at you
have come. It has been distressin' times in these parts. Folks have
died, and cattle have died, and we're all poor enough now, ye may
depend. Where are ye goin'?"

"To see the Lincolns."

"Sho'! goin' to see them again. Well, ye're none too soon. They're
gettin' ready to move to Illinois. Thomas Linken's always movin.' Moved
four times or more already, and I 'magine he'll just keep movin' till he
moves into his grave, and stops for good. He just lives up in the air,
that man does. He always is imaginin' that it rains gold in the _next_
State or county, but it never rains anythin' but rain where he is; and
if it rained puddin' and sugar-cane, his dish would be bottom upward,
sure. Elder, what does make ye take such an interest in that there
family?"

"Mrs. Lincoln is a very good woman, an uncommon one; and Abraham--"

"Yes, elder, I knew ye were goin' to say somethin' good of Abraham. Yer
heart is just set on that boy. I could see it when ye were here. I
remember all that ye prophesied about him. I ain't forgot it. Well, I am
a very plain-spoken woman. Ye ain't much of a prophet, in my opinion. He
hain't got anywhere yet--now, has he? He's just a great, tall, black,
jokin' boy; awful lazy, always readin' and talkin'; tellin' stories and
makin' people laugh, with his own mind as blue as my indigo-bag behind
it all. That is just what he is, elder, and he'll never amount to
anythin' in this world or any other. It's all just as I told ye it would
be. There, now, elder, that's as true as preachin', and the plain facts
of the case. You wait and see. Time tells the truth."

"His opportunity is yet to come; and when it does, he will have the
heart and mind to fill it," said Jasper. "A soul that is true to what is
best in life, becomes a power among men at last--it is spiritual
gravitation. 'Tis current leads the river. You do not see."

"No, I do not understand any such things as those; but when you've been
over to see the Linkens, you come back here, and I'll make ye some more
doughnuts. Come back, won't ye, and bring yer Indian boy? I'm a plain
woman, and live all alone, and I do love to hear ye talk. It gives me
somethin' to think about after ye're gone; and there ain't many
preachers that visit these parts."

Jasper moved on under the great trees, and came to the simple Lincoln
cabin.

"You have come back, elder," said Thomas Lincoln. "Travelin' with your
Indian boy? I'm glad to see you, though we are very p