 She was preparing his mind for disappointment, 
 in case they did not sell. He was so determined 
 in this regard, that a failure to dispose of his place 
 might dishearten him. 
 
 " It will be better, then, to give the place away, 
 and begin new in free Indiana," answered Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Well, time will prove all things : we must learn 
 to labor and wait." 
 
 " We ve got that lesson pretty well learned now, 
 I should think," replied her husband. 
 
 " And shall be none the worse for it," she an 
 swered. " But here comes Abe." And he came 
 in, saying : " Father, there s a man coming here." 
 
 " What man ? " 
 
 " I don t know ; but I saw him coining this way. 
 There he is now " ; and he pointed across the field. 
 
 " It s Selby, ain t it ? " inquired his father, with 
 out looking. 
 
42 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " No, it is n t Selby," answered his wife, as she 
 looked towards him. " It s a stranger, and he is 
 certainly coming here." The man was now ap 
 proaching the house, and Mr. Lincoln stepped to 
 the door to meet him. 
 
 " Is this Mr. Lincoln ? " inquired the stranger, 
 presenting his hand. 
 
 " That s my name." 
 
 " And my name is Colby," continued the man. 
 
 " yes, Mr. Selby was speaking of you some 
 weeks ago. Walk in." The man walked in and 
 took a stool (we can t say chair, since the house 
 was furnished with none). 
 
 " You wish to sell your place, I understand," said 
 Colby. 
 
 " I ve been thinkin of it." 
 
 " So Mr. Selby tells me, and I Ve come to inquire 
 about it." 
 
 " Then you want to buy, do you ? " 
 
 " If I can get suited, I do." 
 
 " I don t want to leave my place till fall, if I sell. 
 After my crops are gathered, I shall be ready to 
 quit." 
 
 " I should n t object to that. I can wait till that 
 time for a place that suits me." 
 
 " Then let us take a look about, and see how you 
 like." And Mr. Lincoln proceeded to show the 
 man his humble place. He took him out doors, and 
 directed his attention to whatever of interest there 
 
A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. 43 
 
 was. He thought he now saw an opportunity to 
 dispose of his place, and he was gratified with the 
 prospect. He assured the man that he would sell 
 on the most reasonable terms. 
 
 " It is only on such terms that I can think of buy 
 ing," said Colby. 
 
 " Perhaps you want more of a place than this/ 
 replied Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " No ; I can t shoulder much of a homestead. 
 This is about what I want. Poor men must do as 
 they can, and not as they want to." 
 
 " I know that by my own experience," responded 
 Mr. Lincoln. " I ve tugged away ever since I was 
 big enough to work to get bread to eat." 
 
 " So have I ; and after many years of hard labor 
 I have not more than enough to buy such a place 
 as this." 
 
 " And you ought to be thankful for as much as 
 that, in a Slave State. The fact is, the poor whites 
 have no better chance than the niggers here, and I 
 am sick of it." 
 
 " That won t mend the matter, as I see." 
 
 What ? " 
 
 Why, to be sick of it." 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but I shall try what there is in a 
 Free State to do it." 
 
 " That s too venturesome for me." 
 
 " Nothing venture, nothing win, -is the old say 
 ing ; and as for me, I ve not much to lose, though I 
 hope to gain much." 
 
44 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 "Well, now, we are gettin* off the subject. 
 What s the damage for such a place ? " said 
 Colby. 
 
 " I hardly know myself. I think we might as 
 well leave that till fall, when I get ready to sell. 
 I have no doubt that I shall suit you on the price." 
 
 " So be it. I sha n t press the matter." 
 
 " About the first of October, if you are here, I 
 shall be ready to strike a bargain," added Mr. Lin 
 coln. "I don t think we shall have any trouble 
 about that." 
 
 " And you will not sell to any one else till I have 
 had the offer of the place ? " 
 
 " No ; the first chance is yours." 
 
 " I agree to that arrangement, and your wife and 
 this bright-eyed boy (patting Abraham on the head) 
 are witnesses to the plan." 
 
 " We 11 try to be faithful ones, too," said Mrs. 
 Lincoln, who felt, by this time, that her recent 
 words about not being able to sell the place would 
 prove false. " We shall be glad to see you at the 
 time appointed, and trust that both parties will be 
 satisfied." 
 
 Mr. Colby bade the family " good-by," and left, 
 with the promise to see them again the last of Sep 
 tember or the first of October. He was as well 
 pleased as they, and both parties congratulated 
 themselves upon their promised good fortune. Mr. 
 Lincoln could see a brighter prospect. 
 
A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. 45 
 
 " A good sort of a man, I reckon," said Mr. Lin 
 coln, " though he seems well satisfied to stay in old 
 Kentucky. Slavery don t trouble him much, I 
 s pose." 
 
 "It may be fortunate that we don t all think 
 alike," said his wife, " or everybody would move 
 out of Kentucky, and leave it deserted." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln smiled at this remark, and contented 
 himself with looking 1 what he thought. 
 
 Abraham went on with his school. Every day he 
 posted away with the old spelling-book to Hazel s 
 cabin, where he tried as hard to learn as any boy 
 who ever studied his Ab s. He carried his book 
 home at night, and puzzled his active brain over 
 what he had learned during the day. He cared for 
 nothing but his book now. His highest ambition 
 was to learn to read as well as his mother could. 
 As she gathered the family around her, and read the 
 Bible to them each day, and particularly as she read 
 it upon the Sabbath much of the time, he almost 
 envied her the blessed privilege of reading. He 
 longed for the day to come when he could read 
 aloud from that revered volume. Beyond that 
 privilege he did not look. To be able to read was 
 boon enough for him, without looking for anything 
 beyond. 
 
 It is not strange that he made progress, and sat 
 isfied both teacher and parents. Though a little 
 boy only seven years old, and living where teachers 
 
46 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 themselves were so ignorant that seven-year-old boys 
 of New England at this day could instruct them, 
 yet he devoted himself to learning to read with an 
 energy and enthusiasm that insured success. 
 
 Not far from this time, Mr. Elkins, a preacher of 
 the Baptist denomination, who sometimes preached 
 in the vicinity, called to see them. He was one of 
 the genuine pioneer preachers, and a great favorite 
 with the family. Abraham cherished for him pro 
 found respect, and loved to see his face. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Elkins, how glad I am to see you ! " 
 exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln, shaking his hand heartily. 
 
 " Yes, the Lord has brought me around once 
 more," he answered ; " and how are you and your 
 family ? I hope the Lord has been gracious to you." 
 
 " More so than we deserve. But you are going to 
 preach here to-morrow, are you ? " It was Satur 
 day, and she inferred that he had come to preach in 
 the vicinity, according to his custom. 
 
 " I wish I was, but I am sorry to disappoint you. 
 I expect to be here one week from to-morrow, and I 
 came this way to-day to give the notice. I know 
 that if I tell you of an appointment, you will see 
 that people are notified. But here is my little boy ; 
 how do you do, Abe ? " And he drew the child to 
 himself in his familiar and affectionate way. He 
 had not observed him before. Abraham replied in 
 his respectful and manly way. 
 
 " Abe goes to school now," said his mother. 
 
A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. 47 
 
 " He docs ? That s right, and I hope you 11 make 
 a scholar, my boy." 
 
 " He is getting along finely," added his mother. 
 " I think he will be able to read the Bible in a lew 
 weeks." 
 
 " That will be capital," said Mr. Elkins. " Then 
 yon can do some of the reading for your mother. 
 And when you can read, you ve got something 
 that nobody can get away from you. With the 
 Bible, knowing how to read it, and having a heart 
 to obey it, you will make a good pioneer boy." 
 
 " What s a pioneer boy ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 Mr. Elkins replied, " Well, he is a backwoods- 
 boy, who can make the best of things in tins hard 
 country, and cut his way along in spite of all dis 
 couragements, helping his father and mother, broth 
 ers and sisters, and live in the woods, if you want 
 to have him." 
 
 " Abe can do that," said his mother, looking lov 
 ingly at the boy, just as his father came in, surprised 
 to see his favorite preacher. 
 
 "I was just saying to your son," continued Mr. 
 Elkins, " that he would make a good pioneer boy." 
 
 " He ll have to be one, whether he makes a good 
 one or not," replied Mr. Lincoln. "I m thinkin 
 of going into the woods more than we are now. I 
 have had an offer for this place, and mean to take 
 it." 
 
 " Ah ! Is that so ? How can we spare you ? " 
 
48 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " If nothing happens, another winter will find iae 
 in Indiana. I ve been thinkin* of it a long time." 
 
 " And all because you want to be free" said Mr. 
 Elkins, rather humorously. He had often conversed 
 with Mr. Lincoln in respect to slavery, and respected 
 his views, although he did not feel quite so strongly 
 upon the subject as Mr. Lincoln did. 
 
 " Yes ; I shall never have a better time than this. 
 If I m ever goin , I d better go now." 
 
 " Had you better go at all ? Settle that question, 
 and ask the Lord to direct you. c It is not in man 
 that walketh to direct his steps. We all want wis 
 dom from above." 
 
 " That is very true," said Mrs. Lincoln ; " and I 
 trust that we shall take no step that He will not 
 approve." 
 
 " That is the right spirit to have," said Mr. Elkins, 
 rising to go, and excusing himself from remaining 
 longer. " I ve quite a journey to take yet." 
 
 " I wish you were to preach here to-morrow," 
 continued Mrs. Lincoln. " It is such a privilege to 
 hear the Gospel ! " 
 
 " Your family scarcely need it," answered Mr. 
 Elkins, suggestively ; " your sermons do very well 
 for your family on the Sabbath." He alluded here 
 to the manner of her keeping the Sabbath. 
 
 " I don t deserve your compliment, Mr. Elkins." 
 
 " I 11 leave that to your husband and children to 
 decide. I have no doubt they will agree with me. 
 So good by to you." And he left. 
 
A BRIGHTER PROSPECT. 49 
 
 Mr. Elkins alluded, as we have said, to her cus 
 tom of instructing her family from the Bible on the 
 Sabbath, when there was no preaching in the region. 
 Being the only person in the family who could read, 
 she improved the Lord s day to read much from the 
 Scriptures. Her method in this respect was so 
 excellent, and exerted such an influence in forming 
 Abraham s character, that we shall devote the fol 
 lowing chapter to it. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE SABBATH LESSON. 
 
 IT was Sabbath morning (the day after Mr. 
 Elkins called), and the simple breakfast had 
 been partaken, the dishes cleared away and washed, 
 and the room put in order for holy time. The 
 morning devotions had been enjoyed, the mother 
 reading the Scriptures, and the father leading in 
 prayer. And the angels had gone up to God on 
 shining wings, with tidings of a Sabbath well begun. 
 
 " Come, my children," said Mrs. Lincoln, " let 
 us honor the day by reading the "Word of God." 
 And she took down the Bible from a shelf in the 
 cabin. " Would that we could hear Mr. Elkins 
 preach to-day ! but that is impossible, and we must 
 keep the day as best we can." 
 
 " When will Mr. Elkins preach again ? " inquired 
 Abraham. 
 
 "One week from to-day he expects to be here. 
 To-day God must preach to us out of his Word." 
 
 " No better preaching than that," said her hus 
 band. 
 
 " And well for us if we profit by it," responded 
 his wife. 
 
HIE SABBATH LESSON. 51 
 
 We have said that Mr. Elldns was a preacher of 
 the Baptist denomination, to which this pious couple 
 belonged. He visited that region as often as ho 
 could ; but there were many Sabbaths when they 
 had no preaching. At these times Mrs. Lincoln 
 gathered her children around her, and read and 
 expounded the Bible. As she could read, and her 
 husband could not, she was obliged to bear a great 
 .part of the responsibility of this form of religious 
 instruction. 
 
 " Where shall I read ? " she asked. 
 
 " Read about Moses," replied Abraham. The 
 story of Moses, in common with others, had been 
 read and told to him over and over, so that he was 
 familiar with it, and was never weary of listening 
 to it. 
 
 " A good story that is," said his father ; " and 
 you seem to like it, Abe." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but I like some others about as well." 
 
 " We 11 read about Moses first," said his mother ; 
 " and I hope you 11 try to be like him. He was 
 just as good a boy as he was a man." 
 
 So she read through the whole record of Moses s 
 life ; and the children and their father listened with 
 breathless interest, though they had done the same 
 many times before. 
 
 " Wonderful ! " exclaimed Mrs. Lincoln. " How 
 God kept him by his power, and saved him from all 
 harm ! " 
 
52 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " That he might do his will, and lead his people," 
 added her husband. 
 
 " Yes, that was it ; and, though hosts of enemies 
 and great difficulties were in his way, his purposes 
 were executed." 
 
 "All things are possible with God," said Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " And a blessed thing it is for this wicked 
 world," replied his wife. " If man could have his 
 own way, there would be an end to all peace and 
 happiness very soon." 
 
 " Yes, the Psalmist could well say, The Lord 
 reign eth, let the earth rejoice/ " 
 
 " Now read about Joseph," said Abraham. This 
 was another of the Bible stories to which he loved 
 to listen. Before he could talk, these thrilling 
 sacred histories were related to him in the simple 
 language of maternal affection, and his young heart 
 was deeply impressed by them. 
 
 " See how obedient he was," said his mother, as 
 she proceeded with the narrative. "No wonder 
 that God blessed him ! " 
 
 Again she would say, " How kind he was to his 
 brothers, even when they were cruel to him ! " 
 
 And again, " God will take care of one who is so 
 faithful." 
 
 Yet, again, as the narrative drew to its close, 
 " How good in him to treat his wicked brothers so 
 well! He might have punished them dreadfully 
 
THE SABBATH LESSON. 53 
 
 for their wickedness, but he forgave them and pro 
 vided them with corn." 
 
 " How would you feel, Abe, to be carried away 
 from you, father and mother for so long a time ? " 
 
 " How long was it ? " inquired Abraham. 
 
 " 0, it was many years ; I don t know exactly 
 how many." 
 
 " And what a meeting it was with his father at 
 last!" said Mrs. Lincoln. "It brings tears to my 
 eyes to think of it." 
 
 In this way many Bible stories were read and 
 commented upon in their simple but devout man 
 ner, so that the Sabbaths without preaching must 
 have been as profitable to the children as those 
 when Parson Elkins proclaimed the truth. 
 
 Her reading was not confined to the Old Testa 
 ment, nor to the narrative portions of the Bible. 
 She understood the Gospel because she had a 
 Christian experience that was marked. She was 
 a firm, consistent disciple of the Lord Jesus, and 
 was qualified thereby to expound the Scriptures. 
 The story of the Cross, as it is recorded in the 
 twenty-seventh chapter of Matthew, was read over 
 and over at the fireside, accompanied with many 
 remarks that were suited to impress the minds of 
 her children. 
 
 "Yes, you ought to love him and serve him," 
 she would say, " for all his love and mercy. He 
 died for you, and he has a claim on your hearts." 
 
54 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Sometimes the children would interpose a ques 
 tion, as " Did Jesus want to die ? " " What did the 
 wicked men kill him for ? " " Why did God let the 
 wicked men kill him?" and other inquiries in 
 childhood s artless way ; to all of whicn the pious 
 mother would reply as best she could. Her man 
 ner of reading the Scriptures and commenting 
 thereon \vas well suited to call forth simple ques 
 tions, and this she loved to see and encourage. 
 The practice is worthy of a place in every Christian 
 family. 
 
 The Ten Commandments were made an impor 
 tant matter in the Sabbath Lessons, and Abraham 
 was drilled in repeating them. Four of them were 
 particularly pressed upon his attention, viz. : (III.) 
 " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy 
 God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guilt 
 less that taketh his name in vain." (IV.) " Re 
 member the Sabbath day to keep it holy." (Y.) 
 " Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days 
 may be long upon the land which the Lord thy 
 God giveth thee." (IX.) " Thou shalt not bear 
 false witness against thy neighbor." 
 
 Of the Third Commandment she would say, " It 
 is God that speaks here. Never swear, my son." 
 
 " I never do," said Abraham. 
 
 " And I hope you never will." 
 
 " How old Selby swore to father t other day," 
 added Abraham. 
 
THE SABBATH LESSON. 55 
 
 "It was dreadful," replied his father. "But 
 the old sinner knows no better. The fear of God is 
 not before his eyes." 
 
 " Can you think of any good it does to swear," 
 inquired his mother. 
 
 " It can t do any good if it is wicked," answered 
 the boy, and many an older head would have failed 
 to answer as well. 
 
 " Exactly so ; nobody can imagine any good it 
 can do." 
 
 " What do folks want to swear for, then ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Sure enough ; that s hard telling ; they don t 
 know themselves." 
 
 " It s just because they are wicked," added his 
 father. 
 
 " Don t Mr. swear ? " he asked, as if a man 
 
 of his respectability and influence could n t be very 
 wicked. 
 
 " Perhaps he does sometimes ; for some respecta 
 ble people are wicked. Sin is no better because it is 
 done by respectable folks." 
 
 " No, never swear because you hear some one else 
 do it," added his father. " You should n t be wick 
 ed because other folks are." 
 
 And then she passed to another commandment, the 
 Fourth, for instance, and sought to impress its im 
 portance and value upon their minds. 
 
 " One day in seven is none too much to give to 
 
66 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 the Lord who gave his life for us," she woulJ. say. 
 " It is God s day, and you must remember it." 
 
 And so of the Fifth Commandment. 
 
 u There s a great promise to children who obey 
 their parents," she remarked. " Honor thy father 
 and thy mother." 
 
 " What is honor ? 2> inquired Abraham. 
 
 " It means to show your parents respect, and to 
 obey and love them," replied his mother. " That 
 you can understand." 
 
 " Yes, I know what that means." 
 
 " And children who honor their parents do all 
 they can for their parents comfort and support." 
 
 " That is easy enough done," answered Abraham. 
 
 " I hope you will always think so, my child. 
 Boys are likely to want their own way, and spend 
 their time in idleness." 
 
 " I sha n t," said Abraham. 
 
 " You sometimes want your own way now ; but 
 I hope you see the folly of it." 
 
 Abraham knew the last remark was correct, for 
 he had sometimes been disobedient, although he 
 was a remarkably good boy generally. But he 
 could recall instances when he failed to honor his 
 parents, and now he hung his head for shame. 
 
 Another point, derived from the Ninth Command 
 ment, upon which she laid much stress, was truth 
 fulness. 
 
 " Always speak the truth, my son." 
 
THE SABBATH LESSON. 57 
 
 "I do tell the truth," was Abraham s usual 
 reply, and lie could say it without fear of being 
 disputed . 
 
 " I think you do ; but it is well to think of the 
 consequences if you don t." 
 
 " What are the consequences ? " 
 
 " God s displeasure." 
 
 "And be disgraced among men," added his 
 father. " Nobody wants to see a liar about." 
 
 " That is so," responded Mrs. Lincoln ; " and no 
 body will believe a liar when he tells the truth. 
 But, after all, the anger of God is worse." 
 
 " The Commandment don t say that God is angry 
 with a liar," said Abraham. 
 
 " But the Bible says so many times, or what is 
 just the same. c Lying lips are abomination to the 
 Lord ; but they that deal truly arc his delight. 
 The king shall rejoice in God ; every one that 
 swcarcth by him shall glory ; but the mouth of 
 them that speak lies shall be stopped. 4 A false 
 witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speak- 
 eth lies shall perish. The fearful and unbe 
 lieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and 
 whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and 
 all liars, shall have their part in the lake which 
 burneth with fire and brimstone ; which is the 
 second death. 
 
 Abraham almost trembled sometimes before the 
 array of Scripture texts that his mother would 
 
 3* 
 
58 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 bring to enforce a subject. She was very familiar 
 with the Bible, and its authority was always ap 
 pealed to as above on the sin of lying. 
 
 " No ; my children must never lie. Better be poor 
 than be false. There is nothing worse than lying." 
 
 " Ain t swearing worse ? " asked Abraham, think 
 ing that his mother made that appear the worst sin 
 there was. 
 
 " Both are bad enough, and God is displeased 
 with both," answered his mother, " and that is 
 enough for us to know." 
 
 In this way many Sabbaths of Abraham s boy 
 hood were spent, so that he became familiar with 
 the Bible. For a boy of his age, he was excelled 
 by few in his acquaintance with the Scriptures. 
 The Bible, catechism, and the old spelling-book 
 named being the only books in the family, at this 
 time, as we have said, and there being no papers, 
 either religious or secular, the Bible was read much 
 more than it would have been if other volumes had 
 been possessed. It was the first book that Abraham 
 ever read, that same old family Bible, kept very 
 choice because their poverty could not afford an 
 other. It was the only Bible that his mother ever 
 possessed, her life- treasure, to which she was more 
 indebted, and perhaps, also, her son Abraham, than 
 to any other influence. It was certainly the light 
 of her dwelling, and the most powerful educator 
 that ever entered her family. We shall see all along 
 
THE SABBATH LESSON. 59 
 
 through this volume, that this blessed book, as the 
 text-book of home instruction, from which were 
 derived those important lessons relating to the Sab 
 bath, profanity, lying, truth, obedience, and other 
 subjects, had much to do in forming the character 
 of Abraham. That same Bible is still in the pos 
 session of a relative, in the State of Illinois. 
 
 Nor was prayer neglected. She was a praying 
 woman, and taught Abraham when a little child to 
 lisp his prayer. The Lord s Prayer was very early 
 taught him, and it became a part of his child-life to 
 repeat it. 
 
 " God takes care of you, my children, and sends 
 you food and clothing. Every beast of the field is 
 his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills ; and you 
 must not forget it." 
 
 " I pray to Dod," Abraham would say, before he 
 could talk plain ; and lie did, as his pious mother 
 taught him to lisp the Lord s Prayer. 
 
 "That is what everybody should do, pray to 
 God. They should ask him to watch over them, and 
 thank him for his goodness." 
 
 " Won t he watch over me without asking ? " in 
 quired Abraham. 
 
 " As to that, he requires us to ask him, and we 
 ought to do it." 
 
 " Does everybody ask him ? " 
 
 " No ; many people pay no regard to him." 
 
 " What does he watch over them for, then ? " 
 
60 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " He knows ; and it is best for us to do right 
 without asking any questions " ; and this was the 
 best way she could reply to some of his inquiries. 
 It has been said, that " a child will ask questions} 
 that a philosopher cannot answer." Whether this 
 be so or not, it is certain that Mrs. Lincoln was 
 often puzzled by Abraham s questions. From a 
 child, he possessed a discriminating mind, and was 
 disposed to know the reason of things. Hence, he 
 asked many questions when his mother was teaching 
 him, and she answered them as well as she could. 
 
 This cabin of the Lincoln family was thus conse 
 crated to God, and it was rather a remarkable one 
 among the dwellings around. At that time, and in 
 that region, there was Mound here and there a log- 
 house in which the most devoted servants of Christ 
 dwelt. Such was the case with the abode described. 
 God was honored there, and the children were reared 
 in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. 
 
 Mrs. Lincoln knew that the influences to which 
 Abraham was exposed in that country were decid 
 edly evil. There was much of profanity, Sabbath- 
 breaking, and falsehood practised, and she felt the 
 need of guarding him at these points. Hence her 
 faithful counsels in connection with the Command 
 ments. 
 
 A Christian mother s culture always makes its 
 mark. Great and good men usually have good 
 mothers. Their fathers may not be men of mark, 
 
THE SABBATH LESSON. 61 
 
 but their mothers are women of noble powers and 
 qualities of heart. John Randolph, whose name is 
 familiar to every school-boy, said, " I used to bo 
 called a Frenchman, because I took the French side 
 in politics ; and though this was unjust, yet the truth 
 is, I should have been a French atheist, if it had not 
 been for one recollection, and that was, the memory 
 of the time when my departed mother used to take 
 my little hands in hers, and cause me, on my knees, 
 to say, < Our Father which art in heaven. 
 
 John Quincy Adams was another American states 
 man who bore similar testimony to the value of his 
 mother s influence. " It is due to gratitude and 
 nature," he said, " that I should acknowledge and 
 avow that, such as I have been, whatever it was, 
 such as I am, whatever it is, and such as I hope to 
 be in all futurity, must be ascribed, under Provi 
 dence, to the precepts and example of my mother." 
 
 The American nation paid a high tribute to the 
 virtues of Washington s mother, and thereby ac 
 knowledged its indebtedness to her, when a monu 
 ment was reared over her remains, bearing the 
 simple inscription, " MARY, THE MOTHER OP WASH 
 INGTON." It was honor enough to be the mother of 
 such a man, and distinction enough to be the son 
 of such a woman. And the nation, in this unosten 
 tatious way, recognized the fact that she exerted a 
 mighty influence in deciding the destinies of the land, 
 by the pious culture she bestowed upon her boy. 
 
62 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Thus our country has been far more indebted 
 to mothers than many people imagine, verifying the 
 beautiful words of Mrs. Sigourney : 
 
 " In her own place, the hearth beside, 
 
 The patriot s heart to cheer, 
 The young, unfolding mind to guide, 
 
 The future sage to rear; 
 Where sleeps the cradled infant fair, 
 To watch with love and kneel in prayer, 
 Cheer each sad soul with pity s smile, 
 And frown on every latent wile 
 That threats the pure, domestic shade, 
 Sister, so best our life shall aid 
 The land we love." 
 
 In the present crisis of affairs, our nation may be 
 nearly as much indebted to Abraham s mother, as 
 it was to the mother of Washington. Bearing in 
 mind his early culture, the reader cannot fail to see 
 that it exerted a moulding influence upon the whole 
 character and career of the son. And it is a fact 
 from which the youth and young men of our land 
 may learn a lesson of lasting good, causing them to 
 appreciate the fidelity of maternal affection, and to 
 profit by the counsels of piety that hallow the en 
 dearments of HOME. 
 
V. 
 
 THE SALE. 
 
 IT was about the first of October, 1816. Abra 
 ham had not been to school for some weeks ; 
 and yet he could read quite well for a boy not yet 
 eight years old. He could read some when he left 
 school ; and he persevered so well at home that he 
 was now able to read the Scriptures in the family. 
 This was doing much better than many boys do at 
 this day, even in highly favored New England ; and 
 the fact becomes a key to his character. 
 
 It was the time for Colby to pay them a visit, and 
 negotiate for the place. They had not seen him 
 since he made them a call ; but there was some 
 thing in his appearance that caused them to think 
 he would come. They had not much doubt of it.. 
 And their expectations were realized. Scarcely a 
 week of October had passed before he made his 
 appearance. 
 
 " You re good as your word," said Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 44 That s what I meant to be," replied Colby. 
 
 " We ve been expectin you, and rather making 
 arrangements to sell the place. Have you found 
 any place you like better ? " 
 
64 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " No ; I have n t looked much. I m satisfied 
 with this, if we can agree upon the price, and I 
 can find out a way to pay you." 
 
 " It won t take you long to find out the price of 
 it, for I have settled it in my own mind ; and I 
 s pose it won t take me much longer to find out 
 whether you will buy." 
 
 " I expect it is" about so," answered Colby. " As 
 matters appear to stand, it will not be a long job 
 that is before us. What s your price ? " 
 
 " I will sell out for three hundred dollars." 
 
 The reader will not be startled by this amount. 
 Think of a place worth three hundred dollars ! 
 You could hardly call it a homestead ; and yet it 
 was all that Abraham s father possessed in the 
 wilds of Kentucky. A farm for three hundred 
 dollars ! House, land, and all for that ! After 
 years of hard toil and harder privations, this was 
 all he had. Scarcely enough to supply a small 
 family with furniture to commence housekeeping in 
 Massachusetts ! But that was his price, and it was 
 all the place was worth. 
 
 " How in regard to the pay ? " asked Colby. 
 
 " That s important to me, of course. What do 
 you propose ? " 
 
 " I have n t much money, I can tell you to begin 
 with, though I have what is good as money in the 
 market." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 1 
 
THE SALE. 65 
 
 " You see I ve been specilatin a little since I 
 gave you a call in the summer. I used up my 
 grain for whiskey, and I bought some too, thinkin* 
 that I should make a spec out of it ; but I hain t 
 sold but a trifle on t yet. Now, if I could pay you 
 mostly in whiskey, I would strike the bargain at 
 once ; and may be that over in Indiana you 11 find 
 a ready market for it." 
 
 "I hadn t thought of takin pay in such an ar 
 ticle," answered Mr. Lincoln ; " and I don t know 
 as I could ever sell it. I m going to strike right 
 into the wilderness." 
 
 " That may be ; but you 11 have neighbors within 
 a few miles ; and over there they hain t got the 
 knack of manifacturin it, I s pose, and this would 
 make it easier to sell it." 
 
 " It s awkward stuff to carry on such a trip, 
 though I expect to move on a flat-boat." 
 
 " Just the easiest thing in the world to carry 
 this ; you can carry it as well as not on a boat. 
 You won t have half a load of other stuff. And 
 it will bring you double there what it will here, 
 I m thinkin ." 
 
 " That s all guess-work." 
 
 " But don t it stand to reason that whiskey would 
 bring more where they can t make it, as they can 
 hero ? " 
 
 " Yes, I admit that it may probably bring more 
 there, and it ought to bring more to pay for the 
 
66 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 trouble of takin* it there. But can t you turn it 
 into money in some way ? " 
 
 " I don t see how I can ; I Ve done the best I 
 could about it. The fact is that folks around here 
 have laid in for whiskey largely. I can sell it in 
 time, I have no doubt, at a stiff price, but that 
 won t help me just now." 
 
 " It seems so ; but this is unexpected, though 
 I m determined to sell out at some rate. I must 
 see my wife about it, however, and get her judgment 
 on the matter." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln consulted his wife in regard to the 
 article with which Colby proposed to pay for the 
 place. She was somewhat disappointed on hearing 
 of this turn of affairs, as she had rather anticipated 
 that he would pay money for it, though it would 
 have been rather unusual, then and there, for a 
 man to pay money for the whole of a place. Traffic 
 was carried on largely by exchanging one thing for 
 another. But there was something about Colby s 
 appearance, when lie first came to see the place, 
 that caused Mrs. Lincoln to expect that he would 
 pay cash for the farm. For this reason, the idea of 
 selling their place for whiskey struck her as alto 
 gether novel and queer at first. 
 
 " But I must sell at some rate," said her hus 
 band ; " and this may be my last chance this sea 
 son." 
 
 " That is true, and the matter must be looked at. 
 
TIIE SALE. 6T 
 
 It may bo that tho whiskey could be sold in Indiana 
 more readily than we expect. I scarcely know 
 what to say. You must do as you think best." 
 
 " Well, I think it is best to sell out at some rate, 
 and if I thought that this was my last chance to 
 sell this fall, I should take the whiskey, and run 
 the risk." 
 
 " As to that, I think it likely that you won t have 
 another chance this fall. It is n t often that you can 
 sell a place in this part of the country." 
 
 " I in inclined to think, then," continued Mr. 
 Lincoln, musing, with his eyes fastened upon the 
 earth-floor of their cabin, as if scarcely knowing 
 what to do, " that I shall take the whiskey if I can t 
 do any better with him." 
 
 " Just as you think best," answered his wife. 
 " You can judge better than I can whether it will 
 do or not." 
 
 After going to the man, and satifying himself that 
 he must take the whiskey, or fail to sell, Mr. Lincoln 
 introduced the subject of the price of it, about which 
 nothing had been said. 
 
 " How much a gallon ? " he inquired. " You 11 
 of course sell it at a discount, secin I take such a 
 quantity." 
 
 " Certainly ; I shall sell it to you for five cents a 
 gallon less than the wholesale price of a barrel ; and 
 you can t ask anything better than that." 
 
 " That s fair, I think ; and now let me see, how 
 
68 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 much will it take ? " The reader must remember 
 that Mr. Lincoln never studied arithmetic, though 
 he could solve such a problem as this only give him 
 time. He had been obliged to think and act for 
 himself from boyhood, and of course, contact with 
 men and things had given him some knowledge of 
 figures, or, at least, the ability to perform some 
 problems mentally. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln continued : " Seventy cents a gallon 
 that will be let me see seventy cents a 
 gallon that will " 
 
 " Why, one hundred gallons would come to sev 
 enty dollars," interrupted Colby, " and four hundred 
 would come to two hundred and eighty dollars." 
 
 " Yes, I see it four hundred gallons, and the 
 rest in money." 
 
 " That is it ; it will make just ten barrels of forty 
 gallons each, and twenty dollars in money." 
 
 " I see it. I will agree to that. Ten barrels, and 
 the balance in money. And when shall we close the 
 bargain ? " 
 
 " Just as soon as you propose to leave." 
 
 " That will be about the first of November. I 
 shall want the whiskey and money, though, a week 
 before that, so as to be all ready to start." 
 
 " A week before that it is, then. I agree to that, 
 and shall be here promptly at the time. Perhaps 
 I shall bring the whiskey before that, if it comes 
 right." 
 
THE SALE. 69 
 
 " Just as well, as soon as you please." 
 
 So the bargain was struck, and Colby left. 
 
 Let the reader stop here to ponder this trade. A 
 homestead sold for ten barrels of whiskey and about 
 twenty dollars in money ! Surely Abraham s father 
 could not boast much of this world s goods ! And 
 then what an article to take in exchange for a home 
 stead ! What a prospect for his son ! Many a 
 homestead is now bartered away for whiskey, or 
 some other intoxicating beverage, and haggard want 
 is all that remains. But not so in this case. Mr. 
 Lincoln did not countenance immoderate drinking. 
 He used whiskey to some extent, in common with 
 everybody else, but he frowned upon intemperance. 
 
 Such a transaction as the above was not thought 
 singular at that day. Good people sold and drank 
 whiskey. There was no temperance movement in 
 Kentucky at that time. Indeed, it was not until 
 about that time that the subject of temperance at 
 tracted attention in New England, and then it did 
 not assume the form of total abstinence. The 
 pledge required persons to abstain from immod 
 erate drinking. It was not till fifteen years after 
 that time that the pledge of total abstinence was 
 adopted. 
 
 At the present day, the sale of a place for whis 
 key would excite surprise and amazement, and sub 
 ject the character of the recipient of the whiskey 
 to suspicion, at least. People would make remarks 
 
70 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 about it, and strongly suspect that the man loved 
 whiskey more than real estate. But not so at that 
 time, when the sale and use of it was regarded 
 right and proper all over the country. It is in this 
 light that the reader is to view the affair. 
 
 " You will have enough to do to get ready in that 
 time," said Mrs. Lincoln, " if you are going to build 
 a flat-boat." 
 
 " Very like ; but I think I can do it. It s no 
 great affair to build a flat-boat that will carry my 
 things to Indiana." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln worked at the business of a carpen 
 ter when he had an opportunity, so that he could 
 readily turn his hand to boat-making. He had con 
 siderable tact in that way, and it was this kind of 
 business that brought him in contact with slave 
 holders and wealthy men, who looked down upon 
 him as a menial of hardly so much account as a 
 slave. 
 
 " You must give me a hclpin hand, Abe," he 
 continued ; " you are gettin old enough now to 
 take right hold of work ; and when we get to In 
 diana, we shall have a plenty of real pioneer work 
 for you to do." 
 
 " That I shall like," answered Abraham ; " and I 
 can do somethin now to help you get ready." 
 
 " Well, to-morrow we 11 make a beginning. "We 11 
 go down on the Rolling Fork, and see what we can 
 find to make a boat of. And we ve got that corn 
 
. THE SALE. 71 
 
 to harvest, too, and much more besides that to do, 
 before we can go." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln lived about one mile from the Roll 
 ing Fork River, so that it was an easy thing to 
 move on a boat. He coald launch his boat on the 
 river, and push right down into the broad Ohio. 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 
 
 A KRANGEMENTS were completed for mov- 
 XJL. i n g. The flat-boat was finished, the whiskey 
 was received, a settlement made with Mr. Colby, 
 and the numerous little things that remain to be 
 done before " pulling up stakes," as Mr. Lincoln 
 called it, were attended to. 
 
 Parson Elkins had been round since the place 
 was sold, and they had heard him preach once 
 more ; nor could they help thinking that it might 
 be for the last time. Yery serious thoughts pos 
 sessed their minds as they sat willing listeners to 
 him. They had enjoyed but few advantages in 
 Kentucky, and they were going where they would 
 have fewer still, at least for a time. They well 
 understood this. They were about to become 
 pioneers in a more important sense, and it was no 
 trifling bubiness to grapple with the difficulties 
 before them. True, they were not going a great 
 way, only about one hundred miles. But this 
 would take them into the wilderness, where neither 
 schools, churches, nor many people could be found. 
 
PULLLNG UP STAKES. 78 
 
 It was a change for them, a great change, and, 
 as the time of their departure drew near, they real 
 ized it more and more. 
 
 " Some work to pull up stakes for good," said 
 Mr. Lincoln to Colby ; " more than I thought 
 for." 
 
 " I know that by experience," answered Colby. 
 
 " Well, this is my first experience, and I don t 
 know but I shall repent of my course." 
 
 " I hope not," said Colby. u I trust that both 
 of us will be benefited by the move." 
 
 They were now standing upon the bank of the 
 Rolling Fork River, and Mr. Lincoln was ready to 
 embark. 
 
 It had been arranged, finally, that Mr. Lincoln 
 should take all their heavy wares, like his carpen 
 ters tools, pots, kettles, furniture, whiskey, <fec., &c., 
 and proceed to Indiana, select a place to settle, 
 and then return for his family. 
 
 " Jump ashore, Abe," said his father ; " you are 
 spry as a cat ; and I must be off." The boy was 
 amusing himself oh the boat. 
 
 " Where s my axe ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " It s all safe on board." His father had pur 
 chased him an axe with which he was going to set 
 him to work in Indiana, as soon as they reached 
 their destination. The axe is the symbol of pioneer 
 work, so that he must have one to be a pioneer 
 boy. To Abraham it was a great prize, and it was 
 
 4 
 
74 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 not strange that he thought of his axe first and 
 last. 
 
 " Perhaps you won t think so much of it after 
 you have been obliged to swing it awhile in the 
 woods," continued his father. " There s some 
 work in it, you 11 find." 
 
 " Be careful, Abe, how you step," said his mother, 
 " or you will be into the water before you get 
 ashore." 
 
 " I 11 look out for that," replied the boy, as he 
 jumped to the bank. 
 
 " How long will you be gone ? " asked Colby. 
 
 " Ten or twelve days if I have good luck," 
 replied Lincoln. 
 
 " If you upset in the river, we shall have to wait 
 a little longer for you," added Colby, dryly. 
 
 " Yes ; but I don t expect that. I ve fixed my 
 cargo so that I expect to keep right side up, and 
 sail along smoothly." 
 
 " I hope you will," added Mrs. Lincoln. 
 
 Having thus arranged everything, Mr. Lincoln 
 pushed off the craft into deeper^ water, and was 
 soon on his way down the river. The weather was 
 fine, and the boat floated along pleasantly, much to 
 the satisfaction of the adventurer. 
 
 We cannot stop to detail much that occurred on 
 the voyage. One incident, however, deserves atten 
 tion. 
 
 He had sailed down the Rolling Fork into the 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 75 
 
 Ohio River, and proceeded quite a distance on his 
 voyage, experiencing no perils of wind or storm ; 
 and he was congratulating himself upon his success, 
 when he met with an accident. By some mishap, 
 the boat tilted, and the whiskey rolled from its posi 
 tion to the side, causing him to upset. He sprung 
 forward to the other side in order to save his boat, 
 but it was too late. The whiskey was heavy, and, 
 once started from its position, there was no saving 
 it or the boat. In a moment he was tipped into the 
 water, with all his cargo. It was a good place for 
 the whiskey, but not so pleasant for him. However, 
 he clung to the boat, and made the best of it. 
 
 " Hold on there ! " shouted a man who was at 
 work with three others on the bank of the river. 
 " Hold on, and we 11 come to your help." He was 
 not more than three rods from the bank. 
 
 " Quick as you can," replied Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " We 11 be there in a jiffy," bawled one of them, 
 and all ran for a boat that was tied about twenty 
 rods below. 
 
