aking.

"I tell you, Harry, whatever a large number of intelligent folks have
agreed upon for some generations is so--if they have been allowed to do
their own thinking," said Abe. "It's about the only wisdom there is."

He had sounded the keynote of the new Democracy.

"There are some who think that Reason is the only guide but in the one
problem of going home it don't compare with the turtle's wisdom," Abe
added. "His head isn't bigger than a small apple. But I reckon the
scientist can't teach him anything about navigation. Reminds me o' Steve
Nuckles. His head is full of ignorance but he'll know how to get home
when the time comes."

"My stars! How we're hurrying!" Harry exclaimed at length.

"I didn't realize it--I'm so taken up with the thought of getting back,"
said Abe. "It's as if my friends had a rope around me and were pulling
it."

So under the lights of heaven, speaking in the silence of the night, of
impenetrable mysteries, they journeyed on toward the land of plenty.

"It's as still as a graveyard," Harry whispered when they had climbed the
bluff by the mill long after midnight and were near the little village.

"They're all buried in sleep," said Abe. "We'll get Rutledge out of bed.
He'll give us a shake-down somewhere."

His loud rap on the door of the tavern signalized more than a desire for
rest in the weary travelers, for just then a cycle of their lives had
ended.

BOOK TWO

CHAPTER X

IN WHICH ABE AND SAMSON WRESTLE AND SOME RAIDERS COME TO BURN AND STAY TO
REPENT

Within a week after their return the election came off and Abe was
defeated, although in his precinct two hundred and twenty-seven out of a
total of three hundred votes had been cast for him. He began to consider
which way to turn. He thought seriously of the trade of the blacksmith
which many advised. Burns and Shakespeare, who had been with him in
recent vicissitudes seemed to disagree with him. Jack Kelso, who had
welcomed the returning warriors in the cheery fashion of old, vigorously
opposed his trying "to force the gates of fortune with the strong arm."
They were far more likely to yield, he said, to a well trained intellect
of which mighty sinews were a poor tool but a good setting. Moreover,
Major John T. Stuart--a lawyer of Springfield--who had been his comrade
in the "war" had encouraged him to study law and, further, had offered to
lend him books. So he looked for an occupation which would give him