"Here you
are! The fellows have been waiting for you to holler out the news."
[Illustration]
Abe sat on the counter, swinging his long legs, as he read the newspaper
out loud. The men sat quietly, except when William got up to throw
another log on the fire or to light another candle. Abe read on and on.
After he finished the paper, they talked about what he had read. They
argued about many things from politics to religion. They always wanted
to know what Abe thought. Many times they stayed until nearly midnight
listening to him.
* * * * *
One evening, not long after Abe's nineteenth birthday, he walked home
from the store in great excitement. He had been very sad since his
sister Sally had died in January, but tonight he seemed more cheerful.
Sarah looked up to find him standing in the doorway.
"What do you think has happened, Ma?" he asked. "I am going to New
Orleans."
"How come, Abe?"
Sarah knew that prosperous farmers sometimes loaded their corn and other
farm products on big flatboats. These flatboats were floated down the
Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where the cargoes were sold.
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