 One of the number leaped into it, and plying the 
 oar with all his might, he soon reached the craft that 
 was upset, and took Mr. Lincoln on board. 
 
 44 Bad business for you," said the man. 
 
 44 Not so bad as it might be," answered Mr. Lin 
 coln. " Rather lucky I think to meet with such an 
 accident where help is close by." 
 
 " But you ve lost your cargo, though we may 
 save some of it if we set about it." 
 
76 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 u Won t save much of it, I m thinkin . The wa 
 ter is ten or fifteen feet deep there." 
 
 " Hardly that." 
 
 " Pretty near it, I 11 warrant." 
 
 By this time they had reached the bank of the 
 river, and the men were consulting together about 
 righting Lincoln s boat and saving his cargo. Such 
 accidents were not uncommon on the Ohio, and 
 those who lived along the bank had lent a helping 
 hand to many unfortunate adventurers. This was 
 the case with the men who came to Lincoln s rescue. 
 They were not long in laying their plans, nor dila 
 tory in executing them. 
 
 In a short time they secured his boat, and suc 
 ceeded in putting it right side up. They proceeded 
 also to save, so much of his cargo as they could. 
 They called other men in the neighborhood, and 
 with such apparatus as the vicinity afforded, they 
 raked the river, and recovered a part of his car 
 penters tools, axes, a spider, and some other arti 
 cles. B}* much perseverance and hard labor they 
 succeeded in saving three barrels of the whiskey. 
 All these articles were reloaded upon Lincoln s boat, 
 and, with many thanks to the kind-hearted men for 
 their assistance, he proceeded on his way. 
 
 Before starting again, however, he consulted the 
 men who aided him with regard to the future of his 
 way ; and he decided, in view of the information de 
 rived from them, to land at Thompson s Ferry, and 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 77 
 
 there secure a team to convey his goods into the in 
 terior. He had previously settled in his mind what 
 part of Indiana he should make his home, not the 
 exact spot, but about the distance he should go from 
 the Ohio River. 
 
 Accordingly he took his boat and goods to Thomp 
 son s Ferry, and there he found a man by the name 
 of Posey, whom he hired to take him eighteen miles 
 into Spencer County. This Posey owned a yoke of 
 oxen, and was quite well acquainted with that sec 
 tion of country. 
 
 " No road into that county," said he. " We shall 
 have to pick our way, and use the axe some at that." 
 
 " I m sorry for that," answered Lincoln. " Are 
 there no settlers in that region ? " 
 
 " Yes ; here and there one, and they 11 be right 
 glad to see you. We can put it through, if you 
 say so." 
 
 " Put it through, then, I say," a reply that 
 was characteristic of Mr. Lincoln, who possessed 
 remarkable resolution and force of character. 
 
 The man agreed to carry his goods to his place 
 of destination, and take his boat for pay. Lincoln 
 would have no further use for his boat, so that it 
 was a good bargain for him, and equally good for 
 Posey, who wanted a boat. 
 
 Accordingly the team was loaded with his effects, 
 and they were soon on their way. But within a 
 few miles they were obliged to use the axe to make 
 a road. 
 
78 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Just as I expected," said Posey. " I have been 
 through the mill." 
 
 "How far do you expect we shall have to cut 
 through places like this ? " inquired Lincoln. 
 
 " Far enough, I ve no doubt ; this is a real wil 
 derness." 
 
 " Then we must go at it, if we d see the end 
 soon." 
 
 "Yes; and hard work, too, it will be." And, 
 without wasting time or breath on words, they pro 
 ceeded to cut a road before them. 
 
 " I Ve cut through miles of just such a wilder 
 ness as this," said Posey ; " and I shouldn t be 
 surprised if we had to cut a road half the way." 
 
 " I hope not," answered Lincoln. " If I thought 
 BO, I should almost wish myself back in Kentucky." 
 
 " Should, ha ? " 
 
 " Yes ; it would be an everlasting job to cut 
 through to where I m goin ." 
 
 " Well, I don t suppose it will be as tough as this 
 much of the way, but bad enough, no doubt." 
 
 So with the resolution of veteran pioneers they 
 toiled on, sometimes being able to pick their way 
 for a long distance without chopping, and then com 
 ing to a stand-still in consequence of dense forests. 
 Suffice to say, that they were obliged to cut a road 
 BO much of the way that several days were employed 
 in going eighteen miles. It was a difficult, weari 
 some, trying journey, and Mr. Lincoln often said, 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 79 
 
 that he never passed through a harder experience 
 than he did in going from Thompson s Ferry to 
 Spencer County, Indiana. 
 
 Some five or six miles south of their place of 
 destination they passed the cabin of a hospitable 
 settler, who gave them a hearty welcome, and such 
 refreshments as his humble abode contained. He 
 was well acquainted with all that region, too, and 
 suggested to Mr. Lincoln the spot upon which he 
 decided to erect his cabin, and also volunteered to 
 accompany them thither. 
 
 The settlers at that day delighted to see others 
 coming to their vicinity to dwell, thus increasing 
 their neighbors, and removing somewhat the lone 
 liness of pioneer life. They were ever ready to lend 
 a helping-hand to new-comers, and to share with 
 them the scanty blessings that Providence allowed 
 them. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was glad to reach the end of his 
 journey ; and he found the spot suggested by his 
 Dew friend in the cabin, whose name was Wood, a 
 very inviting one. 
 
 " Better than I expected," said Lincoln. " I 
 would n t ask for a better place than this." 
 
 " I ve had my eye on it some time," replied 
 Wood. 
 
 " Chance for more settlers, though," continued 
 Lincoln. " One cabin in eighteen miles ain t very 
 thick." 
 
80 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " That s so," added Posey. " There s elbow- 
 room for a few more families, and it won t be long 
 before they ll be here." 
 
 " But you ve neighbors nearer than that," said 
 Wood. " There s one family not more than two 
 miles east of here." 
 
 " Then I shall have two neighbors," said Lincoln. 
 
 " And there are two other families within six or 
 eight miles, one of them is north, and the other 
 west," continued Wood. " The fact is, people are 
 flockin into this Free State fast." 
 
 " That s why I ve come," answered Lincoln. 
 " I ve got enough of slavery, if I live to be as old 
 as Methuselah." 
 
 " That s it. I know just how you feel. I lived 
 in Kentucky myself, till about ten years ago." 
 
 We must not dwell. Posey returned with his 
 team to Thompson s Ferry, and Mr. Lincoln, hav 
 ing deposited his goods and secured Mr. Wood s 
 promise to look after them, directed his steps on 
 foot back to his family. We have said that it was 
 about one hundred miles from his old home in 
 Kentucky to his new one in Indiana. This was 
 the distance, in a direct line. It was twenty-five 
 miles farther, the way Mr. Lincoln came. It was a 
 part of his plan to return on foot. A direct line, 
 about southeast, would bring him to Hardin 
 County, a three days journey. 
 
 Hie? family gave him a cordial welcome, and Abra- 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 81 
 
 ham was somewhat taken with the story of his fa 
 ther s adventure, particularly the part relating to 
 his plunge into the Ohio River. 
 
 Hasty preparations were made to remove the 
 family, and such things as he did not take with 
 him on the boat. He took no bedding or apparel 
 with him on the boat. These were left to go with 
 the family, on horseback. Three horses were pro 
 vided, all of which Mr. Lincoln owned. On these 
 were packed the aforesaid articles, and Mrs. Lin 
 coln and her daughter rode one, and Abraham 
 another, while his father took charge of the third, 
 sometimes riding and sometimes walking. 
 
 They were seven days in performing the journey, 
 camping out nights, with no other shelter than the 
 starry skies over them, and no other bed than 
 blankets spread upon the ground. 
 
 It was a novel experience even to them, nor was 
 it without its perils. Yet they had no fears. In 
 that country, at that day, neither man nor woman 
 allowed themselves to cower in the presence of 
 dangers. 
 
 Females were not the timid class that they are 
 now. They were distinguished for heroism that 
 was truly wonderful. Inured as they were to 
 hardships and perils, they learned to look dangers 
 steadily in the face, and to consider great priva 
 tions as incidental to pioneer life. Experiences 
 that would now destroy the happiness of most of 
 
82 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 the sex then served to develop the courage and 
 other intrepid virtues that qualified them for the 
 mission God designed they should fulfil. 
 
 Many facts are found in history illustrating the 
 heroism of Western females, in the early settlement 
 of that part of our country. Soon after Abra 
 ham s grandfather removed to Kentucky, an In 
 dian entered the cabin of a Mr. Daviess, armed 
 with gun and tomahawk, for the purpose of plun 
 dering it, and capturing the family. Mrs. Daviess 
 was alone with her children. With remarkable 
 presence of mind, she invited the Indian to drink, 
 at the same time setting a bottle of whiskey on the 
 table. The Indian set down his gun to pour out 
 a dram, and at once Mrs. Daviess seized it, and, 
 aiming it at his head, threatened to blow his brains 
 out if he did not surrender. The Indian dropped 
 the bottle, sat down upon a stool, and promised 
 to do no harm if she would not fire. In that pos 
 ture she kept him until her husband arrived. 
 
 In another instance, about the same time, the 
 house of a Mr. Merrill was attacked in the night 
 by several Indians, and Mr. Merrill was seriously 
 wounded as he Vent to the door. The savages 
 attempted to enter the house, when Mrs. Merrill 
 and her daughter shut the door against them, and 
 held it. Then the Indians hewed away a part of 
 the door, so that one of them could get in at a 
 time. But Mrs. Merrill, though her husband lay 
 
PULLING UP STAKES. 83 
 
 groaning and weltering in his blood, and her chil 
 dren were screaming with fright, seized an axe, 
 when the first one had got partly into the room, 
 and dealt upon him a mortal blow. Then she 
 drew his body in, and waited for the approach of 
 another. The Indians, supposing that their com 
 rade had forced an entrance, were exultant, and 
 proceeded to follow him. Nor did they discover 
 their mistake until she had despatched four of 
 them in this way. Then two of them attempted 
 to descend the chimney, whereupon she ordered 
 her children to empty the contents of a bed upon 
 the fire ; and the fire and smoke soon brought 
 down two Indians, half suffocated, into the room. 
 Mr. Merrill, by a desperate exertion, rose up, 
 and speedily finished these two with a billet of 
 wood. At the same time his wife dealt so heavy 
 a blow upon the only remaining Indian at the door, 
 that he was glad to retire. 
 
 Volumes might be filled with stories that show 
 the heroism of Western women at that day. We 
 have cited these two examples simply to exhibit their 
 fortitude. Mrs. Lincoln was a resolute, fearless wo 
 man, like her pioneer sisters, and hence was cool 
 and self-possessed amidst all exposures and dangers. 
 She was a pious heroine ; and such nights as those 
 they spent on their way to Indiana only served to 
 fill her heart with thoughts of Him who watched 
 over them by night and day. 
 
84 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 We said they were seven days on the journey. 
 Two miles from their destination they came to the 
 cabin of their nearest neighbor, Mr. Neale, who 
 treated them with great kindness, and promised to 
 assist them on the following day in putting up a 
 dwelling. It was a pleasant proffer of assistance, 
 and it served to make them happier as they laid 
 down in their blankets on the first night of their 
 residence in Spencer County, Indiana. 
 
 We have been thus particular, in this part of the 
 narrative, because this experience had much to do 
 with the development of that courage, energy, de 
 cision, and perseverance for which Abraham was 
 thereafter distinguished. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE PIONEEE BOY. 
 
 , Abe," called his father, as soon as it was 
 light enough to see in the morning; "you 
 begin to be a pioneer boy in earnest to-day. Your 
 axe is waitin for you. We must get us up a cabin 
 as soon as possible." 
 
 " The quicker the better," said Mrs. Lincoln ; " if 
 there should come a storm, we should be in a pretty 
 plight." 
 
 " What can I do ? " asked Abraham, who by this 
 time was on his feet. 
 
 " Cut down the first tree you come to ; all this 
 land will be cleared in time, and 110 matter how 
 quick the trees fall." 
 
 " But you want trees cut first for the house, don t 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes, any of them will do for that. You can t 
 do much ; but every little helps, and you must be 
 gin, if you are goin to be a pioneer." And Abra 
 ham went at it. 
 
 Sure enough, there he is, a boy only eight years 
 old, cutting away at a tree, to aid his father in rear- 
 
86 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 ing a cabin to shelter them. Nor is he to stop when 
 the dwelling is completed, for there are acres of 
 land around that are to be cleared for a farm. On 
 that eventful morning he began to swing the axe, 
 and he continued at the business most of the time 
 until he was past twenty years of age. 
 
 He seems but a little boy to engage in such labo 
 rious work ; but the pioneer boys of eight years, at 
 that day, were as efficient for labor as boys are now 
 at fifteen. They were early put to labor, so that 
 tact and muscular power were early developed. 
 They were equally courageous too. Many thrilling 
 stories are told of their heroism, that would do 
 honor to experienced men. One of these historic 
 records is, that two boys by the name of Johnson, 
 one nine and the other twelve years of age, were 
 taken captive by two Indians near the present site 
 of Steubenville, Kentucky. At night, when the 
 Indians were fast asleep, one took a rifle and the 
 other a tomahawk, and simultaneously killed their 
 captors, and then escaped to their homes. 
 
 " I will shoot a turkey for you, mother, to cook 
 before I go to choppin ," Mr. Lincoln continued. 
 The forest abounded in game, among which were 
 wild turkeys and doer, and the settlers depended 
 mainly upon their rifles for a supply of meat. " It 
 will take me but a few minutes." 
 
 " Abe must learn to use the rifle next," said his 
 mother. u He can often do us good service in this 
 way, if he 11 make a good marksman." 
 
, -.>*; 
 
 THE PIONEER BOY 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 87 
 
 "I should like that," answered Abraham, who 
 heard the remark. 
 
 " We 11 attend to that in season," said his father. 
 "You shall try your skill all you want to one of 
 these days." And Mr. Lincoln hurried away for his 
 game. It was not more than five minutes before 
 the discharge of his rifle was heard, and within five 
 minutes more he returned with a turkey. 
 
 By this time Mrs. Lincoln had some simple food 
 prepared for their morning meal, and just as they 
 had finished partaking of it, Mr. Neale, the neighbor 
 who promised to come and aid them in putting up 
 a cabin, made his appearance. 
 
 " Good mornin , Mr. Neale ? I hardly expected 
 to see you so early," was Mr. Lincoln s greeting. 
 
 " Short days these, and when a family is without 
 shelter, we must make the most of time," replied 
 Mr. Neale. " But here is a piece of venison which 
 my wife sent. She thought how good such a bite 
 would have tasted to her two years ago, when we 
 were doin just what you are now." 
 
 " She is very kind," answered Mrs. Lincoln, taking 
 the meat, and removing the cloth from it. " And it 
 is all nicely cooked, too." 
 
 " Yes, she thought she could do that better than 
 you can just now." 
 
 " How thoughtful she is ! I hope we snail make 
 as good neighbors to her as she is to us." 
 
 "I ve just shot a turkey," said Mr. Lincoln, 
 
88 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " and my wife was goin to try her hand at cookin* 
 it. Game must be very plenty here." 
 
 " It can t be plentier ; no danger of starvin here ; 
 you can shoot deer and turkeys enough by goin ten 
 rods for your family the year round." 
 
 " That s a fine tiling for pioneers like us." 
 
 " We could n t do much if it wa n t so." 
 
 " That s certain ; I should hardly dare to get so 
 far away from people if it wa n t so." 
 
 " Nor anybody else. But I come to work ; and 
 now just tell me where to go at it, and I 11 waste no 
 more time. By the way, ain t this a real pleasant 
 spot to camp down in ? " 
 
 " I don t think we could have found a pleasanter 
 one," answered Mrs. Lincoln. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln and his new friend Neale, witli little 
 Abraham, proceeded to chopping trees, and prepar 
 ing the logs for the house. For a boy of his age, 
 Abraham exhibited remarkable tact and endurance, 
 so much so as to elicit remarks from all, together 
 with cautions against overdoing. His interest and 
 energy in the new work denoted that he would be 
 a pioneer boy of mark. 
 
 " Better build your home like mine," said Neale; 
 " it s easy made and handy. There s nothing 
 better than a half-faced camp." 
 
 " I d as quick have that as any ; I want to get 
 our heads covered pretty soon. In fact, that was 
 the kind of cabin we had in Kentucky." 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 89 
 
 " It won t take long to do that. We can cut 
 nearly logs enough to-day ; and then we can put 
 it through in a hurry." 
 
 " Can you help me through with it ? " 
 
 " yes ; that s what I m goin to do. I can do 
 it as well as not." 
 
 " I 11 try that you shaVt be a loser. Perhaps 
 you will want a good turn done you one of these 
 days." 
 
 " No doubt I shall want a good many of them. 
 There s Abe (and he glanced his eye at the boy, 
 who was listening, evidently intending to compli 
 ment him), he 11 make such a worker that I shall 
 want to have him try his hand for me some time." 
 
 " He 11 like to do it, I m thinkin . Abe hain t a 
 lazy bone in him." 
 
 " He d work em all out, if he had, pretty soon, 
 I reckon." Mr. Neale intended this remark for 
 Abraham s ear, and the lad received it in the same 
 spirit that it was given. 
 
 Thus chatting, working, and planning, the day 
 was spent, the first day of Abraham s actual pi 
 oneer life, and much was done towards rear 
 ing an abode. On the following day, Mr. Wood, 
 who had learned of their arrival, tendered his as 
 sistance. 
 
 We have not time to enter into particulars about 
 the house-building. We can say no more, than that 
 the house was ready to receive its tenants in two 
 
90 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 days, although it was not then completed. It was 
 so far along, however, as to afford convenient shel 
 ter. We will give a description of it, furnished by 
 one who often found shelter under its roof, and who 
 lived many years close by it. 
 
 It was sixteen by eighteen feet in size, without a 
 floor, the logs put together at the corners by the 
 usual method of notching them, and the cracks be 
 tween them stopped with clay. It had a shed-roof, 
 covered with slabs or clapboards split from logs. It 
 contained but one room, except overhead slabs were 
 laid across the logs, so as to make a chamber, to 
 which access was had by a ladder in one corner. It 
 had one door and one window. The latter, however, 
 was so ingeniously constructed, that it deserves par 
 ticular attention. Mr. Lincoln made a sash of the 
 size of four six-by-eight squares of glass, and, in 
 place of glass, which could not be obtained in that 
 region, he took the skin that covers the fat portion 
 of a hog, called the leaves, and drew it over the sash 
 tight. This furnished a very good substitute for 
 glass ; and the contrivance reflected some credit 
 upon the inventive genius of the builder. 
 
 The cabin was furnished by Mr. Lincoln and 
 Abraham without other assistance, and we will give 
 some account of the way of doing it. 
 
 " Bring me the auger, Abe," said his father, 
 " and that measure, too ; we must have a bedstead 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 91 
 
 " 1 can bore the holes," answered Abraham, at 
 the same time bringing the auger and measure. 
 
 " No, you can t. It s tough work to bore two- 
 inch holes into such logs as these. But you can go 
 and find me a stick for a post, and two others to lay 
 on it." 
 
 "That all?" 
 
 " Yes, that s all. I 11 just make it in that 
 corner, and then I shall have but two holes to 
 bore, and one post to set up. It s not more than 
 an hour s work." 
 
 By making the bedstead in the corner, the work 
 was but small. He measured off eight feet on one 
 side, and bored one hole, then four and a half feet 
 on the end, and bored another hole. Then setting 
 up the post in its place, two sticks from each auger- 
 hole would meet on the post, thus making the 
 framework of the bed. This was soon done. 
 
 a Now for the bed-cord, Abe," said his father, 
 jocosely. " We must have something to lay the 
 bed on." 
 
 " I thought you laid on slabs," answered Abra 
 ham, not exactly comprehending the drift of his 
 father s remark. 
 
 " We have n t any other bed-cord, so pass me 
 some of those yonder." The slabs used to lay over 
 the bed-frame were like those on the roof. 
 
 " How many shall I bring ? " and he began to 
 pass the slabs. 
 
92 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " About six, I think, will do it." 
 
 They were soon brought, and the bed was com 
 plete. 
 
 " Now a sackful of straw on that will make a 
 fine bed." Dry leaves, hay and husks were some 
 times used for this purpose. Few had feathers in 
 that region. 
 
 " You must keep on with your cabinet-making," 
 said Mrs. Lincoln. " We need a table as much as 
 a bed." 
 
 " Of course. That comes next," replied her hus 
 band. " The legs for it are all ready." 
 
 " Where are they ? " inquired Abraham. 
 
 " Out there," pointing to a small pile of limbs, 
 sticks, and slabs. Abraham went after them, while 
 his father sawed off a puncheon of the required 
 length for the table. A puncheon was made by 
 splitting a log eighteen inches, more or less, in 
 diameter, the flat side laid uppermost. Puncheons 
 were used in this way to make tables, stools, and 
 floors. 
 
 By the time Abraham had brought the sticks for 
 the legs of the table, his father had the table part 
 all ready, and was proceeding to bore the holes for 
 the legs. 
 
 " Now you may bring some more of those sticks 
 in the pile, the shortest of them I shall want 
 next?" 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 93 
 
 " 0, we must have some chairs now ; we ve set 
 on the ground long enough. I want the sticks for 
 legs." 
 
 " Enough for one stool each now will do. We 11 
 make some extra ones when we get over our hurry. 
 Pour times three are twelve : I shall want twelve." 
 
 " Must they be just alike ? " 
 
 " No ; you can t find two alike, hardly. If they 
 are too long, I can saw them the right length." 
 
 All this time the work of making the table went 
 on. As Abraham had so large a number of stool- 
 legs to select and bring from the pile, the table was 
 nearly completed when his part of the work was 
 done. 
 
 " A scrumptious table, I m thinkin ," said Mr. 
 Lincoln, as he surveyed it when it was fairly on its 
 legs. " Pioneer cabinet-work ain t handsome, but 
 it s durable." 
 
 " And useful, too," said his wife. " Two of them 
 would n t come amiss." 
 
 " No ; and when I get time we 11 have another. 
 Perhaps Abe can make you one some time. Can t 
 you make a table, Abe ? " 
 
 " I can try it." 
 
 " Well, you ought to succeed, now you have seen 
 me do it. You can try your hand at it some day. 
 But now for the stools." 
 
 A good slab was selected, of which four stools 
 could be made ; and before night the house was 
 
94 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 furnished at small expense. A bed, table, and 
 stools constituted the furniture of this pioneer 
 home, in which Abraham spent twelve years of his 
 eventful life. 
 
 Abraham occupied the loft above, ascending to 
 his lodgings by the ladder. It was his parlor- 
 chamber, where he slept soundly at night on the 
 loose floor, with no other bedding than blankets. 
 Here year after year he reposed nightly with as 
 much content and bliss as we usually find in the 
 mansions of the rich. He had never known better 
 fare than this ; and perhaps, at that age, he did not 
 expect a larger share of worldly goods. 
 
 Here, reader, you have a view of the pioneer 
 boy s early home. Do you like it ? How does it 
 compare with your own ? There were not many 
 attractions about it certainly. It does not look as 
 if the poor boy in that floorless, dismal cabin would 
 ever make his mark in the world. But " where 
 there s a will, there s a way." His condition could 
 not be much more deplorable, so far as external 
 circumstances are concerned. But then he had 
 Christian parents to instruct and guide him, and 
 a high and noble purpose animated his soul. We 
 shall see how he came out. 
 
THE GRIST-MILL. 
 
 THE pioneer families of that day needed the 
 means of converting their corn into meal. 
 Meal was a staple article of food, without which 
 they could scarcely survive. Yet there were few 
 grist-mills in all the region for many miles around, 
 and these were poor things compared with the 
 mills of the present day. They were worked by 
 horse-power, and could grind but little faster than 
 corn could be pounded into meal now with a mortar 
 and pestle. 
 
 The Lincoln family must have meal. Their 
 cabin was completed, and they had settled down to 
 spend the first winter of pioneer life in the Free 
 State of Indiana. 
 
 " How far to a mill ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " None nearer than the Ferry," replied his 
 father ; " and they say that s an old thing that ain t 
 wuth much." 
 
 " I can go there to mill for you," continued the 
 boy. 
 
 . " I m going to have a mill nearer home than 
 that, one of my own make." 
 
96 THE PIONEER BOT. 
 
 HOW ? " 
 
 " You 11 see when it is done. This goin eigh 
 teen miles to mill don t pay : we must have one 
 right here." 
 
 " And it won t take you longer to make it than 
 it would to go to the Ferry once and back," said 
 Mrs. Lincoln. 
 
 " It s an all-day job to go there, and a pretty 
 long day at that." She knew what kind of a mill 
 he referred to ; for she had seen them. 
 
 " We 11 have one before to-morrow night," added 
 Mr. Lincoln, with a shrug of the shoulder. 
 
 " How will you make it ? " inquired Abraham, 
 who was -deeply interested. 
 
 " You 11 see when it s done ; I shall need some 
 of your help, and if you do fust rate, you may try 
 the rifle next day." The boy had been promised 
 before that he should learn to shoot. 
 
 " I 11 like that," said the lad. 
 
 " And so shall I, if you make a marksman. You 
 can be a great help to us by killing game to cook. 
 When you get so that you can pop over a turkey 
 or a deer, I sha n t need to hunt any." 
 
 " Will you let me do it ? " 
 
 " Yes, and be glad to have you. The woods 
 are full of game, and you shall have a chance to 
 make a good shot." 
 
 Abraham was delighted with the prospect of 
 making a gunner, and he went to his hard bed that 
 
THE GRIST-MILL. 97 
 
 night with glowing thoughts of the future. The 
 morrow s sun found him up, and ready to assist his 
 father in making a grist-mill. 
 
 " The first thing is a log," said his father ; and 
 he proceeded to look for a tree of suitable dimen 
 sions ; nor was he long in finding one. 
 
 " When I get it ready, I shall want you to make a 
 fire on t, Abe," he continued. 
 
 " What ! burn it up ? " screamed the boy, not 
 understanding what his father meant. 
 
 " Ha ! not quite so bad as that. It would n t be 
 wuth much for a mill if t was burnt up." 
 
 " Did n t you say make a fire on t ? " 
 
 " Yes, on the top of it ; we must burn a hole in 
 it a foot deep, to put corn in ; so get your fire 
 ready. " 
 
 It was not long before the tree was prostrate, and 
 a portion of the trunk cut off about four feet long. 
 Setting it upon one end, Mr. Lincoln continued : 
 " Here, Abe, that s what I mean by making a fire 
 on t. You must make a fire right on the top of it, 
 and burn a hole in it wellnigh a foot deep. I 11 
 help you." 
 
 The fire was soon kindled, and Abraham s curios 
 ity was at the highest pitch. What was coming 
 next was more than he could tell, and no 
 wonder ! 
 
 " Now bring some water ; we must keep it 
 wet." 
 
 5 
 
98 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " And put out the fire ? " said Abraham, inquir 
 ingly. 
 
 " No, no ; we must keep the outside of it wet, so 
 that the whole of it won t burn. We don t want to 
 burn the outside, only a hole in the centre." 
 
 Abraham saw through it now, and he hastened to 
 get the water. The fire was kept burning while 
 Mr. Lincoln looked up a spring-pole, to one end of 
 which he attached a pestle. 
 
 " What is that for ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " You 11 see when I get it into working order," 
 replied his father. " Keep the fire a-goin till it s 
 burnt deep enough." 
 
 " It never 11 burn deep as you say." 
 
 " Yes it will, only keep doin . That s the way 
 pioneers have to make grist-mills." 
 
 " It 11 take more than one day to burn it any 
 how, at this rate." 
 
 "No it won t. It will burn faster when it gets a 
 little deeper. We 11 have it done before night. 
 You must have patience, and keep at it." 
 
 And they continued at the work. Mr. Lincoln 
 prepared the spring-pole somewhat like an old-fash 
 ioned well-sweep ; and it was ready for use before 
 the hole was burned deep enough in the log. Then, 
 with his additional help, the log was ready before 
 night, and the coal was thoroughly cleaned out of 
 the hole, and the pestle on the pole adapted thereto. 
 
 This was all the mill that he proposed to have. 
 
THE GRIST-MILL. 99 
 
 It was the kind used by many settlers at that day. 
 It was a mortar and pestle on a large scale, and, on 
 the whole, was much better than to go twenty miles 
 to a horse-mill that could grind but little faster. 
 About two quarts of corn could be put into the hole 
 in the log at once, and a few strokes from the pes 
 tle on the spring-pole would reduce it to meal. In 
 this way the family could be provided with meal at 
 short notice. The apparatus, too, corresponded 
 very well with all the surroundings. For a Dutch 
 oven and spider constituted the culinary furni 
 ture of the cabin. All their other articles of iron 
 ware were at the bottom of the Ohio River. The 
 spider was used for griddle, stew-pan, gridiron, 
 kettle, and sundry other things, in addition to 
 its legitimate purpose ; proving that man s real 
 wants are few in number. It is very convenient 
 to be provided with all the modern improvements 
 in this line ; but the experience of the Lincoln 
 family shows that happiness and life can be pro 
 moted without them. 
 
 This mill served the family an excellent purpose 
 for many years. It was so simple that it needed no 
 repairs, and it was not dependent either on rain or 
 sunshine for the power to go. Any of the family 
 could go to mill here. Abraham could carry a grist 
 on his arm or back, and play the part of miller at 
 the same time. 
 
 " A real saving," said Mrs. Lincoln ; " if we can t 
 
100 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 do one way, God has another for us. It s so handy 
 to have a mill at the door. But you 11 have to go 
 to the Ferry before long for some other things." 
 
 " I ve been thinkin of it," answered Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " We must have a little tea and a few things to 
 make our humble fare relish," continued his wife ; 
 " and it s better goin now than it will be two or 
 three weeks hence, when the snows come." 
 
 " I can t go for two or three days ; I must get 
 things fixed up around the cabin first, and be all 
 ready for the winter." 
 
 " That is best ; and we ought to be thankful that 
 the snows keep off so long. We ve had a fine time 
 to prepare our new quarters. And now we re 
 getting settled down, Abe," turning to him, u you 
 must attend to your reading a little more, or you 11 
 forget all you ve learned." 
 
 " And we can t have that," added Mr. Lincoln, 
 " for we 11 need your readin more in the woods 
 here than we did in our old home." 
 
 " I wish I could have some other book to read," 
 said Abraham, in reply to his father s and mother s 
 words, referring to the fact that the Bible was the 
 only reading-book in the family. 
 
 " Why, there can be no better book in the world 
 than the Bible," answered his mother ; " and you 
 get one thing in it that you don t in any other 
 book." 
 
 " What s that, mother ? " 
 
THE GRIST-MILL. 101 
 
 " Good lessons on every page, and this you may 
 not get from another book, though I don t object to 
 your reading other books, if you can get them." 
 
 " Perhaps some of the settlers in this region 
 may have some books that I can borrow," said 
 Mr. Lincoln. " I will remember it when I see 
 any on em. Till then, Abe, the Bible will have to 
 
 answer." 
 
 " And it will answer well, too," said his mother ; 
 "he can t read it too much, nor remember what 
 he reads too long. Perhaps he 11 never have an 
 other opportunity to go to school, and he can 
 read now pretty well, if he don t lose what he has 
 learned." 
 
 " I can read better now than I could when I. 
 stopped goin to school," said Abraham, as if that 
 was sufficient proof that he would not go back 
 wards. 
 
 "I know that," answered his mother; "now 
 you have got started, you can go along fast, and 
 that s the reason I want you should read when 
 you can." 
 
 " J don t want to read the Bible all the time ; 
 i want some other books, too." 
 
 " And I wish you had them ; and perhaps the 
 Lord will provide a way to get them." His 
 mother was equally desirous with himself that 
 he should read other books, but she did not want 
 he should undervalue the Word of God. She 
 
102 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 was more anxious that he should think well of 
 this volume than of all others. Hence her re 
 marks concerning the Scriptures. 
 
 Abraham had improved remarkably since he 
 left going to Mr. Hazel s school in Kentucky. 
 He had read under his mother s eye, and with an 
 earnest desire to learn, so that his progress was 
 rapid, more so than his parents counsel would 
 seem to imply. 
 
 During the long winter evenings of that first 
 winter in Indiana he read by the light of the fire 
 only ; for they could not afford the luxury of any 
 other light in their cabin. This was true, very 
 generally, of the pioneer families : they had no 
 more than was absolutely necessary to supply 
 their wants. They could exist without lamp-oil 
 or candles, and so most of them did without either. 
 They could afford the largest fire possible, since 
 wood was so plenty that they studied to get rid 
 of it. Hence the light of the fire was almost equal 
 to a good chandelier. Large logs and branches 
 of wood were piled together in the fireplace and 
 its mammoth blaze lighted up every nook and 
 corner of the dwelling. Hence lamps were scarcely 
 needed. 
 
 Once more we say to the reader, that Abra 
 ham s prospects were not very bright at that 
 time. Living in a floorless log-cabin, beyond the 
 limits of civilization, with poverty pressing heavily 
 
THE GRIST-MILL. 103 
 
 upon him, and little expectation of changing his 
 obscure condition for a better one, we can 
 scarcely conceive of a more unpromising situa 
 tion for a boy. Let the reader keep this in 
 view. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE LUCKY SHOT. 
 
 THE winter passed away, and the spring brought 
 forth the flowers. Mr. Lincoln was preparing 
 to put his first seed into the soil of Indiana. 
 
 " I ve been thinking," said his wife, " that our 
 loss, when you upset on the Ohio River was all for 
 the best. I think I can see it." 
 
 " Glad if you can," replied Mr. Lincoln, " you re 
 pretty good for seem what nobody else can " , and 
 he uttered this sentence rather thoughtlessly, as his 
 mind was really absorbed in another subject. 
 
 " I don t know about that ; but what in the world 
 would you have done with all the whiskey, if we had 
 not lost any of it in the river ? Never could sell it 
 all here, and what a job it would have been to 
 get it here froni the Ferry ! " 
 
 " Well, if I did n t sell it, we should be about as 
 well off as we are now." 
 
 " Except the cost of getting the barrels here." 
 
 " That would n t be much." 
 
 " Then there s the danger of the evil it might do. 
 It s dangerous stuff any way, as the case of old 
 Selby shows." 
 
THE LUCKY SHOT. 105 
 
 " I know that ; but I don t fear for myself." 
 
 " Neither do I fear for you ; but I was thinking 
 of Abe. You know how it is with boys in these 
 times, and how much misery whiskey makes in a 
 great many families. And I can t help thinkin , 
 that it is all for the best that most of it is in the 
 river." 
 
 " I can t say but what it is ; I hope it is. It 
 makes mischief enough, if that s all ; and if I 
 dreamed it would make any in my family, I should 
 wish that all of it was at the bottom of the river." 
 
 " You may -as well be glad now ; for we have less 
 to fear ; and perhaps the Lord thought it was best to 
 put so much of it where it could n t injure no one." 
 
 " So be it, then ; but I must go to my work. 
 This weather is too fine to be lost in doin notliiu . 
 The stuff is all sold now, so that there is no fear on 
 that score." He sold a barrel to Posey, the team 
 ster, who hauled his goods from the Ferry, and the 
 remainder he disposed of in the course of the 
 winter." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln arose and went out to his work, and 
 within ten minutes afterwards Abe came rushing 
 into the cabin in a state of great excitement. 
 
 " Mother," he exclaimed, " there s a turkey right 
 out here that I can shoot. See it there," and he 
 directed her to look through a crack in the cabin 
 where the clay had fallen off. " Let me shoot it, 
 mother." 
 
 5* 
 
106 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Sure enough, that is a fine mark. I 11 load the 
 rifle," answered his mother, as she caught sight of 
 the fowl, and proceeded to load the rifle. 
 
 " Be quick, mother, I 11 fire right through the 
 crack. " 
 
 "I ll have it ready in a minute, don t nyike 
 a noise and frighten her away." 
 
 Abraham kept his eye upon the bird, and waited 
 patiently for the loaded rifle. His father had in 
 structed him somewhat in the use of the rifle, and 
 he had fired it at different times with much accu 
 racy. But he had not levelled it at living game 
 before. 
 
 " There," said his mother ; " it s all ready, and 
 you must do your best now to bring down the 
 turkey. I 11 put it through the crack for you." 
 And she rested the rifle on a log, so that the muzzle 
 lay in the crack between the logs. 
 
 " Take good aim," she continued, " and kill the 
 first animal that you ever have in your life." 
 
 " I 11 try," was Abraham s reply, an answer 
 that he was quite accustomed to give. He seldom 
 expressed himself too confidently, but "/ // try " 
 was about as positive as he was disposed to be. 
 And that is really as positive as a boy need to be. 
 " I 11 try " has accomplished wonders. It has sur- 
 moun ted obstacles, and overcome difficulties, of the 
 greatest magnitude. Many boys do not accomplish 
 much, because they do not TRY. They fail for want 
 
THE LUCKY SHOT. 107 
 
 of energy and resolution, just what is implied in 
 the little word TRY. Not so with Abraham. " I 11 
 try " was his watchword and pledge, and it served 
 him a good purpose. As we shall see hereafter, he 
 put in practice the poet s excellent advice, and 
 profited thereby : 
 
 " Here s a lesson all should heed, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 If at first you don t succeed, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 Let your courage well appear; 
 If you only persevere, 
 You will conquer, never fear; 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 
 " Twice or thrice though you should fail, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 If at last you would prevail, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 When you strive, it s no disgrace 
 Though you fail to win the race; 
 Bravely, then, in such a case, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 
 " Let the thing be e er so hard, 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 Time will bring the sure reward; 
 
 Try, try, try again. 
 That which other folks can do, 
 Why, with patience, may not you? 
 All that s been done, you may do, 
 
 If you will but try again ! " 
 
 " Bang ! " went the rifle, and his mother hastened 
 to the door to learn the result. 
 
 " You ve killed her, Abe, sure," she exclaimed. 
 " Good," shouted the boy, clapping his hands, 
 
108 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 and running for the game. "Yes, I ve killed 
 her, she s dead as a stone," he added, as he took 
 up the dead turkey in triumph. 
 
 " Your first shot, Abe, (meaning his first shot at 
 game,) and a good one it was." 
 
 " It s a monster, mother ; see her ; it s as much 
 as I can lift " ; and he raised it up to show how 
 large it was. It proved to be one of the largest of 
 wild turkeys. 
 
 "What s the firm for?" inquired his father, 
 who heard the report of the rifle, and left his work 
 to ascertain. 
 
 " I ve killed a turkey," replied Abraham. " See 
 here," and he exhibited his prize with marked sat 
 isfaction. 
 
 " Well done, Abe ! That was a capital shot. 
 You 11 make a good one with the rifle if you 
 keep on." 
 
 " I hardly thought that he would kill her," said 
 his mother, " but he wanted to try, and I knew he 
 must begin some time." 
 
 " Practice will make perfect, Abe," said his 
 father; "it s only the best marksmen that can 
 make a good shot every time. Perhaps you 11 
 shoot a dozen times, and not kill another." 
 
 Abraham made no reply, but he looked as if he 
 did not believe the last remark. The turn of his 
 eye seemed to say, " Wait and see." 
 
 As Dioneer families were so dependent upon 
 
THE LUCKY SHOT. 109 
 
 game, the fathers and sons became good marksmen, 
 and even the females were often expert in the use 
 of the rifle. We have seen that Mrs. Lincoln loaded 
 the rifle for Abraham, an act that would almost 
 terrify ladies of the present day. But she, in com 
 mon with her sex of that period, was accustomed 
 to do such things, so that she was not at all ner 
 vous about the matter. She could fire if it was 
 necessary. 
 
