Joshua saw
that he was disappointed. He had heard Abe make speeches, and Abe was
called one of the most promising young men in the legislature. Joshua
liked him and wanted to know him better.
"Why don't you stay with me, until you can do better?" he suggested. "I
have a room over the store and a bed big enough for two."
A grin broke over Abe's homely features. "Good!" he said. "Where is it?"
"You'll find some stairs over there behind that pile of barrels. Go on
up and make yourself at home."
Abe enjoyed living with Joshua Speed, and he enjoyed living in
Springfield. He soon became as popular as he had once been in Pigeon
Creek and in New Salem. As the months and years went by, more and more
people came to him whenever they needed a lawyer to advise them. For a
long time he was poor, but little by little he paid off his debts. With
his first big fee he bought a quarter section of land for his stepmother
who had been so good to him.
The part of his work that Abe liked best was "riding the circuit." In
the spring and again in the fall, he saddled Old Buck, his horse, and
set out with a judge and several other lawyers to visit some of the
towns close by.
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