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Show I- - - - - ' . ""'" '" WW A STORY 0FT1IE BMLDEBSDEHOCRSer CZZ! ca&rRfo-ftir fWiJs aA&fi?ILWf2L"" " I HH CHAPTER XXII. M 21 HH Wherein Abe Lincoln Reveal His HM Method of Conducting a Lawsuit In H the Case of Henry Orlmstead et al., HM 'vs. Lionel Davis. H Tlicy found tunny of Davis' notes BJ In Tazewell county. Alio Lincoln's jH complaint represented seven clients H and n sum exceeding twenty thousand dollars. M With the papers In Ids pocket Harry BH Trent on to llio Honey Creek nettle- HH Bicnt. Thera he found that the BH plague had spent Itself and that Blm MV had gono to a detention enmp outside BB the city of Chicago. Ho was not per- BJ mlttctl to nee her, the regulations hav- M Ing liecouic very strict. In the city ho HH went to the store of Ell Fredenberg. HH The merchant received htm with en- HH thuslnsm. Chicago hud begun to re- HH cover from the panic. Trade was H Hurry spent the nflcrimon with Mrs. HH Kelso nml Illm's hnby boy. Ho wrote B a very tender letter to Illm that day, BH lie told her that he had come to Chi- H cngo to live so that he might be near H her and ready to help her If she need- BB ed help. "The same old love Is In my BH heart that made me want you for my BH wire Ions ago, that has flllcd my let- BB tcrs and sustnlned me- In many an BB hour of peril," ho wrote. "If you MV really think that you must marry Da- BH vis, I nsk you at le.ist to wait for the BB developments of n suit which Abe Lin- MS coin Is hrlnglug In behalf of many BB citizens or Tazewell county. It Is Bj likely that we shall know more than BBJ wo do now before that case ends. I BB saw your beautiful HttJo hoy. He looks BBS so much like you that Dong to steal BB tilai nr.d keep him with me." BH Id n fow days ho received this brief HB reply : H "Dear Hurry: Your letter pleaded HHJ and pained me. I have been so tossed HM about i hut I don't know qulto where I HH stand. For n long timu my life hns BBJ been nothing but n series of emotions. MJ What Honest Abu may bo utile to IHJ prove 1 know not, but I am sure that nHf lie ctnnot disprove the fact that Mr. IBM Davis bus been kind udd generous to MM inc. For that I cannot ever' cease to IMS bo grateful. I should lmvo married BBJ Jilm before now but for one singular IBJ circumstance. My little boy cannot bo MV. node to like him. Ho will hove noth. MV lug to do with Mr, Davis. Ho wlU not BB bo bribed or coerced. I saw in this u LHJ prophecy of trouble I left homq and MV went down Into the very shadow of HHJ death. It may be that wo huve been H saved for each other by the wisdom MB of childhood. I must not see you now. HHJ 'Nor shall I see him until I have found MS iy way. Even your call cannot muko BB me forget that I am under a solemn MB yromlHc. HHJ "I'm glad ywi like the boy. He Is n MS wonderful child. I named Ida Ne- MB feeinlah for Ids gTapdfnther. We call BB aim Nlm and sometimes 'Mr. Nimble' QH because he la so lively. I'm homesick MB to see him and you. I am going to BH Dixon to teach and earn money for WU mother and the baby. Don't tell any. IBJ .m where I am and above nil don't MJ come to see me until In good heart I MJ 'can ask you to come. Hfl "Cod bless you I IB "IUM." EH) In n row weeks the suit cnnie on. RH Davis' defense, ns given In' the an- IH swer, alleged that tho notes were to fpHJ bo ptJd out of the proceeds o the HH ta.V of lots and that In consequence IMJ af the collapse of tho boom there had 1MB been no such proceeds. As to the un- H derstandlng upon which tho notes, BH wcre drawn, there was a direct Issue IB I' veracity for which Abo Lincoln H .was exceedingly well prepnred. His IS i cross-examination was ns merciless IBJ in sunlight "falling round n helpless H 'thing." It wns kindly and polite In Ml .tone but relentless In Its searching. MB When It ended, the weight of Davis' H .character had been accurately estnb- HI tl3hcd. In his masterly summing up Bj iMr, Llucoln presented every clrcum- H I stance In favor of the defendant's lo- HI IsUlon. With remarkable Insight he 3H (anticipated tho arguments of his tit- H itoniey. He presented them fnlrly and HH i generously to the court and Jury. Ac Raj cording to Samson the opposing law- HHj yen admitted In a private talk that HH Lincoln had thought of presumptions tM In favor of Davis which had not oe- Hj currcd to them. Therein lay tho clmr- HH acterlstlc of Mr. Lincoln's method In