HOW HE REPAID THE ARMSTRONGS' KINDNESS
The Armstrong baby, Willie, grew to be a youth of wrong habits, and was nicknamed "Duff." He was drawn, one afternoon, into a bad quarrel with another rough young man, named Metzker, who was brutally beaten. In the evening a vicious young man, named Morris, joined the row and the lad was struck on the head and died without telling who had dealt the fatal blow. The blame was thrown upon "Duff" Armstrong, who was arrested. Illinois law preventing him from testifying in his own behalf.
When Lawyer Lincoln heard of the case, he wrote as follows:
"Springfield, Ill., September, 1857."Dear Mrs. Armstrong:"I have just heard of your deep affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder."I can hardly believe that he can be capable of the crime alleged against him."It does not seem possible. I am anxious that he should be given a fairtrial, at any rate; and gratitude for your long-continued kindness to me in adverse circumstances prompts me to offer my humble services gratuitously in his behalf."It will afford me an opportunity to requite, in a small degree, the favors I received at your hand, and that of your lamented husband, when your roof afforded me a grateful shelter, without money and without price."Yours truly,"A. Lincoln."
"Springfield, Ill., September, 1857.
"I have just heard of your deep affliction, and the arrest of your son for murder.
"I can hardly believe that he can be capable of the crime alleged against him.
"It does not seem possible. I am anxious that he should be given a fairtrial, at any rate; and gratitude for your long-continued kindness to me in adverse circumstances prompts me to offer my humble services gratuitously in his behalf.
"It will afford me an opportunity to requite, in a small degree, the favors I received at your hand, and that of your lamented husband, when your roof afforded me a grateful shelter, without money and without price.
"Yours truly,"A. Lincoln."
The feeling in the neighborhood where the crime was committed was so intense that it was decided that it must be taken over to the next county to secure a fair trial. Lawyer Lincoln was on hand to defend the son of his old friend.
Besides those who testified to the bad character of the young prisoner, one witness, named Allen, testified that he saw "Duff" Armstrong strike the blow which killed Metzker.
"Couldn't you be mistaken about this?" asked Mr. Lincoln. "What time did you see it?"
"Between nine and ten o'clock that night."
"Are you certain that you saw the prisonerstrike the blow?—Be careful—remember—you are under oath!"
"I am sure. There is no doubt about it."
"But wasn't it dark at that hour?"
"No, the moon was shining bright."
"Then you say there was a moon and it was not dark."
"Yes, it was light enough for me to see him hit Metzker on the head."
"Now I want you to be very careful. I understand you to say the murder was committed about half past nine o'clock, and there was a bright moon at the time?"
"Yes, sir," said the witness positively.
"Very well. That is all."
Then Lawyer Lincoln produced an almanac showing that there was no moon that night till the early hours of the morning.
"This witness has perjured himself," he said, "and his whole story is a lie."
"Duff" Armstrong was promptly acquitted. The tears of that widowed mother and the gratitude of the boy he had rocked were the bestsort of pay to Lawyer Lincoln for an act of kindness and life-saving.
"JUST WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH THE WHOLE WORLD!"
A Springfield neighbor used to say that it was almost a habit with Mr. Lincoln to carry his children about on his shoulders. Indeed, the man said he seldom saw the tall lawyer go by without one or both boys perched on high or tugging at the tails of his long coat. This neighbor relates that he was attracted to the door of his own house one day by a great noise of crying children, and saw Mr. Lincoln passing with the two boys in their usual position, and both were howling lustily.
"Why, Mr. Lincoln, what's the matter?" he asked in astonishment.
"Just what's the matter with the whole world," the lawyer replied coolly. "I've got three walnuts, and each wants two."
THE "BUCKING" CHESS BOARD
Several years later Judge Treat, of Springfield was playing chess with Mr. Lincoln in hislaw office when Tad came in to call his father to supper. The boy, impatient at the delay of the slow and silent game, tried to break it up by a flank movement against the chess board, but the attacks were warded off, each time, by his father's long arms.
The child disappeared, and when the two players had begun to believe they were to be permitted to end the game in peace, the table suddenly "bucked" and the board and chessmen were sent flying all over the floor.
Judge Treat was much vexed, and expressed impatience, not hesitating to tell Mr. Lincoln that the boy ought to be punished severely.
Mr. Lincoln replied, as he gently took down his hat to go home to supper:
"Considering the position of your pieces, judge, at the time of the upheaval, I think you have no reason to complain."
