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During the next two years Abraham Lincoln was asked to make manyspeeches. "Let us have faith that right makes might," he told oneaudience in New York, "and in that faith let us, to the end, dare to doour duty as we understand it."
At the end of the speech, several thousand people rose to their feet,cheering and waving their handkerchiefs. His words were printed innewspapers. Throughout the Northern States, men and women began to thinkof him as the friend of freedom.
By 1860 he was so well known that he was nominated for President of theUnited States. Stephen A. Douglas was nominated by another politicalparty. Once more the two rivals were running for the same office.
Several thousands of Abraham Lincoln's admirers called themselves "WideAwakes." There were Wide Awake Clubs in near every Northern town. Nightafter night they marched in parades, carrying flaming torches andcolored lanterns. And as they marched, they sang:
"Hurrah! for our cause--of all causes the best! Hurrah! for Old Abe, Honest Abe of the West."
No one enjoyed the campaign excitement more than did Willie and TadLincoln. They did their marching around the parlor carpet, singinganother song:
"Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness, Out of the wilderness, out of the wilderness, Old Abe Lincoln came out of the wilderness, Down in Illinois."
People everywhere were talking about Old Abe, and he received a greatdeal of mail. Some of the letters came from Pigeon Creek. Nat Grigsby,his old schoolmate, wrote that his Indiana friends were thinking of him.Dave Turnham wrote. It was in Dave's book that Abe had first read theDeclaration of Independence. A package arrived from Josiah Crawford whohad given him his _Life of Washington_. The package contained a piece ofwhite oak wood. It was part of a rail that Abe had split when he wassixteen years old. Josiah thought that he might like to have it madeinto a cane.
Hundreds of other letters came from people he had never seen. One fromNew York state made him smile.
"I am a little girl only eleven years old," the letter read, "but wantyou should be President of the United States very much so I hope youwon't think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are.... Ihave got four brothers and part of them will vote for you anyway and ifyou will let your whiskers grow I will try to get the rest of them tovote for you. You would look a great deal better for your face is sothin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbandsto vote for you and then you would be President...."
The letter was signed "Grace Bedell." In less than two weeks shereceived an answer. Abraham Lincoln, who loved children, took heradvice. By election day on November 6, 1860, he had started to grow abeard.
He spent the evening of election day in the telegraph office. Reportafter report came in from different parts of the country. He wasgaining. He was winning. After a while he knew--his friends knew--allSpringfield knew--that Abraham Lincoln was to be the next President ofthe United States. Outside in the streets the crowds were celebrating.They were singing, shouting, shooting off cannons. Abe told his friendsthat he was "well-nigh upset with joy."
"I guess I'd better go home now," he added. "There is a little womanthere who would like to hear the news."
Mary was asleep when he entered their bedroom. Her husband touched heron the shoulder. "Mary, Mary," he said with a low chuckle, "we areelected."
By February the Lincolns were ready to move. Abe tied up the trunks andaddressed them to "A. Lincoln, The White House, Washington, D.C." Beforehe left Illinois there was a visit he wanted to make to a log farmhousea hundred and twenty-five miles southeast of Springfield. His father hadbeen dead for ten years, but his stepmother was still living there.
Travel was slow in those days, and he had to change trains severaltimes. There was plenty of time to think. He knew that hard days layahead. There were many Southerners who said that they were afraid tolive under a President who was against slavery. Several Southern stateshad left the Union and were starting a country of their own. For theUnited States to be broken up into two different nations seemed to himthe saddest thing that could possibly happen. As President, AbrahamLincoln would have a chance--he must make the chance--to preserve theUnion. He could not know then that he would also have a chance to freethe slaves--a chance to serve his country as had no other Presidentsince George Washington.
His thoughts went back to his boyhood. Even then he had wanted to bePresident. What had once seemed an impossible dream was coming true. Hethought of all the people who had encouraged and helped him. He thoughtof his mother who, more than any one person, had given him a chance toget ahead.
"Mother!" Whenever Abe said the word, he was thinking of both Nancy andSarah.
Sarah was waiting by the window. A tall man in a high silk hat camestriding up the path.
"Abe! You've come!" She opened the door and looked up into the sad, wiseface.
"Of course, Mother." He gave her the kind of good bear hug he had givenher when he was a boy. "I am leaving soon for Washington. Did you thinkI could go so far away without saying good-by?"
The word spread rapidly that he was there. One after another theneighbors dropped in, until the little room was crowded. As he satbefore the fireplace, talking with all who came, Sarah seemed to see,not a man about to become President, but a forlorn-looking little boy.She had loved that little boy from the moment she first saw him. He hadalways been a good son to her--a better son than her own John.
When the last visitor had gone, she drew her chair closer. It was goodto have a few minutes alone together.
"Abe," she told him, "I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousandcan say."
He looked at her inquiringly.
"You never gave me a cross word in your life. I reckon your mind andmine, that is--" she laughed, embarrassed, "what little mind I had,seemed to run together."
He reached over and laid a big hand on her knee. She put her wrinkled,work-hardened hand on his.
When the time came to say good-by, she could hardly keep the tears back."Will I ever see you again?" she asked. "What if something should happento you, Abe? I feel it in my heart--"
"Now, now, Mother." He held her close. "Trust in the Lord and all willbe well."
"God bless you, Abraham."
He kissed her and was gone. "He was the best boy I ever saw," shethought, as she watched him drive away.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Growing up in southern Indiana, not far from where Abraham Lincoln spenthis boyhood, Frances Cavanah has always had a special interest inLincoln and the people who knew him. Furthermore, she is recognizedtoday as one of America's leading writers of historical books for boysand girls. She has written many books for young people and has also beenassociate editor of _Child Life Magazine_. One of her most interestingand beautiful books is OUR COUNTRY'S STORY, a fascinatingintroduction to American history, told in terms simple enough forchildren under nine. Miss Cavanah now lives in Washington, D.C., anddevotes all of her time to writing.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Paula Hutchison was born in Helena, Montana, and attended schools in theState of Washington until she came east to attend Pratt Institute inBrooklyn, New York. After graduating, she studied for several years inParis, London, and Florence and made painting trips to Cornwall, theEnglish lake district, and Scotland. She now lives in a small town onthe New Jersey shore where she and her husband have a six-acre farm, onwhich she has her studio. Miss Hutchison has illustrated a great manybooks for children and has also illustrated a number which she haswritten herself.
The Library of Congress catalogs this book as follows:
Cavanah, Frances. Abe Lincoln gets his chance. Illustrated by Paula Hutchison. Chicago, Rand McNally [1959] 92 p. illus. 24 cm. 1. Lincoln, Abraham, Pres. U.S.--Fiction. I. Title PZ7.C28Ab 813.54 59-5789++
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Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance Page 15
