| Show A MAN FOX FOR T THE AGES by irving bacheller Ea cheller CHAPTER CR xv young mr lincoln safely pus parses two great danger points and turns into the highway of his manhood for duys days thereafter the people ot of new salem were sorely tr troubled A abe b e lincoln the ready helper in time ot of need tile the wabe counselor the friend of all old and young dogs und and horses as samson was wont to say the pride and hope of the little cabin village was N as breaking down under his grief he seemed to care no more for work or study aoudy or friendship he wandered mandere d out in the woods and upon the prairies alone many feared that he would lose his reason there was a wise and merry hearted man who lived a mile or so from the village hla his name was bowlin green those days daya when one of middle age had established himself in the affections of a community its members had a way of adopting him so mr green had bad been adopted into many families from beardstown Beards town to springfield he was uncle bowlan he had a most unusual circumference and the strength to carry it his ruddy cheeks checks and curling locks and kindly dark eyes and large head were details i of importance under all were nere a heart with the love of men a mind of unusual understanding and a liand hand skilled in all the arts of the kentucky pioneer he could grill a venison steak and roast a grouse and broil it a chicken in a way which had filled the countryside with fond recollections of his hospitality he could kindle a fire with a bow and string a pine stick and some shavings he could make anything from a splint broom to a rocking horse with his jackknife jack knife abe lincoln was one of the many men who knew and loved him on a warm bright afternoon early in september bowlan green was going around the pasture to put his fence in repair when he came upon young mr lincoln the latter sat in the shade of a tree on the hillside he looked terribly peaked as uncle bowlin lias has said in a letter why abe where have you been I 1 he asked the whole village Is scared samson traylor was wag here last night lookin for ye im like a deer been hurt said the young man 1 I took to the woods wanted to be alone you see I 1 had a lot of thinking to do the kind of thinking that every man must do for himself ive got the brush cleared away at last so I 1 can see through I 1 had made up my mind to go down to your house for the night and wai trying to decide whether I 1 have energy enough to do it 11 come on its only a short step urged the bighearted big hearted bowlin what I 1 feel the need of just nou no Is a week or two of sleep said mr lincoln as he be rose and started donar the long hill with his friend some boma time later bowlin green sae aie samson this brief account of what happened in and about the cabin he cat anything ile he wanted to go down to the river for a dip and I 1 went with him when we got back I 1 induced him to take off his clothes and get into bed he N was as fast asleep in ten minutes when night came I 1 went up the ladder to bed hel he was still asleep when I 1 came down in the morning I 1 went vent out and did my chores cli oros then I 1 cut two ve venison nuon steaks each about tile the size 0 my hand and a half moon of bacon I 1 pounded pou ndel the venison to pulp pull with a little salt and bacon mixed in I 1 put it on the broiler and over a bod bed 0 hickory coals I 1 got the coffee into the pot and up next to the fire and some potatoes in the ashes I 1 basted a bird with bacon strips and put it into the roaster and sot set it back 0 the broiling bed then I 1 made some biscuits and put em cm into the oven I 1 tell you in a little while the smell 0 that fireplace would have woke the dead honest 1 abe began to stir in n minute I 1 heard him call say uncle bowlin im coln to get up an eat you out 0 house and home im hungry and I 1 feel like a new man what time thue IS 19 it be nine by the 66 time hue youre washed and dressed 1 I 1 says well voll I 1 declare sas s lie he ive had bad about sixteen hours 0 solid sleep the world looks bettor better to me this morning in g at the table I 1 told him a story and ant sot got a little laugh out of him he hd stayed with me three weeks chorin chorlog 9 around the place and taking it easy he ele read till nil the books I 1 had until you mid and doi doc allen alien came with the law ian v books then lie he pitched into them I 1 think lie he has changed a good deal since anti ann lied died ile he talks talka a lot about god find and tile tho in t n october young mr lincoln re guined to ills his sun eying and in the last month of the bear to vandalla for an extra session of the legislature ico legi ii lature when lie he took a stand against the convention system of nominating candidates foe public office samson samion sam ion went to for a jelt alt with him and to see