WHEN TAD GOT A SPANKING
Yet, indulgent as he was, there were some things Mr. Lincoln would not allow even his youngest child to do. An observer who saw the President-elect and his family in their train on the way to Washington to take the helm of State,relates that little Tad amused himself by raising the car window an inch or two and trying, by shutting it down suddenly, to catch the fingers of the curious boys outside who were holding themselves up by their hands on the window sill of the car to catch sight of the new President and his family.
The President-elect, who had to go out to the platform to make a little speech to a crowd at nearly every stop, noticed Tad's attempts to pinch the boys' fingers. He spoke sharply to his son and commanded him to stop that. Tad obeyed for a time, but his father, catching him at the same trick again, leaned over, and taking the little fellow across his knee, gave him a good, sound spanking, exclaiming as he did so:
"Why do you want to mash those boys' fingers?"
THE TRUE STORY OF BOB'S LOSING THE INAUGURAL ADDRESS
Mr. Lincoln was always lenient when the offense was against himself. The Hon. Robert Todd Lincoln, the only living son of the great President, tells how the satchel containing his father's inaugural address was lost for a time.Some writers have related the story of this loss, stating that it all happened at Harrisburg, and telling how the President-elect discovered a bag like his own, and on opening it found only a pack of greasy cards, a bottle of whisky and a soiled paper collar. Also that Mr. Lincoln was "reminded" of a cheap, ill-fitting story—but none of these things really took place.
Here is the true story, as related to the writer by Robert Lincoln himself:
"My father had confided to me the care of the satchel containing his inaugural address. It was lost for a little while during the stay of our party at the old Bates House in Indianapolis. When we entered the hotel I set the bag down with the other luggage, which was all removed to a room back of the clerk's desk.
"As soon as I missed the valise I went right to father, in great distress of mind. He ordered a search made. We were naturally much alarmed, for it was the only copy he had of his inaugural address, which he had carefully written before leaving Springfield. Of course, he added certain parts after reaching Washington. The missing bag was soon found in a safe place.
"Instead of taking out the precious manuscriptand stuffing it into his own pocket, father handed it right back to me, saying:
"'There, Bob, see if you can't take better care of it this time'—and you may be sure I was true to the trust he placed in me. Why, I hardly let that precious gripsack get out of my sight during my waking hours all the rest of the long roundabout journey to Washington."
THE TERRIBLE LONELINESS AFTER WILLIE DIED
The death of Willie, who was nearly three years older than Tad, early in 1862, during their first year in the White House, nearly broke his father's heart. It was said that Mr. Lincoln never recovered from that bereavement. It made him yearn the more tenderly over his youngest son who sadly missed the brother who had been his constant companion.
It was natural for a lad who was so much indulged to take advantage of his freedom. Tad had a slight impediment in his speech which made the street urchins laugh at him, and even cabinet members, because they could not understand him, considered him a little nuisance. So Tad, though known as "the child of the nation," and greatly beloved and petted by those whoknew him for a lovable affectionate child, found himself alone in a class by himself, and against all classes of people.
TURNING THE HOSE ON HIGH OFFICIALS
He illustrated this spirit one day by getting hold of the hose and turning it on some dignified State officials, several army officers, and finally on a soldier on guard who was ordered to charge and take possession of that water battery. Although that little escapade appealed to the President's sense of humor, for he himself liked nothing better than to take generals and pompous officials down "a peg or two," Tad got well spanked for the havoc he wrought that day.
BREAKING INTO A CABINET MEETING
The members of the President's cabinet had reason to be annoyed by the boy's frequent interruptions. He seemed to have the right of way wherever his father happened to be. No matter if Senator Sumner or Secretary Stanton was discussing some weighty matter of State or war, if Tad came in, his father turned from the men of high estate to minister to the wants of his little boy. He did it to get rid of him, for ofcourse he knew Tad would raise such a racket that no one could talk or think tillhiswants were disposed of.
AN EXECUTIVE ORDER ON THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT FOR TAD AND HIS BOY FRIENDS
A story is told of the boy's interruption of a council of war. This habit of Tad's enraged Secretary Stanton, whose horror of the boy was similar to that of an elephant for a mouse. The President was giving his opinion on a certain piece of strategy which he thought the general in question might carry out—when a great noise was heard out in the hall, followed by a number of sharp raps on the door of the cabinet room.
