TO PAY HALF THE DAMAGES

A wagonmaker in Mechanicsville, near Springfield, was sued on account of
a disputed bill. The other side had engaged the best lawyer in the
place. The cartwright saw that his own attorney would be unable to
defend the case well. So, when the day of the trial arrived he sent his
son-in-law to Springfield to bring Mr. Lincoln to save the day for him
if possible. He said to the messenger:

"Son, you've just got time. Take this letter to my young friend, Abe
Lincoln, and bring him back in the buggy to appear in the case. Guess
he'll come if he can."

The young man from Mechanicsville found the lawyer in the street playing
"knucks" with a troop of children and laughing heartily at the fun they
were all having. When the note was handed to him, Lincoln said:

"All right, wait a minute," and the game soon ended amid peals of
laughter. Then the young lawyer jumped into the buggy. On the way back
Mr. Lincoln told his companion such funny stories that the young man,
convulsed with laughter, was unable to drive. The horse, badly broken,
upset them into a ditch, smashing the vehicle.

"You stay behind and look after the buggy," said the lawyer. "I'll walk
on."

He came, with long strides, into the court room just in time for the
trial and won the case for the wagonmaker.

"What am I to pay you?" asked the client delighted.

"I hope you won't think ten or fifteen dollars too much," said the young
attorney, "and I'll pay half the hire of the buggy and half the cost of
repairing it."

LAWYER LINCOLN AND MARY OWENS

About the time Mr. Lincoln was admitted to the bar, Miss Mary Owens, a
bright and beautiful young woman from Kentucky, came to visit her
married sister near New Salem. The sister had boasted that she was going
to "make a match" between her sister and Lawyer Lincoln. The newly
admitted attorney smiled indulgently at all this banter until he began
to consider himself under obligations to marry Miss Owens if that young
lady proved willing.

After he went to live in Springfield, with no home but his office, he
wrote the young lady a long, discouraging letter, of which this is a
part:

"I am thinking of what we said about your
coming to live in Springfield. I am afraid you
would not be satisfied. There is a great deal
of flourishing about in carriages here, which
it would be your doom to see without sharing
it. You would have to be poor