"
Abe was surprised how good it felt to be clean again. "Thank you, ma'am.
Now I'd better get in some more wood."
"We have plenty of wood," said Sarah. "You see that stool? You sit down
and let me get at your hair. It looks like a heap of underbrush."
Abe watched anxiously when she opened the top drawer of the bureau and
took out a haw comb and a pair of scissors. I'll stand for it this time,
he thought, because she's been so good to us. But if she pulls too
hard--
Mrs. Lincoln _did_ pull. But when Abe said "Ouch!" she patted his
shoulder and waited a moment. He closed his eyes and screwed up his
face, but he said nothing more. Perhaps she couldn't help pulling, he
decided. Lock after lock she snipped off. He began to wonder if he was
going to have any hair left by the time she got through.
"I've been watching you, Abe. You're a right smart boy," she said. "Had
much schooling?"
"I've just been to school by littles."
"Have you a mind to go again?"
"There ain't any school since Master Crawford left. Anyhow, Pappy
doesn't set much store by eddication."
[Illustration]
"What do you mean, Abe?"
"He says I know how to read and write and cipher and that's enough for
anyone.
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