Strategy, war, everything was, for the moment forgotten by the President, whose wan face assumed an expression of unusual pleasure, while he gathered up his great, weary length from different parts of the room as he had half lain, sprawling about, across and around his chair and the great table.
"That's Tad," he exclaimed, "I wonder what thatboywants now." On his way to open the door, Mr. Lincoln explained that those knocks had just been adopted by the boy and himself, aspart of the telegraph system, and that he was obliged to let the lad in—"for it wouldn't do to go back on the code now," he added, half in apology for permitting such a sudden break in their deliberations.
When the door was opened, Tad, with flushed face and sparkling eyes, sprang in and threw his arms around his father's neck. The President straightened up and embraced the boy with an expression of happiness never seen on his face except while playing with his little son.
Mr. Lincoln turned, with the boy still in his arms, to explain that he and Tad had agreed upon this telegraphic code to prevent the lad from bursting in upon them without warning. The members of the cabinet looked puzzled or disgusted, as though they failed to see that several startling raps could be any better than having Tad break in with a whoop or a wail, as had been the boy's custom.
ISSUING THE EXECUTIVE ORDER ON PETER FOR PIE
The boy raised a question of right. He had besieged Peter, the colored steward, demanding that a dinner be served to several urchins he had picked up outside—two of whom were sons ofsoldiers. Peter had protested that he "had other fish to fry" just then.
The President recognized at once that this was a case for diplomacy. Turning to various members of the cabinet, he called on each to contribute from his store of wisdom, what would be best to do in a case of such vast importance. Tad looked on in wonder as his father set the great machinery of government in motion to make out a commissary order on black Peter, which would force that astonished servant to deliver certain pieces of pie and other desired eatables to Tad, for himself and his boy friends.
At last an "order" was prepared by the Chief Executive of the United States directing "The Commissary Department of the Presidential Residence to issue rations to Lieutenant Tad Lincoln and his five associates, two of whom are the sons of soldiers in the Army of the Potomac."
With an expression of deep gravity and a solemn flourish, the President tendered this Commissary Order to the lieutenant, his son, saying as he presented the document:
"I reckon Peter willhaveto come to time now."
There was no more sturdy little patriot in the whole country than Lieutenant Tad Lincoln, "the child of the nation," nor had the President of the United States a more devoted admirer and follower than his own small son. A word from his father would melt the lad to tears and submission, or bring him out of a nervous tantrum with his small round face wreathed with smiles, and a chuckling in his throat of "Papa-day, my papa-day!" No one knew exactly what the boy meant by papa-day. It was his pet name for the dearest man on earth, and it was his only way of expressing the greatest pleasure his boyish heart was able to hold. It was the "sweetest word ever heard" by the war-burdened, crushed and sorrowing soul of the broken-hearted President of the United States.
Mr. Lincoln took his youngest son with him everywhere—on his great mission to Fortress Monroe, and they—"the long and the short of it," the soldiers said—marched hand in handthrough the streets of fallen Richmond. The understanding between the man and the boy was so complete and sacred, that some acts which seemed to outsiders absurd and ill-fitting, became perfectly right and proper when certain unknown facts were taken into account.
WAVING THE "STARS AND BARS" OUT OF A WHITE HOUSE WINDOW
For instance, one night, during an enthusiastic serenade at the White House, after a great victory of the northern armies, when the President had been out and made a happy speech in response to the congratulations he had received, everybody was horrified to see the Confederate "Stars and Bars" waving frantically from an upper window with shouts followed by shrieks as old Edward, the faithful colored servant, pulled in the flag and the boy who was guilty of the mischief.
"That was little Tad!" exclaimed some one in the crowd. Many laughed, but some spectators thought the boy ought to be punished for such a treasonable outbreak on the part of a President's boy in a soldier's uniform.
"If he don't know any better than that," saidone man, "he should be taught better. It's an insult to the North and the President ought to stop it and apologize, too."
"BOYS IN BLUE" AND "BOYS IN GRAY"
But little Tad understood his father's spirit better than the crowd did. He knew that the President's love was not confined to "the Boys in Blue," but that his heart went out also to "the Boys in Gray." The soldiers were all "boys" to him. They knew he loved them. They said among themselves: "He cares for us. He takes our part. We will fight for him; yes, we will die for him."