 Marvellous stories are told about the skill of 
 the pioneers in the use of the rifle, and good 
 authority substantiates their truthfulness. One 
 writer says : " Several individuals who conceive 
 themselves adepts in the management of the rifle, 
 are often seen to meet for the purpose of glisplaying 
 their skill ; and they put up a target, in the centre 
 of which a common-sized nail is hammered for 
 about two thirds its length. The marksmen make 
 choice of what they consider a proper distance, and 
 which may be forty paces. Each man clears the 
 interior of his tube, places a ball in the palm of his 
 hand, and pours as much powder from his horn as 
 will cover it. This quantity is supposed to be 
 sufficient for any distance short of a hundred yards. 
 A shot that comes very close to the nail is consid 
 ered that of an indifferent marksman ; the bending 
 of the nail is of course somewhat better ; but 
 nothing less than hitting it right on the head is 
 satisfactory. One out of the three shots generally 
 
110 THE riOXEER BOY. 
 
 hits the nail ; and should the shooters amount to 
 half a dozen, two nails are frequently needed be 
 fore each can have a shot." 
 
 The same writer continues: "The snuffing of a 
 candle with a ball I first had an opportunity of 
 seeing near the banks of Green River, not far from 
 a large pigeon-roost, to which I had previously 
 made a visit. I had heard many reports of guns 
 during the early part of a dark night, and knowing 
 them to be those of rifles, I went forward toward 
 the spot to ascertain the cause. On reaching the 
 place, I was welcomed by a dozen tall, stout men, 
 who told me they were exercising for the purpose 
 of enabling them to shoot under night, at the re 
 flected light from the eyes of a deer or wolf by 
 torchlight. A fire was blazing near, the smoke of 
 which rose curling among the thick foliage of the 
 trees. At a distance which rendered it scarcely 
 distinguishable, stood a burning candle, but which, 
 in reality, was only fifty yards from the spot on 
 which we all stood. One man was within a few 
 yards of it to watch the effect of the shots, as well 
 as to light the candle, should it chance to go out, 
 or to replace it, should the shot cut it across. Each 
 marksman shot in his turn. Some never hit either 
 the snuff or the candle, and were congratulated 
 with a loud laugh, while others actually snuffed 
 the candle without putting it out, and were recom 
 pensed for their dexterity by numerous hurrahs. 
 
THE LUCKY SHOT. 111 
 
 One of them, who was particularly expert, was very 
 fortunate, and snuffed the candle three times out 
 of seven, while all the other shots either put out 
 the candle or cut it immediately under the light." 
 
 Such was the skill of riflemen at that day. 
 Hence it was of considerable importance that boys 
 should learn how to fire accurately. Not as a pas 
 time was it valued, but as a means of gaining sub 
 sistence. In addition to procuring game for the 
 table, furs were in great demand, and there were 
 many animals valuable on this account. It was 
 necessary, therefore, that Abraham should learn 
 the art. 
 
 There is no doubt that the culture he received 
 by the use of the rifle had its influence in develop 
 ing his physical energies, as he was ever distin 
 guished for his strength and powers of endurance ; 
 and that it indirectly served to inspire his heart 
 with courage, promptness, and decision, for which 
 his whole life has been eminent. 
 
 Time nor space will permit me to recount the 
 experience of Abraham the next twelvemonth. 
 We must pass over the remainder of his first year 
 iu Indiana, to a sad part of his experience, related 
 in the following chapter. 
 
X. 
 
 SOBROW. 
 
 " A BE ! Abe ! " shouted his father, about three 
 JEjL o clock in the morning; "you must get 
 up and run over to Bruner s ; your mother is very 
 sick, and she must have some help right off." 
 
 At this time they had been in Indiana about a 
 year and a half, and several new pioneer families 
 had settled around them within a few miles. 
 
 " I 11 be down right off," answered Abraham, 
 springing from his humble bed, much startled by the 
 announcement of his mother s illness ; and he soon 
 descended the ladder. 
 
 " Go as quick as you can, Abe, and tell Mother 
 Bruner that we d like to have her come over as 
 soon as possible." 
 
 u What s the matter with her ? " inquired Abra 
 ham, now very much concerned for his mother, to 
 whom he was most ardently attached. 
 
 " I don t know ; but you must go quick " ; and 
 Abraham disappeared by the time the last words 
 were fairly out of his father s mouth. 
 
 There was no physician within forty miles, and 
 
SORROW. 113 
 
 the pioneor families were obliged to depend upon 
 their own skill in cases of sickness. A strong feel 
 ing of kindness and sympathy united them at such 
 times, -and the feminine neighbors tendered their 
 best nursing abilities without money and without 
 price. Nor were they altogether unsuccessful in 
 their treatment of the sick. Some of them exhibit 
 ed much medical skill in managing diseases, having 
 been thrown upon their own resources for a long 
 period, reflecting and studying for themselves. It 
 was out of the question to have a doctor, and they 
 were compelled in consequence to do the best thing 
 they could for themselves. 
 
 Abraham was not long in reaching Mr. Bruner s 
 cabin. He never ran a mile quicker than he did 
 then. He was really alarmed for his mother. 
 
 "Mother is very sick," he shouted, as he aroused 
 the family by his sudden appearance ; " and father 
 wants you to come over there as soon as you can," 
 addressing himself to Mrs. Bruner. 
 
 " What s the matter with her ? " 
 
 " I don t know, and father don t, only he said she 
 was very sick." 
 
 " When was she taken ? " 
 
 " To-night ; she was well enough yesterday." 
 
 " Well, you run back, and tell your father that 
 I 11 be right over." 
 
 " And tell him that I 11 come over too, after 
 breakfast; to see if there s anything I can do," said 
 Mr. Bruner. 
 
114 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Abraham hurried home, and Mrs. Bruner pro 
 ceeded to get some herbs to take with her. She 
 was one of those motherly nurses, who was well 
 acquainted with the medicinal qualities of herbs, 
 and in that respect was quite equal to almost any 
 modern professor in a catnip college. With a re 
 spectable bundle of these indispensable articles, she 
 started for Mr. Lincoln s, her husband saying as 
 she went, " I 11 be over in the mornin ." 
 
 In the mean time Mrs. Lincoln continued very 
 sick, and rather grew worse. Her symptoms were 
 really alarming, and Abraham was much agitated 
 with fear. It was a new experience of his back 
 woods life. 
 
 " Glad to see you/ said Mr. Lincoln, as Mrs. 
 Bruner entered ; " my wife is very sick, and I 
 hardly know what to do." 
 
 " I m sorry that she is so bad ; where is your dis 
 tress ? " replied Mrs. Bruner, addressing her inquiry 
 to the sick woman, who was groaning with every 
 breath. 
 
 " Here," she answered, laying her hand upon her 
 breast, and then adding, "All over," indicating that 
 her whole body was suffering. 
 
 " We 11 do the best we can for you," said kind 
 Mrs. Bruner ; " and I have brought over some herbs 
 that I 11 have steeping at once. We shall want a 
 good fire, Mr. Lincoln." 
 
 "Anything that s necessary," he replied. " Let s 
 
SORROW. 115 
 
 be in a hurry, too " ; and he hastened to renew the 
 fire, while Abraham sat upon a stool near the foot 
 of the bed, looking the very picture of despair. He 
 was glad to see Mrs. Bruner there to render timely 
 assistance ; but the evident alarm of his father, and 
 the apparent anxiety of the good neighbor who had 
 responded so promptly to the call, served to make 
 him ask in silence, " Will she die ? " The thought 
 of losing his best earthly friend was appalling to 
 him. His young heart shuddered at the prospect. 
 
 The application of various remedies had the de 
 sired effect, and the patient was partially relieved in 
 the course of three or four hours. Still she was 
 very sick, and Mrs. Bruner was well aware of the 
 fact. The partial relief of her pain, however, caused 
 Abraham s face to light up with joy, and he rose 
 from his seat and drew nearer to his mother, who 
 looked up and said: " Come here, Abe." 
 
 He drew close to her side, rejoicing in her relief, 
 when she took his hand, and continued : " I m very 
 sick ; and if God shall call me to him, remember all 
 my lessons." 
 
 A shadow chased the light of joy from his beam 
 ing face. Could it be that she was expecting to 
 die ? Her words excited his fears again. 
 
 "God s will be done," she added, after an inter 
 val. " I am ready." 
 
 Abraham burst into tears at this, and Mrs. Bru 
 ner replied : " We know that. If you aiu t ready, 
 then I don t know who is." 
 
116 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " It s a great thing to be ready," continued Mrs. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Surely it is a great thing ; but I hope your time 
 ain t come yet." 
 
 " It s come, unless I get relief soon." 
 
 Abraham listened to this conversation, and his 
 heart was grieved wellnigh to bursting. There 
 could be no mistake now that his mother was 
 seriously ill. The fact could not be disguised. 
 
 " I would n t feel so, Abe," said Mrs. Bruner ; " I 
 hope your mother will get well." 
 
 " Yes, my dear boy, God knows what is best, and 
 he can take better care of you than I can, if I should 
 live." 
 
 Abraham scarcely believed the last remark ; for he 
 could not see how he could live without his mother. 
 Still he made no reply, as the deep sorrow of his 
 heart could not find words for utterance. He was 
 entering a new school now, and taking his first 
 lesson. 
 
 " I think you must go over to Mrs. Granger s, 
 Abe, and tell her how sick your mother is. Per 
 haps they can come over and do somethin for her. 
 
 " Shall I go now ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I would go right away. It may be that 
 We shall want some on em soon." 
 
 " Do you think mother will die ? " the boy in 
 quired, anxiously. They had passed outside the 
 cabin now. 
 
SORROW. 117 
 
 " She 9 s very sick," replied his father, " but I 
 hope for the best. She s more comfortable now, if 
 it only lasts." 
 
 Abraham s chin quivered again with emotion, and 
 he started off upon the run for Mr. Granger s. Just 
 then Mr. Bruner came to see if there was anything 
 that he could do for the family in their time of trial. 
 His warm heart prompted him to deeds of kindness, 
 and he was truly a friend in adversity. 
 
 Mrs. Lincoln continued very sick, though at the 
 end of a week she was thought to have improved 
 a little. By this time tidings of her sickness had 
 reached all her neighbors within ten or twelve miles, 
 and they had manifested great interest in her recov 
 ery, and tendered their best efforts to give her relief. 
 But after the expiration of a week, she grew worse, 
 and the slight hope that was entertained of her 
 restoration almost died away. 
 
 " My days are numbered," said Mrs. Lincoln, in 
 a feeble voice. " I feel that I m sinking." 
 
 " I m afraid you are," replied her husband. 
 " You can t go through much more." 
 
 " I know that God is calling me, and my house is 
 set in order. You must look above for strength." 
 
 " The only place to look," answered her husband, 
 witli much emotion. 
 
 " O yes ! and when I am gone, you 11 -have rea 
 son to look there more than ever, for the children s 
 sake. May the Lord keep them ! " 
 
118 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Just then Abraham came in, and his mother con 
 tinued : "You must not forget my counsels, Abo, 
 if God shall take me to himself. Don t neglect 
 the Bible, and serve and love God with all your 
 heart." 
 
 Abraham replied only by tears and so/bs. He 
 expected soon to be motherless. 
 
 " You must make the most of your time and 
 talents," she added, " and be prepared to follow 
 me. And you must be willing that I should die, 
 if God calls me." 
 
 " I can t be willing," said Abraham ; and another 
 burst of grief shook his frame. 
 
 u If it s God s will, you can. It s hard for me to 
 leave you; but I am reconciled to it: I know no will 
 but his " ; and she spoke in a feeble tone, as if 
 strength was fast failing her ; and then a brief, ear 
 nest prayer she lifted to Heaven for her dear boy, 
 as he stood by her, overwhelmed with sorrow. 
 
 Exhausted by these efforts, she sank into a deep 
 sleep for a short time, from which it would not 
 have been strange if she had never wakened. But 
 the end was not yet. 
 
 It was two or three weeks from this time before 
 she expired. Some days she would revive so as to 
 awaken a glimmer of hope in the hearts of loving 
 friends, and then she would fail again. And thus 
 she lingered until three days before she passed away, 
 when a change came over her, and she gradually 
 sank in death. Her end was peace. 
 
SORROW. 119 
 
 Her dying counsels to Abraham, like those cited, 
 were often reiterated in his ear, showing that her 
 intense anxiety for her boy continued to the latest 
 moment. And these interviews served to deepen 
 the impression of all the maternal lessons to which 
 he had ever listened. There is no doubt that this 
 great affliction garnered the choicest instructions 
 of his pious mother in his soul, and made them 
 more powerful for good thereafter. 
 
 " I ve no mother now," said Abraham to a neigh 
 bor, giving way to his grief in repeated sobs. 
 
 " And I am sorrjulbr you," said the neighbor ; 
 " no boy ever nad a better mother to lose." 
 
 " I know that," he replied ; " and that makes it 
 so hard to " Here he broke down completely, 
 and could not finish the sentence. 
 
 " But you 11 find friends all about you," added 
 the man, by way of convincing him that he would 
 not be alone. 
 
 " Not like her," was the boy s quick reply, in a 
 tone so mournful that it sent a chill to the neigh 
 bor s heart. 
 
 " No, not like her, t is true," repeated the neigh 
 bor, stroking Abraham s fine head affectionately ; 
 " but then " Here he was too much affected by 
 the boy s unfeigned grief to be able to proceed. 
 His utterance was choked. He knew that the lad 
 had experienced an irreparable loss, and he felt for 
 him deeply. 
 
120 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Preparations were made for the funeral, such as 
 the circumstances would allow. With no minister, 
 no sexton, no tolling bell, no bier, no graveyard, it 
 is not necessary to make much preparation for a 
 burial. A neighbor dug a grave on a piece of 
 ground selected by Mr. Lincoln. It was situated on 
 an eminence in the woods, about one fourth of a 
 mile from the cabin ; and it was really a pleasant 
 spot for the repose of the dead. The death of Mrs. 
 Lincoln was the first one that had occurred among 
 the families of that settlement, and of course no 
 other body had been laid in that consecrated 
 ground. The day that God caused a spot to be 
 selected for the dead was an era in the history of 
 that group of households. 
 
 The neighbor who dug the grave constructed a 
 rough box to answer for a coffin. The day and 
 hour for the funeral was appointed, and the neigh 
 bors within ten or twelve miles were notified of the 
 same. One pious friend was invited to. read the 
 Scriptures, and another to make a prayer. And so, 
 when the solemn hour of burial arrived, the pioneer 
 families assembled at the cabin, to pay their last sad 
 tribute of respect to all that was left of one they 
 loved. It was a solemn hour. A funeral in such 
 circumstances, upon the outskirts of civilization, is 
 always doubly solemn. The poverty and hardships 
 of pioneer life alone are sufficient to invest it with 
 the most melancholy interest. But in this case 
 
SORROW. 121 
 
 there was added the excellence of the deceased, who 
 had endeared herself to every acquaintance, and the 
 crushing sorrow of the family. Most of all, each 
 one felt for the wellnigh heart-broken Abraham, 
 who loved his mother with a love that knows no 
 bound. 
 
 The reader can scarcely imagine the sense of des 
 olation that pervaded Abraham s heart, as he re 
 turned motherless to his cabin home. It is dreary 
 enough to abide in a wilderness where privations 
 come without stint, but when the dearest object of 
 affection is removed by death, and that humble home 
 is robbed of its charm, no words can portray the 
 desolation that reigns. 
 
 "Not often that such a woman is laid in the 
 ground," said Bruner. 
 
 " Not often," was the reply of his good wife ; 
 " and I pity that boy so that I know not what to 
 do." 
 
 " He certainly deserves our pity : such boys are 
 not often found." 
 
 " No ; and with such a mother to teach him, there 
 is no tellin what he might make." 
 
 " Well, his mother has given him good lessons 
 enough, if he remembers them, to make a good man 
 of him." 
 
 " But boys soon forget the best lessons, you know ; 
 though Abe is more thoughtful than most boys are, 
 I think. He s allers willin to leave his plays to 
 
122 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 serve his father, though I don t s pose he s per 
 fect." 
 
 " Of course not ; his mother had to correct him 
 sometimes, and whip him too, so she told me ; but 
 lie s an uncommon boy, he takes to books so; I 
 never saw his like. There s nobody in Spencer 
 County that can read better than he can now, young 
 as he is." 
 
 " Poor boy ! I m sorry for him. He don t know 
 what a loss he s met with." 
 
 " I don t know about that," answered Mrs. Bru- 
 ner. " A boy that takes on as lie does knows the 
 wuth of a mother," and a sad, pitiful expression sat 
 on her countenance as she spoke. Her mother s 
 heart was touched by the thought of the little fel 
 low s affliction. 
 
 " Would that it might have been different," added 
 Mr. Bnmer, sorrowfully. He was a sympathetic 
 man, and his whole heart was moved by the grief 
 of this stricken family. 
 
 Nor was this feeling confined to the Bruner fam 
 ily. All the families within fifteen or twenty miles 
 around took a similar view of the bereavement. 
 The death cast a gloom upon the entire population 
 of that region. 
 
 That little mound upon the eminence in the woods 
 was a perpetual admonisher to Abraham. It was a 
 sacred, solemn spot to him. Often as he passed it, 
 or went thither on purpose to gaze upon it, the 
 
SORROW. 123 
 
 place where reposed the dust of his sainted mother, 
 his heart yielded itself to sorrow. The absence 
 of his maternal guide created a void in his soul, and 
 the sight of this lone, solitary grave was well suited 
 to perpetuate the sad experience. There is no doubt 
 that it exerted a salutary influence upon his heart, 
 and served to deepen that serious view of life and 
 its duties which characterized his manhood. It filled 
 many hours of liis child-years with grief, but then 
 there is a discipline in this even for the spirit of a 
 ooy. That mute, lonely grave in the woods was one 
 of his most faithful teachers. 
 
XI. 
 
 GOING UP HIGHEE. 
 
 IT was a great change that death wrought in the 
 Lincoln family, and no one felt it more than 
 Abraham. For some weeks his mind was absorbed 
 in his loss. Not even his accustomed habits of 
 study could avail to divert his thoughts from his 
 great sorrow. His father took notice of it, and 
 longed to afford him relief. At length he met with 
 a copy of the " Pilgrim s Progress," at the house of 
 an acquaintance, nearly twenty miles distant ; and 
 thinking that it would be a rich treat to Abraham, 
 and serve to cheer his lonely hours, lie obtained the 
 loan of the book. Carefully wrapping the volume, 
 he conveyed it home. 
 
 " Look here, Abe, I ve found somethin for you " ; 
 and he removed the covering, and exhibited the 
 book. 
 
 " Found it ! " exclaimed Abraham, supposing that 
 his father meant that he picked up the book in the 
 woods or fields. 
 
 " No, no ; you don t understand me. I meant 
 .that I come across it at Pierson s house, and I bor 
 rowed it for you." 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 125 
 
 " Pilgrim s Progress," said Abraham, taking the 
 book and reading the title ; " that will bo good, I 
 should think." Ho knew nothing about the book. 
 Hitherto his studies had been confined to Dilworth s 
 Spelling-Book, the Catechism, and the Bible. Large 
 portions of these volumes he had committed to 
 memory by frequent reading. 
 
 " I shall want to hear it," said his father. I 
 heard about that book many years ago, but I never 
 heard it read." 
 
 " What is it about ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " You 11 find that out by readin it," answered 
 his father. 
 
 " And I won t be long about it neither," contin 
 ued Abraham. " I know I shall like it." 
 
 " I know you will, too." 
 
 " I don t see how you know, if you never heard 
 it read." 
 
 " On account of what I ve heard about it." 
 
 And it turned out to be so. Abraham sat down 
 to read this volume very much as some other boys 
 would sit down to a good dinner. He found it bet 
 ter even than he expected. It was the first volume 
 that he was provided with after the spelling-book, 
 Catechism, and Bible, and a better one could not 
 have been found. He read it through once, and 
 was half-way through it a second time, when he 
 received a present of another volume, in which he 
 became deeply interested. It was jEsop s Fables, 
 
126 THE PIONEER BOY. - 
 
 presented to him by Mrs. Bruner, partly on account 
 of his love of books, and partly because she thought 
 it would serve to occupy his mind and lighten his 
 sorrow. 
 
 " You fare pretty well for a pioneer boy, Abe," 
 said his father, " as to books. I wish you could 
 learn to write." 
 
 " Time enough for that," answered the boy. "I 
 want to finish these books first." He was so ab 
 sorbed in the volumes that he cared little or noth- 
 ing for anything else for the time being. " I shall 
 never be tired of reading these." 
 
 " I hope you won t, nor forget their good lessons. 
 You ought to be very thankful to "Mother Bruner." 
 
 " I am, and I mean to do something to pay her 
 for it, if I can." 
 
 " What can you do ? " 
 
 " I don t know, but I guess there 11 be something 
 I can do for her." And the more he read ^Esop s 
 Fables, the more determined he was to show his 
 gratitude to her, by some act of friendly feeling. 
 He read them over and over until he could repeat 
 almost the entire contents of the volume. He was 
 interested in the moral lesson that each fable 
 taught, and derived therefrom many valuable hints 
 that he carried with him through life. On the 
 whole, he spent more time over ^Esop s Fables than 
 he did over Pilgrim s Progress, although he was 
 really charmed by the latter. But there was a prac- 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 127 
 
 tical turn to the Fables that interested him, and he 
 could easily recollect the stories. Perhaps this 
 early familiarity with this book laid the foundation 
 for that facility at apt story-telling that has distin 
 guished him from his youth. It is easy to see how 
 such a volume might beget and foster a taste in this 
 direction. Single volumes have moulded the read 
 er s character and decided his destiny more than 
 once, and that, too, when far less absorbing interest 
 is manifested in the book. It is probable, then, that 
 ^Esop s Fables exerted a decided influence upon 
 Abraham s character and life. The fact that he 
 read the volume so much as to commit the larger 
 part of it to memory adds force to this opinion. 
 
 It was while Abraham was engaged with these 
 two books that Dennis Hanks, who lived in the 
 vicinity, a young man nearly twenty years oj 
 age, called to see them. 
 
 " What books have you there, Abe ? " he inquired. 
 
 Abraham informed him, and added something by 
 way of expressing his interest in them. 
 
 " You like most any book," said Hanks, " ac 
 cording to what I hear and see." 
 
 " I like good ones like these," said Abraham. 
 
 " I have been tellin him that I want he should 
 learn to write," interrupted his father. " I can t 
 write myself, and I feel the need of it very often." 
 
 " I should think you would," added Hanks. " I 
 hardly know what I should do if I couldn t write." 
 
128 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Then you can write ? " said Mr. Lincoln, inquir 
 ingly. 
 
 " So as to read it myself ; I can t write very well, 
 though." 
 
 " Well, then, what s the reason you can t learn 
 Abe to write ? " 
 
 " I can, if he wants to do it." 
 
 " I want to do it," answered Abraham, without 
 waiting for his father to respond. 
 
 "And* he can get along with it himself, if he 
 knows how to make the letters," said his father. 
 " That s the way he s done with readin ." 
 
 " Well, Abe, when will you begin ? " inquired 
 Hanks. 
 
 " Right off, to-day, if you are ready," he re 
 plied. 
 
 " I can t attend to it to-day ; but I 11 undertake 
 it next week, if you say so." 
 
 "That ll do," answered Mr. Lincoln; "and I 
 shall expect that he 11 make a writer with such a 
 master " ; and the last words were uttered in a 
 strain of merriment. 
 
 " Of course he will," retorted Hanks. " If he 
 does as well as he does in other things, he 11 soon 
 learn all I know about writing." 
 
 " And what a good thing it will be to me ! " said 
 Mr. Lincoln. " I want to write a letter now, and 
 should if I knew how to do it. But Abe can write 
 for me when he learns how, and that will do as 
 well, won t it, Abe ? " 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 129 
 
 " I shall like it," he replied, " whether it will do 
 as well or not." 
 
 " Better wait, and see whether you can learn any 
 thing of me, before you reckon on writing letters," 
 said Hanks, who doubted whether much would re 
 sult from the attempt. 
 
 " Time will show," added Mr. Lincoln ; and 
 it did. 
 
 The time for Abraham to begin to take lessons 
 in penmanship arrived, and he commenced with the 
 most enthusiastic ardor. He could read well, and 
 now he wanted to write as well. Nor had he any 
 doubt that he was going to accomplish the object in 
 view. He was confident that, if he could learn to 
 form letters, he could make progress in the art. 
 
 Hanks was nearly as much interested in .the 
 matter as Abraham himself. He looked upon the 
 boy almost as a prodigy, and he was curious to see 
 whether he would do as well at writing as he did 
 with everything else that he undertook. He was 
 glad to have a hand in advancing one who exhibited 
 so great desire and taste for knowledge. He wanted 
 to see what he would make. He expected that he 
 would make an uncommon man, and he was re 
 joiced to add his mite towards accomplishing that 
 object. It was true that Hanks was a poor writer ; 
 but he knew how to form letters, and that much 
 information he could impart to another. 
 
 The lessons commenced. Abraham was awkward 
 
 6* I 
 
130 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 enough in the use of the pen at first ; but he soon 
 overcame this difficulty, and exhibited unusual judg- 
 nient for a boy in the formation of letters. When 
 he had learned how to form a letter, he practised 
 upon it in various ways. With a bit of chalk he 
 would cut them on pieces of slabs and on the 
 trunks of trees , and more than once the tops of 
 the stools in the cabin and the puncheon-table 
 served him in lieu of a writing-book. His father 
 was too poor to provide him with all the paper 
 necessary for his scribbling, and so he resorted to 
 these various expedients. The end of a charred 
 stick was used as a pencil sometimes to accomplish 
 his object, and it enabled him to cut letters witli 
 considerable facility. He was bent upon mastering 
 the art of writing, and no difficulties could discour 
 age him. He was determined to succeed ; and boys 
 of so much resolution do succeed generally in their 
 undertakings. 
 
 With his two new books, and learning to write, 
 his thoughts were too much absorbed in the matter 
 of improvement to pursue his accustomed manual 
 labors with interest. His father observed with what 
 devotion he was attending to his studies, and he 
 favored him somewhat. He was happy to witness 
 his rapid improvement. And yet lie thought the 
 boy was carrying the matter too far, and so he 
 called him to an account. 
 
 " Come, Abe, you must n t neglect your work. 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 131 
 
 If wo ain t pretty busy pulling blades, we shall get 
 all behindhand this fall." 
 
 " Let me finish this first," answered the boy ; " I 
 don t want to go now." 
 
 "I see you don t, and I am feared you re gettin 
 lazy. All study and no work is most as bad as all 
 work and no study." 
 
 " In a minute I 11 go." How many boys have 
 said the same over and over ! Abraham was not 
 accustomed to say this ; it was something new in 
 his case. He was usually prompt to obey, even to 
 leaving his plays. But his absorbing interest in his 
 books and writing caused him to hesitate now. 
 
 " It must be a short minute," answered his father, 
 rather pettishly. u We have more to do every day 
 now than we ought to do in two." 
 
 " I 11 work hard enough to make it up when I 
 get at it," said Abraham, still delaying. 
 
 u I don t know about that," responded Mr. Lin 
 coln ; " I m feared your thoughts will be some 
 where else ; so put down the book, and come on." 
 
 " Yes, in a minute." 
 
 . " Now, now, I say ! " exclaimed his father, in a 
 tone of authority that was not as mild as it might 
 have been. 
 
 Abraham closed the book reluctantly, and obeyed 
 because he must. It was not in a very pleasant 
 way that he proceeded to the field ; and yet he 
 went to work with a will. 
 
132 THE PIONEER EOT. 
 
 " Good boys always obey their parents," said 
 his father. " Don t have to drive them to it as 
 you do cattle." 
 
 " I only wanted to read a minute more," an 
 swered Abraham, as if to palliate his offence. 
 
 " And I only wanted you should n t ; and I 
 know what is best for you. I want you should 
 read and write ; but you must work when work 
 drives." 
 
 It was not often that he exhibited so much dis 
 obedience as he did in this case. But the temp 
 tation to read was too strong for him. 
 
 " I did n t mean to disobey," said Abraham. 
 
 " Well, I don t s pose you did," answered his 
 father, in a relenting tone, as if he thought that 
 he had been too severe in his censure. " When 
 the fall work is over, you 11 have a plenty of 
 time to read and write ; but now you must use 
 only your spare hours." 
 
 So Abraham was more careful for a time in re 
 spect to this matter. Hanks continued to come 
 to instruct him in penmanship, though by this 
 time he could write almost as well as his teacher. 
 
 " You get along bravely," said Hanks ; " ten 
 times as fast as I did." 
 
 " He don t think of much else," replied Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " That s the reason he gets along so well, I 
 reckon," continued Hanks. 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 133 
 
 u It may be so. But what s he goin to do in 
 the winter, when he has more time, and his books 
 are read, and he knows how to write ? He 11 
 find nothin to do then." 
 
 " I 11 risk him ; he 11 find enough to do, I 11 
 warrant," said Hanks, in reply. " By the way, 
 that new settler over towards the mills has got a 
 Life of Washington." 
 
 " What, Joslin, do you mean ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I was there the other day, and saw it." 
 
 " I d like to have Abe read it. Do you s pose 
 he d lend it ? " 
 
 " He offered to lend it to me. 19 
 
 " There, Abe," continued his father, " when we 
 get through the fall work, I 11 borrow that book 
 for you if I can, and you can afford to work 
 pretty hard for a spell if you can have that." 
 
 " So I can," was Abraham s reply. " I want 
 to read the life of Washington." His grandfather 
 lived when Washington was leading the American 
 army to victory, and Abraham had heard many 
 stories told by his father of those perilous times, 
 and Washington was always the hero of the day. 
 It was not surprising, then, that he had a strong 
 desire to read the book. 
 
 " If you see Joslin before I do," continued Mr. 
 Lincoln, addressing Hanks, " s pose you speak to 
 him about the book." 
 
 " I will. I shall see him next week or week 
 after." 
 
134 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Thus the matter was arranged about the book, 
 and Hanks went home. 
 
 It was not far from this time that a neighbor 
 came into the field where Abraham and his father 
 were harvesting the corn ; and his eye was at 
 tracted by some writing on the ground. 
 
 " What s that ? " he inquired. 
 
 Abraham smiled, and let his father answer. 
 
 " What s what ? " 
 
 " Why, this writing, it looks as if somebody 
 had been writing on the ground." 
 
 " Abe s work, I s pose. He s been learnin to 
 write." 
 
 " Abe did n t do that ! " answered the neighbor. 
 
 " I did do it with a stick," said Abe. 
 
 " What is it ? " The man could n t read. 
 
 " It s my name." 
 
 " Your name, hey ? Likely story." 
 
 " Well, tis, whether you believe it or not " ; and 
 he proceeded to spell it out, " A-B-R-A-H-A-M 
 L-I-N-C-O-L-N." 
 
 " Sure enough, it is ; and you certainly did it, 
 Abe?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and I will do it again, if you want to 
 see me " ; and, without waiting for an answer, he 
 caught up a stick, and wrote his name again in 
 the dirt. 
 
 " There t is," said Abraham. 
 
 " I see it, and it s well done," answered the 
 neighbor. 
 
GOING UP HIGHER. 135 
 
 And there, on the soil of Indiana, Abraham Lin 
 coln wrote his name, with a stick, in large charac 
 ters, a sort of prophetic act, that students of 
 history may love to ponder. For, since that day, 
 he has " gone up higher," and written his name, 
 by public acts, on the annals of every State in the 
 Union. 
 
 The manner in which Abraham made progress 
 in penmanship, writing on slabs and trees, on the 
 ground and in the snow, anywhere that he could find 
 a place, reminds us forcibly of Pascal, who demon 
 strated the first thirty-two propositions of Euclid in 
 his boyhood, without the aid of a teacher. Bent 
 upon gratifying his taste in this direction, he cov 
 ered the walls of his play-room with geometrical 
 figures, drawn with a piece of charcoal. The barn 
 door was sometimes his blackboard, and the ground 
 itself often served him a good purpose, in the absence 
 of something better. 
 
 In like manner David Wilkie, who became the 
 renowned portrait-painter, learned to wield a black 
 ened heather-stem with the skill of a veteran artist. 
 In the absence of brush and pencil, he would 
 snatch a half-burnt stick from the fire, and draw 
 capital portraits of friends upon the nursery walls 
 and other places. lie became so absorbed in ac 
 quiring the art, that no obstacles could deter him. 
 A piece of chalk, or a charred stick, and a board, 
 sufficed about as well as brush and canvas. 
 
136 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Thus boys who are destined to become men of 
 genius and power are wont to work their way up 
 higher by dint of perseverance. They do what they 
 undertake. They know no such word as fail. Suc 
 cess is their motto and rule of life. So it was with 
 Abraham. Hitherto we have seen that he mastered 
 every book put into his hand, and his subsequent 
 career we shall find to be equally distinguished in 
 this respect. As he acquired the art of writing with 
 the smallest facilities, so he made all those acquisi 
 tions that will appear in subsequent pages with the 
 poorest advantages. His pursuit of knowledge was 
 under difficulties indeed ! 
 
XII. 
 
 THE LETTEK AND VISITOE, 
 
 , Abe, you must write a letter for me to 
 Parson Elkins," said his father, some eight 
 or nine months after Mrs. Lincoln died, when Abra 
 ham had become a very good penman. 
 
 " What shall I write"? " he inquired. 
 
 " Write about the death of your mother. He 
 knows nothin about it yet ; and I want to ask him 
 to visit us, and preach a funeral sermon." 
 
 " When shall he come ? " 
 
 " When he can, I s pose. He 11 take his own 
 time for it ; though I hope he 11 come soon." 
 
 " Perhaps he s dead," added Abraham. 
 
 " What makes you think so ? " 
 
 " He s likely to die as mother, ain t he ? and he 
 may be dead when we don t know it, the same as 
 she s dead when he don t know it." 
 
 " Well, there s somethin in that," answered his 
 father, smiling at the aforesaid reason. " Come, 
 now, there s some paper all ready for it, and I 11 
 tell you what to write." 
 
 Abraham made ready to pen the letter, and his 
 
138 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 father proceeded to dictate the same. He directed 
 him to write about the death of Mrs. Lincoln, when 
 it occurred, and under what circumstances, and to 
 invite him to visit them, and preach a funeral ser 
 mon. He also gave a description of their new home, 
 and their journey thither, and wrote of their future 
 prospects. Nor did he fail to mention that he had 
 not regretted for a moment the exchange he made 
 of a Slave State for a Free State. 
 
 " Now read it over," said Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " The whole of it ? " 
 
 " Of course ; I want to hear it all. I may think 
 of somethin else by that time." 
 
 Abraham commenced to read it, while his father 
 sat the very picture of satisfaction. There was gen 
 uine happiness to him in having his son prepared to 
 write a letter. Never before had there been a mem 
 ber of his family who could perform this feat. It 
 was a memorable event to him. 
 
 " See how much it is wuth to be able to write," 
 said he, as Abraham finished reading the letter. 
 " It s wuth ten times as much as it cost to be able 
 to write only that one letter." 
 
 " It ain t much work to learn to write," said 
 Abraham; "I d work as hard again for it before 
 I d give it up." 
 
 " You d have to give it up, if you was knocked 
 about as I was when a boy." 
 
 " I know that." 
 
THE F I H S T I, E T T E K 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 139 
 
 " You don t know it as I do ; and I hope you 
 never will. But it s wuth more than the best 
 farm to know how to write a letter as well as 
 that." 
 
 " I shall write one better than that yet," said 
 Abraham. " But how long will it take for the 
 letter to go to Parson Elkins ? " 
 
 " That s more than I can tell ; but it will go 
 there some time, and I hope it will bring him 
 here." 
 
 " He won t want to come so far as this," said 
 Abraham. 
 
 " It ain t so far for him as it was for us." 
 
 " Why ain t it ? " 
 
 " Because he lives nearer the line of Indiana than 
 we did. It ain t more than seventy-five miles for 
 him to come, and he often rides as far as that." 
 
 The letter went on its errand, and Abraham was 
 impatient to learn the result. On the whole, it 
 was rather an important event in his young life, 
 the writing of that first letter. Was it strange 
 that he should query whether it would reach the 
 good minister to whom it was sent ? Would it be 
 strange if the writing of it proved one of the happy 
 influences that started him off upon a career of use 
 fulness and fame ? We shall see. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had much to say to his neighbors 
 about the letter that his son had written, and they 
 had much to say to him. It was considered re- 
 
140 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 markable for a boy of his age to do such a thing 
 Not one quarter of the adults in all that region 
 could write ; and this fact rendered the ability of 
 the boy in this regard all the more marvellous. 
 It was noised abroad, and the result was, that Abra 
 ham had frequent applications from the neighbors 
 to write letters for them. Nor was he indisposed 
 to gratify their wishes. One of his traits of char 
 acter was a generous disposition to assist others, 
 and it prompted him to yield to their wishes in 
 writing letters for them. Nor was it burdensome 
 to him, but the opposite. He delighted to do it. 
 And thus, as a consequence of his acquiring the 
 art of penmanship, far-distant and long-absent 
 friends of the pioneer families heard from their 
 loved ones. * 
 
 The letter brought the Parson. After the lapse 
 of about three months he came. The letter reached 
 him in Kentucky, after considerable delay, and lie 
 embraced the first opportunity to visit his old 
 friends. Abraham had almost concluded that his 
 letter was lost, as the favorite minister did not 
 come. But one day, when the lad was about two 
 miles from home, who should he see coming but 
 Parson Elkins, on his old bay horse ! He recog 
 nized him at once, and was delighted to see him. 
 
 " Why, Abe, is that you ? " exclaimed the Par 
 son. " Am I so near your home ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; did you get my letter ? " Abraham 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 141 
 
 thought of the memorable letter the first thing. He 
 had good evidence before him that the letter reached 
 its destination, but he would know certainly. 
 
 " Your letter ! " exclaimed Parson Elkins, inquir 
 ingly. " I got your father s letter." Abraham did 
 not stop to think that the letter went in his father s 
 name. 
 
 " I wrote it," he said. 
 
 " You wrote it ! Is that so ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; father can t write, you know." 
 
 " yes ; I do remember now that he could n t 
 write ; and so you did it ? And how did you learn 
 to write ? Not many boys that can write like that." 
 
 " Dennis showed me how, and that was the first 
 letter I ever wrote." 
 
 " Better still is that, the first one ? Well, you 
 need n t be ashamed of that." 
 
 They were advancing towards the cabin during 
 this conversation, Abraham running alongside of 
 the horse, and the Parson looking kindly upon him. 
 
 " There s our house ! " exclaimed Abraham, as 
 they came in sight of it. " We live there," point 
 ing with his finger. 
 
 " Ah ! that s a pleasant place to live. And 
 there s your father, I think, too." 
 
 " Yes, that s him. He 11 be glad to see you." 
 
 " And I shall be glad to see him." 
 
 By this time they came near Mr. Lincoln, who 
 recognized Parson Elkins, and gave him a most cor- 
 
142 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 dial greeting. He was really taken by surprise, 
 although he had not relinquished all expectation of 
 the Parson s coming. 
 
 " You find me in a lonely condition," said Mr. 
 Lincoln. " Death has made a great change in my 
 family." 
 
 " Very great indeed," responded Mr. Elkins. " 1 
 know how great your loss is ; but I trust that tho 
 Lord sustains you. 4 Whom the Lord loveth, he 
 chasteneth. " 
 
 " Yes ; and I ve wanted to see you more than 
 anybody else in this trial." 
 
 " And how did she die ? As she lived, I sup 
 pose ? " 
 
 " yes. She was as calm and happy in dying 
 as she had been in living." 
 
 " And your loss is her gain." 
 
 " I ve no doubt of that, not at all." 
 
 " Nobody can have any doubts of it." 
 
 " Now, let me say, that, while you are here, I 
 want you should preach a funeral sermon. You 
 know all about my wife. You will stay over next 
 Sunday, won t you ? " It was now Wednesday. 
 
 " Why, yes, I can stay as long as that, though 1 
 must be about my Master s work." 
 
