"I will, if that is your wish;" and Pritchard sat down to its perusal. As he read the last sentence, he remarked, in a very enthusiastic way,

"It can't be beat. Is it yours?

more in"Let me

"No; it is not mine. Tom Lincoln's son, Abe, wrote it, and I think it is wonderful for a boy." "More than that," added Pritchard, still terested when he learned that a boy wrote it. have it to publish in our paper," meaning the his section.

paper of

"That's what it was written for,-to be published in some political paper," answered Mr. Wood. "An article of Abe's was published in my temperance paper not long ago, and it was the best thing it had. Abe is a great temperance boy."

The last remark makes it necessary to interject a paragraph here. We have undoubted testimony that Abraham was the only person in that region, at that time, who refused on all occasions to partake of intoxicating liquors. His opposition to the practice was so well known that, at house-raisings, log-rollings, huskings, and parties, it was not expected that he would touch anything which would intoxicate. It was his decided stand against intoxicants that caused his mother to say, "I think Abe carries his temperance notions to extremes."

It was arranged that Pritchard should take the article to the editor of a political paper for publication; and in due time it appeared, much to the satisfaction of Mr. Wood, the joy of Abraham, and the pride of the neighbourhood. Abraham wrote other articles which he submitted to the examination of Mr. Wood; and the exercise of writing composition became to him an excellent discipline, and did much to help him upward and onward.

A Mr. Richardson, who lived in the vicinity at that time, says,

"Abe was the best penman in the neighbourhood. One day, while he was on a visit to my mother's, I asked him to write some original copies for me. He very willingly consented. He wrote several of them, but one of them I have never forgotten, although a boy at the time. It was this:

666 'Good boys, who to their books apply,

Will all be great men by and by.'

Abraham came into the possession of a copybook (not the scrap-book spoken of), in which he wrote original copies. Here is one:

66

Abraham Lincoln, his hand and pen;

He will be good, but God knows when."

In the same book he wrote the following:

"Time! what an empty vapour 'tis !

And days, how swift they are !

Swift as an Indian arrow,

Fly on like a shooting-star.

The present moment just is here,
Then slides away in haste,

That we can never say they're ours,
But only say they're past."

Many such "pieces," in poetry and prose, he wrote, exhibiting thought, genius, noble aspirations, and marked talents.

We have intimated that Abraham's love of books prevented his becoming a hunter. He could not spare the time. If he were not at work he had a book in his hand. Other boys became hunters. It was necessary for them to be in order to procure food and a livelihood. Dennis Hanks says, 66 When we had spare time we picked up the rifle, and brought in a fine deer or turkey;

and in the winter time we went coon-hunting, for coonskins were considered legal tender, and deerskins and hams." The woods were full of rabbits, partridges, squirrels, and other game, but these were not shot much for food. Deer and turkeys were more desirable for the larder. The smaller game mentioned was so plentiful that the settlers resorted to various devices to destroy them. They devastated gardens and grain-fields, and the pioneers made war upon them as a nuisance.

Bears, wild-cats, and panthers, also, were quite numerous, and these were shot in self-defence. The scream of the latter often filled the forest with terror at night in Abraham's early life. Yet our hero never did much at hunting. A book, instead of a gun, captivated his heart, and he read and studied when other boys hunted and had rare sport. We do not mean that he never engaged in this pastime; for he did occasionally accompany companions upon hunting excursions. But, compared with the average boy of the county, he was not a hunter.

Abraham enjoyed certain "plays" and games more than he did hunting. His social qualities and genuine humour fitted him for this sphere more than for the other. These "plays," without Abraham, were the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. He made things lively by his wit and geniality. Exactly what the "plays" were, we cannot affirm: we can only give their names as furnished by Dennis Hanks. "Throwing the mall," "cat," "four-corner bull-pen," "hopping and halfhammon," and "Sister Feby," an evening game. Whatever these "plays" were, Abraham was "a bright particular star" in them, whenever and wherever his presence could be secured.

From the time Abraham was eighteen years of age, his physical strength was remarkable. Some of the

stories about his strength, told by the neighbours, are almost incredible. He was not only a giant in stature, but a giant in strength. Observers looked on amazed at the exhibition. Richardson, a neighbour, declares that he could carry a load to which the strength of three ordinary men would scarcely be equal. He saw him quietly pick up and walk away with "a chickenhouse, made of poles pinned together, and covered, that weighed at least six hundred, if not much more." At another time the Richardsons were building a corncrib; Abe was there; and, seeing three or four men preparing "sticks" upon which to carry some huge posts, he relieved them of all further trouble by shouldering the posts, single-handed, and walking away with them to the place where they were wanted. "He could strike with a mall," says old Mr. Wood, "a heavier blow than any man. He could sink an axe deeper into the wood than any man I ever saw."* Wrestling was a common and popular sport among pioneers, and here Abraham excelled all his companions. The sequel will show how his remarkable physical strength aided him in the labours, burdens, trials, and responsibilities of his public life.

* Lamon's "Life of Lincoln," p. 52.

O

XII.

ON THE FLAT-BOAT.

N the 1st of March, 1828, Abraham went to work for old Mr. Gentry, the proprietor of Gentryville. Here, again, he was a "man of-all-work," doing whatsoever his employer found for him to do. Mr. Gentry had a son by the name of Allen, with whom Abraham worked. He was a little older than Abraham, and a suitable companion for him.

"How would you like to run a flat-boat to New Orleans, Abe?" said Mr. Gentry to him, early in April. "I believe you are used to boating."

"I know something about it," Abraham replied. “I should like to go to New Orleans. How far is it?"

"About eighteen hundred miles. I'm thinking of letting Allen take a trip there if you will go with him."

"How soon?"

"Just as soon as you can get ready. I have a load of bacon and other produce on hand now. It's some work to get ready."

"Well, I'll be ready any time you say, if father don't object, and I don't think he will," added Abraham.

"He won't care if I pay you well for it," responded Mr. Gentry. "I shall give you eight dollars a month, and pay your passage home on a steamer. You and Allen together can manage such a trip well."

Abraham's service of four or five weeks had satisfied