He still found
time to see a great deal of Ann Rutledge, and something of her gentle
sweetness was to live on forever in his heart. After Ann died, he tried
to forget his grief by studying harder than ever.
The year that he was twenty-eight he took his examination, and was
granted a lawyer's license. He decided to move to Springfield, which had
recently been made the capital of the state.
It was a cold March day when he rode into this thriving little town. He
hitched his horse to the hitching rack in the public square and entered
one of the stores. Joshua Speed, the owner, a young man about Abe's age,
looked up with a friendly smile.
"Howdy, Abe," he said. "So you are going to be one of us?"
"I reckon so," Abe answered. "Say, Speed, I just bought myself a
bedstead. How much would it cost me for a mattress and some pillows and
blankets?"
Joshua took a pencil from behind his ear. He did some figuring on a
piece of paper. "I can fix you up for about seventeen dollars."
Abe felt the money in his pocket. He had only seven dollars. His horse
was borrowed, and he was still a thousand dollars in debt.
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