a HM tawniiU. IK "It was a safe thing for him to do, MM for he never took u enso In which Jus- HH tice was' pot clearly on Ids side," Sum- EHI eon writes, "If hu had been deceived KM ns t tho merits of n case bo would KM drop It. With the sword of justice In BJL bis land he xas-Invincible," M1MHHI A l'l rim-it was rendered In favor HHEMM lo' u i ' Hi.iiffs for the full amount of PBBBV o' "' wiUi costs The cHrncter of Lionel DavlH had been suillclentJy revealed, liven the credulous Mrs. Kelso turned ngnlnst hint. Mr. Lincoln's Lin-coln's skill as a lawyer was recognized In fho north ns well ns In tho middle comities. From that day forth no man enjoyed a like populnrfiy In Tnzc well county. When Samson and Harry Needles left the courthouse, there seemed to be no obstacle between the young man and the consummation of his wishes. Unfortunately, ns they were going down tho steps Davis, who blamed Samson for' his troubles, flung un Insult In-sult nt tho sturdy Vermontqr. Samson, Sam-son, who had then nrrlvcd nt years of linn discretion, was little disturbed by tho nnger of a man so discredited. Hut Hurry, on the sound of tho hateful hate-ful words, had leaped forward and Jealt the speculator a savngo blow In the fnco which for a few seconds had deprived him of tho power of speech That evening a friend of Davis called nt tho City hall with a challenge. The hot-blooded young -soldier accepted it agnlust the urgent counsel of Samson Trnylor, Mr. Lincoln hnvlng left tho city. As to the dctnlis of tho tragic scene that followed next day, the writer has little knowledge. Samson was not tho type of man for such u chronicle. chron-icle. The diary speaks of his part In It with shame and sorrow and remorse. re-morse. We know that It was at daybreak day-break when ho nnd Harry rode to n point on the prairie "something more than a mile from tho city limits." There he tells us they met Davis and one friend of tho latter and two surgeons. sur-geons. It Is evident, too, that great secrecy had been observed In the plan nnd Its execution nud that, until some time after the last net, Lincoln knew nothing of the later developments In tho drama of Davis' downfall. For tho rest of tho dcplorablo sccno tho historian must content himself with thu naked details in tho diary of a puritan pioneer. "I went because there wns no cscnpo from It and with the shadow of God's wrath In my soul," Silmson .writes. "The sun roso ns wo halted our horses. We paced Uio field. Tho two men took their places twenty yards, apart. The pistols rang out nt the command to lire and both men fell. Davis had been hit at tho left shoulder. My hnndsomo boy lay on his face, Tho bullet had bored through bis right lung. lieforo I could reach him ho had risen to his feet to go on with tho battle. Davis lay like one paralyzed paral-yzed by the shock of tho bullet. Ills seconds declared they were satisfied. I saw them take Uio bullet out of The Two Men Took Their Places. Harry's back, where It had lodged under un-der his skin. I helped them put the wounded men Into the wagon nnd rode to tho homo of oue of tho doctors near tho city wherein were rooms for the accommodation ac-commodation of critical coses, lending Harry's horso and praying for God's help and forgiveness. I took enro of the boy until Steve Nuckles came to help me. Illm arrived when Harry was out of his head and didn't know her. Sho was determined to stay nnd do the nursing, but I wouldn't let her. Sho did not look Btrong. I loaned her tho money to pay tho debt to Davis and persuaded her to go back to her work In Dixon. She went and was rather heartbroken about It. "The surgeon said that Harry would Iho if lung fever didn't sot In. It set in, but he pulled through, He metxlcd slowly. I had somo fear of nnvst, hut the conspiracy of ollcuco kept tho facts under cover. Xt. was partly duo, I guess, to tho friendship of John Wentworthfor me nnd Honest Hon-est Abe. Ho kept it out of tho papers. There were no complaints nnd tho rumors ru-mors soon fell Into silence. "The boy, 'Mr. Nimble,' Is a cun-nlng cun-nlng little man. When he begnn to get better, Horry loved to ploy with hlin and listen to his talks about fairies. Tho young man was ablo to leave his bed, by and by, but ho didn't get over his weakness and pallor. He had no appetite. I sent him with Nucklcs Into tho Wisconsin woods to live In the open. Then I tank .the small boy to Dixon with me In