Show amandor A man for thre the aar ages S A story 0 of f the builders of democracy by irving bacheller copyright CHAPTER XII which continues the romance of abo abe and ann until the former leaves new salem to begin hitt his work in the legislature also it describes the Colon eling of peter lukins that agat ended nil argument arlunie nf the suit tr of blue jenns jeans was wa 4 ordered and the measures taken As they aare ere about lo 10 RO go eli 1 I forgot to tell you dot I 1 hat haf seen allm kelso dt d odder day in st louis I 1 hat haf seen her on de street she hns has been ieca like a queen so grand de hat bat ind sown gown from paris and she valk so proud I 1 but she look not so happy like she ausit to be I 1 speak to her oh my she vas glad and so surprised she tolt me dot she bould like to come for a visit but her husband he does not vant her to go dere nefer benin again my jobber liaf haf tolt me dot mr air BIRRS biggs is git drunk efery lay flay bim slie she tink de place no good poor child clil ld said abe im afraid ashes in III trouble air ir parents have be r un nn to tn suspect that something Is 19 r they rhey hae never been invited to go don doin there and visit the art I 1 reckon we d better betler say nothing to any one of what aliat liat we vie have heard at present they benched new salem in the middle of the night and ant went nent into rut ledges brn barn and lay down on 0 n the haymow betNA eLn two buffalo hides bides until morning the next day after ills his return abe received a letter from ann she bad come over to the store on the arrival of the stage aad taken her letter and run homo home with n etli it that saturdays stage brought the new suit of clothes springfield it was an indian summer day of the birst week in november that afternoon abe went to the tavern and asked ann to walk out to the Tray lors with him she seemed to be glad to go she was not tile cheerful quick footed rosy checked cheeked che eked ann of old her face was N as pale her eyes eye dull and listless her step slow neither spoke until they had bad passed the waddell cabin and were come to the open fields 1 I hope your letter brought good news said abe tm aa it was very short ann answered ile he took a fever in ohio and was sick alck there four weeks and then he went home in two months he never wrote a word to me and this one was only a little bit of a letter with mo ino love in it I 1 dont believe he cares ifor me le now or perhaps he Is mar girled I 1 dont know im not going ito cry about it any more I 1 cant ive no ino more tears tear i to shed ive given him up then I 1 reckon the time has come ifor roc ille to tell itell you what Is on my heart said abe 1 I love you ann 1 1 I have loved loed ou for years I 1 would deave told you long ago but I 1 could not make myself believe that I 1 was good enough for you I 1 love you so much that if you can only be happy with john me namar I 1 will pray to god that lie may turn out to be a good and faithful man and come back and keep jeep his promise she looked up at him with a kind of awe in hereace her face oil oh abe she whispered 1 I had duade aap my mind that men were all I 1 but my father I 1 was wrong 1 not think of you men lien are mostly good eahl cald abe but itis its very easy casuto to misunderstand them in my view its quite likely Is better than you think him I 1 want you to be fair to john if you conclude ton conc clude lutle that you can not be happy with him give me a i chance I 1 would do ray my best to bring iback back the joy of the old days sometimes I 1 think that I 1 am going to do r something Omet ng worth while sometimes I 1 think that I 1 can see ee my way far ahead and it looks very pleasant and you ann are always walking beside me in it before we take another step I 1 wish you could give me ome come hope to live on just a little straw of isope chope you are a wonderful man abe said ann touched byais appeal my father says that you are going to lie be a beatman great ge atman iman 1 I can not hold out any such hope tto to you ou abe A be answered im rather arid badly to but I 1 reckon th can make a good living and give you a comfortable home dont you think taking me just as I 1 am you could care for me a little yes sometimes I 1 think that I 1 could love you abe she answered 1 I do not love bouyet you yet but I 1 may some come time I 1 really want to love you that Is all I 1 can ask now said abe as they bention wen went tion ion do you hear from bim alm kelso 1 I have not heard from her hermince since june in 1 I wish you would write to her and tell her that I 1 am thinking of going down to st louis and that I 1 would aike FL to go and see her ill write trite to her tomorrow said ann they lind hail a pleasant visit and while hile ann was playing with tile the baby she bin s to have forgotten her troubles they sta ed to supper after which the hole family walked to tle the tac with them when ant ann began to shon ln Near nearine lne abe be gentle lifted her lit iii ills his auns and carried lier her that waning mrs airs peter lucilb called upon abe tit at sam hills store lie bat alone beffie the the flie reading with two candles burning on the end of a dry good lio io at ills his elbow 1 I wanted anted to set sec nou ou bout lukins Lukin 1 she began theres them that call him bony