great general who had suffered in this way, so he made a
rule that he would receive no letters unless the postage was prepaid.
One day there came to his address a long envelope containing what seemed
to be an important document. But it was not stamped, and the servant had
been instructed not to receive that kind of mail. So it was returned to
the sender. When it came back it was discovered that it had been mailed
by mistake without a stamp. That letter announced to General Zachary
Taylor that he had been nominated by a great convention as candidate for
President of the United States!

All this seems very strange now that a letter can be sent around the
world for a few cents. Besides, the mails did not go often and were
carried on horseback. For a long time one half-sick old man carried the
mail on a good-for-nothing horse, once a week, between New York and
Philadelphia, though they were the largest cities in the country.

So it was many months before Abe received an answer to his letter.
Elder Elkin may have been away from home on one of the long circuits
covered by pioneer preachers. As the days and weeks went by without the
lad's receiving any reply he was filled with misgivings lest he had
imposed upon the good man's former friendship.

At last the answer came and poor Abe's anxiety was turned to joy. The
kind elder not only said he would come, but he also named the Sunday
when it would be, so that the Lincoln family could invite all their
friends from far and near to the postponed service--for it often
happened in this new country that the funeral could not take place for
months after the burial.

It was late in the following Summer, nearly a year after Nancy's death,
that the devoted minister came. The word had gone out to all the region
round about. It was the religious event of the season. Hundreds of
people of all ages came from twenty miles around on horseback--a father,
mother and two children on one horse--also in oxcarts, and on foot. They
sat in groups in the wagons, and on the green grass, as at the feeding
of the multitudes in the time of the Christ. But these people brought
their own refreshments as if it were a picnic.

They talked together in low, solemn tones while waiting for the poor
little funeral procession to march out from the Lincoln cabin to the
grass-covered grave. Pioneer etiquette required the formalities of a
funeral. Elder Elkin was followed by the widowed husband, with Abraham
and S