And a large part of the common soldier's patriotism was this heart-response of "the boys" to the great "boy" in the White House. That was the meaning of their song as they trooped to the front at his call:
"We are coming, Father Abraham;Three hundred thousand more."
Little Tad saw plenty of evidences of his father's love for the younger soldiers—the real boys of the army. Going always with the President, he had heard his "Papa-day" say of severalyouths condemned to be shot for sleeping at their post or some like offense:
"That boy is worth more above ground than under;" or, "A live boy can serve his country better than a dead one."
"Give the boys a chance," was Abraham Lincoln's motto. He hadn't had much of a chance himself and he wanted all other boys to have a fair show. His own father had been too hard with him, and he was going to make it up to all the other boys he could reach. This passion for doing good to others began in the log cabin when he had no idea he could ever be exercising his loving kindness in the Executive Mansion—the Home of the Nation. "With malice toward none, with charity for all," was the rule of his life in the backwoods as well as in the National Capital.
And "the Boys in Gray" were his "boys," too, but they didn't understand, so they had wandered away—they were a little wayward, but he would win them back. The great chivalrous South has learned, since those bitter, ruinous days, that Abraham Lincoln was the best friend the South then had in the North. Tad had seen his father show great tenderness to all the"boys" he met in the gray uniform, but the President had few opportunities to show his tenderness to the South—though there was a secret pigeonhole in his desk stuffed full of threats of assassination. He was not afraid of death—indeed, he was glad to die if it would do his "boys" and the country any good. But it hurt him deep in his heart to know that some of his beloved children misunderstood him so that they were willing to kill him!
It was no one's bullet which made Abraham Lincoln a martyr. All his life he had shown the spirit of love which was willing to give his very life if it could save or help others.
All these things little Tad could not have explained, but they were inbred into the deep understanding of the big father and the small son who were living in the White House as boys together.
MR. LINCOLN'S LAST SPEECH AND HOW TAD HELPED
A few days after the war ended at Appomattox, a great crowd came to the White House to serenade the President. It was Tuesday evening, April 11, 1865. Mr. Lincoln had written a short address for the occasion. The times wereso out of joint and every word was so important that the President could not trust himself to speak off-hand.
A friend stepped out on the northern portico with him to hold the candle by which Mr. Lincoln was to read his speech. Little Tad was with his father, as usual, and when the President had finished reading a page of his manuscript he let it flutter down, like a leaf, or a big white butterfly, for Tad to catch. When the pages came too slowly the boy pulled his father's coat-tail, piping up in a muffled, excited tone:
"Give me 'nother paper, Papa-day."
To the few in the front of the crowd who witnessed this little by-play it seemed ridiculous that the President of the United States should allow any child to behave like that and hamper him while delivering a great address which would wield a national, if not world-wide influence. But little Tad did not trouble his father in the least. It was a part of the little game they were constantly playing together.
The address opened with these words:
"Fellow-Citizens: We meet this evening not in sorrow, but gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburgand Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army (at Appomattox) give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for national thanksgiving is being prepared and will be duly promulgated."
"Fellow-Citizens: We meet this evening not in sorrow, but gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburgand Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army (at Appomattox) give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for national thanksgiving is being prepared and will be duly promulgated."
"GIVE US 'DIXIE,' BOYS!"
Then he went on outlining a policy of peace and friendship toward the South—showing a spirit far higher and more advanced than that of the listening crowd. On concluding his address and bidding the assembled multitude good night, he turned to the serenading band and shouted joyously:
"Give us 'Dixie,' boys; play 'Dixie.' We have a right to that tune now."
There was a moment of silence. Some of the people gasped, as they had done when they saw Tad waving the Confederate flag at the window. But the band, loyal even to a mere whim (as they then thought it) of "Father Abraham," started the long-forbidden tune, and the President, bowing,retired, with little Tad, within the White House. Those words, "Give us 'Dixie,' boys," were President Lincoln's last public utterance.
As Mr. Lincoln came in through the door after speaking to the crowd, Mrs. Lincoln—who had been, with a group of friends, looking on from within—exclaimed to him:
"You must not be so careless. Some one could easily have shot you while you were speaking there—and you know they are threatening your life!"
The President smiled at his wife, through a look of inexpressible pain and sadness, and shrugged his great shoulders, but "still he answered not a word."