 " You will be about your Master s work, if you 
 stay and preach a funeral sermon ; and it may do a 
 great sight of good." 
 
 " Very true ; and I shall be glad to stay ; for if 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 143 
 
 any one ever deserved a funeral sermon, it is your 
 wife. But where shall I preach it ? " 
 
 " At her grave. I ve had that arranged in my 
 mind for a long time ; and we 11 notify the peo 
 ple ; there will bo a large attendance. The people 
 thought a deal of her here." 
 
 It was arrranged that Mr. Elkins should preach 
 the funeral sermon at the grave of Mrs. Lincoln on. 
 the following Sabbath. Accordingly notice was sent 
 abroad to the distance of twelve or fifteen miles, and 
 a platform was erected near the grave. Every prep 
 aration was made for the solemn event. Although 
 a whole year had elapsed since Mrs. Lincoln died, 
 yet a sermon to her memory was no less interesting 
 to her surviving friends. 
 
 In the mean time, Mr. Elkins busied himself in 
 intercourse with the family ; and he visited some of 
 the neighbors, and conversed with them on spiritual 
 things. Abraham, too, received his special atten 
 tion. The boy had improved rapidly since he left 
 Kentucky, and his remarkable precocity was suited 
 to draw the attention of such a preacher. 
 
 " You ve found out what a pioneer boy is, I sup 
 pose, Abe," he said, alluding to his pleasant con 
 versation with him on the subject in Kentucky. 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the boy; "father was telling 
 Mr. Tuinham of it the other day," meaning that his 
 father spoke of Mr. Elkins s conversation with his 
 boy to the aforesaid neighbor. 
 
144 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Well, I trust you ve proved yourself a pretty 
 good one. You like to read and write, do you ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, the best of anything." 
 
 " Well, that hardly belongs to a pioneer boy. 
 Very few o^ them can read and write. Living in 
 the woods is not calculated to improve one in this 
 respect. It may be that you won t always live in 
 the woods, however." 
 
 " So father says ; but I don t see how we can live 
 anywhere else now." 
 
 " The Lord will provide a way perhaps. He took 
 Moses out of the river to lead the children of Is 
 rael." 
 
 " Moses lived in the king s palace, did n t he ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but he was n t born there." 
 
 "He went to school there," added Abraham. 
 
 " Ah ! " I see that you are familiar with the Bi 
 ble ; and this you owe to your blessed mother. 
 Dear soul ! Would that she could have lived to 
 teach and guide you up to manhood ! " 
 
 Abraham s eye grew tearful at these words ; for 
 they revived the memory of his excellent mother. 
 
 The Sabbath arrived, a bright, beautiful day. 
 From a distance of twelve or fifteen miles, the set 
 tiers came to listen to the sermon. Entire families 
 assembled, parents and children, from the oldest to 
 the youngest. Hoary age and helpless childhood 
 were there. They came in carts, on horseback, and 
 on foot, any way to get there. As they had preach- 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 145 
 
 ing only when one of these pioneer preachers visited 
 that vicinity, it was a treat to most of the inhab 
 itants, and they manifested their interest by a gen 
 eral turn-out. The present occasion, however, was 
 an unusual one, as the funeral sermon of Mrs. Lin 
 coln was to be preached. 
 
 Parson Elkins was an earnest man, and the occa 
 sion inspired him with unusual fervor. None of the 
 people had ever listened to him before, except the 
 Lincoln family, and they were delighted with his 
 services. His tribute to the memory of Mrs. Lin 
 coln was considered just and excellent. None 
 thought that too much was said in her praise. On 
 the other hand, the general feeling was, rather, as 
 one of the number expressed it, that, " say what he 
 might in praise of her, he could n t say too much." 
 
 Abraham was deeply Interested in the sermon, 
 and it brought all of his mother s tenderness and 
 love afresh to his mind. To him it was almost like 
 attending her funeral over again. Her silent dust 
 was within a few feet of him, and vivid recollection 
 of her exceeding worth was in his heart. Was it 
 strange that tears came unbidden to his eye ? that 
 his heart heaved with emotion that he vainly strove 
 to conceal ? No ! A boy of such filial love, and 
 noble, generous nature, could not suppress the deep 
 feelings of his heart. 
 
 He drank in the sentiments of the discourse, too. 
 He usually did this, as he was accustomed to think 
 
146 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 for himself. Often he criticised the sermons to 
 which he listened, much to the amusement of those 
 with whom he conversed. He sometimes called in 
 question the doctrines preached. This was one of 
 the things in which his precocity appeared. It was 
 at this point that his mental activity and power was 
 often seen. But the sentiments of the aforesaid 
 funeral sermon especially impressed his mind. 
 
 " Don t the Bible say that the body returns to 
 dust ? " he inquired, on that Sabbath evening, as he 
 sat thoughtfully in the cabin. His inquiry was ad 
 dressed to his father, though Mr. Elkins was present. 
 
 " Yes ; and the soul to God who gave it," an 
 swered his father. 
 
 " Then how can the body rise ? " The preacher 
 had represented his sainted mother s body as rising 
 from that solitary spot on the resurrection morn. 
 
 " Mr. Elkins will tell you that," his father replied. 
 
 Abraham looked towards the preacher for an an 
 swer. 
 
 " That s worth thinking of," said Mr. Elkins ; 
 " and I m glad to see that you think about these 
 things. Many boys let it go into one ear and out 
 of the other. You don t see how the body that 
 returns to dust can rise ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; if it turns to dust, it ain t a body any 
 more." 
 
 " But God can bring together every particle of 
 that body again, if he chooses, and make it rise, 
 can t he ? " 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 147 
 
 " How ? " was Abraham s only answer. He could 
 not understand it. 
 
 " That s more than I can tell ; but all things are 
 possible with God ; and the Bible says that the body 
 will rise at the last day, and we ought to believe it, 
 should n t we ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, if the Bible says so." Abraham could 
 not question the truth of the Bible after the mater 
 nal lessons he had enjoyed. 
 
 " We can t fully understand everything that is 
 true," continued the preacher. " I don t know 
 how the grass grows, but it grows for all that." 
 
 Abraham looked puzzled. He was a very inquisi 
 tive boy, and was always putting questions abaut 
 the reason of things. He wanted to understand 
 everything to which he gave his attention. For this 
 reason, as we shall see, he mastered every study to 
 which he attended, whether he had a teacher or not. 
 This desire to know why things are so and so is the 
 secret of success to men who make their mark. It 
 serves to make them think and investigate. It was 
 so with Abraham, and he did not like to dispose of 
 any subject by saying that it could not be under 
 stood. Hence he looked perplexed and unsatisfied. 
 
 This is but one instance of his precocious inqui 
 ries upon difficult subjects. Many might be cited, 
 showing that his active brain busied itself upon sub 
 jects that were pressed upon his attention. In his 
 reading the same thing was manifest. He talked 
 
148 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 about the subject-matter of the books he read, criti 
 cised them, and expressed his views freely. From 
 the time he read Pilgrim s Progress to his manhood, 
 this was true of him. In this respect he was unlike 
 most boys, who are superficial in their views of 
 things. They read, and that is the end of it. They 
 think no more about it, at least, they do not in 
 quire into the ivhy and wherefore of matters stated ; 
 and so the habit of sliding over things loosely is 
 formed. They do not think for themselves. They 
 accept things as true, because others say they are 
 true. They are satisfied with knowing that things 
 are, without asking why they are. But Abraham 
 was not so. He thought, reflected ; and this devel 
 oped his mental powers faster than even school could 
 do it. 
 
 The reader should understand more about these 
 pioneer preachers, in order to appreciate the influ 
 ences that formed Abraham s character, and there 
 fore we will stop here to give some account of them. 
 
 They were not generally men of learning and 
 culture, though some of them were men of talents. 
 Few, if any of them, were ever in college, and 
 some of them were never in school. But they had 
 a call to preach, as they believed, and good and 
 true hearts for doing it. Many of them preached 
 almost every day, travelling from place to place on 
 horseback, studying their sermons in the saddle, 
 and carrying about with them all the library they 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 149 
 
 had in their saddle-bags. They stopped where 
 night overtook them, and it was sometimes miles 
 away from any human habitation, with no bed but 
 the earth, and no covering but the canopy of 
 heaven. They labored without a salary, and were 
 often poorly clothed and scantily fed, being con 
 strained to preach by the love of Christ. The fol 
 lowing account of two pioneer preachers, by Milburn, 
 will give the reader a better idea of this class of 
 useful men than any description of ours, and it will 
 be read with interest. 
 
 " One of these preachers, who travelled all through 
 the Northwestern Territory, a tall, slender, grace 
 ful man, with a winning countenance and kindly 
 eye, greatly beloved by all to whom he ministered, 
 was presented by a large landholder with a title-deed 
 of three hundred and twenty acres. The preacher 
 was extremely poor, and there had been many times 
 when he received scarcely enough support to keep 
 soul and body together. Yet he labored on, and 
 did much good. He seemed pleased with his pres 
 ent of land, and went on his way with a grateful 
 heart. But in three months he returned, and met 
 his benefactor at the door, saying, Here, sir, I 
 want to give you back your title-deed. 
 
 " What s the matter ? said his friend, surprised. 
 * Any flaw in it ? 
 
 " No. 
 
150 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Is n t it good land ? 
 
 " Good as any in the State. 
 
 " < Sickly situation ? 
 
 " * Healthy as any other. 
 
 " * Do you think I repent my gift ? 
 
 " l I have n t the slightest reason to doubt your 
 generosity. 
 
 " Why don t you keep it, then ? 
 
 " < Well, sir, said the preacher, you know I am 
 very fond of singing, and there s one hymn in my 
 book the singing of which is one of the greatest 
 comforts of my life. I have not been able to sing 
 it with my whole heart since I was here. A part 
 of it runs in this way : 
 
 "No foot of land do I possess, 
 No cottage in the wilderness; 
 A poor wayfaring man, 
 I lodge awhile in tents below, 
 And gladly wander to and fro, 
 Till I my Canaan gain; 
 There is my house and portion fair 
 My treasure and my heart are there, 
 And my abiding home." 
 
 " Take your title-deed, he added ; * I had rather 
 sing that hymn with a clear conscience than own 
 America. 
 
 " There was another preacher of the pioneer class 
 so intent upon his work that hunger and nakedness 
 did not affright him. He was more scholarly than 
 most of the preachers around him, and often sat up 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 151 
 
 half the night, at the cabins of the hunters wnere 
 he stopped, to study. These cabins were about 
 twelve by fourteen feet, and furnished accommoda 
 tions for the family, sometimes numbering ten or 
 twelve children ; and, as the forests abounded in 
 4 varmints , the hens and chickens were taken in for 
 safe keeping. Here, after the family retired, he 
 would light a pine knot, stick it up in one corner 
 of the huge fireplace, lay himself down on the flat 
 of his stomach in the ashes/ and study till far into 
 the night. 
 
 " Many a time was the bare, bleak mountain-side 
 his bed, the wolves yelling a horrid chorus in his 
 ears. Sometimes he was fortunate enough to find 
 a hollow log, within whose cavity he inserted his 
 body, and found it a good protection from the rain 
 or frost. 
 
 " Once, seated at the puncheon dinner-table with 
 a hunter s family, the party is startled by affrighted 
 screams from the door-yard. Rushing out, they be 
 hold a great wildcat bearing off the youngest child. 
 Seizing a rifle from the pegs over the door, the 
 preacher raises it to his shoulder, casts a rapid 
 glance along the barrel, and delivers his fire. The 
 aim has been unerring, but too late, the child 
 is dead, already destroyed by the fierce animal. 
 
 " That same year he had a hand-to-hand fight 
 with a bear, from which conflict he came forth 
 victor, his knife entering the vitals of the crea- 
 
152 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 ture just as he was about to be enfolded in the 
 fatal hug. 
 
 " Often he emerged from the wintry stream, his 
 garments glittering in the clear, cold sunlight, as 
 if they had been. of burnished steel armor, chill as 
 the touch of death. During that twelvemonth, in 
 the midst of such scenes, he travelled on foot and 
 horseback four thousand miles, preached four hun 
 dred times, and found, on casting up the receipts, 
 yarn socks, woollen vests, cotton shirts, and a 
 little silver change, that his salary amounted to 
 twelve dollars and ten cents. 
 
 " Yet he persevered, grew in knowledge and in 
 fluence, became a doctor of divinity, and finally 
 was made president of a university. He is known 
 on the page of history as Henry Bidleman Bascom." 
 
 Such were the pioneer preachers of the West ; 
 of simple-hearted piety, lofty faith, a fiery zeal, un 
 wavering fortitude, and a practical turn of mind, 
 through which they did a great work for God. 
 
 We have made this digression from the thread 
 of our story, to show what influences of the min 
 istry were thrown around Abraham s early life. It 
 is true the preachers to whom he listened were 
 not " circuit-riders, * as travelling preachers were 
 called. They were Baptist ministers, who lived 
 within twenty miles, and who occasionally preached 
 in that neighborhood. During the first few years 
 
THE LETTER AND VISITOR. 153 
 
 of Abraham s residence in Indiana, there was one 
 Jeremiah Cash who sometimes preached in the 
 vicinity, and the young listener became much inter 
 ested in him. A few years later, two others came 
 to that section of country to live. Their names 
 were John Richardson and Young Lamar. One of 
 them dwelt seven or eight miles from Abraham s 
 home on the north, and the other eight or ten miles 
 to the south ; and both of them were wont to preach 
 at Mr. Lincoln s cabin, and at other cabins, as they 
 had opportunity. Sometimes they preached in the 
 open air, as Mr. Elkins did the funeral sermon. 
 This was always the case when more people at 
 tended than could crowd into a log-house. 
 
 Such was all the pulpit influence that reached 
 the boyhood and youth of Abraham. Yet it left in 
 delible impressions upon his mind. Though it was 
 small and inconstant, apparently, in comparison 
 with the pulpit advantages that boys enjoy at the 
 present day, it imbued his soul with sentiments that 
 were never obliterated. He was much indebted to 
 the unpolished eloquence of those pioneer preachers, 
 whose sterling piety caused them to proclaim the 
 truth with fidelity and earnestness. This was one 
 of the few influences that contributed to make him 
 a remarkable man. 
 
 7* 
 
XIII. 
 
 AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 
 
 NEAKLY a year more passed. The sermon by 
 Parson Elkins had ceased to be a theme of 
 conversation among the settlers. Abraham had 
 continued to assist his father, and devote his leisure 
 moments to reading and writing. Time that other 
 boys would spend in play he employed in poring 
 over books. If he had no new ones to peruse, he 
 read his old ones. 
 
 In the mean time, also, his father married Mrs. 
 Sally Johnston, of Elizabeth town, Kentucky. It was 
 an event of great joy to Abraham, and he gave his 
 step-mother a most cordial welcome. The thought 
 of having the place of his departed mother filled in 
 the family was the source of real pleasure to him. 
 The long period of loneliness that had elapsed since 
 his rnother -s death served to make him doubly 
 value the presence of one who would fill her place 
 well. He did not receive her as a stranger. He did 
 not cherish the least suspicion that she would prove 
 otherwise tkan a loving parent. He gave her his 
 confidence at once, and she bestowed upon him such 
 
AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 155 
 
 care and tender regard as only a thoughtful, pious, 
 faithful mother would. A mutual good understand 
 ing and affection sprang up between them, and it 
 was never interrupted. Abraham obeyed her with 
 a true filial love, and she still survives to bear wit 
 ness to his obedience, diligence, and truthfulness. 
 He gave her just the place in his young heart that 
 his own mother occupied, and he was made happy 
 by this honorable course. Nor did he ever have 
 occasion to repent of his acts in this respect, for she 
 proved a worthy successor of her who had rested 
 nearly two years from her labors. "We shall know 
 her in future pages only as his mother. 
 
 Boys are apt to take advantage of such circum 
 stances, and claim greater liberties with step-mothers 
 than they did with the mothers who bore them. 
 Often they are less affectionate and obedient, and 
 disposed to have their own way, as if a mother-in- 
 law had less right to control them. But it was not 
 so with Abraham. He received her as a mother, and 
 loved and obeyed her as such. He was not more 
 respectful to his own mother than he was to her. 
 
 His new mother saw at once that he was no com 
 mon boy. She was struck with his intelligence, 
 knowledge, and uprightness. She had never seen 
 his like. Of course she could scarcely help being 
 deeply interested in his welfare. 
 
 About this time, among the families that came 
 into that region to settle, was that of Mr. Andrew 
 
156 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Crawford. He was a man of more culture than 
 most of the settlers, and was able to teach reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic as far as the Rule of Three. 
 His abilities becoming known, Mr. Lincoln urged 
 him to open a school in his cabin, and promised to 
 send Abraham, to which the man assented. 
 
 " Another chance for you to go to school," said 
 Mr. Lincoln to his son, on returning home. 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " That man Crawford, who moved in a little while 
 ago, will begin school in a week." 
 
 " Have you seen him ? " inquired Abraham. 
 
 " Yes, and he knows a great sight more than 
 Hazel. He can learn you to cipher." 
 
 " He can ? " and Abraham s reply indicated that 
 he scarcely expected to see a man in that vicinity 
 who could teach arithmetic. 
 
 " I can spare you some time now, and it will be 
 a good chance for you to learn to cipher." 
 
 " When will he begin school ? " 
 
 " Next week, no doubt ; and two miles will be 
 just far enough for you to walk to keep your legs 
 limber." 
 
 " What shall I do for a book to cipher out of ? " 
 
 " As to that, I can find one somewhere. I shall 
 go to market before the week is out, and I ll see 
 what I can find among the settlers there or on the 
 way. I must have you study rithmetic somehow." 
 
 " A fine opportunity, Abe, for you to improve," 
 
AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 157 
 
 added his mother, who liked the plan of his going to 
 school. " I think you will like Mr. Crawford. He 
 appears to be a nice man." 
 
 " That s so," said his father ; " I like Mr. Craw 
 ford much, what I ve seen of him. It s a real 
 blessin to have such a man come here to live." 
 
 " Who else will go to school ? " inquired Abra 
 ham. 
 
 " There 11 be as many as he wants. Mr. Turn- 
 ham s boy will go, and Mr. Neale s girl, no doubt. 
 Most all of the children can be spared now for a 
 while." 
 
 " But some of em can t go, because they are too 
 poor." 
 
 " That may be ; but most on em can go if they re 
 a mind to." 
 
 Thus the way was opened for Abraham to attend 
 school again, and preparations were made for the 
 event. A new suit of clothes was made for him, as 
 his old suit had become worn and ragged. It was 
 not made of broadcloth or cassimere, as boys 
 clothes are now, but of " dressed buckskin," a very 
 durable article. What it lacked in beauty was 
 made up in strength. His father found an old 
 arithmetic, and purchased it for him. Also a new 
 cap was made for him out of a raccoon-skin. At 
 that day men and boys wore straw hats in summer 
 and fur caps in winter. Mothers could easily pro 
 vide their boys with fur caps, since the skins of aiii- 
 
158 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 inals could always be easily obtained. Tims pre 
 pared, Abraham went to Mr. Crawford s school. 
 
 One Monday morning, as the scholars assembled, 
 and were having a frolic before school-hour, their 
 conversation turned upon a sermon they heard 
 Jeremiah Cash preach on the day before. 
 
 " I liked the sermon the best of any I ever heard 
 him preach," said Abraham. It was from the text, 
 " So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into 
 the sea ; and the sea ceased from her raging." 
 (Jonah i. 15.) 
 
 " He put it on to Jonah," said David Turnham, 
 with a laugh. 
 
 " And everybody else who don t do right," an 
 swered Abraham. " I can say half of his sermon 
 now." 
 
 " You can t," replied David. 
 
 "I know I can, and if you don t believe it, I ll 
 try." 
 
 " Try, then," added David. " Get on that stump, 
 and let us have a preach," and he pointed to a 
 large stump a rod distant. 
 
 " You think I can t do it," continued Abraham ; 
 " but I 11 let you know iliat I can." So he 
 mounted the stump and began the sermon. He 
 gave the text, and proceeded to expound the truth, 
 much to the merriment of the boys. He repeated 
 the several heads correctly, and actually rehearsed 
 a good part of the sermon. 
 
AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 159 
 
 " Well done, Abe ! " exclaimed one of the boys ; 
 " that s what nobody else can do. You can preach 
 it next Sunday, if you re a mind to." 
 
 " I 11 come and hear you," said David. 
 
 " And so will I," added another. 
 
 " And I too," still another. 
 
 After this, Abraham often repeated portions of 
 sermons to which he had listened, just to gratify 
 his companions. He possessed a retentive memory, 
 and, what was better, he was a very close listener. 
 An active mind like his is likely to appropriate 
 what it hears, especially when its thirst for knowl 
 edge is so great. His habit of close attention had 
 quite as much to do with his ability to repeat por 
 tions of sermons as his retentive memory. The 
 young are too apt to be listless, inattentive in the 
 house of God. They recollect little of the sermons 
 they hear, because they do not give heed thereto. 
 Let them listen as Abraham did, and become ab 
 sorbed in the sermon, and they will be able to 
 appropriate much of what they hear. 
 
 Mr. Crawford, from the door of his cabin, heari 
 Abraham in the above effort, and he was truly sur 
 prised. He had seen enough of the lad before to 
 become impressed with his abilities, but this boyish 
 act won his admiration. He thought it was re 
 markable. He had never seen a boy who could do 
 that before. He did not think that another boy 
 could do it as well. 
 
160 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Chalmers carried this matter 
 further still in his boyhood. He would not only 
 repeat portions of sermons to which he listened in 
 the presence of his mates, but he would even select 
 a text, and discourse from it when standing in a 
 chair. He was not more than nine years of age 
 when he did this. 
 
 One of the most distinguished of English states 
 men was still more remarkable in his boyhood for 
 the ability to rep eat sermons that he heard. At 
 eight years of age, his father would stand him upon 
 the table, and require him to repeat the sermon that 
 he heard on the day before, and he would do it with 
 considerable accuracy. 
 
 It is interesting to note what similarity in such 
 things there is among the men who have made their 
 mark in the world. Whatever calling of life they 
 have chosen, there are certain elements of success 
 that are traceable even back to their childhood. 
 
 But we were to speak of the school. Some eight 
 or ten children attended, and Abraham gave special 
 attention to arithmetic. He did not neglect read 
 ing and writing, but continued to attend to those 
 branches. His whole lie art was in his school, and 
 his advancement was rapid. 
 
 " Abe is a wonderful boy," said Crawford to Mr. 
 Lincoln one day. " He is never satisfied without 
 knowing all about his lessons." 
 
 " He has been so all his days," replied his father. 
 
AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 1G1 
 
 " He wants to know everything that anybody else 
 does, and he don t see why he can t." 
 
 " That s it. I ve been surprised to see what 
 pluck he has to master a lesson." 
 
 " As to that, he s just so about everything else. 
 He does what I set him about, if it s ever so 
 hard." 
 
 " I don t doubt it," continued Crawford. " I was 
 pleased yesterday to see him work out a sum. He 
 could n t do it for a long time, and he asked me one 
 or two questions about it, and I answered him, and 
 then let him work. He tugged away at it until he 
 mastered it, and a happier boy I never saw." 
 
 " He told me about it last night, for he studies 
 his arithmetic every night, and would rather keep at 
 it than to go to bed, generally." 
 
 " What a boy ! " continued Mr. Crawford. " He 
 ought to have a better chance than a backwoods life 
 can afford him. And he seems to be as good as he 
 is bright." 
 
 " Yes ; he s a very good boy. We can t expect 
 boys will do everything right, you know ; but he s 
 good to mind, generally. His mother thinks there 
 never was such a boy, to obey her." And this last 
 testimony was a confirmation of what we have said 
 of his filial love and obedience. 
 
 " I was struck with his honesty the other day," 
 added Mr. Crawford. " I saw that a buck s horn, 
 that was nailed up on the back side of our house, 
 
 K 
 
162 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 was broken off, and I concluded that some of the 
 boys did it. So I asked them the next day, when 
 they had all got still, who of them broke it, and Abe 
 answered promptly, " I did it." 
 
 " Just like him," said his father. 
 
 " I said, how happened that, Abe ? " 
 
 " I did n t mean to do it," he replied. " I hung 
 on it, and it broke. I should n t have done it if I 
 had thought it would break." 
 
 " I dare say he spoke the truth," said his father. 
 
 " I have no doubt of it ; but few boys would own 
 up like that. Most boys would try to conceal what 
 they had done, and would n t own it till they were 
 obliged to." 
 
 " That s so ; and I Ve thought that it might be 
 owing a little to the Life of Washington that he 
 read some time ago. He seemed to think a sight 
 of his owning up that he cut the cherry- tree with his 
 new hatchet ; and he spoke of it ever so many 
 times." 
 
 " Well, this was certainly like that," said Mr. 
 Crawford ; " and I took occasion to say that it was 
 a noble trait to confess a wrong that was done, 
 instead of trying to conceal it." 
 
 " He never was disposed to conceal his wrong 
 doings. He takes all the blame to himself, and 
 don t try to put it on to anybody else." 
 
 " I should think so ; and such truthfulness is 
 worthy of all praise," said Mr. Crawford. 
 
AT SCHOOL AGAIN. 163 
 
 Whatever Mr. Lincoln may have thought about 
 the Life of Washington influencing his boy, there 
 can be no doubt that such an exhibition of character 
 as the above was the fruit of maternal instruction. 
 The reader will remember those Sabbath lessons of 
 which we spoke, when the Bible was made the text 
 book at the fireside, and the ninth commandment 
 was impressed upon the mind of Abraham with 
 seriousness. That was the time, doubtless, when 
 truthfulness as a principle of action was rooted in 
 his soul. 
 
 One day, on returning from school, his father 
 said to him : " I ve seen Mr. Wood to-day, and 
 ho wants you should write a letter for him to 
 send way off to Massachusetts. He J s got friends 
 there." 
 
 " When ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " To-night he 11 be over here, and tell you what 
 he wants to have you write." 
 
 " Then I 11 study my arithmetic before he comes. 
 It s real hard now." 
 
 " So much the better, if you can master it." 
 
 " So Mr. Crawford says." 
 
 " Yes ; I know what he thinks, for I have talked 
 with him about it. He knows what is best for you 
 and all the rest of the boys. But you must go at 
 your lesson, if you mean to study before Mr. Wood 
 comes." 
 
 Winter had now set in, and the cold was quite 
 
164 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 severe. An extra fire was made up for the evening 
 by piling on huge logs. The reader will recollect 
 that we said lamps were out of the question with the 
 poor settlers. Nor were they needed, since a large 
 fire of logs, four feet in length, would light up the 
 cabin better than a dozen lamps. On the evening 
 in question the log-house was filled with a blaze of 
 light from the fire, to enable Abraham to write the 
 aforesaid letter with ease. 
 
 Thus his acquisitions were brought into use at 
 once, particularly his skill in the art of penmanship. 
 As we have said before, he wrote letters for the 
 neighborhood. He became the scribe of a number 
 of families, and made himself extremely useful. 
 He received his own reward, too, in the facility 
 which it afforded him to express his thoughts in 
 after years. Says another of him, in this particu 
 lar : " That he was selected for this purpose was 
 doubtless owing not more to his proficiency in writ 
 ing than to his ability to express the wishes and 
 feelings of those for whom he wrote in clear and 
 forcible language, and to that obliging disposition 
 that has always distinguished him in subsequent 
 life. It cannot be doubted that something of Mr. 
 Lincoln s style and facility of composition in later 
 years, both as a writer and speaker, is to be traced 
 back to these earlier efforts as an amanuensis for 
 the neighborhood." 
 
XIV. 
 
 STILL AT SCHOOL, 
 
 ~\7"OU LL keep on at school," said Mr. Lincoln 
 
 JL to him. "I ve seen Mr. Crawford, and 
 you 11 go awhile longer." He had been to school 
 eight or ten weeks at that time. 
 
 " I m glad of that," said Abraham ; " I want to 
 keep on with my arithmetic, and Mr. Crawford 
 wants to have me." 
 
 " Well, the matter is fixed, and you 11 go. In 
 the spring I shall want your help, and then you 11 
 have to stop." 
 
 " How long will it be before that ? " 
 
 " Only a few weeks, and you must make the most 
 of it." 
 
 " Perhaps this will be your last opportunity," said 
 his mother, who stood by. 
 
 " More n as likely as not," added his father. 
 " And you 11 soon know as much about rithmetic 
 as Mr. Crawford ; and as to writin and readin , I 
 s pose you re as well off as he is now." 
 
 " But, Abe, I want you should go to Mr. Neale s 
 for me to-morrow morning, before you go to school," 
 said his mother. 
 
166 THE PIOXEER BOY 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " I 11 tell you when you get ready to go. I 
 sha n t want you to go if it rains. It looks some 
 like raining." 
 
 " We boys were going to school early to-morrow, 
 to have a play, * he said, thus intimating that going 
 upon an errand for her would interfere essentially 
 with his plans. 
 
 " You will have times enough for play." 
 
 " Yes ; but to-morrow morning we agreed to all 
 come early to school,, and the boys will all go." 
 
 " Well, you can go if you want to very much. I 
 suppose that your play is more important than my 
 business " ; and this was said in a tone that indi 
 cated rebuke. Abraham received it in that light. 
 
 " No it ain t, mother," he said. " I shall go to 
 Mr. Neale s for you, whether I play any or not." 
 
 "But the boys will be disappointed, you say?" 
 and her tone indicated her meaning. 
 
 " That s no matter. I shall do what you want 
 to have me first, whether they like it or not, I shall 
 go to Mr. Neale s for you in the morning." This 
 was said with cheerfulness, as if he did not regret 
 leaving his sports to obey his mother, nor was it a 
 solitary instance. It was not uncommon for him to 
 forego personal pleasure to gratify his parents. He 
 was reared to do this. It was a part of that domes 
 tic culture to which he was subjected from his 
 youth. He did it as a matter of course. He sel- 
 
STILL AT SCHOOL. 167 
 
 dom manifested any of that sulkiness and rebellious 
 spirit that is so common among boys when required 
 to lay aside their plays for work. The command of 
 his parents was high authority to him. 
 
 The morning dawned, and the errand was per 
 formed before going to school. As it turned out, 
 however, he reached Mr. Crawford s house as soon 
 as David Turnham, whom he overtook on his way. 
 Obedience had not put him behindhand. It made 
 him a little smarter than usual, so that he accom 
 plished much in a little time. This is usually the 
 case, as many facts prove. 
 
 " Hallo, David ! I thought I should be the last one 
 there," exclaimed Abraham, as he came in sight of 
 his playmate. 
 
 " If you was the last one there, it would be the 
 first time," was David s reply. " You are always 
 on hand." And that was true. He was generally 
 punctual on all occasions. 
 
 " I had to go to Mr. Neale s first this morning, or 
 I should have been along before." 
 
 " We are soon enough now." 
 
 " What are the boys up to there ? " asked Abra 
 ham, looking up as they drew near Mr. Crawford s, 
 and seeing the scholars huddled together, as if in 
 tent on something. 
 
 " Sure enough ! " was all David replied. 
 
 Coming up to the boys, they found a toad in the 
 circle, with which they were amusing themselves. 
 
168 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Don t," exclaimed Abraham, as one of the boys 
 poked him with a stick. 
 
 " Don t what ? " answered the lad, as with a 
 punch he knocked the toad over. 
 
 " Don t treat him so," said Abraham. " How 
 would you like to be poked about with a stick like 
 that ? " 
 
 " Try it, and see." 
 
 " Well, it is cruel to treat him so," added Abra 
 ham. 
 
 " Why, it s nothin but a toad." 
 
 " Don t toads have feeling ? " asked Abraham. 
 
 " I don t know whether they do or not," answered 
 the boy, giving the animal another thrust. 
 
 " You sha n t do so," said Abraham, taking hold 
 of the boy s arm. 
 
 "You re a chicken-hearted feller, Abe, as ever 
 lived. I should think the toad was your brother." 
 
 " Whether it is or not, there s no use in abusing 
 it." 
 
 " That s it," said David, who stood looking on ; 
 " I go in for Abe. He would n t hurt a fly." 
 
 "He would if he trod on one," answered one of 
 the number. 
 
 "He wouldn t tread on one a purpose," said Da 
 vid. A very true remark, for Abraham was known 
 for his tenderness to animals. He could kill game 
 for food as a necessity, and dangerous wild animals, 
 but his soul shrunk from torturing even a fly. 
 
STILL AT SCHOOL. 1G9 
 
 Mr. Crawford had witnessed a part of this scene 
 from his cabin, and he came out at this stage of the 
 affair, and rebuked the cruelty of the boys who were 
 torturing the toad, while he commended Abraham 
 for his tenderness. It was an additional act to 
 exalt the latter in his estimation. 
 
 " We are coming to the Rule of Three now," 
 said Mr. Crawford to Abraham, " and that will be 
 all you can learn of me." 
 
 " Is it hard ? " asked the boy. 
 
 " It won t be for you. I think you can get through 
 it by the time your father wants you this spring." 
 
 " Why is it called the Rule of Three ? " 
 
 "I hardly know. Some call it Simple Propor 
 tion, and that is the true name for it. You will see 
 a reason for it, too, when you come to master it." 
 
 " What if I don t master it ? " 
 
 " I 11 risk you on that. It won t be of so much 
 use to you as what you have been over already. 
 Some people don t study it." 
 
 " My father never studied arithmetic," said Abra 
 ham. 
 
 " Nor mine. Not half the folks about here have 
 studied it." 
 
 " Father never had a chance to study it when ho 
 was a boy. 
 
 " That s the case with a good many." 
 
 " Well, I can cipher now in Addition, Subtrac 
 tion, Multiplication, and Division." 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Yes, you understand those rules well, and you 
 will always find use for them." 
 
 So, encouraged by his instructor, who was a man 
 of good sense, Abraham grappled with the so-called 
 " Rule of Three." It was somewhat more difficult 
 for him to comprehend this rule than it was the 
 previous ones ; yet he was not discouraged. His 
 discriminating mind and patient labor did the work 
 for him, and he enjoyed the happiness of under 
 standing Proportion by the time his school-days 
 were over. We do not mean that he comprehended 
 it fully, so as to be complete master of it, but he 
 understood it, as we are wont to say that pupils 
 understand the rules they have been over at school. 
 At least, he made such progress that he was pre 
 pared to become master of all the rules he had 
 studied, by devoting his leisure moments to them 
 thereafter. 
 
 We must stop here to relate one more incident 
 of these school-days, because it illustrates a trait 
 of character for which Abraham was well known in 
 his youth. We often find the key to a boy s char 
 acter by observing his intercourse with companions 
 at school. 
 
 It was near the end of his term of school at 
 Mr. Crawford s house. Several boys were on their 
 way home at the close of school in company with 
 Abraham, when a difficulty arose between two of 
 them about spelling a word. 
 
STILL AT SCHOOL. 171 
 
 " You did n t spell it right," said J.ohn. 
 
 "Yes I did spell it right," replied Daniel. "I 
 spelt it just as Mr. Crawford did." 
 
 " He said you did n t spell it so." 
 
 "I know he said so, but he didn t understand 
 me. I spelt it just as he did." 
 
 " I know you did n t," continued John. 
 
 " And I know I did," retorted Daniel. " You 
 are a liar, if you say so." 
 
 " Don t call me a liar ! " exclaimed John, doub 
 ling up his fist. " You 11 get it, if you say that 
 again ! " 
 
 " I stump you to do it, old madpiece ! " said Dan 
 iel, putting himself into an attitude of defiance. 
 
 " Come, Dan, don t," said Abraham, throwing 
 one of his arms over his neck. 
 
 " Let him come, if he wants to," said John, in a 
 great rage ; u I 11 give it to him : he s a great 
 coward." 
 
 " What s the use, John ? " answered Abraham, 
 throwing his other arm around John s shoulders, 
 so as to bring himself between the two wrathy 
 boys ; " that ain t worth fighting about." 
 
 " Yes it is, too," answered John. " You would n t 
 be called a liar by anybody I know, and I won t 
 nuther." Abraham was now walking along be 
 tween the two boys, with his arms over their 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Yes I would, too ; arid I should n t care neither, 
 if it wasn t true." 
 
172 THE PIONEER BOY 
 
 " Nobody would think of calling you a liar," 
 added John. 
 
 " They would n t call you so, if you did n t caro 
 anything about it," answered Abraham ; and there 
 was much truth in the remark. 
 
 By this time the two combatants had cooled off 
 considerably, and Daniel put out the last spark of 
 fire by adding, "I ll take it back, John." 
 
 " That s a good fellow," said Abraham, while 
 John was mute. Five minutes thereafter the two 
 vexed boys were on good terms, their difficulties 
 having been adjusted by Abraham, " the peace 
 maker," as he was often called. He could not 
 endure to see broils among his companions, and he 
 often taxed all his kind feelings and ingenuity to 
 settle them. This trait of character has been prom 
 inent through all his life. And last, though not 
 least, we had an exhibition of it, when, at the out 
 break of the rebellion in 18G1, he put his arms 
 around the neck of both North and South, and 
 attempted to reconcile them. But his effort proved 
 less successful than it did .in the case of John and 
 Daniel ; for the Southern combatant was too far 
 gone with madness to be persuaded. 
 
 With his knowledge of the Rule of Three 
 closed Abraham s school-days. He never attended 
 school more after going to Mr. Crawford. In all, 
 he did not go to school more than six months in 
 his life, and then he was under the charge of 
 
STILL AT SCHOOL. 173 
 
 toachers so ignorant that they would not now be 
 tolerated. 
 
 It should have been stated before, that, near the 
 close of Mr. Crawford s school, Abraham s mother 
 bought him a second-hand Life of Henry Clay, and 
 it was to him a deeply interesting work. He read 
 it over and over, and commented upon the charac 
 ter of Clay ; and he grew up an admirer of " Old 
 Harry of the West." There appears to have been 
 some connection between that volume the Life of 
 Clay and his political connections in after life, as 
 he was ever known as a u Clay Whig." Thus it is 
 that a single book may decide the political course 
 of the reader through life. 
 
 Nearly two years after, he came into possession 
 of a second Life of Washington in a manner so 
 interesting, that we shall give a full account of 
 it in the next chapter. His experience, in the 
 mean time, continued to flow on in about the same 
 way, so that we have no need of dwelling upon it ; 
 and therefore we shall proceed to narrate the afore 
 said affair, that the reader may see the elements 
 of character appearing therein. 
 
XV. 
 
 A TEIAL AND TEEASUEE. 
 
 " nHHE greatest man that ever lived ! " said Abra- 
 JL ham, as he sat upon a log in the woods, con 
 versing with David Turnham. " This country has 
 
 a right to be proud of Washington." 
 
 " That is your opinion ; but I guess the British 
 
 won t say so," answered David. 
 
 " And that is just because they were whipped by 
 
 him ; and they don t want to own up." 
 
 " How do you know so much about Washington, 
 
 Abe ? " 
 
 " Because I have read about him, and I always 
 
 heard that he made the red-coats run for life." 
 " Who do you mean by the red-coats ? " 
 " Why, the British, to be sure. They were called 
 
 * red-coats, because they wore coats of that color. 
 
 I expect that they looked splendidly, though they 
 
 did n t feel very splendidly, I guess, after they got 
 
 whipped." 
 
 " Have you read the Life of Washington ? " 
 
 " Of course I have, a good while ago. I read 
 
 Weem s Life of Washington, and that shows that he 
 
 was the greatest man who ever lived." 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 175 
 
 " Is that like the one Mr. Crawford has ? " 
 
 " I did n t know that Mr, Crawford had a Life of 
 Washington." He did not see it when he went to 
 his school. 
 
 " Well, he has ; for I heard him talking with 
 father ahout it." 
 
 " How long ago ? " 
 
 " Not more than two or three weeks ago." 
 
 " You don t know the name of the author ? 
 There are Lives of Washington written by different 
 men." 
 
 " I don t remember who rote this. I did n t 
 mind much about what they were saying." 
 
