They "poled" and rowed their slow way down the Ohio and the Mississippi. At New Orleans, Lincoln first saw a slave auction. He saw men and women sold. As he turned away he said to a friend: "If ever I get a chance to hit that thing, I'll hit it hard." He did not then dream of the mighty blow he would one day strike. After his return from New Orleans, he became a clerk in a store. One day a woman gave Lincoln six cents too much. That very evening he walked several miles to find her and give back the money. At another time Lincoln found that he had not given a woman as much tea as she paid for. He went in search of her and gave her the rest of the tea. [Sidenote: =The Black Hawk War=] About this time Lincoln joined a company of soldiers going to the Black Hawk War. An Indian chief named Black Hawk was on the "war path." All the frontier was up in arms against him and his band of braves. [Sidenote: =Lincoln elected captain=] Lincoln was well pleased when nearly all the men in his company walked over and stood by his side. This was their way of electing a captain. No election in later days gave him greater pleasure. [Sidenote: =Fame as a story-teller spreads=] Little fighting was done by Lincoln's company, but sitting around the camp fires in the evening, he became famous as a story-teller, and he made many friends. [Illustration: LINCOLN SPLITTING RAILS TO FENCE IN THEIR FARM] =161. Makes a Success in Politics.= On his return from the war, though he was only twenty-three years old, he became a candidate for the state legislature, but was defeated. [Sidenote: =Elected to the legislature=] A little later he was again a candidate. This time he won. After the election, he said to a friend: "Did you vote for me?" "I did," replied the man. "Then you must lend me two hundred dollars." Lincoln needed a suit of clothes and money to pay the expenses for traveling in a stagecoach to the capital! In 1837 the legislature passed a set of resolutions in favor of slavery and condemning the Abolitionists. Lincoln could not stand this. He and one other man signed a protest declaring that slavery was founded on "injustice and bad policy." [Illustration: LINCOLN AS A CIRCUIT RIDER] Lincoln was reëlected to the legislature seven times. He generally got more votes than other men on the ticket because the people liked his quaint sayings and his unpretending manner. [Sidenote: =Lincoln licensed to practice law=] In the meantime, after three or four years of study, he was given a license to practice law. He made it a rule never to take a case which he believed to be wrong. He was a successful lawyer, but the road to fame by way of the law was a slow one. It gave Lincoln a chance to engage in politics, as we have already seen. [Sidenote: =His taste for public speaking=]