As his miserable surroundings absolutely precluded any such idea, and he was wont to joke about his homeliness, poverty, and future promise, some of his friends suppose that he made the remark in a vein of pleasantry. But whether so or not, the fact is worthy of record.

Long before this time, Mr. Lincoln had discontinued the use of his domestic grist-mill, for Hoffman built a mill to run by water, on Anderson’s Creek, twelve miles away. To this mill Abraham and David Turnham carried their grists, until Gordon built a horse-mill within a few miles of Lincoln’s cabin. Then their patronage was transferred to Gordon’s. To the latter place Abraham carried a grist one day, and safely tied the “old mare” while waiting for the grinding. When the time came to start for home, he untied the mare, jumped on, and started the animal so suddenly with a “cluck,” and stroke of a stick, that she kicked furiously, and knocked him head over heels from the cart to the ground. He was picked up in a state of insensibility, the bystanders fearing that life was extinct. For several minutes he remained insensible, and when consciousness returned, he finished the “cluck,” that was only half uttered when the ugly beast knocked him over. Many years afterwards, he had discussions with his law partner at Springfield, Ill., Mr. Herndon, as to the psychological explanation of this remarkable phenomenon. One person remarked that it “was an illustration of Abe’s perseverance—he always accomplished what he undertook.”

The next chapter will disclose the manner in which Abraham worked and studied, growing in knowledge and popularity daily.