situation. She bought the most
expensive goods on credit, and in the summer of 1864 enormous unpaid
bills stared her in the face.

"What do you think about the election, Lizabeth?" she said to me one
morning.

"I think that Mr. Lincoln will remain in the White House four years
longer," I replied, looking up from my work.

"What makes you think so? Somehow I have learned to fear that he will be
defeated."

"Because he has been tried, and has proved faithful to the best
interests of the country. The people of the North recognize in him an
honest man, and they are willing to confide in him, at least until the
war has been brought to a close. The Southern people made his election a
pretext for rebellion, and now to replace him by some one else, after
years of sanguinary war, would look too much like a surrender of the
North. So, Mr. Lincoln is certain to be re-elected. He represents a
principle, and to maintain this principle the loyal people of the loyal
States will vote for him, even if he had no merits to commend him."

"Your view is a plausible one, Lizabeth, and your confidence gives me
new hope. If he should be defeated, I do not know what would become of
us all. To me, to him, there is more at stake in this election than he
dreams of."

"What can you mean, Mrs. Lincoln? I do not comprehend."

"Simply this. I have contracted large debts, of which he knows nothing,
and which he will be unable to pay if he is defeated."

"What are your debts, Mrs. Lincoln?"

"They consist chiefly of store bills. I owe altogether about
twenty-seven thousand dollars; the principal portion at Stewart's, in
New York. You understand, Lizabeth, that Mr. Lincoln has but little idea
of the expense of a woman's wardrobe. He glances at my rich dresses, and
is happy in the belief that the few hundred dollars that I obtain from
him supply all my wants. I must dress in costly materials. The people
scrutinize every article that I wear with critical curiosity. The very
fact of having grown up in the West, subjects me to more searching
observation. To keep up appearances, I must have money--more than Mr.
Lincoln can spare for me. He is too honest to make a penny outside of
his salary; consequently I had, and still have, no alternative but to
run in debt."

"And Mr. Lincoln does not even suspect how much you owe?"

"God, no!"--this was a favorite expression of hers--"and I would not
have him suspect. If he knew that his wife was involved t