the saddle. Illm had Just got back to her work. She told mo that Kllphnlet Biggs had been there. Ho had heard of the boy and wished to seo hlin and demanded to know where he wns. For fear that Blgga would try to get possession of 'Mr. Vimble I took him with me to Sprlnj field in tho snddlc. "I Unrn thnt Davis has recovered his health nnd left the city. A man can not do business without friends uid after tho trial Chicago was no place for him." CHAPTER XXIII. Which Presents the Pleasant Comedy of Individualism In the New Capital, and the Courtship of Lincoln and Mary Todd. - Snmson, with "Mr. Nlmblo" on n pnd stuffed with straw In front of Mm, Jogged across tlip prairies and wnded tho creeks nnd'sloughs on his way to Springfield. Tho llttlo lnd was In his fourth year that summer. He slept and talked much on the way nnd kept Snmson, busy with queries about tho sky and tho creeks and tho great flowery meadows. They camped tho first night In n belt of timber and Snmson writes thnt tho boy "slept snug ngnlnst mo with his head on my arm. He went to sleep crying for bis mother,"' Ho adds: "It reminded me of tho' old (lays of my young fatherhood. 'Mr. Nimble' wanted to pick all the flowers and splnsh his bare feet In every stream. In tho evening ho would talk to the stars ns If ho were plnylng with them. Ho Is llko some of tho grown folks In Chicago. He would sit hanging on to tho rclnB.jind talk to the horso and to God by tho hour. He used to tell mo thnt God was a friend of his nnd I think ho wns right. It wns good luck to get back to Sarah nnd the children. They took the llttlo stranger stran-ger Into their hearts. 'Heart room, house room' Is tho motto of this part of tho country." It was a now town to which Snmson returned. Tho governor and the stnto officers had moved to Springfield. The new cnpltol was nenrlng completion, Tho hard times which had followed the downfall of '37 had unjustly diminished dim-inished Mr. Lincoln's confidence In his ability us a legislator. He enjoyed tho practice of the low, which had bo-gun bo-gun to turn ids interest from tho affairs af-fairs of state. But tho pot of political sclcnco boiled before the fireplace In tho rear of Joshua Speed's store every evening thnt Lincoln nnd his associates associ-ates were In Springfield. The wit nnd wisdom which bubbled Into Its vapors and the bent that surrounded It were (he tnlk of the town. Many cnnie to witness tho process nnd presently It wns moved, for a time, to more accommodating quarters. Before a crowd of people In tho Presbyterian church, Lincoln, Lognn, Baker and Browning for tho Whigs, nnd Douglas. Calhoun, Lumhorn un'd Thomas for tho Democrats, hnvlng assiduously prepared for tho trial, debated the burning Issues of the tlmo. The effort of each flUcd nn evenmg and Lincoln's speech gave him new hope of himself. Wltso men began to have grcnt confidence confi-dence In his future. He bad taken tho style of Webster for his model. Ho no longer used the broad humor which had characterized his efforts on the stump. A study of tho best speeches of the great New Englnnder had made him question Its value In a public nddress. Dignity, clear reasoning rea-soning nnd Impresslveness were the chief alms of his new method, the Int-for Int-for of which Is aptly Illustrated by this passage from his speech In reply to Douglas In the debate mentioned: "If I ever feel the soul within me elevnto nnd expand to those dimensions dimen-sions not wholly unworthy of Its Almighty Al-mighty Architect, It Is when I contemplate con-template ihe cause of my country deserted de-serted by all the world besides, and I standing up boldly and alone end hurling dell a nee at her victorious oppressors. op-pressors. Hero without contemplating consequences before high heaven and In tho face or the world I awenr eternal eter-nal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem It, or the land of my life, my liberty and my love." In these perfervld utterances one may find little to admire save v. great spirit 'seeking to express Itself and lacking as yet tho refinement ot tnste equal to his undertuklng. He was no heaven-bom genius "sprung in full panoply from tho head of Jove." He was Just one of the slow, common folk, with a passion for Justice and human rights, slowly feeling bis way upward, ills spirit was growing. Strong In Its love nnd knowledge of common men and o'f the thlngo nws snry to their welfare. It