 " I can find out," added Abraham ; and he did 
 find out. He embraced the first opportunity to 
 inquire of a neighbor, and learned that it was 
 Ramsay s Life of Washington that Mr. Crawford 
 owned. 
 
 " Can I borrow it ? " he inquired of his parents, 
 for he was very anxious to read it. 
 
 " Perhaps he won t like to lend it," answered 
 his mother. 
 
 " I shall find that out when I ask him," said 
 Abraham. 
 
 " And you should tell him that you will not take 
 it unless he is perfectly willing to let you have it." 
 
 " Then I may ask him, may I ? " 
 
 " If you are very desirous to read it." 
 
 " Well, I am, and I will go there to-night when 
 I get through work." 
 
176 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Abraham was elated with the idea of getting hold 
 of this new work. He viewed the character of 
 Washington with admiration, and he would know 
 what different biographers said of him. He was 
 not a little impatient for his day s work to be done. 
 He toiled as usual, however, with a good degree of 
 interest in his work, until night, when he prepared 
 himself to call on Mr. Crawford. 
 
 The family gave him a cordial welcome, and Mr.s. 
 Crawford said : " I wonder what lias brought you 
 out to-night. I have n t seen you here for a long 
 time." 
 
 " Perhaps you won t be so glad to see me after 
 you learn what I came for," replied Abraham. 
 
 " And what did you come for, that makes you 
 think so ? " asked Mr. Crawford. 
 
 " I came to borrow a book." 
 
 "A book, hey! That is a good errand, I am 
 sure." 
 
 " But I did not know as you would be willing to 
 lend it." 
 
 " What book is it ? " asked Mr. Crawford. " I 
 have no doubt that I can accommodate, you." 
 
 " It is Ramsay s Life of Washington. I was told 
 that you had it, and I want to read it." 
 
 " I wish all the boys wanted to read it," said Mr. 
 Crawford. " I will lend it to you, Abe, with great 
 pleasure. I am glad to see that you like to read." 
 
 " I will not take it unless you are perfectly will 
 ing to lend it," said Abraham. 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 177 
 
 " If I did not want you should have it, I should 
 tell you so. I am not one of those persons who is 
 afraid to tell what ho thinks. I am glad that T 
 have the book to lend you." 
 
 " I will take good care of it, and return it to you 
 all safe," responded Abraham. This was just like 
 him. So considerate a boy would not ask the loan 
 of a book without some diffidence, and when it is 
 borrowed, he would feel that great care must be 
 used to preserve it. He valued the few books which 
 he himself possessed so highly, as to lead him to 
 think that other people held their volumes in equal 
 estimation. It was really an excellent trait of char 
 acter that caused him to use so much discretion in 
 borrowing books. For the borrowing of this single 
 article has been the occasion of much trouble in 
 neighborhoods. In consequence of thoughtlessness 
 and less regard for the interests of others than their 
 own, many persons have borrowed books and never 
 returned them, or else returned them in a much 
 worse condition than when they were received. 
 Frequently books arc lost in this way from Sab 
 bath-school and other libraries. Borrowers do not 
 return them. They think so little of their obliga 
 tions, that the books are forgotten and lost. Book- 
 borrowers are very apt to be negligent, so tha.t when 
 we see a lad so particular as Abraham was, it is 
 yorth while to take note of the fact. 
 
 " It will take me some time to read so large a 
 
 8* I. 
 
175 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 work," said he, as he took it from Mr. Crawford. 
 " Perhaps you will want it before I get through 
 with it." 
 
 " no ; you are such a great reader that you 
 will finish it in short metre. Keep it as long as 
 you want it, and I shall be suited." 
 
 " I thank you," Abraham replied, as he arose to 
 leave. " Good night." 
 
 " Good night," several voices responded. 
 
 It was a very joyful evening to Abraham as he 
 bore that Life of Washington home, and sat down 
 about the middle of the evening to read the first 
 chapter therein. 
 
 " Keep it nice," said his mother. " Remember 
 that it is a borrowed book." 
 
 " I will try," he replied. " Mr. Crawford was 
 perfectly willing to lend it, and I shall be none the 
 less careful on that account." 
 
 Those were pleasant hours of leisure that he de 
 voted to reading Ramsay s Life of Washington. 
 Every evening, after his day s labor was completed, 
 he read the work witli absorbing interest, and at 
 other times when he could find a spare moment it 
 was in his hand. He had nearly completed it, when 
 the following mishap caused him many unpleasant 
 thoughts and feelings. 
 
 A driving storm was raging, so that he could 
 perform little labor except what could be done un 
 der cover. Of course his book was in his hand 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 179 
 
 much of the time, and the whole of the dreary 
 evening, to a late hour, it was his companion. On 
 going to bed, he laid it down directly under a largo 
 crack between the logs, and the wind changing in 
 the course of the night, the rain was driven into the 
 house, and the book was wet through. The first 
 sight that met Abraham s eye in the morning was 
 the drenched book, and his feelings can be better 
 imagined than described. 
 
 " dear ! " he exclaimed. " That book is 
 spoiled ! " * And he could scarcely restrain the 
 tears that welled up to his eyes. 
 
 " How did you happen to lay it there ? " asked 
 his mother. 
 
 " I never thought about its raining in there. 
 But only look at it ! it is completely soaked ! " 
 and lie lifted it up carefully to show his mother. 
 
 " 0, I am so sorry ! it is ruined ! " she said. 
 
 " I can dry it," answered Abraham, " but that 
 will not leave it decent. See ! the cover will drop 
 off, and there is no help for it. What will Mr. 
 Crawford say ? I told him that I would keep it 
 very carefully, and return it to him uninjured. * 
 
 " Well, it is done, and can t be helped now," 
 added his mother ; u and I have no doubt that 
 you can fix it with Mr. Crawford." 
 
 " I have no money to pay him for it, and I don t 
 see how 1 can make it good to him." 
 
 " Perhaps he can suggest a way," said his mother. 
 
180 THE rioxEER BO*. 
 
 " He ought to be paid for it." 
 
 " Of course lie had, and he may want you to do 
 some work for him, which will be the same as 
 money to him. You d better take the book to 
 him to-day, and see what you can do." 
 
 " I am almost ashamed to go. He will think 
 that I am a careless fellow." 
 
 " Never be ashamed to do right, my son." 
 
 " I am not ashamed to do right. I was only say 
 ing how I felt. I told him that I would keep it 
 nicely." 
 
 " And so you meant to ; but accidents will happen 
 sometimes, if we are careful." 
 
 " He shall be paid for it somehow," continued 
 Abraham. " I will see him to-day." 
 
 The volume was exposed to the heat of the fire 
 that day, and when Abraham was ready to go to 
 Mr. Crawford s in the evening, it was dry enough 
 for transportation. The storm had passed away, 
 and the stars were looking down from the skies, 
 as he took the book, carefully wrapped in a cotton 
 handkerchief, and proceeded to Mr. Crawford s. 
 His heart was heavy and sad, and he dreaded to 
 open the subject to him. 
 
 " Good evening, Abe ! Got through with the 
 book so quick ? " said Mr. Crawford. 
 
 " Good evening," responded Abraham, in his 
 usual manly way. " I have brought the book back, 
 although I have not finished it." 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 181 
 
 " Keep it, then, keep it, then," exclaimed Mr. 
 Crawford, before the lad could tell his story. " I 
 told you to keep it as long as you wanted it." 
 
 " Perhaps you won t want I should keep it longer 
 when you hear what has happened to it." And ho 
 proceeded to untie the handkerchief in which it 
 was wrapped. 
 
 " I should think you had a lot of jewels there 
 by the manner you carry it," said Mr. Crawford, 
 smiling. 
 
 "There," said Abraham, taking out the book, 
 u it is ruined. I laid it down last night where the 
 rain beat in and wet it through, and it is spoiled. 
 1 am very sorry, indeed, and want to pay you for it 
 in some way." 
 
 " Pretty well used up," said Mr. Crawford, taking 
 up the book. " Yes, I see that it is a little worse 
 for the wear. And you hadn t read it through?" 
 
 " No, sir ; I had some forty or fifty pages more 
 to read." 
 
 " You can read that yet : there is enough left 
 of it for that," and Mr. Crawford showed by his 
 jovial air that he did not feel so badly as the* bor 
 rower did. 
 
 " But now I have ruined the book, I want to pay 
 you for it in some way. Have you any work for 
 me to do ? " 
 
 " Plenty of it : always have work enough on 
 hand for two or three smart fellows to do." 
 
182 THE PIONEER 
 
 " How much was the book worth ? " asked Abra 
 ham. 
 
 " I hardly know. Do you want to pay me the 
 full value of it, and keep it for your own." 
 
 " Yes, I should like that, though I had not 
 thought of that way." 
 
 " Well, what kind of work do you want to do ? " 
 
 " Anything that I can do to suit you." 
 
 " Well, I tell you what it is, Abe, I m in great 
 trouble about my corn. You see the whole of my 
 corn has been stripped of the blades as high as the 
 ear, and is now all ready to have the tops cut off 
 for winter fodder ; but my hands are full of other 
 work, and how it is to be done is more than I can 
 tell. Now if you can help me out of this scrape, 
 we can square the account about the book. What 
 do you say to that ? " 
 
 " I say that I am willing to do that, or anything 
 else that suits you." 
 
 " You are very accommodating, but you won t 
 lose anything on that account. How much of my 
 field of corn will you cut, and keep the book for 
 your own ? " 
 
 " You mean the field of corn over yonder ? " 
 pointing to the eastward. 
 
 " Yes, you know just where it is. That is all the 
 corn I have." 
 
 " I will cut the whole of it for the book," replied 
 Abraham, as if conscious that it was a magnanimous 
 offer to repair the damage he had done. 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 183 
 
 " Agreed," answered Mr. Crawford ; " and a very 
 generous offer, too. I will not require you to do so 
 much for the book, unless you choose to do it." 
 
 " I choose to do it." 
 
 " When will you begin ? " 
 
 " To-morrow morning ; the sooner I pay for the 
 book, the better." 
 
 " Come on, then, bright and early, and the book 
 is yours." 
 
 Abraham rose to go out, when Mr. Crawford 
 said : u You may take the book to-night, if you 
 wish." 
 
 " It will be time enough to take the book when I 
 have paid for it," replied Abraham, with a smile 
 playing over his face. And he left without tak 
 ing it. 
 
 After he had gone, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford dis 
 cussed the matter freely, and exchanged views re 
 specting the character of the boy, as they often did 
 when he was a scholar in their house. 
 
 u lie is one of a thousand," said Mrs. Crawford ; 
 " so honest and manly ! " 
 
 " All of that," responded her husband. " It 
 would be difficult to find a boy of his age who 
 would want to read the Life of Washington, and 
 much more, to pay for it by hard labor." 
 
 " That is a fact," said Mrs. Crawford. " I have 
 often thought that he was different from all the rest 
 of the boys. He knows so much, and seems alto 
 gether beyond his years ! " 
 
184 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " A great comfort to his father and mother," 
 added Mr. Crawford, yawning, and throwing his 
 head back in his chair for a nap. u He 11 make 
 something, if he lives." 
 
 " And be greatly missed if he don t live," re 
 sponded his wife. " His father thinks a deal of 
 him ; and who can blame him for it ? " 
 
 Abraham went home with a much lighter heart. 
 The injury to the book was settled without impli 
 cating his character for honesty and carefulness. 
 Indeed, it was settled in a manner that rather de 
 veloped the noble qualities of his heart. His suc 
 cess was announced at once to his parents, and the 
 arrangement into which he had entered to pay for 
 the book. 
 
 " Cheap enough," said his father. " If you can 
 make good such an injury and get the book, too, for 
 three or four days labor, it is cheap." 
 
 " And save your honor and character, too," added 
 his mother. " That is worth more than all." 
 
 It was arranged -that Abraham should stop with 
 Mr. Crawford until his work was done, and the next 
 morning he took an early start to fulfil his engage 
 ment. It was a bright, beautiful autumnal day, and 
 his own heart was in sweet harmony with nature 
 around him. Never did a toiler enter upon the 
 most profitable piece of labor with more enthusiasm 
 than he undertook to pay for the injured book. 
 
 We have not space to give his experience at Mr. 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 185 
 
 Crawford s in detail. Suffice to say, that it took 
 him just three days to cut the corn, and they were 
 three days of very hard labor most cheerfully per 
 formed. He had a pleasant time in the family, and 
 their views of his character were more glowing than 
 ever at the end of the time. They saw qualities of 
 mind and heart in him which they had overlooked 
 before. 
 
 When the work was done, he took his book and 
 carried it home in triumph. It was to him one of 
 the finest acquisitions he had made. He felt rich. 
 His poverty was nothing. His humble home was as 
 bright a spot as the Western world could boast. He 
 had no money, but he owned another book, Ram 
 say s Life of Washington, and that was enough. 
 It was a long-to-be-remembered day that made him 
 the happy possessor of this work. 
 
 " A good bargain for both of you," said his fa 
 ther. 
 
 "It is a good one for me, I am certain of that," 
 replied Abraham. 
 
 " Perhaps it is better for you than for him, be 
 cause you are young, and need to read such a work 
 for information. Every boy ought to know all about 
 Washington, the Father of his Country. You are 
 a good reader, and you ought to be thankful for it. 
 It is very hard not to know how to read. I would 
 give almost anything if I could read as well as you 
 
186 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Learn now, father," replied Abraham. 
 
 " It s hard teaching old dogs new tricks," he an 
 swered jocosely. " I should n t make much head 
 way now, I reckon." 
 
 " Better late than never, as mother says." 
 
 " Perhaps so ; but there is not much need of my 
 learning now, as you can read to me all I want." 
 
 " You won t always have me to read to you." 
 
 " What s going to become of you so suddenly ? " 
 
 " I shall have to work out for a living, and it 
 won t be long neither before I shall be able to do 
 it." 
 
 " I m glad to see that you are thinking about it. 
 In these times there is no room for idlers. In fact, 
 that is true at all times ; God helps only those who 
 help themselves." 
 
 " Those are all who ought to be helped," said 
 Abraham. 
 
 " That is so ; and I hope that you will always 
 have such industrious habits that the blessing of 
 God will rest upon you." 
 
 The reader can but admire the true manliness 
 with which Abraham settled the book affair. There 
 was no attempt to evade responsibility in the matter, 
 no effort at concealment, no seeking to excuse him 
 self, but a manly statement of the whole affair, with 
 a noble, generous offer to repair the injury in full. 
 Many boys would falter in such circumstances, and 
 try to manufacture some defence for their course, 
 
A TRIAL AND TREASURE. 187 
 
 and be totally unwilling to labor half so long to 
 square an account. Such manhood and upright 
 ness is rare in boys of thirte^i or fourteen years of 
 age. His prompt, conscientious course is an exam 
 ple to all the boys of our land who would win a 
 good name for themselves, and share the approbation 
 of Heaven, 
 
XYI. 
 
 EIGHTEEN YEAES OLD. 
 
 WE pass to Abraham s eighteenth birthday. 
 He was as tall as his father, and much 
 stronger. He had labored constantly during the 
 four years and more that had elapsed since the 
 affair narrated in the last chapter occurred. Most 
 of the time he had used the axe, cutting wood and 
 splitting rails. Sometimes, however, he had labored 
 a day or two at a time farming for his father and 
 others. His father cultivated but a small farm, as 
 he worked some at his trade, that of a carpen 
 ter, so that Abraham frequently labored for others 
 in the woods. He excelled almost every one in the 
 vicinity in the skilful use of the axe, and hence his 
 labors were much sought. 
 
 This sort of labor developed his physical powers 
 wonderfully, and he became remarkable for his en 
 durance. He could weary out nearly every man 
 with whom he worked. 
 
 At the same time, he had not neglected his mind. 
 He borrowed books wherever he could, and read 
 and re-read them. He had added two more volumes 
 
EIGH1EEN YEARS OLD. 189 
 
 to his own possessions, also, and these were the Life 
 of Franklin and Plutarch s Lives. And so his was 
 not an inferior library. The Bible, Spelling-Book, 
 ^Esop s Fables, Pilgrim s Progress, Lives of Wash 
 ington, Clay, and Franklin, together with Plutarch s 
 Lives, are a library in themselves ; just the books to 
 impress an active mind like Abraham s, and develop 
 its strong powers. 
 
 II is reputation for industry, energy, perseverance, 
 and honesty was fair as ever. He was just as much 
 devoted to his parents also as he was in his boy 
 hood. And though he talked much of going away 
 to seek his fortune, feeling that he ought to do 
 better than he possibly could there, yet he yielded 
 to the expressed desire of his parents, and remained 
 at home. 
 
 " Such was Abraham, and his condition, about the 
 time he was eighteen years of age, when one day, 
 in early winter, he was notified of a house-raising 
 some six miles off. A new-comer desired to get 
 up a shelter for his family as soon as possible. It 
 had become customary for the settlers to turn out 
 on such occasions, and put up a log-house for a 
 man in a few hours. They sometimes went as far 
 as ten miles to house-raisings and log-rollings. 
 
 " You must go, Abe," said David. " Nobody 
 can lift any if you ain t there." 
 
 " Father has made all his arrangements to go 
 to market to-morrow, and I don t know as I can 
 leave." 
 
190 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Yes you can," said his father, who overheard 
 him. " You must go because I can t. I m afraid 
 that it will snow soon, and I must go to market 
 to-morrow at any rate. I m- afraid to put it off 
 another day. The hogs are all ready, and I prom 
 ised them at this time." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln raised many hogs. They were let 
 loose in the forests, where they fattened for the 
 market, and then were killed and carried to the 
 nearest market, situated on a creek, eighteen miles 
 distant, emptying into the Ohio River, six miles 
 above Rockport, near where the town of Grandview 
 now stands. 
 
 " I should like to go to the raising," said Abra 
 ham ; "but I didn t know that you would think it 
 best, as you was going off." 
 
 " That makes no difference. You 11 get back 
 before it s very late. If I don t go soon to market, 
 Nichols will think I don t keep my word." 
 
 It was the custom with the settlers to carry deer 
 skins, venison-hams, and various kinds of furs to 
 market, to exchange for goods. Frequently, also, 
 they obtained goods on credit, and promised pork, 
 to be delivered late in the fall or early in the winter. 
 This was the case with Mr. Lincoln. He had prom 
 ised pork to pay his store-bill, and he would not 
 disappoint the man. He had some furs to carry, 
 also. 
 
 " Then I 11 go, David," said Abraham. " What 
 time will you start ? " 
 
EIGHTEEN YEAKS OLD. 191 
 
 " As early as you 11 come along. It ain t best to 
 keep them waiting, and they 11 wait till you get 
 there." This last remark was made in a com 
 plimentary manner, as Abraham was regarded a 
 superior hand on such occasions, because of his 
 great strength and readiness to do. 
 
 " I understand you," answered Abraham. " 1 
 take your words for all they are worth." 
 
 " And that ain t much, I s pose you 11 say," 
 quickly responded David. " But come on in good 
 season. It s something of a walk there?" And 
 he left for home. 
 
 On the next day, Mr. Lincoln started with his 
 load for market, and Abraham went to the raising. 
 
 We would say here, that Mr. Lincoln carried his 
 pork to market on a " truck wagon," drawn by 
 oxen. It was made by sawing wheels off a log two 
 or three feet in diameter, and, having cut holes 
 through the centre of the wheels, wooden axles 
 were put into them and fastened with a wooden 
 linchpin. Abraham frequently drove this team to 
 market. 
 
 The house-raising affair proved to be a pleasant 
 thing. There was a general attendance of the set 
 tlers, and the usual good feeling and cheerfulness in 
 lending a helping hand. After the work was done, 
 there was a mutual exchange of friendly greetings, 
 according to the custom of those times, and various 
 amusements were enjqyed. On this account it was 
 
192 THE PIOXEKR BOY. 
 
 far into the evening when the younger portion of 
 the company separated for home. 
 
 Abraham, together with three or four companions, 
 was returning, and had come within two miles of 
 his home, when their progress was arrested by an 
 unusual scene. 
 
 " What s this ? " cried David, just descrying some 
 object before him. " Somebody s horse here ! " 
 
 " Yes ; and there s his rider in the ditch," said 
 Abraham, discovering a man lying in the mud and 
 water. 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked David, under great excite 
 ment. " Thrown off? " He supposed that an un 
 ruly horse had thrown his rider. 
 
 " No," replied Abraham, " more likely he fell off. 
 The horse wouldn t be standing here if he was 
 ugly, and had thrown him. Let s see who it is." 
 And he proceeded to pull him into the road, where 
 they could have a view of his face. 
 
 " He s drunk," said David, who began to suspect 
 the cause of his being in the gutter. 
 
 " He s drunk or dead, there s no doubt about 
 that," added Abraham. "He would n t go to bed 
 there, if he knew what he was about." 
 
 " It is old Myers, ain t it ? " suggested one of the 
 boys, getting a better view of his face. " It looks 
 like him." 
 
 " Sure enough, it is," replied Abraham ; " and 
 that s his old horse. I ve seen it forty times. 
 
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. 193 
 
 He s drunk as he can be. He ain t dead, if it s 
 him. You can t kill him so easy." 
 
 " And his old horse is used to waiting for him on 
 such occasions," said David. " But how do you 
 suppose he came way off here at this time of night. 
 It s fifteen miles or more to his house." 
 
 " Before we find that out, we better see whether 
 he is frozen or not," said Abraham. " His clothes 
 are stiff as they can be." 
 
 " If he ain t frozen now, he would be before 
 mornin ," added another boy. " Lucky for him 
 that we came along." 
 
 The man proved to be Myers, who was an in 
 temperate person living fifteen or sixteen miles 
 distant ; and he had fallen from his horse in a 
 state of beastly intoxication. 
 
 " What shall we do with him ? " asked David. 
 
 " There s only one thing to do with him," an 
 swered Abraham. " We must carry him over to Mr. 
 Dale s." That was the nearest house. " He 11 
 freeze to death .here." 
 
 Mr. Dale s house was about one fourth of a mile 
 back, and it was wise for them to go to the nearest 
 place. The wretched man s condition required im 
 mediate action. 
 
 " Let us put him on his horse," continued Abra 
 ham, " we can t lug him over there. Get hold of the 
 other side of him, boys, and we 11 lift him on the 
 horse." And suiting his actions to his words, Abra- 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 ham took hold of one arm, and putting his other 
 hand under his shoulders, with the help of his com 
 panions, they raised him to his feet, and set him, or 
 rather laid him, on his horse. One of the number 
 led the animal, while the others held the drunken 
 man on. 
 
 " He don t know what a good ride he s having," 
 said one of the boys, laughing. 
 
 " And so he 11 never thank us for it," added 
 another. 
 
 " I don t think it s any laughing matter," re 
 sponded Abraham. " If it was your father, you 
 wouldn t feel much like joking." 
 
 " That s a fact," said David, who was wont to 
 take a correct view of things. " The man is to be 
 pitied, after all." 
 
 " His horse deserves an extra peck of oats for 
 waitin for him," suggested Daniel. " He s used to 
 it, I s pose." 
 
 They took him to Dale s house, and found the 
 family in bed. Mr. Dale had been to the house- 
 raising, but returned before the boys did. 
 
 The family were aroused, and made acquainted 
 with the affair, and a rousing fire was built, before 
 which he was laid. 
 
 " I m afraid he s badly frozen," said Dale. The 
 man was insensible. 
 
 " So am I," replied Abraham ; " and I will stay 
 and help you take care of him through the night." 
 
EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. 195 
 
 %< I think you better. By the looks of him, I 
 shall want somebody to help." 
 
 " Then I 11 stay, boys," continued Abraham, " if 
 you 11 go round on your way back and let mother 
 know where I am. Tell her I 11 be along early 
 in the morning." 
 
 The boys agreed to do this, and left, conversing 
 on their way about the affair, and remarking upon 
 the kindness and generosity of Abraham. The 
 merciful offer of the latter to stay and take care of 
 the man was only a fair illustration of his general 
 good feelings. His benevolent heart felt for the 
 needy and suffering. It was unusual for a youth 
 to exhibit so much true tenderness for the unfor 
 tunate and distressed as he did. The neighbors ob 
 served it, and commented upon it. This was one 
 of the traits of character that made him a favorite 
 with all who knew him. He was unselfish, disinter 
 ested, and self-sacrificing. He would cheerfully 
 forego a night s rest to help the intemperate man. 
 He thought more of the drunkard s safety than 
 he did of his own ease. And there are many of 
 his personal acquaintances in our land who will 
 bear witness that, from that day to this, this amiable 
 quality of heart has won him admiring friends. 
 
 We need say no more of this affair, than that 
 Myers rallied from his insensibility during the night, 
 and early the next morning he started homeward. 
 Abraham was satisfied with the night s labor. 
 
196 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 "We must not omit to mention that about this 
 time Abraham s sister was married to a young man 
 in the neighborhood, and one year after the nuptials 
 were celebrated she died, rolling another great wave 
 of sorrow over her brother s heart. 
 
 There remains but one other event of his life in 
 Indiana that we shall narrate, and this occurred 
 just after the heavy loss experienced by the death 
 of his sister. It relates to that brief portion of his 
 life that was devoted to flat-boating. 
 
XVII. 
 
 TEIP TO NEW OKLEANS. 
 
 " ^1 TH AT say you, Abe, about takin a flat-boat 
 T T to New Orleans for me ? " inquired a man 
 whom we shall call Peters, as he met Abraham 
 when he was on the way to see his father upon the 
 subject. 
 
 " I don t know," answered Abraham, rather at a 
 loss to know whether his interrogator was in earnest 
 or not. 
 
 " I m not joking, Abe ; I have a quantity of 
 stores that I am going to forward to New Orleans, 
 and I thought you and John might take a flat-boat 
 there. What say you to a bargain ? " 
 
 " I should like to go, if we can do it," answered 
 Abraham. " Is John used to the business ? " John 
 was Mr. Peters s eldest son. 
 
 " About the same that you are. But I thought 
 that both of you together might manage to make 
 the trip." 
 
 The fact was, that Mr. Peters had entire confi 
 dence in Abraham s tact at doing things, as well as 
 in his fidelity, so that he would feel safer to give up 
 
198 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 the management of the boat to him rather than to 
 his son. As he always did everything well, Mr. 
 Peters expected that he would do this well, a 
 very good premise from which to derive such a 
 conclusion. 
 
 " I am ready to undertake it, if father is willing," 
 continued Abraham. " Perhaps he will be afraid 
 to have me go." 
 
 " I rather think not. I will see him, if you are 
 disposed to go." 
 
 " Well, I am disposed to go." 
 
 " And it will suit John fust-rate to have you go. 
 
 " How long before you will want to have us start ? " 
 
 " Just as soon as I can get ready ; I should say, 
 within two weeks." 
 
 " I can go then as well as any time," said Abra 
 ham. 
 
 " I m going to see your father now." 
 
 Mr. Peters proceeded to have an interview with 
 Mr. Lincoln, and Abraham went with him. 
 
 " How long will they be gone ? " inquired Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " That depends on circumstances." 
 
 " Rather venturesome for such young fellers," said 
 Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 " And many hardships, too," remarked his mother. 
 
 " And not a little pleasure, I expect," responded 
 Abraham, looking as if he coveted the berth. 
 
 " Flat-boatmen see hard times," continued Mr. 
 Lincoln. 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 199 
 
 " And so have you seen hard times," answered 
 Mr. Peters. " And as to that matter, all of us have 
 seen some hard times, I reckon." 
 
 " Of course, and I don t expect my boy will steer 
 clear of all these things ; but this is new business 
 for him." 
 
 " Yes, and none the worse for that." 
 
 " He may not do so well for you ; that is what I 
 was thinkin of." 
 
 " As to that, Abe does everything well, and that 
 is the reason I want to hire him. I will pay him 
 well for it." 
 
 " How much ? " 
 
 " Ten dollars a month ; and that is a good price 
 for a boy of his age." 
 
 " He is wuth just as much to you for that busi 
 ness as an older man with no more experience. 
 He is strong, and able to endure as much as any 
 one." 
 
 " That may be, and that is why I am earnest to 
 have him go ; and I know, too, that I can trust 
 him. There is considerable to look after in such 
 an enterprise." 
 
 " Almost too much for two such boys to have." 
 
 u Not with Abe to oversee and manage," said Mr. 
 Peters. 
 
 " Well, I am not afraid to risk him, if you ain t," 
 added Mr. Lincoln. " I know he will do as well 
 as he can." 
 
200 THE PIC^EER BOY. 
 
 "And that s as well as I want he should do. So 
 I understand that the bargain is made ? " 
 
 " Yes, if you say so." 
 
 " You had my say so some time ago. Be on 
 hand, Abe." The last remark was addressed to 
 Abraham, as Mr. Peters turned to leave. 
 
 Abraham was delighted with the prospect before 
 him. Such a trip, on such business, suited him 
 exactly. We will not stop to follow him through 
 the interim of two weeks ; but while he is getting 
 ready, we will give some account of flat-boating on 
 the Western waters. 
 
 For some years there had been a class of boat 
 men, fearless, hardy, athletic men, who " traversed 
 the longest rivers, penetrated the most remote wil 
 derness upon their watery routes, and kept up a 
 trade and intercourse between the most distant 
 points." 
 
 They were exposed to great perils, and were out 
 shelterless in all kinds of weather. With no bed 
 but the deck of their boats on which to lie at night, 
 and no covering but a blanket, they spent months 
 and years of their existence. 
 
 It was on such boats that the rich cargoes ascend 
 ing the Mississippi were carried. By human labor, 
 they were propelled against the strong current for 
 nearly two thousand miles ; and it was a labor that 
 required great muscular strength, and remarkable 
 powers of endurance. The result was that a class 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 201 
 
 of men were trained in this business of unusual 
 courage, and proud only of their ability to breast 
 storms and endure hardships. 
 
 In addition to this class, whose life-business it was 
 to propel these Western boats, there were those who 
 occasionally made a trip to New Orleans to sell 
 their stores. Sometimes several farmers, or other 
 persons, would club together and make out a cargo, 
 and send it down to New Orleans ; and sometimes 
 one alone would do the same. This was the case 
 with Mr. Peters. He had a quantity of stores 
 suited to meet the wants of the sugar plantations in 
 Louisiana, and he wanted to convert them into 
 cash. Money was very scarce, and many families, 
 like that of Mr. Lincoln, saw but little. What 
 was in circulation was brought into the Western 
 country by people moving thither from the East, or 
 was obtained, as Mr. Peters proposed to obtain some, 
 by sending a boat-load of stores to New Orleans. 
 
 At that time the merchants did not trade in 
 corn, flour, pork, wheat, beef, &c., as they do now. 
 They bought beeswax, feathers, and tallow, and 
 traded in furs and peltries. They did not send the 
 products of the country to the East to liquidate 
 their debts, for satisfactory exchanges could then 
 be made through the United States Bank. But 
 now that order of things has entirely changed, and 
 the flat-boat is no longer used in commerce. 
 
 But Abraham had agreed to become a flat-boat- 
 9* 
 
202 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 man, at least for a time, and the day of his depart 
 ure was at hand 
 
 " Eighteen hundred miles is rather of a long trip 
 for a feller who has n t seen more of the world than 
 you have, Abe," said his father. 
 
 " None too long," replied Abraham. " I shall see 
 some of the world now, if I never have before." 
 
 " And perhaps see the bottom of the Mississippi, 
 too." 
 
 " I am not afraid of that. * 
 
 " But hundreds have lost their lives in this way, 
 and men who have been used to the business, too." 
 
 " That is no sign that I shall." 
 
 " It is no sign you won t," answered his father. 
 " It s well enough to think on t." 
 
 " But I sha n t borrow any trouble about it." 
 
 " I don t ask you to do that ; but it s wuth while 
 to think that you may be sent into eternity by some 
 accident." 
 
 " If you don t want I should go, I will give it up 
 now." Abraham inferred from his father s tone 
 and manner of speaking, that he had given his con 
 sent against his better judgment, and he was bound 
 not to go against his father s will. 
 
 " I do want you should go. I was only tellin 
 some of my thoughts. I can t help thinkin ." 
 
 " It may be the best thing for me that I ever did." 
 
 "Yes; if no accident happens to you, I have no 
 doubt that it will be a real good school for you. 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 203 
 
 But it is a long ways to go, and a long time for you 
 to be gone." 
 
 " But I have got to go some time, and I may as 
 well begin now." 
 
 " I know it ; but that makes it no easier for me to 
 have you go. However, it don t do no good to talk 
 about it now. I have said you might go, and you 
 may, and I want you should go." 
 
 So Abraham and his associate, John, embarked 
 upon their flat-boat at the appointed time, bound for 
 New Orleans. Their cargo was destined for a sugar 
 plantation, and they had received all necessary 
 instructions, and bade their friends " good by." It 
 was a beautiful day, and the Ohio never appeared 
 more charming to young adventurers. Their voy 
 age began auspiciously, and their young hearts were 
 full of glee. 
 
 " I say, Abe, how many times you goin to upset 
 before reachin the Mississippi ? " asked John. 
 
 " I hardly think we shall do it more than once," 
 answered Abraham, " unless you have a better 
 faculty than I have to load up again in the water." 
 
 " I did n t think of that ; it would be a hard mat 
 ter to reload at the bottom of the river." 
 
 " Yes ; and we must look out for accidents, or 
 your father will wish he had never sent us. I 
 hope we shall make a capital thing of it." 
 
 " I hope so, too, or we shall never have another 
 such a chance. The old man never would have 
 sent me if it had n t been for you, Abe." 
 
204 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " HOW SO ? " 
 
 " Because he thinks you can do most anything 
 that s possible, and so he was willing to risk me 
 and all the cargo with you." 
 
 " Pshaw ! You are fooling now." 
 
 " No such thing ; it s the living truth. I expect 
 he thought that you could keep me and the cargo 
 from sinkin , if we did upset." 
 
 " Well, my father rather expects the opposite, I 
 judge by his talk," replied Abraham. " He thinks 
 it is rather of a risky piece of business to send us 
 on such a trip." 
 
 " Why did he let you go ? " 
 
 " I hardly know ; I thought, after he had prom 
 ised to let me go, that he was going to alter his 
 mind." 
 
 "You wouldn t liked that." 
 
 " Not I, though I should have stayed at home if 
 he had said so." 
 
 " Should ? " 
 
 " Of course ; it would be too bad to go against 
 his will." 
 
 "Not if you made a good thing of it." 
 
 "That wouldn t make it right." 
 
 It must answer our purpose to say simply, that 
 they continued the voyage with as much courage 
 and hope as they began it. At night they tied up 
 their boat close to the bank of the river, in some 
 favorable spot, and lay down upon their " running 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 205 
 
 board," as a flat-boat was sometimes called, for 
 Bleep. They had no bed, nothing but the hard 
 deck, with a blanket to cover them. True, this was 
 not so great a change for boys who were reared in 
 the wilderness, living in a house without a floor, or 
 a feather-bed, or a pane of glass, as it would be for 
 boys of this day who are used to the comforts and 
 conveniences of affluent homes. Still it was a 
 change, and many of their nights were extremely 
 lonely. 
 
 . Their voyage was not monotonous. The scenery 
 was continually changing, and they frequently 
 prt^sed other boats with their merry crews, and 
 held conversations with people who flocked to the 
 banks of the river from adjacent villages. " Where 
 are you from ? " " Where are you bound ? " 
 " What are you loaded with ? " were questions 
 that they frequently had to answer. 
 
 The days were not all sunshine. Heavy storms 
 sometimes descended upon them, and they had to 
 exert themselves to the utmost to keep their little 
 craft right side up. Day after day they were 
 drenched with rain, and still they must keep on 
 the voyage. Violent storms sometimes raged at 
 night, the wind blowing almost a hurricane, and 
 the rain pouring down in torrents, and still there 
 was no alternative, they must make their bed on 
 their little boat and take the pelting of the storm. 
 These were times that tried their spirit, and yet 
 
206 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 they had no complaints to utter. Never for a 
 moment did Abraham wish he had not undertaken 
 the voyage. He was not accustomed to undertake 
 a work, and fail to accomplish it. He always 
 finished what he began, and started with that deter 
 mination. 
 
 They were approaching their place of destination. 
 As their cargo was designed for the sugar planta 
 tions, they drew up to the sugar coast on the north 
 of the city of New Orleans to trade. They took 
 measures to advertise their wares, and found ready 
 customers. On the night after their arrival an in 
 cident occurred that we will narrate. They had 
 fastened their boat, and, much wearied with the 
 labors of the day, they laid down at an early hour 
 to rest. About midnight Abraham was startled by 
 a noise. 
 
 " What s that ? " he whispered to his companion, 
 who was still asleep. 
 
 Instead of a reply from John, he distinctly heard 
 low voices within a few feet from the boat, as if 
 trouble was- brewing. 
 
 " John ! John ! " he whispered, shaking him at 
 the same time. And while John was waking out 
 of a sound sleep, Abraham was straining his eyes to 
 see what he could discover through the darkness. 
 He was satisfied that he could discern the figures 
 of several men on the bank of the river. 
 
 " John ! there s trouble for us." 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 207 
 
 " What is it ? " Both spoke in a whisper. 
 
 " Foul play, I think. Hark ! " Both listened, and 
 the low muttering of voices could be heard. 
 
 " Niggers," whispered John. " They don t mean 
 anything." 
 
 u They would n t be here at this time of night, if 
 they did n t. They know we ve been trading and 
 taking money." 
 
 " There ! I see the figures of a number moving 
 this way," said John. " I guess there is trouble 
 for us." 
 
 " I know there is," answered Abraham ; " and we 
 must defend ourselves to the last. Wlw s there ? " 
 And he shouted this inquiry with much emphasis, 
 at the same time seizing a billet of wood that lay 
 near him. 
 
 " WHO s THERE ? " he shouted again. 
 
 " Dar ole nigger," was the response from one of 
 the negroes ; for it turned out that there were seven 
 slaves. 
 
 " What are you here for ? Off with yourselves," 
 replied Abraham. But the words had scarcely 
 dropped from his lips, when one of the number 
 leaped upon the boat by one dexterous bound. But 
 no sooner did he strike the boat than Abraham 
 knocked him into the water with his billet. 
 
 " We must fight, John ; they mean to murder us. 
 Strike for your life ! " By this time John was 
 armed with a cudgel and nerved for the struggle. 
 
208 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 And he soon had an opportunity to fight ; for no 
 sooner was the first intruder knocked into the 
 water than four others bounded upon the boat. 
 Heavy blows were dealt upon them, until it became 
 a hand-to-hand fight, so that billets could not be 
 used. 
 
 " Knock them into the water, Abe," shouted 
 John ; and that was just what Abraham was try 
 ing to do. 
 
 After a severe struggle, lasting some ten minutes, 
 they succeeded in tumbling three of the number 
 into the water, whereupon the fourth made his 
 escape. 
 
 " Come, John, let s after them on the shore," 
 cried Abraham. And no sooner said than done. 
 Before the last three who were plunged into the 
 water had crawled up the bank, Abraham was 
 pounding two of them on the shore with his club. 
 The first one whom he knocked into the water had 
 reached the bank, and he fled from his antagonist 
 as he would have done from a tiger. And by the 
 time the other three crawled out of their cold bath, 
 the two boys had driven the four on shore away at 
 the top of their speed. 
 
 " Here, John, give it to these," exclaimed Abra 
 ham. 
 
 And they pounced upon the three crawling out of 
 the water, dealing heavy blows upon them before 
 they had time to rally upon the bank. The negroes 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 209 
 
 frero thoroughly terrified at their unexpected recep 
 tion. They had not counted upon the strength and 
 courage of the two young boatmen. They supposed 
 it would be an easy matter for seven of them to 
 make way with two youth like them, and then rob 
 the boat. But the young men saw that it was a 
 case of life and death, and they fought with despe 
 ration. They had no doubt that the negroes meant 
 to murder them, and then rob them and the boat, 
 and they fought accordingly. Abraham s strength 
 was almost superhuman on the occasion, and the 
 negroes were badly bruised and maimed by his 
 blows. They were armed with clubs, and they laid 
 them upon Abraham and John so as to injure them 
 considerably. But the latter came out of the battle 
 victorious. The negroes escaped as best they could. 
 
