OF MALTA" 214

XXI.--PRAIRIE ISLAND 218

XXII.--THE INDIAN PLOT 229

XXIII.--FOR LINCOLN'S SAKE 236

XXIV.--"OUR LINCOLN IS THE MAN" 251

XXV.--AT THE LAST 265

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

The rescue _Frontispiece_

The Tunker school-master's class in manners 14

Lines written by Lincoln on the leaf of his school-book 22

Story-telling at the smithy 35

The home of Abraham Lincoln when in his tenth year 55

Aunt Olive's wedding 68

Abraham as a peace-maker 90

Black Hawk tells the story of Waubeno 118

A queer place to write poetry 160

Sarah Bush Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's step-mother 217

The approach of the mysterious Indian 240

The Lincoln family record 250

Abraham Lincoln, the man 262

IN THE BOYHOOD OF LINCOLN.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCED.

"Boy, are there any schools in these parts?"

"Crawford's."

"And who, my boy, is Crawford?"

"The schoolmaster, don't yer know? He's great on thrashing--on
thrashing--and--and he knows everything. Everybody in these parts has
heard of Crawford. He's great."

"That is all very extraordinary. 'Great on thrashing, and knows
everything.' Very extraordinary! Do you raise much wheat in these
parts?"

"He don't thrash wheat, mister. Old Dennis and young Dennis do that with
their thrashing-flails."

"But what does he thrash, my boy--what does he thrash?"

"He just thrashes boys, don't you know."

"Extraordinary--very extraordinary. He thrashes boys."

"And teaches 'em their manners. He teaches manners, Crawford does.
Didn't you never hear of Crawford? You must be a stranger in these
parts."

"Yes, I am a stranger in Indiana. I have been following the timber
along the creek, and looking out on the prairie islands. This is