ss without a shudder or a pang.

"After worrying over it for some days, Mr. Lincoln seemed no longer able
to keep the secret. I give it as nearly in his own words as I can, from
notes which I made immediately after its recital. There were only two or
three persons present.

"The President was in a melancholy, meditative mood, and had been silent
for some time. Mrs. Lincoln, who was present, rallied him on his solemn
visage and want of spirit. This seemed to arouse him, and, without
seeming to notice her sally, he said, in slow and measured tones:

"'It seems strange how much there is in the Bible about dreams. There
are, I think, some sixteen chapters in the Old Testament and four or
five in the New, in which dreams are mentioned; and there are many other
passages scattered throughout the book which refer to visions. In
the old days, God and His angels came to men in their sleep and made
themselves known in dreams.'

"Mrs. Lincoln here remarked, 'Why, you look dreadfully solemn; do you
believe in dreams?'

"'I can't say that I do,' returned Mr. Lincoln; 'but I had one the other
night which has haunted me ever since. After it occurred the first
time, I opened the Bible, and, strange as it may appear, it was at the
twenty-eighth chapter of Genesis, which relates the wonderful dream
Jacob had. I turned to other passages, and seemed to encounter a dream
or a vision wherever I looked. I kept on turning the leaves of the
old book, and everywhere my eyes fell upon passages recording matters
strangely in keeping with my own thoughts--supernatural visitations,
dreams, visions, etc.'

"He now looked so serious and disturbed that Mrs. Lincoln exclaimed 'You
frighten me! What is the matter?'

"'I am afraid,' said Mr. Lincoln, observing the effect his words had
upon his wife, 'that I have done wrong to mention the subject at all;
but somehow the thing has got possession of me, and, like Banquo's
ghost, it will not down.'

"This only inflamed Mrs. Lincoln's curiosity the more, and while bravely
disclaiming any belief in dreams, she strongly urged him to tell the
dream which seemed to have such a hold upon him, being seconded in this
by another listener. Mr. Lincoln hesitated, but at length commenced very
deliberately, his brow overcast with a shade of melancholy.

"'About ten days ago,' said he, 'I retired very late. I had been up
waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been
long in bed when I fel