 " Are you hurt much, John ? " inquired Abra 
 ham. 
 
 u No great ; got a few hard knocks. How is it 
 with you ? " 
 
 " Lamed my arm ; one of em hit me a cut across 
 my right eye, too. But I have no fault to find, since 
 we saved our necks." 
 
 " We must get the boat off now as quick as pos 
 sible," said John, " or they 11 be back with twice 
 their number." 
 
 " I thought of that ; you jump aboard, and I will 
 untie the boat. We must lose no time, neither." 
 
 In a minute John was aboard, and scarcely an- 
 
210 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 other minute had passed before Abraham followed 
 him, having loosed the boat. 
 
 " We are safe now, if the whole plantation 
 comes," said John, as they shoved off into the 
 stream. 
 
 " We sha n t need to go far," added Abraham. 
 " Only change our position, and we are safe." 
 
 " That may be, but I think I shall sleep with my 
 eyes open the rest of the night." 
 
 " And I will keep you company," responded 
 Abraham. " The next time I come to New Orleans, 
 I shall come armed. This going to war without a 
 gun is not quite the thing." 
 
 " I wish we had been armed," said John. 
 " Would n t we made the feathers fly ? " 
 
 " The wool, you mean," replied Abraham, jo 
 cosely. He had become as cool as if nothing had 
 happened. 
 
 " They meant to kill us." 
 
 " Of course they did. It would n t have done 
 for them to rob us, and leave us to tell the story to 
 their master. But they might have made way with 
 us, and robbed and sunk the boat, and nobody been 
 any the wiser for it." 
 
 " They are no fools, if they be niggers." 
 
 " No ; but after all they are not so much to 
 blame as their masters," added Abraham. " Slav 
 ery has robbed them of everything, and so I s pose 
 they think it is fair play to take what they can 
 get." 
 
TRIP TO NEW ORLEANS. 211 
 
 They succeeded in selling their cargo well, and 
 returned in safety to Indiana. The venturesome 
 enterprise for two such youth turned out a capital 
 thing, and when their narrow escape was known, 
 the trip on the flat-boat was talked of as a wonder 
 ful expedition, and Abraham received the credit of 
 being a good boatman, manager, salesman, as well 
 as a courageous defender of number one. The 
 success was ascribed to his tact, judgment, fidelity, 
 and force of character. 
 
XVIII. 
 
 EEMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 
 
 SOON after Abraham s trip to New Orleans, the 
 most glowing accounts of the fertility of the 
 prairie lands of Illinois began to spread in the older 
 States. They reached the Lincoln family early, and 
 the father began to talk of moving. From month 
 to month the news from Illinois concerning the 
 richness and productiveness of the soil grew more 
 and more interesting, and a tide of emigration at 
 once set towards that State. Mr. Lincoln became 
 desirous of moving thither himself, and Abraham 
 was earnest to go. Accordingly, for the purpose 
 of ascertaining the exact truth of the matter, and 
 selecting a good location to settle, Dennis Hanks, a 
 relative of Abraham s step-mother, was delegated to 
 proceed to Illinois on a tour of investigation. Lin 
 coln did not wish to move without knowing more 
 of the country than he could gather from rumor. 
 
 It was two years after the aforesaid news from 
 Illinois reached the Lincoln family before they were 
 ready to move. The journey of Hanks thither fully 
 confirmed all they had heard, and this decided the 
 
REMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 213 
 
 matter of their removal. It was not, however, 
 until March, 1830, that they were prepared to start. 
 
 There were three families to move, and twelve 
 persons in all, the family of Mr. Lincoln, and the 
 families of his wife s two daughters, who came to 
 Indiana, and settled near her. 
 
 Abraham was just twenty-one years old, and 
 therefore free. But he was still a faithful son. 
 
 " You are your own man now," said his father. 
 
 " What of that ? " was Abraham s reply, suspect 
 ing what thoughts were in his mind. 
 
 u Why, you can go or stay, though I don t see 
 how I can get along without you." 
 
 " Nor I ; and I want to go to Illinois more than 
 you do, and I shall see you safely there, and settled 
 down, before I leave you." 
 
 " I m glad of that," continued his father. " I 
 won t ask you to stay at home one minute after we 
 get settled down. You ought to be lookin out for 
 yourself, now you are of age." 
 
 " We 11 talk about that when we get there. Per 
 haps I shall find enough to do for a while to get 
 you fixed up, and I can attend to that better than 
 you can." 
 
 " Well, it s a long ways there, and I m almost 
 sorry that I undertook it at my time of life. It 
 looks like a great job to get there, and begin new." 
 
 " It don t to me. We 11 be there, and have a 
 roof over our heads, in less than four weeks." 
 
214 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " If nothin happens, you mean." 
 
 " There will something happen, I m thinking," 
 answered Abraham, dryly, " or we shall never get 
 there." 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " I expect that it will happen that we shall go 
 there in about two weeks, by hard travelling. If 
 that don t happen, I shall be sorry." 
 
 " We shall see," added Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 The fact was, Abraham thought too much of his 
 father and mother to leave them to undertake such 
 a journey alone. No money could have hired him 
 to leave them before they were settled in Illinois. 
 Mr. Scripps, who knows all the circumstances well, 
 says, " He was the only son of his father, now ad 
 vanced in years ; and it was not in his nature to 
 desert his aged sire at a time when all the hard 
 ships, privations, and toil of making a new home 
 in a new country were about to be entered upon. 
 Whatever the future may have seemed to hold in 
 it, as a reward for effort specially directed to that 
 end, he cheerfully put aside in obedience to his 
 sense of duty, and engaged at once and heartily 
 in the work before him." 
 
 A son of so much consideration and fidelity will 
 not fail to make his mark. 
 
 The above writer, a Western man himself, de 
 scribes the manner of moving in those days, as 
 follows : 
 
REMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 215 
 
 " In those days, when people changed their resi 
 dence from one State or settlement to another, they 
 took all their movable possessions with them, 
 their household goods, their kitchen utensils, in 
 cluding provisions for the journey, their farming 
 implements, their horses and cattle. The former 
 were loaded into wagons, drawn, for the most part, 
 by oxen ; and the latter were driven by the smaller 
 boys of the family, who were sometimes assisted by 
 their sisters and mother. Thus arranged for a jour 
 ney of weeks, not unfrequently of months, the 
 emigrant set out, thinking but little of the hardships 
 before him, of bad roads, of unbridged streams, 
 of disagreeable weather, of sleeping on the ground 
 or in the wagon, of sickness, accidents, and some 
 times death by the way, dwelling chiefly in thought 
 upon the novelty and excitement of the trip, the 
 rumored attractions of the new country whither he 
 was going, and of the probable advantages likely to 
 result from the change. By ten or fifteen miles per 
 day, over untravelled roads, now across mountains, 
 swamps, and watercourses, and now through dense, 
 umbrageous forests, and across broad prairies where 
 the horizon alone bounded the vision, the caravan 
 of wagons, men, women, and children, flocks and 
 herds, toiled onward by day, sleeping under the 
 broad canopy of stars at night, patiently accomplish 
 ing the destined journey, sometimes of weeks , some 
 times of months duration." 
 
216 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 In this manner the Lincoln family moved. They 
 had two ox-teams to carry the goods of the three 
 families, one team of two oxen, and the other of 
 four. Abraham drove the latter. The journey 
 which they proposed to undertake was almost two 
 hundred miles ; yet, for the perseverance and hero 
 ism of pioneer families, it was not a very great 
 undertaking. 
 
 The weather proved favorable nearly all the way, 
 though the roads were excessively muddy. For 
 miles, Abraham walked through mud a foot deep. 
 Often, for a long distance, he waded in water up to 
 his knees (and it is well known that his knees were 
 not very low down). When they had performed 
 nearly one hundred and fifty miles of the journey, 
 they came to the Kaskaskia River, where they found 
 the bottom lands overflowed, and the old corduroy 
 road nearly gone. 
 
 " We re done to now," said Hanks. 
 
 " I don t know about that," answered Abraham. 
 " Let us see about it." 
 
 " It is plain enough to see, I should think. The 
 man who directed us back there yesterday said, if 
 the bottom was overflowed, it would be three miles 
 through water, and I should think it was more than 
 that." 
 
 " I don t care if it s twice three," replied Abra 
 ham, " if it s not too deep to wade." 
 
 " We can wait some days for the water to fall, or 
 
REMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 217 
 
 wo can go up or down the river a few miles, and 
 possibly find a better place to cross," suggested 
 Hanks. 
 
 " That will take too much time. The water 
 won t fall yet a while. It is only the middle of 
 March, you know, and the rivers are always high. 
 I am for going straight ahead through thick and 
 thin." 
 
 " That s the only way, I think," said Mr. Lin 
 coln, who had listened to the conversation, while he 
 was looking rather doubtfully upon the flood of 
 water before them." 
 
 " We can t stay here for the water to fall, that s 
 certain," continued Abraham, " and as to finding a 
 better place to cross, I don t believe we can, if we 
 go around twenty miles." 
 
 " And that would take time, too," suggested his 
 father. 
 
 " Yes, and I am for going right along. I will go 
 forward ; and if I go under, the rest of you may 
 take warning." This remark was made rather in 
 a strain of pleasantry, to inspire all hearts around 
 him with courage. " Come, Dennis, what do you 
 say ? Will you follow me ? " 
 
 " Of course ; I can go where you can." 
 
 It was settled to go forward, turning neither to 
 the right hand nor left. And for three miles Abra 
 ham drove his team through water that was up to 
 his waist, urging his oxen along, and cheering the 
 10 
 
THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 hearts of the company with words of encourage 
 ment. His usual energy and force of character 
 enabled him to overcome this difficulty, as the same 
 elements of success have served him well many times 
 from that day to this. 
 
 They accomplished the journey from Spencer 
 County, Indiana, to Decatur, Illinois, in fifteen 
 days. The spot selected for their home was on 
 the north side of the Saiigamon River, about ten 
 miles west of Decatur, a spot wisely chosen, be 
 cause it was at the junction of the timber and prai 
 rie lands. 
 
 A log-house was immediately erected, in the build 
 ing of which Abraham acted a conspicuous part. 
 Ten acres of prairie land was selected, and the sods 
 broken for a crop of corn. 
 
 " That must be fenced at once," said Abraham. 
 
 " And you 11 have to split the rails, if it is done," 
 replied his father. 
 
 " That I can do, as I am used to it ; but I don t 
 expect to split rails for a living all my days." 
 
 " I hope you won t have to. When we get things 
 under way, you can seek your fortin somewhere 
 else." 
 
 " I have n t made up my mind as to that. There 
 will be time enough for that when the ten acres are 
 fenced in." 
 
 " We shall have enough to do this slimmer to 
 break up and plant ten acres of corn, and take care 
 
UKMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 219 
 
 of it, and fence the lot. But who ever saw such 
 land as this ? The half was not told us ? " Mr. 
 Lincoln was surprised at the richness of the lands ; 
 and, in all respects, he was pleased with the change 
 of residence. 
 
 " There can be no better farming land than this," 
 answered Abraham ; " and it ain t half the work to 
 cultivate these prairie lands. And I am just the 
 hand to fence them, as I have swung the axe so 
 much." 
 
 " Yes, you can do it better than I can, and a 
 great deal quicker ; so you may go at it as soon as 
 you please." 
 
 Accordingly, Abraham proceeded to split the 
 rails for the ten-acre lot. These are the rails about 
 which so much was said in the late Presidential cam 
 paign. " Their existence," says Mr. Scripps, " was 
 brought to the public attention during the sitting 
 of the Republican State Convention, at Decatur, on 
 which occasion a banner, attached to two of these 
 rails, and bearing an appropriate inscription, was 
 brought into the assemblage and formally presented 
 to that body, amid a scene of unparalleled enthusi 
 asm. After that, they were in demand in every 
 State of the Union in which free labor is honored, 
 where they were borne in processions of the people, 
 and hailed by hundreds of thousands of freemen as 
 a symbol of triumph, and as a glorious vindication 
 of freedom, and of the rights and the dignity of 
 
220 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 free labor. These, however, were far from being 
 the first or only rails made by Lincoln. He was a 
 practised hand at the business. His first lessons 
 had been taken while yet a boy in Indiana. Some 
 of the rails made by him in that State have been 
 clearly identified. The writer has seen a cane, now 
 in the possession of Mr. Lincoln, made by one of 
 his old Indiana acquaintances, from one of those 
 rails split by his own hands in boyhood." 
 
 Thus was he reared to labor. He believed in 
 labor. He was not ashamed to labor. Louis Phi 
 lippe said, when he occupied the throne of France, 
 that he himself was the only monarch of Europe 
 who was qualified for his place, for the reason that 
 he was the only one who could black his own boots. 
 If self-help is a necessary qualification for a ruler, 
 then Abraham was always qualifying himself to rule. 
 
 That summer of hard toil passed, and the golden 
 harvests of autumn repaid the laborer for his sweat 
 and -fatigue ; and Abraham was still at home. Win 
 ter set in early, and proved to be the severest one 
 everr known in all that region. That was the win 
 ter of the " great snow," as it was called, when for 
 weeks it was three feet deep upon a level. In conse 
 quence there was much suffering. It was a trying 
 winter for cattle. Beasts suffered as well as men. 
 The Lincoln family were well supplied with corn, 
 but their supply of meat was scanty. As their de 
 pendence for animal food was mainly upon the rifle, 
 
REMOVAL TO ILLINOIS. 221 
 
 the deep snow interfered very much with their sup 
 ply. But for Abraham s capacity to endure, tho 
 family would have suffered. He could brave any 
 degree of cold, and experience almost any hardship, 
 and not be overcome. Consequently, he wallowed 
 through the snow to shoot deer and other wild ani 
 mals for food ; and he was successful in providing 
 food for the family. He was not a noted hunter. 
 Although he began to use the rifle in boyhood with 
 a good deal of enthusiasm, yet his love of books 
 was so much stronger than his love of this sport, 
 that he seldom went hunting except when it was 
 absolutely necessary to obtain food for the family. 
 One of his early associates writes upon this subject : 
 " We seldom went hunting together. Abe was not 
 a noted hunter, as the time spent by other boys in 
 such amusements was improved by him in the 
 perusal of some good book." 
 
 During that memorable winter, however, he be 
 haved like a veteran hunter, and kept the bear of 
 hunger at bay. The family realized that they owed 
 much to his devotion and remarkable powers of 
 endurance. 
 
XIX. 
 
 NEW FEIENDS. 
 
 T S POSE you must go," said Mr. Lincoln, 
 
 JL " and I know it is best." Abraham was 
 about leaving home to seek his fortune. It was 
 just as the spring opened, after the severe winter 
 named in the last chapter. 
 
 " If I am ever going, it is high time now. But 
 I could n t go till I saw you comfortably fixed here." 
 
 " Well, we are comfortable now, and you won t 
 see a better time for it than this." 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 " And you are in a good part of the country to 
 make a trial." 
 
 " Much better than Indiana would be." 
 
 " And better still than Kentucky," added his 
 father. 
 
 " I could n t live in a Slave State anyhow." He 
 had become thoroughly imbued with his father s 
 views and feelings in regard to slavery ; and his 
 own gene/ous and humane nature was sufficient in 
 itself to mafes him a foe to the wicked system. 
 
 " I shall have your clothes ready by to-morrow," 
 
NEW FRIENDS. 223 
 
 said his mother, who sat plying the needle with all 
 her might, " though I d much rather you would 
 wear em up at home." 
 
 " Perhaps I should rather wear them up here," 
 replied Abraham. " It won t he any easier for me 
 to live anywhere else." 
 
 u I *am glad you think so." And this was said 
 with a good deal of feeling by his step-mother ; for 
 she had learned to look upon him witli about the 
 same maternal feeling that she did upon her own 
 children. 
 
 Abraham left home. He had no particular plans 
 about the future. He felt, however, that there was 
 something in the world for him to do, and he would 
 do it. So he went forth, rather late in life to begin 
 for himself, but possessing principles and elements 
 of character that were more valuable to him than 
 thousands of gold and silver. 
 
 As we have said, it was just as the spring opened 
 after the winter of the " great snow." He went into 
 the vicinity of Petersburg, Menard County, and 
 labored where he could find work. During that 
 summer and fall, he worked some for a man by the 
 name of Armstrong, a poor man, somewhat ad 
 vanced in life. Said Armstrong had but one child 
 living, a son about fourteen years of age at that 
 time, uncultivated, and not always obedient. His 
 parents had indulged him to his injury, and they 
 were still blind to their folly. 
 
224 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Abraham was so intelligent, accommodating, up 
 right, and faithful, that he won the hearts of the 
 aged couple. They possessed three or four old 
 volumes of books, and he read them through and 
 through. He borrowed others, too, and read them 
 in his leisure hours. He studied his old arithmetic 
 a little, also, and altogether was rather student-like 
 in his habits. He was certainly a striking contrast 
 with their boy. 
 
 " I don t understand it," said Armstrong to his 
 wife. 
 
 " Don t understand what ? " 
 
 "Why, how Abe, who was brought up in the 
 backwoods as I was, should take to books so." 
 
 The reader will observe that his old nickname 
 stuck to him, though he had left home. 
 
 " I ve thought of it over and over. He talks 
 like a schoolmaster." 
 
 " There ain t half the schoolmasters who can talk 
 as well as he can. They don t know half so much. 
 Then he can be trusted with anything." 
 
 u Anybody can see that ; and I guess the Bible 
 is at the bottom of it." 
 
 " It would n t be strange. I never saw a feller 
 who can repeat more of the Bible than he can ; and 
 he respects it, too." 
 
 " He had a good mother, too. I ve talked with 
 him about it, and she must have been a smart 
 
NEW FRIENDS. 225 
 
 " Ho s seen hard times, too. According to his 
 story, he and his lather both have i ared worse than 
 we have." 
 
 " Yes ; and I think it is a fine thing that he come 
 ahont here to live." 
 
 " That s what I think ; and I 11 tell you what 
 I ve concluded on, if you are willin ." 
 
 What is it ? " 
 
 " Well, it may be that he won t have work in 
 the winter, and I ve been tliinkin that it would be 
 servin him a good turn to let him stay here, and 
 make it his home with us. He s a real scholar, 
 and likes a book better than anything, though he 
 works better than any man that I ever hired, and 
 will do more work in a day." 
 
 " I shall agree to that," answered Mrs. Arm 
 strong. " There s no tellin how much good he 
 may do our boy. Then he may be of some use to 
 us, if it s a hard winter." 
 
 " He won t allers work round so," continued Mr. 
 Armstrong. u He knows too much for that. Re 
 member what I tell you, that boy won t allers 
 dig away at this rate." 
 
 The proposition was made to Abraham, and he 
 accepted it, with the condition that he would render 
 service to the family sufficient to pay for his board. 
 They consented to let the matter stand so, though 
 they still intended to do him a favor. 
 
 We might say here, that there was the evidence 
 10* o 
 
226 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 of rigid honesty and the desire to do right in Abra 
 ham s daily demeanor, no matter what he was about. 
 Wherever he went, people were soon impressed with 
 his high-toned principles. He was a marked young 
 man. There was that in his appearance that at 
 tracted attention at once. 
 
 All this was manifest during that season of his 
 residence near Petersburg. The young people who 
 became acquainted with him gave him their confi 
 dence without hesitation. They believed him to be 
 a conscientious, upright young man. For this rea 
 son, they referred the settlement of disputes to him. 
 They had confidence in his judgment, as well as his 
 honesty. Different sorts of games were in vogue at 
 that time, and running-matches and horse-racings, 
 and if Abraham was present, one party or the other 
 was sure to make him their " judge." Two years 
 later, while he was living in New Salem, he shared 
 the confidence of all to such an extent that both 
 parties, in the aforesaid amusements, were wont to 
 choose him for their "judge." In all cases, too, 
 there was the utmost satisfaction shown in his de 
 cisions. 
 
 It was at this period of his life that he was chris 
 tened " HONEST ABE." It was so unusual for the 
 same person to act as "judge " for both of the con 
 tending parties, and it was expressive of so much 
 confidence in his character, that by common con- 
 Bent he came to be known as " HONEST ABE." 
 
A good book was preferable to a good suit of clothes." Page 227. 
 
NI-:\V FIUENDS. 227 
 
 He found himself with his new friends in their 
 log-cabin when winter set in. There he sits with 
 his book, studying by the light of the fire through 
 the long winter evenings, while the aged couple 
 occupy their wonted seats, the old man huddling 
 over the fire as usual, and his industrious partner 
 looking the very picture of cheerfulness. Abra 
 ham s dress is rather worse for the wear, a matter 
 about which he did not particularly concern himself. 
 A good book was preferable to a good suit of clothes, 
 in his view, and for this reason he was content 
 with his lot. 
 
 During the winter he added several volumes to 
 his stock of books by purchase, though his principal 
 object was to pursue his arithmetic. Hitherto ho 
 had accomplished little more than to retain the 
 knowledge of the science that he acquired at the 
 school of Mr. Crawford. He desired to pursue 
 the study, and master the whole book, a task 
 that he successfully performed. 
 
 The spring was at hand, when one day Mr. 
 Armstrong returned from a trip to a neighboring 
 town with good tidings for Abraham. 
 
 ""I ve seen a man," lie said, " who wants to hire 
 two or three hands to help him take a flat-boat to 
 New Orleans ; and I told him that you would make 
 a capital hand, Abe. What do you say to it ? " 
 
 " I m ready for it, if he 9 s the right sort of a 
 man," answered Abraham. 
 
228 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Well, he is. It is Den ton Offutt, who trades so 
 much up and down the river. I think he has a 
 store and mill at New Salem." 
 
 " When does he want help ? " 
 
 " Just as soon as the snow is off. He is going 
 to buy a boat at Beardstown." This was the port 
 of departure for New Orleans. 
 
 " I should rather like the business," continued 
 Abraham. " I know something about it, too. How 
 much will he pay a month ? " 
 
 " A good price, I reckon, by what he said ; and 
 he thought you was just the man for him, after I 
 told him about you." 
 
 " Will he come here to see me ? " Abraham 
 would not lose the opportunity, so that he was 
 solicitous lest the chance might slip. 
 
 " Yes ; he s coming this way on business in a few 
 days, and lie 11 give us a call." 
 
 " There is no doubt about it, is there ? " 
 
 " No, I don t think there is ; that is what he said, 
 anyhow." 
 
 " If I thought ho would n t come, I would go to 
 see him at once. I should like the chance, and I 
 don t want to lose it." 
 
 " He 11 come, I ve no doubt, after all I told him 
 about you. He s a fool, if he don t." 
 
 " Perhaps he won t think so," said Abraham, 
 rather amused at the last remark of his aged friend. 
 
 Mr. Offutt was good as his word, and he hired 
 
NEW FRIENDS. 229 
 
 Abraham for fifteen dollars a month, rather extra 
 pay for that time. But he saw at a glance that he 
 was just the young man he wanted. 
 
 It was arranged that Abraham and the other 
 young men whom Offutt hired should meet him 
 at Springfield at the time appointed, from whence 
 they would proceed to Beardstown. 
 
 Accordingly, Abraham made ready for his new 
 business, bade his kind friends, the Armstrongs, 
 good-by, and started off. It was with a truly grate 
 ful heart that he left the hospitable roof that had 
 afforded him friendly shelter, and he went forth 
 resolved that the kind-hearted couple should not be 
 losers on his account. 
 
 On reaching Springfield, he found that Offutt 
 could not purchase a boat, as he expected, and 
 hence a boat must be built for the purpose. As 
 Abraham could turn his hand to almost anything, 
 Offutt proposed that he should proceed to Sanga- 
 mon, on the Sangamon River, in company with the 
 other young men hired, and there build a boat. 
 Sangamon was near where the Chicago, Alton, and 
 St. Louis Railroad now crosses the Sangamon River. 
 This proposition was accepted, and the boat was 
 built. 
 
 The trip to New Orleans was made, and it was very 
 successful. Offutt was impressed with the superior 
 abilities of Abraham. Mr. Scripps says, " He [Abra 
 ham] bore himself so well throughout, was so 
 
230 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 faithful iii all the trusts reposed in him by his 
 employer, so active, prompt, and efficient in all 
 necessary labor, so cool, determined, and full of 
 resources in the presence of danger, that before 
 reaching New Orleans Offutt had become greatly 
 attached to him, and on their return engaged him 
 to take the general charge of his store and mill in 
 the village of New Salem." 
 
 Hence Abraham came on the flat-boat to New 
 Salem, where he was installed over the mercantile 
 interests of the place. How well he succeeded will 
 appear in the pages that follow. 
 
XX. 
 
 A MERCHANT S CLERK. 
 
 ABRAHAM soon became the most important 
 man in the place ; for in those days the mer 
 chant was second to no man in the community. In 
 this case, also, there was an additional reason for 
 his popularity. For he was one of those social, 
 affable, intelligent young men who make friends 
 wherever they go ; and, on this account, he drew 
 around himself a circle of ardent friends, who looked 
 upon him as the pride of the village. 
 
 "The best fellow we ve had in the store yet," 
 said William Greene, an intelligent young man, to 
 a number of his companions ; " he knows a thing 
 or two." 
 
 " I 11 bet you that is so," replied Nelson Day ; 
 " it is real fun to hear him talk." 
 
 " And he is so accommodating and straightfor 
 ward ! Mother says she d trust him with anything, 
 because he s so honest. She paid him a few cents 
 too much the other day, and he told her of it, and 
 gave it back to her." 
 
 4i Not many on em who d do that," said Nelson. 
 
232 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Everybody says that he gives Scripture weight 
 and measure." 
 
 " And he is none of your high-fly gentry," added 
 William, " if he does keop store. He knows more 
 in a half an hour than Offutt s other man did in a 
 week." 
 
 " Yes, and he s drawing customers that have n t 
 traded there before, just because he does the thing 
 that is right. Everybody knows that he won t lie 
 nor cheat ; and they believe just what he says, and 
 they like to trade with him on that account." 
 
 " Offutt was a fortunate man to get him to keep 
 his store," continued William. " It will be money 
 in his pocket." 
 
 " And he seems to attend to the business just as 
 closely as he would if it was his own," said Nelson ; 
 " he is there early and late, and he is allers readin* 
 when he has no thin* else to do." 
 
 " That s because he is honest," replied William ; 
 " a dishonest clerk would n t care whether the busi 
 ness prospered or not, nor whether people were 
 pleased or not. Offutt is off so much that he 
 would n t know whether a clerk was faithful or 
 not, and its lucky for him that he hit upon Abe 
 as he did." 
 
 u And it s about as lucky for us. I tell you how 
 J t is : that store is now just about the best place to 
 go to that there is anywhere about. Abe is the 
 greatest feller on stories that I ever heard, and 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 233 
 
 many of them are real facts of history. You ought 
 to hear him tell about Washington and Franklin, as 
 he did the other day. He knows a heap more about 
 them than old Squire Jones ; and he 11 talk politics 
 like a member of Congress." 
 
 " And he can t be beat, nuthcr," said a third 
 companion. " IIow he did use up Stokes and Park- 
 hurst, the other day, who think they are great on 
 arguing ! He showed em that they did n t know 
 what they were talkin about." 
 
 " How did Stokes bear it ? " inquired William. 
 " He is a rabid fellow, and it would be just like him 
 to blaze away with madness." 
 
 " He did n t ; Abe was so pleasant and funny 
 about it, and topped off with one of his best stories, 
 so that Stokes shook his sides with laughter." 
 
 " And I heard him say, no longer ago than yes 
 terday," said Nelson, " that Abe was a plaguy smart 
 feller ! He likes him first-rate." 
 
 " I can see through it," replied William. " Abe 
 is so much of a gentleman, and keeps so cool him 
 self, and mixes in his stories so nicely, that no 
 decent man can get mad. But as Stokes is hardly 
 decent, I did n t know but lie might flare up, and 
 have one of his tantrums." 
 
 u Well, he did n t, and you must give him the 
 credit of it." 
 
 " I will do that, you may be sure." 
 
 " Nor forget to credit Abe with the way ho has 
 of doing things," added another. 
 
234 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Thus Abraham won the young people of New 
 Salem, at the same time that he pleased their fa 
 thers and mothers. He was the centre of attrac 
 tion to the young people of the place, and they 
 really felt honored to make his acquaintance. They 
 looked up to him as to a superior, and sought his 
 advice on various projects that young people are 
 disposed to start. " Abe s say so " was the upshot 
 of the matter, and it settled the question, whatever 
 it might be. Never did a young person of his age 
 have more influence over associates than he, and 
 the secret of it is clear. First, they had confidence 
 in him, on account of his honesty ; second, they 
 were in love with his knowledge, acquired by the 
 careful improvement of his leisure time ; third, his 
 gentlemanly bearing and courtesy impressed them 
 favorably. 
 
 As to the confidence and respect that his honesty 
 won, too much cannot be said of it. His case fur 
 nishes a vindication of the following sentiments from 
 the Merchant s Magazine : 
 
 " Integrity of character and truth are the pre 
 requisites for success in any calling, and especially 
 so in that of the merchant. These are attributes 
 of the man which never fail to command respect 
 and win admiration. There is no better stock in 
 trade than these commodities ; no capital goes so 
 far, or pays so well, or is so exempt from bank- 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 235 
 
 ruptcy and loss. When known, it gives credit and 
 confidence, and in the hardest of times will honor 
 your paper in bank. It gives you an unlimited cap 
 ital to do business on, and everybody will indorse 
 your paper, and the general faith of mankind will 
 be your guaranty that you will not fail. Let every 
 young man in commencing business look well to 
 these indispensable elements of success, and guard 
 and defend them as he would the apple of his eye. 
 If inattentive and reckless here, he will imperil 
 everything. Bankruptcy in character is seldom re 
 paired in an ordinary lifetime. A man may suffer 
 in reputation, and recover, not so the man who 
 suffers iii character. Be just and truthful. Let these 
 be the ruling and predominating principles of your 
 life, and the rewards will be certain, either in the 
 happiness they bring to your own bosom, or the 
 success which will attend upon all your business 
 operations in life, or both." 
 
 To return. Abraham had been engaged in this 
 new business a.bout three months, when Nelson Day 
 called at the store to see him, as he frequently did, 
 and found him alone. 
 
 " Readin , as usual ! " he exclaimed ; for he found 
 his new and valued friend poring over a book. 
 
 " No, not exactly reading," replied Abraham. 
 " This is a grammar that I have." 
 
 " Studyin grammar, then ? " 
 
236 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Yes ; I want to know something about it. I 
 never did." 
 
 " Nor I, and that ain t the worst on t " ; and 
 Nelson laughed as he said it. 
 
 " Well, I intend to know a little of it," added 
 Abraham. u It is rather dry, but I am determined 
 to master it, if I can. I want, at least, to discover 
 wli ether I am a common noun or not." 
 
 " You re an uncommon noun, Abe," said Nelson, 
 meaning to compliment his friend, at the same time 
 that he got off a pun. 
 
 " Your word for it." 
 
 " Of course, my word for it. But 1 am quite 
 sure that if there is anything in that book, you will 
 get it out." 
 
 " But really, Nelson, this is a very important 
 study, and I think that every one ought to under 
 stand it, if they can." 
 
 " Not many know anything about it," answered 
 Nelson. 
 
 " And that does not prove that it is useless. There 
 are a great many things of importance that many 
 people know nothing about." 
 
 " That s so ; but most people have got along 
 without it. My father and mother never studied 
 it in their lives, and I never did, and we ve got 
 along well enough so far without it." 
 
 " Perhaps you would have got along better with 
 it. I ve learned enough already to be. of great 
 service to me, and I intend to know more yet." 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 237 
 
 " But there s a customer, and you won t learn 
 much more now," added Nelson : " down with your 
 book." 
 
 The customer was promptly served, and the con 
 versation with Nelson suspended until the buyer left 
 the store. 
 
 " It would be a hard case for me," said Nelson, 
 when the customer was gone, " to learn anything in 
 such a place." 
 
 " You would get used to it," replied Abraham, 
 " and Practice makes perfect, you know. Some 
 days I have two or three hours of leisure time." 
 
 " But it is only a little at a time. You just get 
 at it, and somebody comes. I don t think much of 
 that." 
 
 " We don t all think alike." 
 
 " That s a fact ; I m pretty sure that if you 
 thought as I do, you would n t be troublin your 
 brains over that grammar." 
 
 " Perhaps nobody else would, and the king s 
 English would be shockingly murdered. We 
 should have another Babel almost." 
 
 " How is that ? For the life of me, I can t see any 
 particular good that comes of studyin grammar." 
 
 u That is because you Irnve not even looked at the 
 definition of it. Grammar is the art of speaking 
 and writing the English language with propriety. 
 And that shows what good it does." 
 
 " Pcrlvips it does." 
 
238 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Of course it does, whether you can see it or riot ; 
 and I am. willing to study for it by day and 
 night." 
 
 " I should think it was about enough to study by 
 day, and let the nights go," added James, demurely. 
 
 " There is where we don t think alike again. It 
 would take rne a long time to master this grammar, 
 if I should study only my leisure moments in the 
 daytime. I have used up from two to three hours 
 over it every night of late." 
 
 " Just like you, Abe." 
 
 " Just like every poor fellow like me, who must 
 do so, or know little or nothing. Dr. Franklin 
 carried a book in his pocket, to study when he 
 could, and he kept one by his side in the printing- 
 office to read every minute he had to spare." 
 
 " How do you know that ? Was you there ? " 
 and Nelson s roguishness appeared in his expres 
 sive eye. 
 
 " Probably," answered Abraham, in the same vein 
 of remark. 
 
 "But did you ever read the Life of Dr. Frank 
 lin ? " 
 
 " Certainly, several years ago ; and if he had not 
 done just what you think is quite foolish, he would 
 have made candles all his life." 
 
 " And that would be sheddin light on the world, 
 I m sure," said Nelson, with an attempt at punning. 
 " Lucky that somebody was willin to make can 
 dles." 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 239 
 
 " And more lucky that Franklin was willing to 
 improve his leisure hours in study," added Abra 
 ham. " This country is under great obligations to 
 him." 
 
 " Well, you are talking about something that I 
 don t understand, and so I " 
 
 " Ah, Mr. Garland," said Abraham, rising from 
 his seat, and stopping short the conversation, as an 
 acquaintance entered with a friend. It was a little 
 after eleven o clock, A. M. 
 
 " Mr. Lincoln, this is Richard Yates, whom I 
 have invited to see you," said Mr. Garland. 
 
 " Glad to see him," responded Abraham, extend 
 ing his hand, which Richard grasped with his 
 wonted cordiality. 
 
 This was Richard Yates, who lias since been a 
 very prominent statesman of Illinois, filling many 
 offices with honor to himself. He has recently 
 been Governor of the State. He was several years 
 younger than Abraham. The fact was, the people 
 of New Salem were proud of their " storekeeper," 
 and they frequently took their visitors there to see 
 him. This was the case with Mr. Garland. 
 
 " Come, Richard," he said, " I 11 go over and 
 introduce you to a fine young fellow wo have here, 
 a smart, genial, active young fellow, and we 11 be 
 sure to have a good time." This was precisely the 
 view that most of the people of New Salem had of 
 Abraham. Sometimes these visits with strangers 
 
240 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 were a great annoyance and interruption to him. 
 They liked him too well for the most advantageous 
 improvement of his time. He thought too much 
 of his leisure moments for study to submit without 
 misgivings to so many interruptions. Still his good 
 sense, urbanity, courtesy, and desire to treat every 
 person with respect always triumphed. 
 
 He was soon engaged in close conversation with 
 Yates upon various subjects, and while they were 
 talking, Nelson left for home. Mr. Garland, also, 
 excused himself, and left his young friend to be en 
 tertained by Abraham. 
 
 The dinner-time arrived before they were aware 
 that nearly an hour had passed since they were in 
 troduced to each other. Abraham invited his new 
 acquaintance to dine with him, and they proceeded 
 to the house where he boarded, a low, rough, log- 
 house. 
 
 " Aunt Lizzie," said Abraham, " I have brought 
 some company home to dinner." 
 
 " I m glad of it, Abe, if you 11 take me as you 
 find me," replied the old lady, addressing her re 
 mark partly to Abraham, and partly to the visitor. 
 
 " No apologies are necessary," said Richard. 
 
 " No, none at all," added Abraham. 
 
 The dinner was on the table, and it was a very 
 plain one. There was a plenty of bread, and milk 
 enough for the company, and the addition of another 
 bowl and spoon provided a dinner for visitor and all. 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 241 
 
 There were quite a number members ot the fam 
 ily, boarders and children, and the aged matron 
 waited upon the table, pouring the milk, and pass 
 ing a brimming bowl to each. "When Abraham was 
 waited upon, by some mishap, his bowl slipped and 
 rolled over upon the floor, dashing it to pieces, and 
 covering the floor with its contents. 
 
 " dear me ! " exclaimed the old lady, in great 
 trouble ; u that was all my fault." 
 
 " Perhaps not," said Abraham. 
 
 " It surely was," she answered. " I am so care 
 less." 
 
 " Well, Aunt Lizzy, we 11 not discuss whose fault 
 it is," continued Abraham ; " only if it don t trou 
 ble you, it don t trouble *me." 
 
 " That s you, Abe, sure," replied Aunt Lizzy. 
 " You re ready to comfort a body." 
 
 " A very good trait," said Richard, who was both 
 amused and enlightened by the accident. 
 
 " Never mind, Aunt Lizzy," continued Abraham, 
 " you have the worst of it ; but I am really sorry 
 that your bowl is broken. I don t care so much for 
 the milk, as there is a plenty more where that came 
 from. Much worse things happen sometimes." 
 
 By this time Aunt Lizzy had another bowl filled 
 for Abraham, and the company proceeded to eat 
 their dinner, while the old lady gathered up the 
 fragments of the broken bowl, and wiped up tho 
 floor. 
 
 11 F 
 
242 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 Here Abraham exhibited a trait of character for 
 which hq was distinguished from boyhood. He dis 
 liked to make trouble for any one, and wanted to 
 see all persons at ease. Hence lie was accommo 
 dating, never disposed to find fault, inclined to 
 overlook the mistakes and foibles of others. Also, 
 his readiness to assist the needy, and comfort the 
 distressed and unfortunate, proceeded in part from 
 this quality. It was made up of gentlemanly bear 
 ing, affability, generosity, and a true regard for the 
 welfare and happiness of others. A rare character 
 is this, though it is always needed, and is popular 
 wherever it is appreciated. 
 
 We were absorbed in the discussion of Abraham 
 and Nelson about the grammar, and were inter 
 rupted by the arrival of Richard, in consequence 
 of which the conversation was broken off. We will 
 only add, that Abraham became a very good gram 
 marian by dint of perseverance. He did not cast 
 aside the old grammar until he had mastered it, 
 and it was all accomplished while he was the most 
 faithful clerk that the store in New Salem ever 
 had. He found time enough at odd moments dur 
 ing the day, and took enough out of his sleeping 
 hours at night, within the space of a few months, to 
 acquire all the knowledge of grammar that he ever 
 possessed. 
 
 We should say, however, that his companion, 
 William Greene, rendered him assistance in this 
 
A MERCHANT S CLERK. 243 
 
 study. William had some knowledge of grammar, 
 and he cheerfully aided Abraham all that he could. 
 The latter always said that William taught him 
 grammar, although William still affirms " that he 
 seemed to master it, as it were, by intuition." 
 
