Show amandor A man P for the ages A story of the builders of democracy bacheller fc trying of the wrestlers wrest lers they felt a fear of br broken ken bones each had torn a reut rent in the coat of the other it if they kept on there was danger that both would be stripped the children had begun to cry sarah begged the struggling men to stop and they obeyed her if any of you fellers think fun you can have my place said abe samson I 1 declare you elected the strongest nian man in this county youve got tile the muscle of a grizzly bear im glad to be quit 0 ye it aint a fair election abe samson laughed it if you were cassling ras sling for the right you could flop nie me this little brush was nothing your heart in lt it and by thunder abe when it comes to havin fun I 1 rather guess wed both do better to let each other alone taint Tal nt exactly good amusement not for us abe agreed greed tl it was vas growing dark ann rutledge arrived on her pony and called abe aside and told him that the raiders were in the village and were breaking tile the windows of Rad fords store because lie had refused to sell them liquor dont say anything about it abe cautioned her just go into the house with sarah traylor and sit down and have a good visit well look after the raiders then abe told samson what was as up the men concealed rhems them themselves elnes seles in some bushes by the roadside while the minister sat close against an end of the house with his bloodhound beside him bafo berose e they were settled in their places they heard the regulators coming there were eight nien men in fit tile party according to abes count as they passed the men inen in concealment hurried to the cabin anti and surrounded it crouched against the walls in a moment they could see aee a big spot blacker than the darkness moving bowald them it was tie massed raiders ral dere they canie came on with the stealth of a cat nearing its prey A IloW lIce roar broke the silence the preachers bloodhound leaped forward the waiting men sprang to their fee and th charged arged the raiders turned and ran pell mell in a panic toward their horses suddenly the darkness lar kness seemed to fill etli figures one of tk 1 suddenly the darkness Dark Dar knese nesa seemed to fill with moving figurea 11 the he fleeing men whose coat tails the dog had bad seized was wal s yelling for help the minister rescued him and the dog went on roaring after the others when the new Sale mites got to the edge of the grove they could hear a number of regulators climbing into the treetops samson had a man in each hand abe had another while harry needles and alexander ferguson were in possession of the nian man whom the dog had captured the minister was out in the grove with hla his bloodhound that was barking and growling under a tree jack kelso arrived with a lantern one of captives began swearing and struggling to get away samson gave him a little shake and bade him be quiet the man uttered a cry of fear and pain and offered no more resistance stephen nuckles came out of the grove the mie rest 0 that ur ar party done gone upstairs to roost said the minister 1 I reckon my doall keep em cm we better jest tote these nien men later inter the house an have a bee ive got a right smart good chanca now to whop ol oil satan they moved the raiders horses then the party parti save harry needles who stayed in the grove to keep watch retook took IN lt captive into cabin afi re 6 of faie iii were tva e U ap eighteen 11 tn to twenty tt years of age the other was a lanky bearded tonnes tennes some forty years old one of the young lads had hurt his hand in the evenings frolic blood was dripping from it the four sat silent and fearful and ashamed sarah made tea and put tt it with meat and milk and doughnuts and bread and butter on the table for them samson washed and bandaged the boys wound the captives ate as if they were hungry while the minister went out to feed feea his dog when the men had finished eating samson offered them tobacco the oldest man filled his pipe and lighted it with a coal not one of the captives had said a word vord until ehg hill Tennes remarked after 11 1 ts pape pins nils going biwer ui irr you lone iee heer right good tu lu uh who told you to come here samson demanded tere a man from st louis he done said you hated the south an were colpin biggers to run away and he offered to pay you to co me here and burn this house and run traylor out of the county he abe asked ue did yes suh he did answered the man like a child la in his ignorance and simplicity 1 I thought so abe rejoined you tackled a big job my friend did you know that every one of 0 you could be sent io to prison for a term of years and ive a good mind to see that you go there you men have got to begin right now to behave yourselves mighty proper or begin to sup sorrow stephen nuckles returned as abe was speaking you jest leave em ein to me mr lincoln lincola lie said these be good men but ol 01 satan lone done got his hooks on em ein mis ails traylor ef cf aou ou dont mind I 1 be goin to do a job 0 right now men you jest git down on oil yo knees right ayar along 0 me it Is recorded later in the diary that the rude shepherd of the prairies worked etli these men on their farms for weeks until lie he had them thein wonted to the fold CHAPTER XI in which abe elected to the legislature gives what comfort he can to ann rutledge gc in the beginning of her sorrows also he goes to springfield for new clothes grocery had been so wrecked by the raiders that its owner as dis heartened reinforced by john cameron and janies james rutledge lie he had succeeded in drawing thein away before they could steal whisky enough to get drunk but they had thrown much of isis his goods into the street radford mended his windows and offered his stock for sale after a time berry and lincoln bought it giving notes in payment and applied for a license to bell the liquors they had thus acquired late that autumn a boy baby arrived in the traylor home hoine mrs mrs waddell and mra kelso came to help and one or the other of them lid did the nursing and cooking wl while it ae sarah was wag in bed and for a little time thereafter these after tile the coming comin of the baby N was as a comfort to this lonely mother of the alie prairies