"Abe! You've come!" She opened the door and looked up into the sad, wise
face.
"Of course, Mother." He gave her the kind of good bear hug he had given
her when he was a boy. "I am leaving soon for Washington. Did you think
I could go so far away without saying good-by?"
The word spread rapidly that he was there. One after another the
neighbors dropped in, until the little room was crowded. As he sat
before the fireplace, talking with all who came, Sarah seemed to see,
not a man about to become President, but a forlorn-looking little boy.
She had loved that little boy from the moment she first saw him. He had
always been a good son to her--a better son than her own John.
When the last visitor had gone, she drew her chair closer. It was good
to have a few minutes alone together.
"Abe," she told him, "I can say what scarcely one mother in a thousand
can say."
He looked at her inquiringly.
"You never gave me a cross word in your life. I reckon your mind and
mine, that is--" she laughed, embarrassed, "what little mind I had,
seemed to run together."
He reached over and laid a big hand on her knee.
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