 It is probable that this old grammar laid the 
 foundation, in part, of Abraham s future character. 
 It taught him the rudiments of his native language, 
 and thus opened the golden gate of knowledge. 
 There is much in his experience at this point to 
 remind us of that of Alexander Murray, the world- 
 renowned linguist. His father was too poor to send 
 him to school, or to provide him with books. The 
 Bible and a catechism containing the alphabet wero 
 all the volumes in the family, and the latter Alex 
 ander was not allowed to see except on the Sabbath. 
 During the week his father would draw the letters 
 on the back of an old wool-card " with the black end 
 of an extinguished heather-stem or root, snatched 
 from the fire." In this way he learned the alphabet, 
 and became a reader. At twelve years of age a 
 friend presented him with a copy of Salmon s Gram 
 mar, which he mastered in an incredibly short pe 
 riod ; and here commenced his progress in earnest. 
 He borrowed a Latin grammar, and mastered it. 
 Then a French grammar was studied with success. 
 Then the Greek was taken in hand, and thus on till 
 all the Oriental and Northern languages were famil 
 iar to him. And the study of Salmon s Grammar 
 
244 THE PIOXKER liOY. 
 
 laid the foundation for all this. That was the key 
 to the vast treasures of knowledge that were opened 
 before him. By making himself master of that, he 
 unlocked the temple of wisdom. 
 
 And so the grammar that Abraham studied ex 
 erted a great influence upon his character and 
 destiny. 
 
XXI. 
 
 CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK-HAWK WAB. 
 
 EARLY in the following spring the Black-Hawk 
 War broke out, and the Governor of Illinois 
 called for four regiments of volunteers. 
 
 " I shall enlist," said Abraham to his intimate 
 friend and companion, William Greene, as soon as 
 the news reached New Salem. 
 
 " So shall I, if you do," answered William. He 
 was several years younger than Abraham. 
 
 " Well, I shall do it. Black Hawk is one of the 
 most treacherous Indians there is, and I hope he 
 will be shot. It is not more than a year ago, nor 
 hardly that, that he entered into a treaty to keep 
 his people on the other side of the Mississippi, and 
 now he has crossed to make war on the whites." 
 
 " Just like an Indian," replied William. "The 
 only way to keep them in their place is to show 
 them no quarter." 
 
 " I don t know about that, though I am certain 
 that we have got to fight Black Hawk to save our 
 selves. He is a cunning, artful warrior, and deter 
 mined to massacre all the whites he can." 
 
246 THE PIONEER B01. 
 
 "1 m ready to fight him for one," continued 
 William ; " and what do you say to raising a com 
 pany here ? " 
 
 " I should like it, if we can." 
 
 " I think we can. We can try it, anyhow." 
 
 " Who will enlist, do you think ? " 
 
 "Almost everybody; it s only for thirty days, 
 you know." 
 
 " Yes ; but I don t believe that thirty days will 
 finish the war. I shall go and enlist to-morrow, 
 whether it is for thirty days or thirty months." 
 
 " And I 11 go with you ; and then we 11 see what 
 can be done about raising a company." 
 
 " We shall have to get permission to do that," 
 said Abraham. 
 
 " It will be given fast enough. Let us see about 
 it when we enlist." 
 
 Recruiting-offices were opened in various places, 
 though there was none at New Salem. Abraham 
 expected to go to a neighboring town to enlist. But 
 the subject was talked over that night, and it was 
 concluded to apply for the privilege of raising a 
 whole company in New Salem, in which case a re 
 cruiting-office would be opened there. 
 
 Abraham put his whole soul into the work. He 
 conferred with his employer, and the latter readily 
 released him from further engagements to him, that 
 he might gratify his patriotic desires. A general 
 enthusiasm was inspired in consequence, and the 
 
CAPTAIN IK THE BLACK-HAWK WAR. 247 
 
 whole town became fired with military ardor. En 
 listments progressed rapidly. Abraham s example, 
 iu being the first one to enlist, became the theme 
 of remark, and it encouraged others to enroll their 
 names in that time of peril. Nearly every one of 
 his companions were foremost among the patriots. 
 Within a few days the company was full. 
 
 Now the choice of officers must be decided, a 
 very important part of the enterprise, much more 
 important, in some respects, than the enlistments. 
 The efficiency of the company would depend, in a 
 great measure, upon its officers. 
 
 " There s no question about it," said the father 
 of young Greene, " Abe is altogether the best man 
 for captain." This was not said in Abraham s pres 
 ence, but was addressed to a number of the com 
 pany. 
 
 " That s it," answered a number of voices. The 
 suggestion was adopted at once. 
 
 " I doubt whether he 11 accept," suggested one. 
 " If he 11 serve, he can have every vote." 
 
 u Of course he can," said William. " Every man 
 will be proud to make him captain ; but he must n t 
 know it till we choose him." 
 
 " Why ? " inquired one of the number. 
 
 " Because he 11 declare right up and down that 
 he won t serve, if we tell him what we are going to 
 do. He s so modest, that he 11 think somebody 
 else will do much better." 
 
248 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Well, then, you must keep the matter close," 
 said William s father, " but have a fair understand 
 ing among yourselves. Whisper the matter about, 
 go that every vote will be right." 
 
 " And what if he won t accept then ? " asked one 
 of the aforesaid speakers. 
 
 " He must ; we won t let him off anyhow, when 
 he is elected. We will press him into the service," 
 answered William. 
 
 Thus the matter was discussed and arranged, and 
 Abraham was kept in the dark as to their intentions. 
 The time for electing officers was appointed. More 
 than once Abraham conversed with some of his 
 companions about the fitness of this and that man 
 for an office ; but he did not dream of their pur 
 pose to give him the command of the company. His 
 companions amused themselves over their success in 
 keeping the purpose of the volunteers a secret. 
 
 The election took place, and every vote was cast 
 for Abraham as captain. He was taken by surprise. 
 He scarcely knew what to think or say. He was on 
 the point of declining to serve ; but the rousing 
 cheers that arose drowned his voice. At length, 
 however, he was assured that the company would 
 not allow him to decline, and he very reluctantly 
 consented to command them. 
 
 " Captain Lincoln, your honor ! " said William 
 Greene, bowing to him, in a humorous way, after 
 his election. 
 
CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK-HAWK WAR. 249 
 
 " None of your fun at my expense," replied 
 Abraham, who received the greeting with the same 
 good feeling with which it was tendered 
 
 " We shall have the tallest captain," suggested 
 another. 
 
 " In more senses than one, too," added William, 
 with as roguish a twinkle of the eye as was ever 
 witnessed. 
 
 Thus the affair passed off pleasantly, and no mil 
 itary company was ever more harmonious and 
 happy in the choice of a captain, than was this 
 company at New Salem. The truth was, they were 
 proud of their young captain. 
 
 Of course his promotion was the subject of much 
 conversation in the town, and some rather large 
 stories were told about his abilities. Among them 
 was the following, which was no larger than the 
 facts warranted, though it seemed extravagant to 
 the person addressed. Young Greene was in con 
 versation with a stranger to Abraham, and Greene 
 said, " He is the strongest man in Illinois." 
 
 " I don t believe that," the stranger replied ; 
 and he named some one who was stronger, in his 
 opinion. 
 
 " How much will he lift ? " asked Greene. 
 
 " He 11 lift a barrel of flour." 
 
 " Abe will lift two, if he could get hold of them." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! " laughed the man. " You can 
 tell a greater story than I can." 
 11 * 
 
250 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Great story or not, I will bet that Abe will lift 
 a barrel of whiskey holding forty gallons, and drink 
 out of the bunghole." 
 
 " Worse yet," replied the man. "I ll bet he 
 can t do any such thing." 
 
 " What will you bet ? " 
 
 " I 11 bet a good hat ; and we 11 have him try 
 right off, if he will." 
 
 " Agreed," said Greene. The truth was, he had 
 seen Abraham do this very thing, minus the drink 
 ing part, so that he knew he should win. 
 
 Without delay they proceeded to the store where 
 Abraham was, and made known their errand. 
 
 " I don t think much of the betting part," said 
 Abraham, " but I guess I 11 help William out of the 
 affair, though he won t have a chance to wear the 
 hat yet awhile, if he is going to war with me." 
 
 " Well, if you can do what he says you can, I 
 want to see it," said the man. 
 
 " You shall have the privilege," answered Abra 
 ham. 
 
 At once he proceeded to perform the feat, and 
 accomplished it with seeming ease. The barrel was 
 raised, as another man might lift a ten-gallon keg, 
 and a quantity of liquor taken from the bunghole. 
 
 " There it is ! " exclaimed Greene. " But that is 
 the first dram I ever saw you drink in my life, 
 Abe." 
 
 The words had scarcely escaped his lips, before 
 
CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK-HAWK WAR. 251 
 
 Abraham sat down the barrel, and spirted the whis 
 key that was in his mouth upon the floor, at the 
 same time replying, " And I have n t drank that, 
 you see." 
 
 Greene burst into a hearty laugh at this turn of 
 the affair, and added, " You are bound to let whis 
 key alone, Abe." 
 
 And this same Greene writes to us : " That was 
 the only drink of intoxicating liquor I ever saw him 
 take, and that he spirted out on the floor." 
 
 The stranger was satisfied, as well as astonished. 
 He had never seen the like before, and he doubted 
 whether he ever should again. He did not know 
 that the whole life-discipline through which the 
 young captain had passed was suited to develop 
 muscular strength. Probably he did not care, 
 since there was the actual deed. 
 
 We are interested in it mostly for the determina 
 tion it showed to reject whiskey. The act was in 
 keeping with all his previous temperate habits. 
 
 On the evening after this affair, Abraham was 
 alone with his friend William Greene, who won the 
 aforesaid hat, and he said to him, " William, are 
 you in the habit of betting ? " 
 
 " No ; I never bet before in my life, never." 
 
 " Well, I never would again, if I was you. It is 
 what unprincipled men will do, and I would set my 
 face against it." 
 
 " I did n t see anything very bad in this bet," said 
 William. 
 
252 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " All bets are alike," answered Abraham, " though 
 you may not have any bad motives in doing it. * 
 
 " I only wanted to convince the man that you 
 could lift the barrel." 
 
 " I know it ; but I want you should promise me 
 that you will never bet again. It is a species of 
 gambling, and nothing is meaner than that." 
 
 " I don t suppose I ever shall do it again." 
 
 " I want you should promise me that you won t," 
 continued Abraham, with increased emphasis. " It 
 will please your mother to know of so good a reso 
 lution." 
 
 " I will promise you, Abe," answered William, 
 grasping his hand, while tears glistened in his eyes. 
 And there was true seriousness in this transaction, 
 more than might appear to the reader at first view. 
 The youth who thus pledged himself to Abraham 
 writes to us now, in his riper years : " On that night, 
 when alone, I wept over his lecture to me, and I 
 have so far kept that solemn pledge." 
 
 The New Salem company went into camp at 
 Beardstown, from whence, in a few days, they 
 marched to the expected scene of .conflict. When 
 the thirty days of their enlistment had expired, 
 however, they had not seen the enemy. They were 
 disbanded at Ottawa, and most of the volunteers 
 returned. But a new levy being called for, Abra 
 ham re-enlisted as a private. Another thirty days 
 expired, and the war was not over. His regiment 
 
CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK-HAWK WAR. 253 
 
 was disbanded, and again, the third time, he volun 
 teered. He was determined to serve his country as 
 long as the war lasted. Before the third term of his 
 enlistment had expired, the battle of Bad Axe was 
 fought, which put an end to the war. 
 
 He returned home. " Having lost his horse, near 
 where the town of Janesville, Wisconsin, now stands, 
 he went down Rock River to Dixon in a canoo. 
 Thence he crossed the country on foot to Peoria, 
 where he again took canoe to a point on the Illinois 
 River, within forty miles of home. The latter dis 
 tance he accomplished on foot." 
 
 One who served under him in the New Salem 
 company writes, that lie was a universal favorite in 
 the army, that he was an efficient, faithful officer, 
 watchful of his men, and prompt in the discharge 
 of duty, and that his courage and patriotism 
 shrank from no dangers or hardships. 
 
XXII. 
 
 PLANS AND PEOGEESS. 
 
 IT was pleasant for Lincoln to be with his old 
 friends again, and they did not fail to express 
 their interest in his welfare. Many of them de 
 lighted to show him honor by calling him Captain 
 Lincoln. It was a mark of respect which they loved 
 to show, as they thought of his patriotism and cour 
 age. His boon companions, however, called him 
 by the old name Abe. But there was a higher 
 honor in reserve for him. No sooner had he re 
 turned from the war than they began to plan for 
 his promotion. 
 
 " Going to send you to the Legislature," said his 
 old friend Greene to him one day. 
 
 " Send me to the Legislature ! " exclaimed Lin 
 coln, with wonder* beaming all over his face. 
 
 " Yes, you ; and you need n t be so astonished 
 about it. Perhaps you 11 be a member of Con 
 gress yet." 
 
 " But you are joking. Nobody but you young 
 fellows can be thinking of such a thing." 
 
 "I am not joking; and, moreover, I know that 
 
PLANS AND PROGRESS. 255 
 
 older persons than we are thinking of such a 
 thing." 
 
 " But it was only yesterday that I heard John T. 
 Stuart, Colonel Taylor, and Peter Cartwright named 
 as candidates. 
 
 " All that may be, and there may be a half-dozen 
 other candidates ; but we are going to run you 
 against the whole batch, unless you positively de 
 cline." 
 
 " You are crazy, William, and all the rest of you 
 who entertain such a thought. What ! run me, 
 nothing but a strapping boy, against such men of 
 experience and wisdom ! Come, now, no more 
 of your gammon." 
 
 " Then you won t believe me ? " 
 
 " I did n t say so." 
 
 " Well, believe it or not, you will be waited upon 
 by older persons than I am, to get your consent." 
 
 And, sure enough, he was waited upon by several 
 of the most influential citizens of New Salem within 
 twenty-four hours thereafter, to ask his consent to 
 run as a candidate for the Legislature. 
 
 " It will only subject me to ridicule," he said. 
 
 " Why so ? " inquired one of the number. 
 
 " For the folly of running against such men as 
 Stuart and Cartwright." 
 
 " Not if you beat them." 
 
 " That is impossible. I should not expect to be 
 elected, if I should consent to be a candidate." 
 
250 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " I don t know about that," answered one ; " we 
 expect to elect you." 
 
 " But I have lived in the county only nine 
 months, and am known only in New Salem, while 
 the other candidates are known in every part of the 
 county. Besides, it is only a few days before the 
 election, and there is little time to carry your 
 measures." 
 
 " Very true ; but there is a principle involved in 
 your nomination, and we shall sustain that, whether 
 you are elected or not." 
 
 Here was a point of importance. There were no 
 distinct political parties then in the State, as there 
 are now. But there were " Jackson men," " Clay 
 men," " Crawford men," and " Adams men." Abra 
 ham was a u Clay man," while the majority vote of 
 the county, at the previous presidential election, was 
 cast for Jackson. In these circumstances there was 
 little prospect that the young candidate would be 
 elected. There were as many as eight candidates 
 in all, but none of them represented the principles 
 of the " Clay men " so fully as Abraham. 
 
 Suffice to say that Abraham at last yielded very 
 reluctantly, and became a candidate. He was not 
 elected ; but his popularity may be learned from the 
 fact that he stood next to the successful candidate, 
 and only a few votes behind him. " His own pre 
 cinct, New Salem, gave him 277 votes in a poll of 
 284," all but 7. No one was more surprised 
 
PLANS AND PKOGRESS. 257 
 
 than Abraham himself. Although he was not 
 elected, yet, in the circumstances, it was a great 
 triumph. 
 
 " We 11 do it next time," said his old friend 
 Greene. " You see I m not quite so near crazy as 
 you thought I was," referring to their former con 
 versation. 
 
 " I must confess that the result is much better 
 than I expected." This was very true ; for his 
 modesty and humble view of himself always modi 
 fied his anticipations of personal distinction, a very 
 good trait of character, and necessary to success. 
 
 " Prepare for a great triumph- next time, Abe, for 
 we shall certainly win it." And they did, as we 
 shall see. 
 
 But we were speaking of what happened after 
 Lincoln returned from the Black-Hawk War. The 
 result of the aforesaid election 277 votes out of 
 284 votes in New Salem cast for him showed that 
 the people of the town were decidedly his friends. 
 He could not doubt it longer. A majority of them 
 were a Jackson men," and yet they voted for him, a 
 " Clay man." 
 
 " I would remain here if I had any employment," 
 he said to his old friend Greene, who knew that he 
 was thinking of going elsewhere to find business. 
 
 " But you must stay here," replied Greene. 
 
 44 There is no must about it, if there is no work 
 for me," answered Lincoln. 
 
 Q 
 
258 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " There 11 be enough that you can do, only take 
 time for it ; the world was n t made in a minute." 
 
 " No ; I suppose it took about six days, and 
 if I can find employment in that time, I shall be 
 satisfied." 
 
 " I 11 tell you what to do Abe, STUDY LAW : 
 you re just the man for it." 
 
 " Whew ! I should laugh to see myself trying to 
 make a lawyer." 
 
 " Why not be one, I should like to know ? " 
 
 " For the very good reason, that I have n t brains 
 enough." 
 
 " Just what I thought you would say. You are 
 altogether too sparing of good opinions of your 
 self. You ve more brains than half the lawyers 
 in Illinois." 
 
 " Perhaps that is n t saying much," replied Abra 
 ham, laughing ; " although it is a pretty handsome 
 compliment on your part. Much obliged." 
 
 " Well, compliment or not, I have heard a good 
 many people say that you ought to be a lawyer." 
 
 " And I have heard one propose that I be a black 
 smith ; and I suppose I could swing a sledge-ham 
 mer equal to any of them. And, seriously, I have 
 had some thoughts of choosing that trade." 
 
 "And throw away your talents ? Any fool could 
 be a blacksmith." 
 
 " By no means. No man can be successful in 
 anything unless he is industrious, and has common 
 sense, and a good share of perseverance." 
 
PLANS AND PROGRESS. 259 
 
 " That s so, I s pose ; but a blacksmith is the 
 last thing I would be, if I were in your place. I 
 would like to know who ever suggested such an 
 idea to you." 
 
 " My father, several years ago ; and less than 
 five years ago I came within an ace of putting 
 his advice into practice. I almost decided to go at 
 it for life." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! " laughed his friend, heartily. 
 " Would n t you cut a dash, doffing a leathern 
 apron, and blowing the blacksmith s bellows, like 
 another Jake Smutty face, as they used to call Jake 
 Tower." 
 
 " An honest calling," answered Lincoln ; " and 
 that is the main thing. A lawyer can look a little 
 more spruce than a son of Vulcan, to be sure ; but 
 a blacksmith can be just as upright, if not a little 
 more so." 
 
 " And what do you mean by a little more so ? " 
 asked Greene. 
 
 " Why, don t you know that nearly everybody 
 suspects lawyers of trickery, doing anything for 
 a fee, blowing hot or cold for the sake of a case, 
 shielding the meanest culprits as readily as they do 
 the best men, and all that sort of thing ? " 
 
 " Not quite so bad as that, Abe. I know that 
 lawyers are not over particular, and that is true 
 of a good many folks who are not lawyers. If you 
 won t follow a calling because there are scapegraces 
 in it, you will not choose one right away." 
 
260 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " Perhaps so ; but no man lias any more right to 
 defend the wrong because he is a lawyer than he has 
 because he is a blacksmith, in my way of thinking." 
 
 " I give it up, Abe ; you ve got the case already, 
 and I am more convinced than ever that you ought 
 to study law." 
 
 " That is, if you are judge and jury," responded 
 Lincoln. " But I don t understand why it is that 
 people are determined I shall be a lawyer. As 
 many as ten months ago, two or three people gave 
 me the same advice, though I thought they were 
 half in joke." 
 
 " Well, Abe, perhaps you 11 get your eyes open, if 
 you live long enough, to see what you ought to be," 
 said Greene, in a strain of pleasantry. " Not many 
 folks live that have to go to their neighbors to find 
 out what they are. By the time you are seven feet 
 high, perhaps you will understand." 
 
 " 1 should think I was pretty near that now, by 
 what people say," archly replied Lincoln. 
 
 " I think you are in a fair way to be, if you keep 
 on." 
 
 " And I shall be a lawyer by that time, and not 
 before." And here they parted. 
 
 Lincoln had no intention of being a lawyer, after 
 all that his friends had suggested. He had no con 
 fidence in his abilities for that profession. Indeed, 
 he could not see how a young man reared as he 
 was could expect to enter upon such a calling. 
 
PLANS AND PROGRESS. 261 
 
 Yet he longed for some permanent pursuit, a 
 life-vocation. He did not like this going from one 
 thing to another, and he only did it from sheer 
 necessity. He believed that a young man should 
 choose a calling, and stick to it with unwearied de 
 votion, if he would make anything in the world. 
 He wanted to do this ; but what should he choose ? 
 He was perplexed, troubled, and the more so, be 
 cause admiring friends advised him to do what 
 he really supposed was beyond his ability. He 
 underrated his talents, (a very good failing,) and 
 all the time thought that others were overrating 
 them. Few youth and young men suffer in this 
 way. Thqy are more apt to injure themselves by 
 too exalted views of their talents. Some of the 
 veriest simpletons esteem themselves as the wisest 
 and greatest men. Ignorance is more likely to be 
 vain and proud than ripe talents and learning. 
 True knowledge is humble. Great talents are 
 marked by humility. And so young Lincoln did 
 not stand so high in his own estimation as he did 
 in the estimation of others. This was the case with 
 Sir Humphrey Davy, Nathaniel Bowditch, Ark- 
 wright, Franklin, Washington, and many others. 
 From their youth, they were devoid of that vain 
 self-confidence which many shallow-brained people 
 possess. 
 
 Lincoln did not leave town. In company with 
 another man, he bought the store of Oifutt, and 
 
262 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 went into business again. It was at this stage of 
 his career that he adopted a plan of improvement 
 worthy of notice. As usual, he devoted all his spare 
 moments to reading, and now he adopted the plan 
 of writing out a synopsis of each book he read. 
 This would fix the contents of the volume in his 
 mind, and prove far more profitable. There can 
 be no doubt that this exercise exerted a most 
 beneficial influence upon his habits of thought and 
 study. It is a practice that the young generally 
 ought to adopt, as necessary to the highest improve 
 ment. 
 
 Within a few months, however, he sold out to his 
 partner, believing that they could not make the 
 enterprise profitable. 
 
 He had but just relinquished the store business, 
 when he unexpectedly met John Calhoun of Spring 
 field. Since that time, Calhoun has been notorious 
 for his efforts to enslave Kansas. He was President 
 of the Lecompton Constitutional Convention. But 
 when he met Abraham, at the time mentioned, he 
 was- engaged in a more legitimate and honorable 
 business, that of Surveyor for Sangamon County 
 
 " Try your hand at surveying," said Calhoun. 
 
 " I know nothing about it." 
 
 " Learn then." 
 
 " How can I do that." 
 
 " Easy enough, if you want to do it." 
 
 " I do want to do it. I think I should like the 
 business, if I could qualify myself for it." 
 
PLANS AND PROGRESS. 263 
 
 " You can, and in a few weeks, too. I will loan 
 you Flint and Gibson, the authors you will want to 
 study, and you can provide yourself with a compass 
 and chain, and I will render you any assistance I 
 can." 
 
 " You are very kind, Mr. Calhoun, and I will do 
 the best I can. Your generous offer shall not come 
 to nothing for the want of my trying." 
 
 " You 11 make a good surveyor, I m sure of 
 that, and find plenty of business. And, what is 
 more, I will depute to you that portion of my field 
 contiguous to New Salem." 
 
 " It is more than I could expect of you," said 
 Lincoln. " I could not ask so great a favor." 
 
 " Take it without asking," said Calhoun, in a jolly 
 way. " I have much more than I can do, and I am 
 glad to give you a portion of the county. The 
 great influx of immigrants, and the consequent en 
 try of government lands, has given me more than 
 iny hands full." 
 
 " I shall be glad to accept your offer as soon as I 
 am qualified for the business." 
 
 " The bargain is closed, then, and in four weeks 
 you can be surveying, if you re a mind to," said 
 Calhoun. 
 
 " I shall have a mind to, if that is all," replied 
 Lincoln ; " and with a thousand thanks, too, for 
 your assistance. It is worth all the more to me 
 now, because I am thrown out of business." 
 
264 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " TV ell, this will make business enough for you, 
 and it needs a long-legged, tough, wiry fellow like 
 you to ^o it well. This is a great country for sur 
 veyors/ 
 
 " But shall I not need to take some lessons of 
 you in the field ? " 
 
 " If you please. It will be a capital idea, and 
 you are welcome to all I can aid you any time you 
 will come where I am. It will give you a sweat to 
 keep up with me." 
 
 " Perhaps so," replied Lincoln, looking very much 
 as if he did not believe it. The actual experiment 
 proved that the sweat was given to the other party. 
 
 Lincoln sat down to this new study with a keen rel 
 ish, and, in a short time, having been some with Mr. 
 Calhoun in the field, he was prepared to set up the 
 business of a surveyor. With his usual thorough 
 ness and energy, he engaged in the business, and 
 proved himself a workman that needeth not bo 
 ashamed. 
 
 Now he had an employment, and a plenty to do. 
 The prospect was, that he might follow this pursuit 
 through life, and probably his old friend Greene 
 concluded that an end was put to his becoming a 
 lawyer. 
 
 For more than a year he continued to survey 
 without interruption, and won quite a reputation in 
 the business. A circumstance, narrated in the next 
 chapter, brought an unexpected change. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 SUCCESS AND ITS EESULTS. 
 
 IT was the summer of 1834, two years after 
 Lincoln was candidate for the Legislature. In 
 Illinois, representatives were elected every two 
 years, so that another election was close by. Au 
 gust was the month for it. 
 
 Lincoln was not forgotten. Since the last elec 
 tion he had become well known in the county. 
 He had been to war, and distinguished himself. 
 He was the first to enlist and the last to leave. A 
 degree of military glory was attached to his name. 
 Then he was a successful surveyor. No one in 
 that line of business was more correct than he. 
 In this regard, his prospects were very much better 
 than they were two years before. 
 
 " We shall make a sure thing of it this time, 
 Abe," said his associate, Greene. 
 
 " Whether you do or not is not of much con 
 sequence to me," he replied. " I have a good 
 business now, and am satisfied." 
 
 "You ve been consulted, I s pose, before this 
 about it?" 
 
 12 
 
266 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 "Yes, some time ago." 
 
 " Consented, of course?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 "Enough said. That s all we want of you: 
 we can do the rest. 
 
 " So you thought before." 
 
 " There s more reason to think so now." 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 " You ve been to war," said Greene, with a sig 
 nificant glance of the eye. " You know they make 
 great men out, of military heroes." 
 
 " You mean those of them who possess something 
 to make greatness out of it." 
 
 " Just as you please. But don t you want the 
 office, Abe ? " 
 
 " I am not particular about it. I do not want it 
 enough to work for it. If my friends see fit to give 
 it to me, I shall accept it, and do the best I can." 
 
 " I did n t expect you would ever make a poli 
 tician, Abe ; there s not cheat enough about you 
 for that. But, really now, I should think you 
 would jump at the chance ? " 
 
 " Chance of what ? the chance of getting beat ? " 
 
 " No ; the chance of becoming a legislator." 
 
 " Time enough to jump at that when I get it." 
 
 " It s as certain as the rule of three, Abe." 
 
 " We can settle that point after election." 
 
 " Well, when you get there, remember that I am 
 a Clay man as well as yourself." 
 
SUCCESS AND ITS RESULTS. 2G7 
 
 " As to that, we arc all clay men, if the Bible is 
 true, and I expect it would be much better for us 
 to keep it more in mind"; and there was not so 
 much seriousness in this remark as might at first 
 seem. Lincoln always had much dry wit about 
 him, that kept oozing out. 
 
 " But, to speak soberly," he continued, " there is 
 too much trickery and underhanded work among 
 politicians to suit me." 
 
 " If there is nothing worse than that," replied 
 Greene, " we are better off than I think we are." 
 
 " I should think that was bad enough." 
 
 " True ; but rascality is worse, and there is plenty 
 of that. That is one reason we want to send you 
 to the Legislature. We shall be sure of one decent 
 fellow " ; and this last sentence was closed with an 
 uproarious laugh. Greene actually enjoyed com 
 plimenting Lincoln, to see the workings of his 
 modesty. There was nothing that would put the 
 damper on him so quickly as to " thrust a compli 
 ment into the front door," as somebody has said. 
 Greene knew this, and so he rather enjoyed it. 
 At the same time he honored him more on this 
 account. 
 
 The day of election came, a bright, warm, 
 pleasant day in August, and the voters of the 
 county improved it. There was a large vote polled ; 
 and, as the friends of Lincoln anticipated, he was 
 
208 1HE PIOXKER BOY. 
 
 elected by a large majority. At nightfall, enough 
 was learned of the ballot to place his election be 
 yond a doubt. 
 
 His friends were jubilant. His intimate asso 
 ciates were full of glee. They waited upon him 
 that night, to congratulate him upon the result. 
 
 "You see it is done, Abe, just as I told you," 
 said Greene. " And now you must treat." 
 
 " Of course he must," said Nelson, looking towards 
 his companions, and the very tone of his voice indi 
 cating that he knew he would do no such thing. 
 
 " Such times don t come every day," continued 
 Greene, " and you must treat." 
 
 " Treat you well, I suppose," answered Lincoln, 
 making another use of their language. 
 
 " Yes, it will be treating us well to take us over 
 to the tavern, and provide all the whiskey we want." 
 
 " That would be the worst kind of treatment that 
 1 could give you. I will treat you better than 
 that, for you deserve it after conferring such honor 
 upon me." 
 
 " Come on, then ; we go in for good treatment, 
 Abe," said Nelson ; and two of them took hold of 
 him, one at each arm, to march him along. 
 
 " I shall do no such thing," exclaimed Lincoln. 
 " I 11 treat you with a plenty to eat, and tea or 
 coffee to drink, but I won t treat you with rum or 
 whiskey. Look here, William, you go in for 
 consistent and honest politicians ; now give me a 
 chance. Let me begin to-day." 
 
SUCCESS AND ITS RESULTS. 269 
 
 " After that treat," answered Nelson, not waiting 
 for William to reply. 
 
 " It will have to come before, if ever," said Lin 
 coln. " Rum has made more politicians mean than 
 anything else." 
 
 " But we won t ask you to drink, only treat us," 
 said one. " You 11 never be Governor till you can 
 treat." 
 
 " I never want to be, if that is necessary to it. I 
 shall not do it, you may depend on that." 
 
 " Then I s pose we must give it up, and go dry," 
 said Nelson to his companions ; " for when Abe says 
 a thing, he means it." 
 
 " That s a fact," added Greene. " Stick to your 
 principles, Abe, like a good one, and we 11 honor 
 you for it. We are not very dry, after all." 
 
 Their vain attempt to get a drink out of their 
 friend on this occasion did not diminish their re 
 gard for him. Indeed, they made the request more 
 to annoy him than anything ; for they had never 
 had an opportunity to drink with him. He always 
 declined this custom of friendly intercourse, and 
 they expected he would at this time. They honored 
 him all the more for it, too, in their hearts. It was 
 a regard for principle and purity, and an exhibition 
 of decision and firmness, that won their respect. 
 
 We pass over the interim to the assembling of the 
 Legislature in December, and shall devote neither 
 space nor time to that, except to narrate the follow 
 ing fact. 
 
270 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 It was during the sitting of the Legislature that 
 Lincoln decided to study law, without waiting to 
 become seven feet high. It was on this wise. 
 
 He was thrown much into the society of Hon 
 John T. Stuart, an eminent lawyer, and one of the 
 most distinguished men of the State. This gentle 
 man was a close observer, and he soon discovered 
 that young Lincoln possessed unusual talents. He 
 had no doubt that he would make his mark, if he 
 could have the opportunity; so he embraced a 
 favorable time to advise him about studying law. 
 
 " Have you ever thought of studying law ? " Mr. 
 Stuart inquired, in a delicate manner. 
 
 " Never, though the subject has been named to 
 me by others," replied Lincoln. 
 
 " And why have you not entertained the sugges 
 tion favorably ? " 
 
 " Because I have not talents enough to warrant 
 such a decision ; and then I have no means, even 
 if I had the talents." 
 
 " Perhaps you have too exalted views of the abil 
 ities required. Let us see. Is there anything in 
 the law so intricate as to demand superior talents ? 
 Does it require more ability than medicine or the 
 ology ? No, I think you will say. And then, if it 
 did, perhaps the future will reveal that you possess 
 the talents for it." 
 
 " But then, a poor fellow like me, with no friends 
 to aid, can hardly think of going through a long 
 course of study." 
 
SUCCESS AND ITS RESULTS. 271 
 
 " It is not very long after all, and there need not 
 be much expense about it, except for your board 
 and clothes." 
 
 " How can that be ? " 
 
 " You can read law by yourself, working at your 
 business of surveyor enough to board and clothe 
 yourself, and in less than three years be admitted to 
 the bar." 
 
 " But books are expensive, especially law-books." 
 
 " Very true ; but that difficulty is easily remedied. 
 You shall be welcome to my library. Come as often 
 as you please, and carry away as many books as you 
 please, and keep them as long as you please." 
 
 " You are very generous, indeed. I could never 
 repay you for such generosity." 
 
 " I don t ask any pay, my dear sir," responded 
 Mr. Stuart, shaking his sides with laughter. " And 
 if I did, it would be pay enough to see you pleading 
 at the bar." 
 
 " I am almost frightened at the thought of appear 
 ing there," added Lincoln. 
 
 " You d soon get over your fright, I reckon, and 
 bless your stars that you followed the advice of John 
 T. Stuart." 
 
 " I dare say." 
 
 " Only think of it," continued Mr. Stuart, " a 
 brighter prospect is before you than hundreds of dis 
 tinguished men enjoyed in early life, on account of the 
 advantages offered to you. You are a 4 Clay man, 
 
272 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 and you now have the offer of better opportunities 
 to rise than he had when he left his mother s log- 
 cabin. All the schooling he ever enjoyed was in his 
 boyhood, when he went to school to Peter Deacon, in 
 a log school-house, without a window or floor. All 
 the learning he acquired after that was got by indus 
 try and perseverance, improving every leisure mo 
 ment, and extending his studies far into the night." 
 
 " I don t see but he had as good advantages in his 
 early life as I did," interrupted Lincoln. 
 
 " That is so ; and there is much in your history 
 that reminds me of his. I suppose that is what 
 suggested the comparison to me. You have a right 
 to be a Clay man. One would scarcely have 
 thought, when he was seen riding his mother s old 
 horse, without a saddle, and with a rope for a bridle, 
 on his way to mill with a grist on the horse s back, 
 that he < The Mill-Boy of the Slashes, as he was 
 called would become one of the most renowned 
 men of the land." 
 
 " That is so ; and I admire the man for his noble 
 efforts to rise in the world. He made himself just 
 what he became," said Lincoln. 
 
 " And that is what you, and every other young 
 man, will do, if you ever make a mark. < Self-made, 
 or never made, is the adage. It is of little conse 
 quence what advantages a youth possesses, unless he 
 is disposed to improve them ; and I am almost of 
 the opinion that it matters but little how few the 
 
SUCCESS AND ITS RESULTS. 273 
 
 privileges a young man enjoys, if he only has the 
 energy and industry to make the most of them." 
 
 " And the ability, you might add," said Lincoln. 
 
 " Perhaps so, if you choose. But the history of 
 our country abounds with examples of these self- 
 made men, as poor and unknown as Henry Clay 
 was. But now I must go ; remember my counsel, 
 and decide right." 
 
 " Many thanks for your interest," answered Lin 
 coln. " I shall certainly ponder the subject, and 
 feel grateful to you, whether I decide as you recom 
 mend or not." 
 
 He did ponder the subject. He inferred that he 
 must possess some qualifications for the legal pro 
 fession when such a man as Mr. Stuart advised him 
 as above. The counsel of Mr. Stuart made more im 
 pression upon him than the previous advice of all 
 his friends. Soon after the legislature adjourned, he 
 decided to become a lawyer ; and we shall proceed 
 to show how it was done. 
 
XXIV. 
 
 WORKING AND WINNING. 
 
 /"100D, Abe!" exclaimed William Greene, 
 
 VJT when the news of Lincoln s decision to 
 study law had spread through the village ; " glad to 
 hear that you have taken up with my advice, and 
 are going to study law." 
 
 " I did n t know that it was according to your 
 advice," said Lincoln. 
 
 " Did n t ? " 
 
 " No, I am sure I did not." 
 
 u Months ago I talked with you about it in the 
 store, and tried to beat it into your head that you 
 ought to be a lawyer, and you finally came to the 
 decision that you should be one about the time you 
 were seven feet high." 
 
 " yes ! I do remember it now," said Lincoln. 
 " You see I did not wait to arrive at that stature 
 of a man. I concluded that it would not make 
 much difference if I did fall an inch short." 
 
 " Very like ; but now I s pose you 11 hive your- 
 3elf up in the house and pore over your books, so 
 that we shall see little more of you." 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 275 
 
 " Not quite so bad, though I shall be obliged to 
 improve my time both at work and study. It looks 
 like the greatest job I ever undertook." 
 
 "Perhaps it is; and it may turn out to be the 
 most profitable one : I think it will. Hallo ! if there 
 ain t David ! I wonder what is afoot now." Just 
 at that time David Rittenhouse approached them, as 
 they stood conversing in the street. 
 
 " You are just the persons I want to see," said 
 David. " We want you to come over to our house 
 to-morrow evening. Nat and his lady are on from 
 the East, and we are goin to have a little gatherin 
 there." Nathaniel (commonly called Nat) was Da 
 vid s brother, who lived in New England, and he 
 had just returned to Illinois on a flying visit with 
 his bride. 
 
 " Then Nat is married, is he ? " inquired Greene. 
 
 " Yes ; and I told him that we would get to 
 gether to express our sympathy for him in his loss 
 of liberty." 
 
 " Probably he takes his loss philosophically," safd 
 Lincoln. 
 
 " Certainly, he s perfectly resigned to his fate, 
 and I hardly think you will wonder when you see 
 his pretty wife. I could be reconciled to his condi 
 tion, I think." 
 
 "No doubt," replied Lincoln, dryly; "but 
 whether she could be is another question." 
 
 " You are keen, Abe, to-day," said David, with a 
 
276 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 laugh. " But come now, what do you say to com 
 ing over to our house to-morrow night ? Can t take 
 no for an answer." 
 
 " But you must, so far as I am concerned," 
 answered Lincoln. " I m going to Springfield to 
 morrow, for my books, and back again." 
 
 " Let your books go for to-morrow, and let us 
 have a good time for once. Nat will be off in three 
 days." 
 
 " I should be glad to go, but it is impossible. I 
 must forego all such pleasures now. The evenings 
 are my best time for studying. And there is yet 
 another thing, I have n t a suit of clothes fit to 
 wear on such an occasion." 
 
 " Fudge ! your clothes are good enough. Wear 
 those you have on, if you can t do better. The 
 clothes don t make the man." 
 
 " That is all folly. You d be ashamed of me, if 
 I appeared in such a % dress. The fact is, I intended 
 to have bought a new suit of clothes this season, 
 but my decision to study law has made it necessary 
 for me to economize ; so I shall wear my old clothes 
 for the present." 
 
 " And stay at home," interrupted David. 
 
 " I must stay at home, at any rate," replied Lin 
 coln, " and buckle down to hard study when I am 
 not at work, if I intend to do any tiling." 
 
 " / would n t do it for all the law in creation, 
 and all the books that you could pile up in New 
 Salem," said David. 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 277 
 
 " And there is just the difference between you 
 and Abe," added Greene. " He takes to books, and 
 you don t." 
 
 " I am as fond of society as either of you," said 
 Lincoln ; " but I must deny myself of this enjoyment, 
 if I would succeed in my plans. It is pretty clear 
 that I must do two things : I must practise econ 
 omy of time and money, and be as industrious as 
 possible." 
 
 "A solemn view of the future," said David, 
 rather sarcastically. 
 
 " And a correct one, too, I guess," added Greene. 
 