lukin but I 1 reckon lie he aint no honier bonier than the p everadge everl dge run 0 inen not a hit bit an if lie was I 1 dont reckon ills hone bones orto be thrower at luin him cery time lies spoke to that away what can I 1 do about it abe asked 1 I ie e been hopin an some kind of a decent handle could be put on to his name said mrs lukins with her ee ce upon a knot hole hoje in the counter something with a good so sound U ad to it you said that anything you could do for the new salem folks you was goin to dp d an I 1 thought maybe ou could fix it abe smiled and asked do you want a title if it aint plum I 1 wisht lie could be made a colonel ill see what nhat can be done but if lit he gets that title hell have to live up to it ill make him walk a chalk line you see the good woman pro promised a as she left the store that evening abe wrote a playful commission as colonel for peter lukins luking which was signed in due time by all ills friends and neighbors and presented to lukins by a committee of which abe was chairman coleman smoot a man of some means who had a farm on the road to springfield was in the village that evening abe showed him the commission and asked him to sign it ill sign on one condition said smoot what wha is that abe asked that give me a commission I 1 want to be your friend you are that now arent you abe asked yes but I 1 earned my commission you given me a chanco yet what can I 1 do to to liel help P you along abe was much impressed by these kindly words my friends do not often ask what they can do sw me he said 1 I suppose they thought of it ill think it over and let you know k now three days later he walked out to coleman smoots after supper As they sat together by the fireside abe aba said ut 01 ive been thinking of your friendly question its dangerous to talk that way to a man like me the fact Is I 1 need two hundred dollars to pay pres pressing presslie slig debts ui give me something in my D pocket when T fo g fo to vand vandana alla aUa if you can not lend it to me I 1 shall think none the less of you 1 I can and will said smoot ive been watching you for a long time A man who tries as hard as you do to get along deserves to be helped I 1 believe in you ril rii go up to springfield and get the money and bring it to you within a week or so abe lincoln had many friends who would have done the like for him if they could and he be knew it every one has faith in you said smoot we expect much of you and we ought to be willing to do what we can to help your faith will be my strength it if I 1 have any said abe on his way nay home that night he thought of what jack kelso had said of democracy and friendship on the twenty second of november a letter came to ann from bim kelso which announced that she was going to new orleans for the winter with her fier husband six days later abe took tile the stage for the capital at Rut ledges door where all the inhabitants of the village lad had assembled to bid him good the village had to bid him goodby by ann rutledge Ru cledge with a flash of her old playfulness kissed him when he got into the stage abes long arm acts bainn va inn n th tae e a air lr he g L looked back at lifs while tile the stage rumbled rum bleil down the road toward the greit great task of life upon which lie was presently to begin in III the little billage allae of vandalla CHAPTER XIII wherein the route of the under ground railroad Is surveyed and samson and harry spend a night in the home of henry arimstead Brim stead and hear surprising revelations confidentially di disclosed clocea earan in the autumn of that benr the Roe rind elijah lovedy of A alton hail had spent a night with the tra trailers on oil ills his way any to the coith sitting by bno the fl inside rIde lie had told many a livid avid tale of the cruelties cruel ties of slurry bli ery 1 I would not have you yon think that nil all slave holders are wicked and heartless lie he said they are arc like other men tile the world over some are kind and indulgent if till all men were like them slavery could be tolerated but they are not some men are brutal in tile the north as well as in the south if not made so by nature they are made so by drink to give them the power of life and deith death over human beings which they seem to have in parts of the south Is a crime against god and civilization 1 I agree with you said samson 1 I knew that you would the minister went on we have already had some help from you yon but we need more I 1 take it as a duty which god has har laid upon me to help every fugitive that reaches my door you can call help the good work of mercy and grace if you hear three taps upon your window after daik da k or r the hoot of an all owl in your dooryard you will know what it means fix some place ou your farm where these poor people wh who are seeking the freedom which anchich god wills for all his children rany may find rest and refreshment cefres and security until they have strength to go on within a week after the isit of mr lovejoy Lovo joy samson and hurry harry built a hollow haystack about halfway half way from the house to the barn the stack had a comfortable room inside of it about eight feet by seven and some six feet in height its entrance was an opening near the bottom of the alie stack well screened by the pendant