The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1889-02-14

man. but be did want 10 tnd out thing,
Denny, he'd ssy. the thinss I want TO
koos are all 10 boaks M hes, friend Is
the mae Who will ste me book. Well. |
cot bia book after awhile. !, was one
that told shout ssilor who got 80 near =
rock that it dras sa all the nails ont OF his
boa, and be A., . juclipg.
sindb.a the Sailor, IN the Arabian
Night
He, Well, l reckin, Iain't no scholar.
Ba, Abe'd lay on his s,nmmick aud reat
ou, loud to me and Sarah. Then Tomi
g ,ne ia aud say. see here. Abs.yer moth :
rr can't work with yon boihsria' her.
bat sarah would tell him TO NO Oh, and
.be'll.asL sben he iaash-d. though !
believe i, wen. 10 At Que ear add ont at the
o.a.r. iisl as il diA. with ms But Abe
would lay there by the ire place. the book
on the a,or beiseen bic eIbows.a and chuck
lin 10 hisseif. Abe. says many time.
then's all lice. Mighty darned good lies
he'd say, and go on. reekin he read
ID, m yarns q dsEAn times, That's putty
nigh ali he had to read except the Statutes
of Iudiana, and be used 10 lay over tbem
away into the night He got holt 81
Life of Washington, and split four cords
If wood for jist that little book Tom
couldn't read word. The speeches u
Henry Clay be earued by heart. and they
made Wing out OF him; aud then when
be went to Washington he messed with
some feIlers who jlst naturally made an
abolition man out OF bim | reckin Gid
dings had good deal to do with II.
He could jist lay men 10 the shade with
bis stories, and thought mebby that wo-
man in the book who always had q story
lnr every occasion bad something TO do
with il | asked him where Ia got holt
Of so blamed many les. and he said Every
story that has meaning isn't lie, Denny
God tells truths ia PARALLELS, His stories
were like them. He'd fire one o them in'
to jury and set every man a'oryin, but
he wouldn't defend man unless he be
lieyed him innocent. He throwed up u
good case onct because he found out the
man was guilty, That's the reason they
called him "Honest Abe
HE ASKED QUESTIONS.
He wanted to know SO many things thai
when man would stop at their house
Tom would 60 out and say, Light, stran-
ger? the way it was polite to do. Abs, he'd
come Topping out on his long legs, throw
one over the rail fence, and begin askin
questions. Then Tom'd tell him to quit,
aud by'n by he'd have to bang him at the
side Of the head to git him to stop. Then
Abe he'd go of a spell and fire stick at the
snow birds n whistlin'. Pap thinks 1t
amt polite to ask questions. Well, reck
in wasn't born to be polite. He'd play
jokeson people, too
Once there was a Baptist preacher took
to stopping at the house. and Abe tried to
get him to explain the miracles. aud got
the old feller SO worked up that when Abe
asked him, Who was the father of Zebe
dee's children? be couldn't tell. He could
come home from sermon and repeat ev.
cry bit of it. Many time when Sarah
couldn't go Abs would hold church for
her afterward aud she said 1t was jist as
good as goin' herself. He had to make
his amusement that way. Tom was kind
O. shiftless.
Now, father, Mrs. Bowling, Dennis
Hanks daughter. spoke up, Grandfather
Lincoln was jist as good q man as ever
lived. Just because he couldn't get moth
ing ahead people called him shiftless. He
made good living and gave 1t away to
every body who came. He never drank
nor played cards and he wasn't lazy. He
was good cabinet maker anl looked sf
ter his own clrarin', bu. he couldn't keep
anything after be made it. You remember
how Tom msd, the coili a his first wife was
buried in, After that be didn't seen to
care uati Sarah Johnson came and straight.
euel things up Inside year Tom had
filled the house with pretty good frrpi
ture.
Well. people have different idy5 about
that Abe Wouldn't s-ben the man no was
il il hsdn't b'n fur bis mother aud step
mother. SNah, she said to him. Abe.you
pit hoI. OF some muslin some eeres and have
white shirt SO you can go TO peoples
houses right. So when he was only 10
years old be cut nine cords OF wood and
got nine yards OF muslin. with which Sarah
besched aud made him two shirts. N.Y.
but be was proud OF em Everything else
he bad was homs,pun. He never had
ANYTHING bnt Jean pants till he went TO
lawn. We lived en- corn dodgers them
days, salt pork, game, wild fruit stewed
in mplasses aud milk. Abe'd stuff his
pockets full Of dodgers and gnaw . piece
far dinner aud ji.t go on plous Ching. There
was hoss mill about eighteen miles away
with a plug and sweep pulled by boss.
Abe used to say his hound could eat -four
iaster'n they made IL, end then be hungry
for supper, The old mau ohuckled in
memory OF pioneer days.
Abe used to like TO talk Of them days,
but it made Mary Lincoln powerful mad,
aud then AbsJ shut ne up. II Abe was
los down you nesdnt be ihro~in' itup TO
him, she'd s4y. ba, reekia Abe didn's
! look At il that ssy. He was rs gentle With
Mary A. an elephant would be With sskee-
ter. aud she could sting He was 30 big.
/ When we vas boys add rasslsi together
b. a fllog ore Of hi. long legs uPon my
shoulders 40 ibrow NE 50 quick IT made