THE SEPARATION OF THE TWO "BOYS"
At a late hour Good Friday night, that same week, little Tad came in alone at a basement door of the White House from the National Theater, where he knew the manager, and some of the company, had made a great pet of him. He had often gone there alone or with his tutor. How he had heard the terrible news from Ford's Theater is not known, but he came up the lower stairway with heartrending cries like a woundedanimal. Seeing Thomas Pendel, the faithful doorkeeper, he wailed from his breaking heart:
"Tom Pen, Tom Pen, they have killed Papa-day! They have killed my Papa-day!"
After the funeral the little fellow was more lonely than ever. It was hard to have his pony burned up in the stable. It was harder still to lose Brother Willie, his constant companion, and now his mother was desperately ill, and his father had been killed. Tad, of course, could not comprehend why any one could be so cruel and wicked as to wish to murder his darling Papa-day, who loved every one so!
He wandered through the empty rooms, aching with loneliness, murmuring softly to himself:
"Papa-day, where's my Papa-day. I'm tired—tired of playing alone. I want to play together. Please, Papa-day, come back and play with your little Tad."
Young though he was he could not sleep long at night. His sense of loneliness penetrated his dreams. Sometimes he would chuckle and gurgle in an ecstacy, as he had done when riding on his father's back, romping through the statelyrooms. He would throw his arm about the neck of the doorkeeper or lifeguard who had lain down beside him to console the boy and try to get him to sleep. When the man spoke to comfort him, Tad would find out his terrible mistake, that his father was not with him.
Then he would wail again in the bitterness of his disappointment:
"Papa-day, where's my Papa-day?"
"Your papa's gone 'way off"—said his companion, his voice breaking with emotion—"gone to heaven."
Tad opened his eyes wide with wonder. "Is Papa-day happy in heaven?" he asked eagerly.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure he's happy there, Taddie dear; now go to sleep."
"Papa-day's happy. I'm glad—soglad!"—sighed the little boy—"for Papa-day never was happy here."
Then he fell into his first sweet sleep since that terrible night.
GIVE THE BOYS A CHANCE"
The fond-hearted little fellow went abroad with his mother a few years after the tragedythat broke both their lives. By a surgical operation, and by struggling manfully, he had corrected the imperfection in his speech. But the heart of little Tad had been broken. While still a lad he joined his fond father in the Beyond.
"Give the boys a chance," had amounted to a passion with Abraham Lincoln, yet through great wickedness and sad misunderstandings his own little son was robbed of this great boon. Little Tad had been denied the one chance he sorely needed for his very existence. For this, as for all the inequities the great heart of the White House was prepared. His spirit had shone through his whole life as if in letters of living fire:
"With malice toward none; with charity for all."
THE END
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1. THE INVASION OF THE UNITED STATES; or, Uncle Sam's Boys at the Capture of Boston.
2. IN THE BATTLE FOR NEW YORK; or, Uncle Sam's Boys in the Desperate Struggle for the Metropolis.
3. AT THE DEFENSE OF PITTSBURGH; or, The Struggle to Save America's "Fighting Steel" Supply.
4. MAKING THE LAST STAND FOR OLD GLORY; or, Uncle Sam's Boys in the Last Frantic Drive.
PRICE, $1.00 EACH
The Motor-Boat Club of Kennebec
Bright and sparkling as the waters over which the Motor Boat Boys sail. Once cast off for a cruise with these hardy young fresh-water navigators the reader will not ask to be "put ashore" until the home port has finally been made. Manliness and pluck are reflected on every page; the plots are ingenious, the action swift, and the interest always tense. There is neither a yawn in a paragraph nor a dull moment in a chapter in this stirring series. No boy or girl will willingly lay down a volume of it until "the end." The stories also embody much useful information about the operation and handling of small power boats.
1. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; or, The Secret of Smugglers' Island.
2. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir.
3. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed.
4. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise.
5. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp.
6. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog.
7. THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water.
The Submarine Boys for the Flag
PRICE, $1.00 EACH
A voyage in an undersea boat! What boy has not done so time and again in his youthful dreams? The Submarine Boys did it in reality, diving into the dark depths of the sea, then, like Father Neptune, rising dripping from the deep to sunlight and safety. Yet it was not all easy sailing for the Submarine Boys, for these hardy young "undersea pirates" experienced a full measure of excitement and had their share of thrills, as all who sail under the surface of the seas are certain to do. The author knows undersea boats, and the reader who voyages with him may look forward to an instructive as well as lively cruise.