hay but no fugitive came to occupy it that eliat winter soon after the new bear ear of samson and harry moved the to tazewell county mr air kelso had r received an appointment as land agent and was wag to be stationed at the little settlement bett lement ent of hopedale hospedale Hop edale near the home of john peasley late in the afternoon harry and samson left the kellos and their effects at a small frame fraine house in the little village of Ho Hope daJe the me men had no sooner begun to unload than its inhabitants came to welcome the newcomers and help them in the work of if getting settled when the goods good were je losife d la 1 li ta alie ie 7 dooryard samson tiivi and harry drove to john peas leys farm mr peasley recognized th the big broad broa d should shouldered ered Ver vermonter montet at the first look 1 I do I 1 re remember m e m ber youl you lie add well I 1 guess I 1 do so does my barn door let me take hold of that right hand of yours again yes sir its the same old iron hand marry ann he called as his wife came out of the door heres the ble big man from vergennes who tossed the slaver 1 I see it is she ansIN answered ered aint Y ye e C omin in if you try to pass this place ill have fe ye i took ook up said peasley theres plenty of food in the house an stable look liere downright selfish said his wife if we tried to keep you here henry Brim arimstead stead would never forche us ns he talks about you morning noon and night any one would think that you was the samson that sleny slew the philistines how is s henry samson as asked ked he married my sister and about as happy as they can be this side the river jordan she went on got one 0 the best farms in tazewell county and coln to be rich yes sir I 1 think 0 that said peasley henry and ills his wife would holler if we take ye over there its only a quarter of a mile ill show ye the way and well all come over this evening and have a bee samson was wag pleased and astonished by the look of Brim arimstead stead and his home and ills his family and the account of his success the man from ohp th sand flats was cleanly shaved save for a black mustache and neatly dressed and his face glowed with health and high spirits A handsome brown eyed miss of seventeen came galloping up the road on her pony and stopped near them annabel do you remember this man arlmstead asked the girl looked at samson he Is the man who helped us out 0 of f flea valley said the girl would you mind if I 1 kissed you 1 I would be sorry it if you dian didn t 1 said samson heres my boy harry needles you dare kiss him I 1 guess 1 I would be sorry tao 90 if you harry laughed as lie he took her hand im afraid have to stay atay sorry said annabel turning red with embarrassment III 1 I never saw you before better late than never samson assured her you dont often see a better fellow the girl laughed with a subtle look of oc agreement in her eyes Then came up from the barn the ragged little lad of no santa claus land now a sturdy bright eyed handsome boy of twelve zhe T he hor horses seil wore put out and a all went in to supper after supper brims tend showed models of a mowing machine with 1 a I cut bar six luct lect long and a plow which would turn two furrows what we ie need on these pra iles liles ald id samson Soine Some thins thim tui turn n em cm over and cut the crop quicker say ill tell ye ve said Brim arimstead stead a us if about to di disclose cloe a secret those great real stretches stretch ps of smooth rich land just ram rain tip tl spurs 3 pur into you and keep keel your brain galloping aline I 1 is coln night and lay day the prairies tire arc a new thin thins and youve bouve got to tackle ern cm in a new way nay I 1 tell you the speeding seeding and planting and mowing moning and reaping and threshing g is all going coin to be dolp by machinery and horses the naheel will tic be the foundation odthe of the new ura era youre right said samson how tire arc you gettin along rather slow samson answered its hard to get out our stuff to market down in the sangamon country our river navigable yet we hope that abe lincoln who lins has just been elected to the legislature will be able to get it widened and straightened and cleaned up so it will be of some use ue to us down there re ine heard of him they call him honest abe dont they yes and he Is honest it if a man ever was Is lie he going to marry the rutledge gp girl was the query of mrs brim stead 1 I dont think so samson answered a little surprised at her knowledge of the attachment hes gs as hum ly as sam hill and dresses rough and aint real handy with nith the gals so some me fellers are kind 0 fenced in with hum liness and awkwardness awk bardne qs the boas bo s around here are all fenced in said annabel therel The rei nobody lien here of nf my aw a e but lanky peters who iio looks a fish and a redheaded irish boy with a wooden leg the Iu guiley iley and the men and women spent a delightful hour ng NIt without hout weariness earine over tile the long on biall to beloved scenes and the lays days of their youth every days end thousands were anere going east cast on that biall ench cadi to find ills pot of gold at ant the foot of the rainbow of memory before they went to bed that night paid ills his debt to samson with ith interest and nery ery confident |