wns In-ginning to seek nnd know "the divine power of words." Kvery moment of lolmiro he gave to the study of Webber and Burke and Byron nml S!inkom-tiiv :'nl Burns. He had brgun to stinh i art of Irving nnd Wnllyr Semt n r n new writer of tin name of l There were four men who hn-p- . i hlin In the room above Spi l - . and one of them has told Imu in ,i to lie tipruwlcd on (he floor, wiih ill-pillow ill-pillow nnd i'HiulIe, leadliu- " . i tho others had gone to sicon - . writes thnt he never kne understood tho art oi us ia he did. A detached milium us i Sm a th.ng to be filled with value yet there were few men so deeply id love with fun. He lord to ; Inugh n a story-telling, and to match his bu mor with Thompson Campbt'll-n famous fa-mous roconlcur-nnd to play wl li children. Fun wns as nccessarr o him ns iJrep. He searched for It in pcoplo and In hooks. He came often to Sum" ,,0E to piny with "Mr. Nimble" and to talk with Joe. Some of his best thoughts came when lie was talking with Jo and some of LIS merriest mo, nenti when he was plnylng with "Mr. N m-ble." m-ble." He confessed tnst It was tho latter that reminded hlin that ho had better he looking for a wife. But Lincoln wns only one of iinnr remarkable personalities In Springfield who had discovered themselves nnd were seeking to he discovered. Sun dry IndiMduals were lifting their head above the crowd, hut not with the modesty and self-distrust of Hones! Abe "Steve" Douglas, whom Samson had"referred to as " thnt little roostel of a man." put on the stilts of a brave and ponderous vigor, ills flve-foo stnture nad his hundred pounds of weight did not fit the part of Achilles. Bqt he would have no other. He nus-tered nus-tered much with n spear too heavy for his hands. Lincoln used to call hlir. a kind of popgun. This frcc-for-nll Joust of Indlvhlunl Ism one of the first fruits of freedom in the West gave to the life of the lit tie vlllnge a rich flavor of comedy. The great talents of Douglas had not been developed. Ills character was as yet shifty and shapeless. Sonic of the lending citizens openly distrusted Idm. Lincoln never liked Hits little man, In opposing whom he wns to come to the fulness of his power on the plntform. It is evident that Lin coin regarded him as nn nblc advocate of small sincerity looking chiefly roi personal advancement. There Is n pnssnge In the dlnrj which Illustrates the character of Douglas Dou-glas and Lincoln's knowiedgo of It The passage relates to n day In the famous debates of 18TS. Lincoln hnd not renched Havana In tlmo to heni tho speech of his opponent. A greal crowd had come by train nnd In wagons. Tnklng ndvntnge of his no-sencc. no-sencc. Douglas had .-ulled Lincoln "a liar, a coward and n ncak," and d-dared d-dared that he was go!n fight him. Lincoln heard oi this Jnd said in his speech: "I shall not fight with Jure Douglas. Doug-las. A tight could provo no.Mng nt Issue In this campaign. It mlgh jxrovn thnt he Is n more musculnr mnn than I. or that I nm n more muscular Tinn than he, hut this subject is not wvn-tinned wvn-tinned In cither plntform. Agnln, he and I are really very good friends and when we nro together he would no more think of fighting mo than of fighting his wife. Therefore, when the Judge talked about fighting, ho was not giving vent to any III reeling, but wns trying to excite well, let us suy, enthuslnsra against me on the part of his audience." Justice accomplished her ends now nnd then with comic displays ot violence vio-lence In the prairie capita). One night Abo Lincoln nnd certnln of his friends captured a shocmnker who hnd beaten his wife nnd held him nt tho village pump while the nggrleved woman gave lilm u .sound thrashing. So this phnse of Imperialism wns cured In Spring field by "hair off the same dog," ns Lincoln put It. One evening, while K. D. BnUer wns speaking In tho crowded village courtroom court-room nbovo Lincoln's ofllce nnd wns rudely Interrupted and in danger of assault, the long legs of Honest Abe suddenly appeared through a scuttle hole In the celling above the platform. He leaped upon It nnd seizing n stone water pitcher defied any one to Interfere Inter-fere with tho right of free speech In a worthy cause. So it will he seen that there were xestful moments In these sundry vindications vindi-cations of the principles of Democracy n the prairie cnpltnl. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |