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Show 1 I i s : i ikr I : ft , , 1 - - s A BRAHAM LINCOLN, in childhood, as In manhood, fS A possessed a great heart of J.V ,ove- have been told by i" those who knew him as a VJj child In LaRue county, Ken-K&u Ken-K&u tucky, where he was born, & that he never threw stones iyK at songbirds, or at birds of pretty plumage, and that he never failed to intercede in behalf of the dog that was being kicked by its master, says Rogers Gore, picturing the life of the martyred president as a boy. "Little Abe," as he was known by his limited number of neighbors and acquaintances, was fond of dogs. Austin Gollaher, Lincoln's playmate, who died at Hodgenville in LaRue county, told me the Lincoln family had more dogs than they could support, and that most of the dogs had followed fol-lowed "Little Abe" home at various times. Lincoln's favorite dog was one he found upon the roadside with a broken bro-ken leg. He carried the dog home in his arms and set the broken limb, "and that dog," said Mr. Gollaher, "was the best rabbit dog Abe ever had." While trapping in those days was a necessity, young Lincoln disliked It because be-cause It caused suffering to God's creatures. I learn this story from the traditions in LaRue county. Tom Lincoln, Lin-coln, Abraham Lincoln's father, was fond of trapping. Besides finding much sport in the vocation he provided meat and furs for his family. His traps were scattered along the south fork of Nolynn river, and, of course, his son Abraham knew just where each trap was located. "Little Abe" believed it an unpardonable sin to catch too much game, and he frequently visited the traps and liberated some of the game before his father could make the rounds. Austin Gollaher related a story to me about a visit he and Abe once made to Tom Lincoln's traps, when they were caught in the act of liberating a red fox from one of the snares. Tom Lincoln came up, Mr. Gollaher said, just as Abraham was about to cut the cord which was looped under the forefeet fore-feet of the fox. To avoid the whipping Abe knew was forthcoming, he and young Gollaher made for tall timber. Mr. Gollaher said that "Little Abe" never was whipped when Mrs. Lincoln was present to make intercessions. "And for that reason," said Mr. Gollaher, Golla-her, "we endeavored to reach the Lincoln Lin-coln cabin in advance of Tom Lincoln for the ordeal." Undaunted When Lad In Woods. In taking an Indirect route the boys were lost in the woods. "We spent the entire day," said Mr. Gollaher, "in trying to find the trail, but to no avail. I gave up in despair, but Abe neither showed fear nor discouragement, and vas persistent in his endeavors to find a way out of our troubles. Evening was advancing too rapidly to suit me, and I was becoming thoroughly panic-stricken, panic-stricken, but the strong heart of Abraham Abra-ham was apparently undaunted. Abe rebuked me for my faint-heartedness. and said : 'Why, we'll sharpen a pole and climb a tree, and the wolves cannot can-not get us; we enn punch their eyes out when they rear up on the trunk of the tree !' But just as the last streak of daylight was going out I beard a voice, and with all my might I yelled : 'Here we are !' 'Shut your mouth,' said Abe, 'that's pa, and he'll whip me.' Sure enough, it was Tom Lincoln, but Mrs. Lincoln was with him, and Abe did not get the whipping." whip-ping." Lincoln's wit developed early in life. 1 have been told that when he was a mere child his retorts blazed from his droll tongue In a manner that always made the offender wince. A man by the name of Woodson once kicked "Little Abe's" lame dog; the dog retaliated re-taliated by biting the fellow on the leg. Woodson then decided that the dog should be killed, and In the presence of "Little Abe" made known his decree. "My leg Is already swelling," said Woodson, "and I am afraid It will have to be cut off." "If that's so," retorted "Little Abe," "I'm sorry my dog did not bite you on the bead." Austin Gollaher rescued Lincoln from Knob creek, a small river In the vicinity of the Gollaher home. Upon this day. Mrs. Lincoln had paid a visit to Mrs. Gollaher, and while the mothers moth-ers were at their knitting the little sons went fishing. In attempting to cross a footing "Little Abe" fell into t)A(lT0 AS ' ' X - ft h A jr v y a deep hole of water. "I just poked him my pole," related Mr. gollaher, "and pulled him to the bank. That was one time 'Little Abe' was scared," continued Mr. Gollaher, "but he was not too badly frightened to grin and say : T hope I can do that much for you some day, Austin.' He really wanted want-ed something to happen to me that he might be placed in an attitude of having hav-ing saved my life. 'Little Abe' was full of gratitude and spent a lot of his time trying to find some way to help those who had been good to him. He often said to me that if he ever found a gold mine there were just three people he would take Into his confidence ; one was myself, and the other two were his mother and Mr. Hodgen, the miller. I asked him whether or not he would tell his father, fa-ther, and he said. 'No, It would worry pa, because he wouldn't want to dig.' " Preacher Kept His Cap. An old woman gave Lincoln a cap which she had made out of fox fur. "It was his Sunday cap," said Mr. Gollaher, Gol-laher, "and Abraham was proud of it. A journeyman preacher passed through the country one day and stopped at the Lincoln cabin. He decided to hold a meeting in the neighborhood. During the series of revivals the preacher lost his hat, and Mrs. Lincoln loaned 'Little Abe's' cap to the minister. It was never returned. Abraham asked me what I thought of the preacher, and I told him that I thought that the fellow fel-low was a rascal. 'Well, Austin,' said Abraham, 'you know mother has been telling us about the thief on the cross ; I wish the Jews would catch this thief.' 'Little Abe' said that he would always be good, but that he would never join a church. He never forgot the preacher who stole the cap, and he frequently said to me that he never wanted another Sunday cap one at a time was enough." Tom Lincoln was of a roving disposition. dispo-sition. He was frequently away from home for days at a time. During Tom Lincoln's visits Into the wilderness "Little Abe" was bis mother's only protection. pro-tection. He never left his mother while Tom Lincoln was away, except to visit his traps, and Mrs. Lincoln often accompanied him on these errands. er-rands. Austin Gollaher told me, a short time before he died," that Tom Lincoln owned two flintlock rifles ; one of these guns he carried with him and the other he left at home. "During Tom Lincoln's absence on one occasion." occa-sion." said Mr. Gollaher, "the leader in the larder in the Lincoln home became bare. There was a deep snow upon the ground, and, since the nearest neighbor of the Lincoln's lived several miles away, It was apparent to Mrs. Lincoln that she and 'Little Abe' must find some game close to the Lincoln cabin or perish of hunger. Mrs. Lincoln Lin-coln was a courageous woman ; she faced a conflict with as much determination deter-mination as any woman in the world. Early one morning she told 'Little Abe' of the true condition of t lie cabin home, and said to him, 'We must go out today and try to find some game.' Abraham insisted upon an early start and he begged that he be permitted to carry the rifle. Mrs. Lincoln consented, consent-ed, and the two started out in the forest in quest of food. They had proceeded pro-ceeded but a short distance when Abe heard the brush breaking ahead ot him. With a wave of his hand he warned his mother ; in a moment a fawn attempted to pass within a few feet of Abe and Mrs. Lincoln. Abe fired and the fawn fell dead in its tracks, a bullet in its heart The Lin-colns Lin-colns had enough meat to last them through the remainder of the winter. 'Little Abe' did not feel proud of having hav-ing killed the young deer. He said to me the next time I saw him : 'Austin, I killed a little deer; it was a pretty thing, and I hated to kill it, but we needed meat. Mother said it was all right and I guess she knows. I didn't take aim and I know it was an accident.' acci-dent.' Lincoln's Adventurous Spirit. A quarter of a mile west of Hodgenville Hodgen-ville there is a cave with an entrance in a cliff overlooking Nolynn river. There are few boys who ever lived In Hodgenville any length of time who have not explored this cave. Abraham Lincoln was no exception. A number of years ago an old man by the name of Browufield told me that Lincoln, when a small child was lost in this particular par-ticular cavern, and that he spent the entire night in the cave. "He was treed," said Mr. Brownfield, "by his faithful dog the next morning." From notes which I made at the time I am enabled to relate the narrative in Mr. Brownfleld's own language, or practically prac-tically in his own language: "While Lincoln did not possess as adventurous adventur-ous a nature as some boys," said Mr. Brownfield, "he hnd just enough of the boyish curiosity in him to cause him to attempt the hazardous task of finding find-ing 'hidden gold' In caves. It was late In the evening of early spring (I cannot can-not recall the year) that the neighbors were notified that little Abe Lincoln was lost ; that he had left home in the afternoon to go to Hodgens' mill, but that late In the evening he had not returned. re-turned. Tom Lincoln spread the news, telling all the neighbors that 'Little Abe's mamma was beside herself, she being afraid that the Injuns hnd carried car-ried her boy away.' The neighbors gathered at the home of Tom Lincoln, bringing with them torches of pine knots. The woods were scoured, and the hallooing kept up till daylight, but no trace of 'Little Abe' was found. Again the searchers gathered at the Lincoln cabin to consult with each other as to the best course to pursue, but before any plan of search was agreed upon 'Little Abe' and his rabbit dog came moseying up. Young Lincoln had left his sack of corn at the mill, and while walling his turn decided to stroll down the river just to see how the "land lay" beyond the confines of Hodgen's mill. He found the cave, hurriedly dreamed a dream of hidden treasures, and In he went, implicitly believing that he would come forth with an abundance of gold. He could neither find gold or the exit of the cave. Early In the morning of the next day his faithful dog. following the trail of 'Little Abe's' footsteps, 'treed him,' and led the way out of the hole In the ground that Abe had pulled in after him. Tom Lincoln plied the hickory, but the good mother took 'Little Abe' to her bosom, hugged him tightly, and then ftave freely to him of her cornbread and bacon." |