there Is a letter front from sarah to her brother dated may 10 1833 in which she sums up tip some months of history in the words that follow the lord hay has aven ven us a new son I 1 hane hae lived through the ordeal thanks cs to his goodness and ani am strung stron again the coming of the baby lias has reconciled us to tile the lost of our old frien friends Is a as much us its anything could it lias has made this little home dear to us aud and proved the quality of our new fi lends nothing is too much for them thein to do I 1 dont wonder that abe lincoln lincola lias has so much confidence in the people of this country they an 1 sound at heart both the northerners northerner S and the southerners harry needles is getting over his disappointment he goes down doin to the store often to sit with abe and jack kelso and hey hear them talk ile he and samson are retting getting deeply interested in politics abe lets aupry read alig books bos boskat that jat he bg borrow from midor stuart of springfield the boy is bent on being a lawyer and improving his big mind blin kelco writes to her mother that she Is very happy in her new home but there Is something between the lines which seems to indicate that she la Is trying to put a good face on a bad matter abe hag been appointed postmaster every time he be leaves the store he takes tho the letters in his hat and delivers them as he gets a chance we have named the new baby samuel one evening of that summer abe came out to the Tray lors with a letter in his hat for sarah hows howa business samson asked going to fro peter out I 1 reckon abe answered with a sorrowful look it will leme tile me badly in debt I 1 wanted something that would give me a chance for study and I 1 got it by jing I 1 it looks as if I 1 wits was going to have years of study trying to get brer it have you got any work to give me you know I 1 can split rails about as fast as the next man ma n and ill take my pay in wheat or corn you may give me all the time you can spend outside the store mid ald that opening cN ersing they had a talk about ab out the whisky business and its relation to the character of eliphalet Ell phalet big biggs gs and to sundry infractions of law and order in their community samson had declared that it was wrong to sell liquor qun r aff all that kind of tiling can be safely left to td tile the common sense of 0 our people said abe the remedy la is education not revolution slowly the people will have to set down all the items in the ledger of common sense that passes from sire to son by and by some generation will strike a balance that may not come in a hundred years soon or late the majority of the people will reach a reckoning with john barleycorn it if theres too much against him they will act you might as well try to stop a glacier by building a dam in front of it it they have opened an account with slavery 41 avery too by and by decide its fate such wai wag his faith in the common folk 0 0 of america me ca w whose ose way 0 of learning earn and whose lovo love of the right he knew as no man has known it IL in this connection the now new englander wrote in his diary he has his boyhood in the south and his young manhood to in the north lie he has studied the east cast and lived in the west he la Is the people I 1 sometimes think and about as slow to make up his mind As isaiah says he does not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove after tile the hearing of his ears 1 abe has to think about it in april abe wrote another address to the voters announcing that he was again a candidate for a seat in the legislature late that month harry walked with him to where a croci crow had assembled to attend a public sale at one place there were men in the crowd who knew harrys record in the war they called on him for a speech he spoke on the need of the means of in sangamon county with such insight and dignity and convincing candor that both abe and the audience hailed balled him as a coming man abe and he were often seen together those days in new salem they were called the disappointed lovers it was known there that abe was very fond of ann rutledge although lie he had not as yet openly confessed to any one not even to ann there being no show of hope for him ann was deeply in love with john mcnell the genial handsome and successful young irishman the affair had reached the stage of frankness of an open discussion of plans of fond affection ep expressing itself in caresses quite indifferent to ridicule for ann it had been like warm sunlight on the growing rose she was neater in dress lovelier in form and color more graceful in movement and sweeter voiced than ever she had been it Is the old way nature has of preparing the young to come out upon the stage of real life and to act in its moving scenes abe manfully gave them his best wishes and when he spoke of ann it nas as done very tenderly the look of sadness which all had noted in his moments of abstraction deepened and often covered his face with its veil that Is another way that nature has of preparing tile the young for these the roses have fallen anil and only the thorns remain they are not lured hired they seem to be driven to their tasks but for all soon or late inte her ter method changes on oil a beautiful rooming morning of june 1834 john mcnell left the village abe lincoln and harry and samson and sarah and jack kelso and his wife stood with the Rut ledges siges in the dooryard of the tavern when lie rode aay he was going hack back to his leome in the east to return in tile the all autumn anti and make inake ann his bride the ail wept ept as it if her heart would break 0 the girl wept an 20 if her heart would break w when lien lie turned tar far down the road and waved his liand hand to her oil oh my pretty lass do you not heir bear the birds singing in the he ineada meadows said jack kelso think of the happiness all around you and of tho the greater happiness that la Is coming when he returns shame on youl im afraid liell hell never come back ann sobbed nonsense dont get a maggot in your rain and let the crows go walk log jug over your face come well take a ride in the meadows and if I 1 dont br bring ing you back laughing you may call me no prophet so gotlie the P n rass l to be continued |