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[34]
lessened somewhat, her tall companion, looking at her in blank astonishment, knowing what an infraction the whole thing was of her mother's oft-repeated instructions, asked; “‘Tilda, what are you going to tell mother about getting hurt?”
“Tell her I did it with the axe,” she sobbed.
“That will be the truth, won't it?”
To which last inquiry Abe manfully responded, “Yes, that's the truth, but it's not all the truth.
Tell the whole truth, ‘Tilda, and trust your good mother for the rest.”
This incident was, many years afterward, related to me by ‘Tilda, who was then the mother of a devoted and interesting family herself.
Hazel Dorsey was Abe's first teacher in Indiana.
He held forth a mile and a half from the Lincoln farm.
The school-house was built of round logs, and was just high enough for a man to stand erect under the loft.
The floor was of split logs, or what were called puncheones.
The chimney was made of poles and clay; and the windows were made by cutting out parts of two logs, placing pieces of split boards a proper distance apart, and over the aperture thus formed pasting pieces of greased paper to admit light.
At school Abe evinced ability enough to gain him a prominent place in the respect of the teacher and the affections of his fellow-scholars.1 Elements of leadership
1 “He always appeared to be very quiet during playtime: never was rude; seemed to have a liking for solitude; was the one chosen in almost every case to adjust difficulties between boys of his age and size, and when appealed to, his decision was an end of the trouble. He was also rather noted for keeping his clothes clean longer than any of the others, and although considered a boy of courage, had few, if any, difficulties.” --E. R. Burba, letter, March 31, 1866.
The Herndon's Lincoln Pubishing Company, Springfield, Ill., 1888.
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