the place before the session ended the next year in a letter to hh bli brother lie says la 11 veince tt nu 3 a strong navor or wi ashry pirir lor fanelty and tobacco the night after I 1 got there I 1 went to a banquet with abe lincoln heard a lot about the lam dam loving yankees who k iio were trying to ruin the state and country with abolition there were some stories like those we used to hear in the lumber camp and no end of powerful talk in which the names of god and the savior were roughly handled A few of the statesmen got drunk and after the dinner was over two of them jumped on oil the table and danced down the whole length of it shattering plates and cups and gati saucers cers and glasses nobody seemed to be able to stop them I 1 hear that they had to pay several hundred dollars for the damage done you will be apt to think that there la Is too much liberty here in the west and perhaps that Is so but the fact Is these men are not half so bad as they seem to be lincoln tells me that they are honest almost to a man and sincerely devoted to the public good as they see it I 1 asked abe lincoln who all his life has associated with rough tongued drinking men how lie he managed to hold his own course and keep his talk and habits so dean clean I 1 why the fact Is eald he 1 I have associated with the people who lived around me only part of the time but I 1 have never stopped associating 11 with myself and with washington and clay and webster and shakespeare and burns bums and defoe and scott and blackstone and parsons on the whole ive ine been in pretty good company he has not yet accomplished much in the legislature I 1 dont think that he will until some big issue comes along tm im not much of a hand at hunting squirrels elg he said to me the other day walt wait till I 1 see a benr bear the people of vandalla and springfield have never seen him yet they dont know lihn him as I 1 do but they all respect s act him just for lug ills goodfellow good fellow ship honesty and decency I 1 guess that every enery fellow with a foul mouth hates fot for it and envies the I 1 man ian who inho like ike lihn him they begin to see his skill ss se a politician which ling has shown its lf if in the passage of a bill remol ng tile the capital to springfield abe lincoln was the man who put it through but lie he has not et uncovered his best talents mark my word some day lincoln will be a big man the death of tits his sweetheart has aged and sobered him when we e are together he often sits looking down with a sad face for a while nt n t a word out of him suddenly lie he will begin saying things the effect of which will go with me to my grave although I 1 cannot call back the words and place them as lie he did he Is what I 1 would call a great captain of words seems as it if I 1 heard the band playing while they marched by me as well dressed and stepping as proud and regular as the boston guards in some great battle beti between Neen right and wrong you will hear from him I 1 hope it may be the battle between slavery and freedom although althou gli at present lie he thinks they must avoid coming to a clinch in my opinion it cannot be done I 1 expect to lle to see and to take part in it late in tile session of am the prophetic truth of these words began to reveal itself A bill was wab being ut through the legislature denouncing the growth of abolition sentiment and its in societies S ant am upholding the right of property in ses suddenly lincoln had come to a fork in the road popularity the alie urge of many friends the counsel s se rf E lNe wealth ulta and power and public opinion the call of good politics pointed in one direction and tile crowd went ent that way it was a stampede lincoln stood al alone olle at the corner tile the crowd beckoned but in vain one man mail came back and joined him it was nas dan stone who aho was not a candidate for reelection election re his political career was as ended there N were ere three words on the signboard sign board pointing toward the perilous and lonely ly road that lincoln proposed to follow they were the words justice anti and human rights lincoln and dan stone took that load in a protest declaring that they believed the institution of slavery was founded upon injustice and bad policy lincoln had followed ills his conscience instead of the crowd at twenty eight bears ears of age he fie lind had safely passed the great danger point in hla his career the declaration at decatur the lie spec i elies against douglas the miracle of turning beasts beast s into men the sub sublime linie utterance at gettysburg the wise lse parables 1 es the second inaugural the In innumerable numera ble acts of mercy all of which lifted him inton undying fame were now possible henceforth lie was to go forward with the growing approval of his own spirit and tue the favor of got god |