 " Correct or not," said Lincoln, " it is the course 
 I have marked out for myself, and I shall not de 
 viate from it." 
 
 " David ought to understand that," responded 
 Greene ; " for when you make up your mind to a 
 tiling, you are as firm as the hills, can t stir you 
 a peg." 
 
 " Yes, I know that," said David, " and so I sup 
 pose that he cannot be prevailed upon to come to 
 our house to-morrow night." 
 
 " Yes, you must understand it -so," replied Lin 
 coln, " although I should enjoy being there. I 
 must go to Springfield to-morrow at any rate, and 
 I sha n t get home till late." 
 
 " I sha n t urge you, Abe," continued David ; 
 " for it will do no good : all is, I m sorry we shall 
 have to try and get along without you." 
 
278 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " That you can easily do," replied Lincoln, 
 " much more easily than I can walk to Springfield 
 and back. There will be enough there without 
 me." 
 
 This was only a specimen of his self-denial, and 
 the decision with which he adhered to his purpose. 
 He canvassed the whole subject in the beginning, 
 and he resolved to spend no evenings in social 
 entertainments. He saw that he must do it from 
 sheer necessity, as he would be obliged to use up 
 the night hours much more economically than the 
 laws of health would permit. And now he was 
 inflexible. His purpose was fixed, and no allure 
 ments or promises of pleasure could make him 
 swerve a hair s breadth therefrom. 
 
 Springfield was twenty-two miles from New 
 Salem, and yet Lincoln walked there and back on 
 the day proposed. He made a long day of it, and 
 a wearisome one, too. On the following evening 
 Greene called upon him, to learn how he made it. 
 
 " What ! " he exclaimed. " Did you bring all 
 these books home in your arms ? " They were 
 Blackstone s Commentaries, in four volumes. 
 
 " Yes ; and read one of the volumes more than 
 half of the way," Lincoln replied. " Come, now, 
 just examine me on that first volume." 
 
 He had a faculty of perusing a volume when he 
 was walking, and he often did it. He gained time 
 thereby. 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 279 
 
 "I don t sec what you are made of, to endure 
 so," continued Greene. " It would use me all up 
 to carry such a load a quarter part of that dis 
 tance." 
 
 " I am used to it, you know, and that makes the 
 difference. But, come, just see what I know about 
 the first part of that volume." And he passed the 
 first volume to him. 
 
 " If you pass muster, you 11 want I should admit 
 you to the bar, I suppose," responded Greene, hu 
 morously. " That I shall be glad to do." 
 
 So he proceeded to examine Lincoln on the first 
 volume ; and he found, to his surprise, that he was 
 well posted on every part of it that he had read. 
 By his close attention, and the ability to concen 
 trate his thoughts, he readily made what he read 
 his own. 
 
 Thus Lincoln began and continued the study of 
 law, alternating his time between surveying and 
 study, going to Springfield for books as often as it 
 was necessary, and often pursuing his reading of 
 law far into the night. People were universally 
 interested in his welfare, and all predicted that he 
 would make his mark by and by. 
 
 With such devotion did he employ his time in 
 study and manual labor, denying himself of much 
 that young men generally consider essential, that 
 we might say of him, as Cicero said of himself: 
 " What others give to public shows and entertain- 
 
280 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 ments, to festivity, to amusements, nay, even to 
 mental and bodily rest, I give to study and phi 
 losophy." Even when he was engaged in the fields 
 surveying, his thoughts were upon his books, so 
 that much which he learned at night was fastened 
 in his mind by day. He might have adopted the 
 language of Cicero concerning himself: "Even my 
 leisure hours have their occupation." 
 
 After Lincoln had been studying some time, ho 
 had a job at surveying, several miles from home. 
 His employer was an ignorant man, rather inclined 
 to hold literary men in contempt. At first he did 
 not know that Lincoln was a prospective lawyer, but 
 he soon found out. 
 
 " Allers up to somethin that don t mount to 
 nothin , these edicated men," said Holmes, for whom 
 he was surveying. " I wish the wuthless crew of 
 em were sent to the jumpin -off place." 
 
 " That is rather of a hard wish," replied Lincoln ; 
 " why do you feel so about educated men ? " 
 
 " Cause they don t airn their salt. They jist 
 screw their livin out of other folks." 
 
 " How so ? " 
 
 " By try in to live by their wits, and feelin too 
 big to dirty their hands with work." 
 
 " Docs anybody work harder than Parson Jones, 
 I should like to know." 
 
 " He don t work at all, my word for it. He jist 
 totes about from place to place, and gets his bread 
 and butter out of other people." 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 281 
 
 " Did he ever get any out of you, Mr. Holmes ? " 
 inquired Lincoln, rather rebukingly, as he did not 
 like this unjust assault upon a good man. 
 
 " I d be split if he did ; I know too much to be 
 come it on by him." 
 
 Parson Jones was a pioneer preacher, who per 
 formed a great amount of labor in his circuit, trust 
 ing to Providence to move the hearts of good people 
 to support him ; and they did it cheerfully. But 
 Holmes hated him because he was a minister, and 
 not a tiller of the soil as ignorant as himself. He 
 was not a literary man by any means, but Holmes 
 so regarded him. 
 
 " You have no reason to complain, then, if he has 
 taken nothing from you," said Lincoln. " People 
 generally are glad to support him for the good that 
 he does." 
 
 " Fudge ! He cares no more about people than I 
 do, only to get his t livin out on em." 
 
 " I don t believe that. Society is much better 
 in all this region in consequence of his labors. 
 The trouble is, that you hate ministers " ; and he 
 would like to have said more, but he thought it was 
 not best. 
 
 " Jist as I hate all yer lamed folks, that are too 
 lazy to work. Squire Bates is jist like the rest o 
 the crew." 
 
 " Then you don t believe in lawyers ? " 
 
 " I 11 bet I don t ; they 11 cheat ye out of your 
 eye teeth." 
 
282 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " But how would you get a legal claim to your 
 section without them ? Won t Lawyer Bates make 
 out your papers ? " 
 
 " Wall, y-i-s, I s pose he will, if they are made out 
 at all." 
 
 " Then you see that lawyers have their place to 
 fill ; and we should not know how to get along 
 without them. Did you know that I am going to bo 
 a lawyer, Mr. Holmes ? " 
 
 " My sakes ! " exclaimed Holmes, with much sur 
 prise ; " t ain t so, is it?" 
 
 " It certainly is ; I am now pursuing my stud 
 ies." 
 
 " If that s the way yer study, I hain t no objec 
 tions to that." 
 
 " I don t mean that I am studying to-day, while I 
 am surveying; but I spend a part of my time in 
 reading law, and work just enough to pay my 
 way." 
 
 " Well, that s nuff sight better than many on 
 em do ; for they studies, and let s other folk s 
 victual em. But du tell, Abe, ef you be s goin 
 into the lor business ? " 
 
 " Why, yes, I am serious in all that I say. I have 
 my books of Mr. Stuart, of Springfield, and shall go 
 there for them as often as I want them. And when 
 I become a lawyer, I shall stop surveying ; so you 
 must hurry up this business, if you expect me .to 
 perform it." 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 283 
 
 " Thar t is, Abe ; jist as I said ; when folks takes 
 to book larnin , they git above work." 
 
 " Not so, Mr. Holmes ; no man can follow two 
 callings with success. You know Dr. Franklin 
 said, that we must not have too many irons in the 
 fire. I can t be a good lawyer and surveyor at the 
 same time, and so when I am prepared to practise 
 law, I must give my time to it. You can t be a 
 good farmer and a good carpenter at once, can 
 you ? " 
 
 " I s pose not ; but how many weeks will yer be in 
 gittin into that ere lor business ? " 
 
 " Weeks ! " exclaimed Lincoln ; " why, it will be 
 several years before I do that, at least two years, 
 to do the best I can, and study half of the nights." 
 
 " I d see the lor in Ginny fore I d du it," re 
 plied Mr. Holmes. 
 
 Lincoln could not convince his ignorant employer 
 that lawyers amount to much, but he was just as 
 intent upon his profession for all that. Sometimes 
 he was engaged days and weeks together in survey 
 ing, having only his nights in which to study ; and 
 then, again, he had both day and night to give to 
 his books for a time. Nor did his interest abate in 
 the least ; it rather increased than otherwise. The 
 longer he studied, the more deeply absorbed he be 
 came in his books. His robust physical constitution 
 enabled him to endure hard toil both of body and 
 mind, otherwise he would have broken down. 
 
284 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 " I should rather be in prison, than to sit up 
 nights studying as you do, and be at it at all other 
 times you can," said David Rittenhouse to him. 
 
 " I really enjoy it, David." 
 
 " I can hardly credit it." 
 
 " Then you think I do not speak the truth ? " 
 
 "0 no, for no one ever suspects you of tellin 
 what is not true. I only meant to say, that I cannot 
 understand it." 
 
 " We are not all constituted alike." 
 
 "Very few are made like you, Abe, in that respect. 
 You rather have books than victuals or clothes, I 
 should think, by your actions." 
 
 " I rather have less food and clothes, and more 
 knowledge, if I can get it : that is about as strong 
 a statement as the truth will bear." 
 
 " I have no doubt that your views are nearer right 
 than mine, Abe, and I expect you will make a stir 
 in the world." 
 
 " Nonsense, David ; you can t talk without getting 
 off your flattery. I hope time will convince you." 
 
 " I expect it will, and make me out a prophet, 
 too," replied David, with a significant look. 
 
 Allusion is here made to an important fact. 
 David could not understand how Abraham could 
 possess such a love of knowledge as to lead him to 
 forego all social pleasures, be willing to wear a 
 threadbare coat, live on the coarsest fare, and 
 labor hard all day, and sit up half the night, for 
 
WORKING AND WINNING. 285 
 
 the sake of learning. But there is just that power 
 in the love of knowledge, and it was this that caused 
 Lincoln to derive happiness from doing what would 
 have been a source of misery to David. Some of 
 the most marked instances of self-forgetfulness re 
 corded are connected with the pursuit of knowl 
 edge. Archimedes was so much in love with the 
 studies of his profession, that he frequently forgot 
 his meals, and scarcely knew whether his garments 
 were on his back or not. He was taking a bath 
 when the idea was suggested that led to the accurate 
 knowledge of the specific gravities of different bodies, 
 and he is said to have rushed forth naked into the 
 streets of Syracuse, exclaiming, " I HAVE FOUND IT I 
 I HAVE FOUND IT ! " Professor Heyne, of Gottingen, 
 also, from his childhood possessed this unquench 
 able love of knowledge. His parents struggled 
 with the most depressing poverty, and his father, 
 who was a weaver, was often unable to provide 
 bread for his large family. Heyne says, in his 
 Memoirs of his own Life : " Want was the earliest 
 companion of my childhood. I well remember the 
 painful impressions made on my mind by witness 
 ing the distress of my mother, when without food 
 for her children. How often have I seen her, on a 
 Saturday evening, weeping and wringing her hands, 
 as she returned home from an unsuccessful effort to 
 sell the goods which the daily and nightly toil of my 
 father had manufactured." And yet, ii he could 
 
286 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 get a book, he was content to run about barefoot 
 and ragged. Later in life, when he was resolved to 
 pursue his studies at all hazards, he actually suffered 
 for the want of the necessaries of life, and allowed 
 himself only two nights sleep in a week. But he was 
 happy only when he was engaged in the pursuit of 
 knowledge. He preferred it, with poverty and hard 
 ship, to ignorance, with riches and ease, so all-inspir 
 ing is the love of knowledge. 
 
 Lincoln made rapid advancement in his studies, 
 and became more enthusiastic therein every day. 
 Week after week, and month after month, he con 
 tinued them, interrupted only by his jobs at survey 
 ing, and going to the legislature. His journeys to 
 Springfield, as often as it was necessary, constituted 
 an interesting part of his programme. He enjoyed 
 them, because they were a necessary means to an 
 end. 
 
 And so he worked, and won. The reader may 
 learn how well he progressed, from the fact that in 
 about two years he was admitted to the bar, and 
 Mr. Stuart received him as a partner in the practice 
 of law. He saw marked talents and an honest pur 
 pose in his young friend, and he had high hopes of 
 his success. His connection with Mr. Stuart, also, 
 was creditable to Lincoln, since it was proof that 
 he had done well, and promised to do better still. 
 
 We should stop the history at this point, and close 
 at once with a brief summary of his after life ; but 
 
WORKING AND WINDING. 287 
 
 there is one scene belonging to his later years that 
 requires particular attention, because of its connec 
 tion with an event already considered. It transpired 
 after he was admitted to the bar, and wo shall de 
 vote the closing chapter to it. 
 
XXV. 
 
 THE TRAGEDY. 
 
 " A MAN killed ! " shouted several voices, and 
 -JL the alarm rang along the tents. 
 
 " Where ? " exclaimed one, rushing from a tent. 
 
 " Who ? " cried out another, under great excite 
 ment. 
 
 " Seize the villain ! " 
 
 Who did it ? " 
 
 " This way in a minute ! " 
 
 " Where s a constable ? " 
 
 Thus the excited crowd cried out one after an 
 other, and all together running to and fro in great 
 consternation, as they were aroused by the startling 
 cry. Few understood what had happened, nor where 
 the tragedy was ; but the fearful cry ringing upon 
 the night air assured them that some terrible crime 
 had been perpetrated. It was at a camp-meeting in 
 Menard County, Illinois ; and the excitement broke 
 up the meetings for a time, rendering night almost 
 hideous with the shouts and cries of the excited 
 and terrified people. 
 
 " Yonder ! " shouted a young man, who seemed 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 289 
 
 to understand just where the Fearful scene was. 
 " He s murdered ! " and on he ran, scarcely know 
 ing what his errand was. 
 
 " There s been a fight," said another, " and a 
 fellow is killed, been stabbed right through the 
 heart." 
 
 " dear ! " exclaimed a woman at the dreadful 
 recital. " Who could do such a wicked thing ? " 
 
 " Rum did it, madam," replied the man. " They 
 were all drunk, and so they pitched into each other 
 like so many tigers ; and it is a burning shame that 
 such things should be suffered at a camp-meeting." 
 
 " Indeed it is," added the woman ; " but there 
 are so many people who have n t the fear of God 
 before their eyes, that we ought not to be surprised 
 at anything. Who were they ? " 
 
 " They were all young men, and so much the 
 worse for that." 
 
 " Do you know any of them ? " 
 
 " I heard one of them charging the deed upon 
 Joe Armstrong ; but my opinion is, that they -were 
 all too drunk to know who did it. There is so 
 much confusion and noise that I could n t find out 
 much about it." 
 
 By this time, many had discovered where the 
 trouble was, and a crowd of people collected, with 
 numerous inquiries about the affair, and officers to 
 arrest the parties were loudly called for. 
 
 After the excitement had subsided, and the affair 
 
 13 8 
 
290 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 was pretty well investigated, the following facts came 
 out : A few fast young men became intoxicated, 
 and from hard words proceeded to harder blows. 
 Angry passions raged more and more fiercely, until 
 one of the number plunged a knife into the breast 
 of another, and he fell dying to the ground, and 
 soon ceased to breathe. One of the number charged 
 the murder upon Joe Armstrong, declaring that he 
 saw him inflict the blow ; and so Joe was arrested, 
 notwithstanding that he stoutly denied the charge. 
 
 The tidings of Joe s arrest travelled quickly to 
 his native place, so that everybody there learned 
 the facts in the case on the next day ; and many 
 were ready to believe that Joe was the murderer. 
 He was the son of the Mr. Armstrong who gave 
 Lincoln a home a few years before, as narrated in 
 a former chapter. 
 
 Nearly all were disposed to rake over his past 
 life, and cite every act of wickedness of which he 
 had been guilty, magnifying them not a little in 
 their excited state of mind. His difficulties with 
 the boys of the neighborhood, his headstrong dis 
 position, the " high scrapes " in which he had par 
 ticipated, and many other things, were brought up 
 against him, and it all served to convince them that 
 he was now a murderer. 
 
 It was not strange that the public mind, in its 
 excited state, should thus pile upon the young man 
 the sins of his youth. For this is usually the case 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 291 
 
 When bad boys grow up to manhood, and are bad 
 men, the evil deeds of their youth are usually 
 brought up to set out the corruption of their later 
 life. They cannot run away from their youthful 
 sins, nor wipe them out, except by repentance and 
 reformation. So Joe Armstrong had to meet the 
 sins of his past life, at the same time that this 
 great crime was charged upon his unrighteous 
 manhood. 
 
 " I pity his good old mother," said Mr. Jones, 
 who had been to see her. " It seems as if she 
 could scarcely endure it, though she does not think 
 that Joe is guilty of murder." 
 
 "Of course she wouldn t," answered his wife, 
 " would n t a mother be likely to think her own 
 son innocent of such a charge ? Poor woman ! It 
 half of her good pious counsels had been treasured 
 up in Joe s heart, or half of her prayers answered, 
 he would not have come to such a sad end as this." 
 
 " I can scarcely see how it is that such good 
 parents are so disappointed in their children," con 
 tinued Mr. Jones. " They ve tried hard enough 
 to make Joe what he ought to be. I m not sure 
 but his father worried himself into his grave, and 
 I m almost glad that he did n t live to see this 
 day." 
 
 " And so am I," said his wife. " But his mother 
 seems to think a deal of Joe ; I have wondered at 
 it sometimes. She never seemed to me to think 
 
292 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 he was any worse than other people s sons. I 
 think she has been blinded to his true character." 
 
 "That is n t strange. It is natural for her to 
 lean upon him, widow as she is, and to hope against 
 hope, that he would become better as he grew 
 older ! And I pity her all the more for if." 
 
 Mr. Armstrong died two or three years after 
 Lincoln had a home in the family, and Joe had 
 professed to look after the farm and his mother 
 since the day the good father was laid under the 
 turf. He had served his mother better in her 
 widowhood than most of the neighbors supposed, 
 and much of the talk against him now arose from 
 exaggerated accounts of his vicious practices. He 
 was not half so bad as the stories represented him 
 to be. The excitement was such that molecules of 
 vice were magnified into mountains. But he was 
 far from being a virtuous young man. 
 
 A bill was found against young Armstrong, and 
 he was " bound over " for trial, and lodged in jail. 
 It was a sorry day for him, as the reader will im 
 agine, when the court bound him over under the 
 charge of murder, and he was sent to prison. It 
 was a still more sorrowful day for his mother, who 
 had never dreamed of such an experience as this. 
 But for her Christian hope, and her unshaken confi 
 dence in his innocence, she would have sunk under 
 the crushing trial. As it was, she was bowed down 
 with her weight of grief, fearing that he might be 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 293 
 
 condemned, though he was not guilty. And per 
 haps, deep down in the secret of her heart, she 
 feared, even against her belief in his innocence, 
 that he might be guilty. 
 
 " You must obtain legal advice," said kind Mr. 
 Jones to her, " and perhaps he may be saved yet." 
 
 " How can I, a poor widow, with not an extra 
 dollar in the world, do that ? " she replied. " I 
 don t see but what he must be left to run his chance 
 of having justice done him without a lawyer." 
 
 " But you must not give up to your feelings so. 
 Now is the time to see what can be done, and I 
 should be glad to assist you all I can." 
 
 " You are very kind, Mr. Jones, and your sympa 
 thy is worth everything to me in this hour of trial ; 
 and I should be glad to do anything that will save 
 m 7 boy ; but I don t know what to do." 
 
 " You can go to Esquire A , and tell him 
 
 your circumstances and wants, and I have no doubt 
 that he will advise you without charge. And then 
 you should have an interview with your son at the 
 earliest opportunity." 
 
 " Will they admit me to his cell for such an 
 interview ? " 
 
 " Certainly, under proper restrictions, and with 
 reference to affording him a fair trial. I believe 
 
 that Esquire A would cheerfully go with you 
 
 for such an interview, and you will need to take 
 a lawyer with you." 
 
294 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 "Your kindness greatly encourages me, Mr. Jones. 
 A friend in need is a friend indeed, and I thank 
 you a thousand times. May the Lord reward you 
 for your sympathy for the widow and fatherless." 
 
 Mr. Jones went out silently, and an observer 
 might have seen him brush a tear from his mois 
 tened eye as he closed the door. 
 
 Mrs. Armstrong decided to see what could be 
 done for her boy. As soon as she could arrange 
 matters at home, she determined to see Esquire 
 A , and do certain other things which the cir 
 cumstances suggested. In these things, however, 
 she was delayed, partly by duties at home, and 
 partly by the fact that the trial was some weeks 
 distant, and hence there was no special reason for 
 haste. But just as she was on the point of execut 
 ing her purpose, she received a letter running as 
 follows : 
 
 SPRINGFIELD, ILL., Sept. , 18 . 
 
 DEAR MRS. ARMSTRONG : 
 
 I have just heard of your deep affliction, and the 
 arrest of your son for murder. I can hardly be 
 lieve that he can be guilty of the crime alleged 
 against him. It does not seem possible. I am 
 anxious that he should have a fair trial at any 
 rate ; and gratitude for your long-continued kind 
 ness to me in adverse circumstances prompts me to 
 offer my humble services gratuitously in his behalf. 
 It will afford me an opportunity to requite, in a 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 295 
 
 small degree, the favors I received at your hand, 
 and that of your lamented husband, when your 
 roof afforded me grateful shelter without money 
 and without price. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 " God be praised ! " exclaimed Mrs. Armstrong, 
 as tears of joy came to her relief; and, dropping 
 upon her knees, she poured out her grateful feel 
 ings to God for this timely aid. It was the brightest 
 hour she had seen since her dear boy was charged 
 with murder. She felt that God was with her. 
 She could now see his hand in all the past, and she 
 began to hope that all would be well in future. 
 Years before she sheltered the poor boy in her hum 
 ble cabin, and now he had come to shelter her in 
 his turn. Here was God. She could not doubt it. 
 This was providence. She felt it in the very depths 
 of her soul. She could see why it was that she 
 befriended the poor youth when lie was penniless. 
 God s hand was in it to raise up a deliverer for her 
 when the darkest hour of her life oppressed her 
 soul. And she repeated over and over the sweet 
 promise, " He that watereth shall be watered 
 also himself." 
 
 Mrs. Armstrong was now fully aroused from her 
 despondency, and hope was revived in her heart. 
 The cloud was breaking to her view. She resolved 
 to do what she could; 
 
296 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 No time was lost in having an interview with hej 
 son ; she also communicated with her true friend, 
 who proffered his services as above, and made haste 
 to secure an impartial trial. At every step hope 
 brightened. She became fully convinced that he 
 was innocent of the crime charged against him, 
 and she grew resolute under this conviction. 
 
 Her legal friend, the hero of this volume, spared 
 no time nor pains to investigate the case, and he 
 became satisfied that a conspiracy existed to prove 
 young Armstrong a murderer, when another hand 
 struck the fatal blow. This conviction induced him 
 to undertake his defence with all the energy and abil 
 ity he could bring to the task. But the public mind 
 was intensely excited, and nearly every person was 
 persuaded that the accused was guilty. 
 
 In these circumstances, it was more difficult to 
 conduct the case, and Lincoln saw it in this light. 
 He knew that it would be almost impossible to select 
 an impartial jury at such a time, and he said to 
 Mrs. Armstrong, " We must have the case put off 
 if possible, until the excitement dies away." 
 
 " And let my dear boy lie in prison all the 
 while ? " she inquired. 
 
 " There is no other alternative. Better that than 
 to be condemned and executed in advance." 
 
 " True, very true ; but I am almost impatient to 
 see him free again." 
 
 " That is not strange at all ; but I am satisfied 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 297 
 
 that the case cannot be conducted impartially, while 
 the public mind is so excited." 
 
 " I understand your views," said Mrs. Arm 
 strong, u and shall agree to any decision you make. 
 The case is in your hands, and you will conduct it 
 as you think best." 
 
 " Another thing, too," added Mr. Lincoln ; " I 
 need more time to unravel this conspiracy. I believe 
 that too much time cannot be spent in looking into 
 the matter. I want to produce evidence that shall 
 vindicate your son to the satisfaction of every rea 
 sonable man, and expose his accuser." 
 
 " You cannot desire it more than I do ; and I 
 think your views of the case are wise." 
 
 It was thus settled that the lawyer should secure 
 a postponement of the case, if possible, and every 
 exertion be made to unravel the affair. In this he 
 was successful, and the case was deferred, much to 
 the annoyance of many, who had made up their 
 minds that the young man was guilty, and ought to 
 be tried at once, and condemned. 
 
 The interim was spent in tracing evidence, and 
 Mrs. Armstrong s counsellor labored as assiduously 
 to pay his old debt of gratitude as he would have 
 done under the offer of a fee of five thousand dol 
 lars. 
 
 We hasten to the trial. The time for it arrived, 
 and it drew together a crowd of interested people. 
 Nor wore they under so much excitement as when 
 
 13* 
 
298 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 the case was postponed. The " sober, second 
 thought" had moderated their feelings, and they 
 were in a better frame of mind to judge impar 
 tially. 
 
 The witnesses for the State were introduced ; some 
 to testify of Armstrong s previous vicious character, 
 and others to relate what they saw of the affair on 
 the night of the murder. His accuser testified in 
 the most positive manner, that he saw him make 
 the dreadful thrust that felled his victim. 
 
 " Could there be no mistake in regard to the 
 person who struck the blow ? " asked the counsel 
 for the defence. 
 
 " None at all : I am confident of that," replied 
 the witness. 
 
 " What time in the evening was it ? " 
 
 " Between nine and ten o clock." 
 
 " Well, about how far between ? Was it quarter 
 past nine or half past nine o clock, or still later? 
 Be more exact, if you please." 
 
 " I should think it might have been about half 
 past nine o clock," answered the witness. 
 
 " And you are confident that you saw the prisoner 
 at the bar give the blow ? Be particular in your 
 testimony, and remember that you are under oath." 
 
 " I am ; there can be no mistake about it." 
 
 " Was it not dark ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but the moon was shining brightly." 
 
 " Then it was not very dark, as there was a 
 moon ? " 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 299 
 
 " No ; the inoon made it light enough for me to 
 see the whole affair." 
 
 " Be particular on this point. Do I understand 
 you to say that the murder was committed ahout 
 half past nine o clock, and that the moon was shin 
 ing brightly at the time ? " 
 
 " Yes, that is what I testify." 
 
 " Very well ; that is all." 
 
 His principal accuser was thus positive in his 
 testimony, and the sagacious attorney saw enough 
 therein to brand him as a perjurer. 
 
 After the witnesses for the State had been called, 
 the defence introduced a" few, to show that young 
 Armstrong had borne a much better character than 
 some of the witnesses gave him, and also that his 
 accuser had been his personal enemy, while the 
 murdered young man was his personal friend. 
 
 The counsel for the Commonwealth considered 
 that the evidence was too strong against Armstrong 
 to admit of a reasonable doubt of his guilt ; there 
 fore, his plea was short and formal. 
 
 All eyes were now turned to Lincoln. What 
 could he say for the accused, in the face of such 
 testimony? Few saw any possible chance for the 
 supposed culprit to escape : his condemnation was 
 sure. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln rose, while a deeply impressive still 
 ness reigned throughout the court-room. The 
 prisoner sat with a worried, despairing look, such 
 
300 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 as he had worn ever since his arre.st. When he 
 was led into the court-room, a most melancholy 
 expression sat upon his brow, as if he were for 
 saken by every friend, and the evidence presented 
 was not suited to produce a change for the better. 
 
 His counsel . proceeded to review the testimony, 
 and called attention particularly to the discrepan 
 cies in the statements of the principal witness. 
 What had seemed to the multitude as plain, truth 
 ful statements he showed to be wholly inconsistent 
 with other parts of the testimony, indicating a plot 
 against an innocent man. Then, raising his clear, 
 full voice to a higher key, and lifting his long, 
 wiry right arm above his head, as if about to anni 
 hilate his client s accuser, he exclaimed : " And 
 he testifies that the moon was shining brightly 
 when the deed was perpetrated, between the hours 
 of nine and ten o clock, when the moon did not 
 appear on that night, as your Honor s almanac 
 will show, until an hour or more later, and con 
 sequently the whole story is a fabrication." 
 
 The audience were carried by this sudden ex 
 posure of the accuser s falsehoods, and they were 
 now as bitter against the principal witness as they 
 were before against the supposed culprit. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln went on in a strain of singular 
 enthusiasm and eloquence, portraying the deep, 
 black guilt of the perjurer, and at the same time 
 pointing his nervous finger at the false witness, and 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 301 
 
 flashing his keen eye upon him, until he winced and 
 writhed under the faithful scourge. The speaker 
 appealed to the jury in behalf of their own sons, 
 who might fall victims to the malice and revenge 
 of some base wretch, and he besought them to 
 remember the fatherless and the widow in the day 
 of trial, referring to his own experience under the 
 friendly roof of her whose son was arraigned before 
 them, and the debt of gratitude which he was trying 
 to liquidate ; and eyes unused to weep were wet 
 when he closed his fervid plea. It was near night 
 when he concluded by saying, that, " If justice is 
 done, as I believe it will be, before the sun sets, it 
 will shine upon my client a free man." 
 
 Before he closed his plea, the wicked accuser was 
 so overcome by the speaker s description of the per 
 jurer s guilt, that he could not retain his seat, and 
 he rose up, tremblingly, and fairly staggered out of 
 the court-room. 
 
 44 A vile perjurer ! " whispered one spectator to 
 another. 
 
 " That s plain enough to see ! " was the response. 
 
 " He carries his guilt in his face," said a third ; 
 " Armstrong is an innocent man." 
 
 " No doubt about that, and his accuser deserves 
 the halter. It is bad as murder itself to undertake 
 to prove an innocent man guilty of such a crime." 
 
 41 Lucky for him that he did n t play the game 
 with me," added the last speaker but one. 
 
802 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 And so the feeling went round the court-room. 
 They who had come thither with the full belief that 
 Armstrong was the murderer, were now convinced 
 of his innocence. 
 
 The jury retired, and the court adjourned for the 
 day. But while the judge and counsellors were 
 taking tea at the hotel, it was announced that the 
 jury had returned. They had been out less than 
 thirty minutes. At once there was a rush to the 
 court-room, and it was filled to overflowing with 
 a deeply-interested assembly. 
 
 As the prisoner came in, his mother leaning upon 
 his arm, a gleam of hope could be discovered light 
 ing up his brow a little, while his aged mother 
 appeared less sad and broken-hearted. Amid an 
 oppressive silence, when- the beating of anxious 
 hearts could almost be heard, the jury returned a 
 verdict of "Not Guilty!" 
 
 A shout of joy rang through the court-room, and 
 the mother sprang forward and fell into the arms 
 of her guiltless son, who lifted her up, saying: 
 " Mother, look upon your son again as free and 
 innocent," and his utterance was clicked, as he 
 g^zed into the pallid face of her who loved him as 
 her own life. 
 
 " Thank God ! " she exclaimed, rallying from her 
 partial faintness, into which she had been thrown 
 by excess of joy. 
 
 " Where is Mr. Lincoln ? " inquired the acquit- 
 
" ! ; * \v 
 
 & ;r. %-MC 
 
 " It is not yet sundown, and you are free." Pape 3lKi. 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 303 
 
 ted son, as the crowd pressed around him. Then 
 seeing his tall form on the other side of the room, 
 he pushed through the assembly, and grasped his 
 deliverer by the hand ; but he could not speak. 
 His heart was too full for utterance. Tears filled 
 his eyes, tears of overflowing gratitude, and 
 he stood speechless before him, expressing more 
 by his looks than he possibly could have done by 
 words. 
 
 Turning his eye toward the setting sun, and still 
 grasping the hand of his client, Mr. Lincoln said, 
 " It is not yet sundown, and you are free." 
 
 The scene was too affecting to be witnessed with 
 unmoistened eyes, and many observers turned away 
 to conceal their emotion. 
 
 A rare incident this, illustrating both the noble 
 character of Abraham Lincoln, and the precious 
 truth that is contained in the promise, " Cast thy 
 bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after 
 many days." 
 
 Here and there we meet with similar incidents, 
 although they are far between, and each one is a 
 bright spot on the dark background of human 
 nature. We love to recall and ponder them. One 
 of this kind is recorded of an American statesman, 
 who might have found an honored place in the his 
 tory of our land, but for his treasonable acts. Wo 
 refer to Hon. Alexander H. Stephens. Witli all his 
 talents and promise of high renown, the part lie has 
 
301 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 played in the wicked game of secession has con 
 signed his name to undying shame. Notwithstand 
 ing this, however, the following fact of his early 
 life, related by himself several years ago, at Alex 
 andria, in an address in behalf of the orphan 
 asylum and free schools of the city, will be read 
 with interest : 
 
 " A poor little boy, on a cold night in January, 
 with no home or roof to shelter his head, no pater 
 nal or maternal guardian or guide to protect him 
 on his way, reached at nightfall the house of a rich 
 planter, who took him in, fed, lodged, and sent him 
 on his way with his blessing. These kind attentions 
 cheered his heart, and inspired him with fresh cour 
 age to battle with the obstacles of life. Years rolled 
 round ; Providence led him on ; he had reached the 
 legal profession ; his host had died ; the cormorants 
 that prey on the substance of man had formed a 
 conspiracy to get from the widow her estates. She 
 sent for the nearest counsel, to commit her cause to 
 him, and that counsel proved to be the orphan boy 
 years before welcomed and entertained by her de 
 ceased husband. The stimulus of a warm and tena 
 cious gratitude was now added to the ordinary mo 
 tives connected with the profession. He undertook 
 her cause with a will not easily to be resisted ; lie 
 gained it ; the widow s estates were secured to her 
 in perpetuity ; and, Mr. Stephens added, with an 
 
THE TRAGEDY. 305 
 
 emphasis of emotion that sent its electric thrill 
 through the house, That orphan boy stands before 
 you ! " 
 
 Would that the promise of such a touching fact 
 still cheered the life of this recreant son of Georgia ! 
 But alas ! he arose as a star of the first magnitude, 
 and then plunged, like a falling meteor, into the 
 dark abyss of treason. How unlike the noble, 
 patriotic efforts of the subject of this volume, who 
 clings to the Union with the tenacity of one who is 
 resolved to save it or perish ! 
 
XXVI. 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 WE have now traced the early life of the sub 
 ject of this volume to the period when he 
 began to win laurels in his chosen profession. We 
 have seen him enter upon the stern duties of man 
 hood with an empty pocket, but a noble heart. The 
 pioneer boy has become the gifted lawyer. 
 
 His life, since the period at which our narrative 
 stops, is known to all. His remarkable success in 
 the legal profession, his efficiency in public offices, 
 his connection with Congress, his position as Pres 
 ident of the United States, and, what is better still, 
 his untarnished character, have given him a world 
 wide fame. 
 
 That the foundation of his success was laid in his 
 boyhood cannot be denied. We have seen that his 
 early life was distinguished for those elements of 
 character that have rendered his manhood conspic 
 uous. An excellent mother s training appears in 
 the beginning. Never was maternal influence more 
 clearly illustrated in the rearing of a son. The 
 three lessons that the mother of Washington said 
 
CONCLUSION. SOT 
 
 she endeavored to impress upon the mind uf her 
 son namely, " obedience, diligence, and truth " 
 were insisted upon in his childhood. Never did a 
 boy give more earnest heed to these cardinal virtues 
 than did he. All along through his early life they 
 appear, the flower and fruit of a sainted mother s 
 fidelity. 
 
 There was also an energy, perseverance, and de 
 cision manifest in all his acts, that augur well for 
 the possessor. These qualities appear even in the 
 sports of his boyhood. They characterize his early 
 labors and studies. 
 
 Nor was the habit of doing things well absent in 
 his case. Whether it was work, study, or play, 
 everything was thoroughly done. And this quality 
 served him better than teachers or money. Judge 
 Douglas, his political antagonist, said of him, in a 
 speech in 1858, " Lincoln is one of those peculiar 
 men who perform with admirable skill everything 
 they undertake." It was just as true of him at 
 twelve years of age as it was at fifty. 
 
 Then his studious habits and love of books made 
 him thoughtful, discriminating, and stable. In this 
 way his mental powers were developed with his 
 physical. The mind and the Jjody strengthened 
 together. Small advantages produced great results. 
 
 Self-control was an important characteristic of his 
 early life. He did not use profane language when 
 other boys did. He would forego the pleasures of 
 
308 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 companionship to assist his parents. He could sac 
 rifice a good time in frolic for the enjoyment of 
 reading a book. Though living when almost every 
 one used intoxicating drinks, he kept his appetite 
 in subjection, and practised remarkable abstinence. 
 Says one who was a companion with him from ten 
 to twenty-two years of age, " He was remarkably 
 temperate. In all the gatherings where they used 
 intoxicating liquors (and they were many) I never 
 saw him take the smallest dram." 
 
 He never felt above his business. He was never 
 ashamed of his origin or his poverty. When con 
 sulted with regard to the incidents of his early life, 
 he remarked : " You can find the whole of my early 
 life in a single line of Gray s Elegy, 
 
 The short and simple annals of the poor. " 
 
 With this noble spirit, from youth to age, he has 
 pursued the even tenor of his way, thereby honor 
 ing himself, and adding dignity to the offices he has 
 filled. 
 
 There is no doubt that the connection of his an 
 cestors with the hardships and struggles of the 
 fathers for existence and independence, made known 
 to him in the thrilling tales of border wars, and 
 Revolutionary battles, served to develop that cour 
 age, patriotism, and deep interest in his country s 
 welfare for which he has been justly honored. 
 
 We can trace a connection, also, between his 
 
CONCLUSION. 309 
 
 early instructions and experience on the subject of 
 slavery, and that honest and consistent opposition to 
 the cruel system, for which his later life has been 
 distinguished. He has ever been a fearless defender 
 of the rights of humanity. 
 
 The small library that he enjoyed in his early 
 years was exactly suited to make him the man that 
 he is. The Bible, Pilgrim s Progress, JEsop s Fables, 
 Life of Washington, Life of Franklin, Life of Clay, 
 and Plutarch s Lives, what books more suitable 
 to be read by a youth, who is destined to act a con 
 spicuous part in the history of his country ! 
 
 The labors and hardships of his early life, too, 
 were just adapted to develop his physical nature 
 into remarkable powers of endurance, as if a wise 
 Providence was preparing him for the responsibil 
 ities of the present hour, under which ordinary con 
 stitutions would fail. 
 
 But, more than all, his unquestioned HONESTY 
 reaches back from the present to his artless child 
 hood. The fruit of maternal guidance, it adorned his 
 boyhood and youth, as it has his manhood and age. 
 It has given him an enviable fame. To this he 
 owes the confidence that is reposed in his character. 
 To this he is really indebted for his election to the 
 Presidency of the United States. It aided him, at 
 least, very materially, in working his way from the 
 log-cabin to the White House. The times, the coun 
 try, our destiny, demanded " an honest man, the 
 
310 THE PIONEER BOY. 
 
 noblest work of God." And such was the Pioneer 
 Boy of the West, whose unblemished youth fore 
 shadowed the strict integrity of his manhood. In 
 this connection, we may add, that a person who has 
 enjoyed unusual facilities for judging, as his friend 
 and neighbor for many years, writes as follows : 
 " I have known him long and well, and I can say, 
 in truth, I think (take him altogether) he is the 
 best man I ever saw. Although he has never made 
 a public profession of religion, I nevertheless believe 
 that he has the fear of God before his eyes, and that 
 he goes daily to a throne of grace, and asks wisdom, 
 light, and knowledge, to enable him faithfully to 
 discharge his duties." 
 
 The young reader, then, cannot fail to observe 
 the connection between his early and later life. 
 The man is what the boy was. As he sowed, so he 
 reaps. His success is not mere luck, it is the 
 achievement of certain qualities of mind and heart. 
 And in this regard, his life is a bright example for 
 the youth of our beloved land to imitate. View it, 
 reader, study it, copy it, remembering that, 
 like him, you must be the " artificer of your own 
 fortune," and you will not live in vain. 
 
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