He thrust the book inside his buckskin shirt. Sally tried to comfort him, but Abe kept wondering what Mr. Crawford was going to say. He was a little scared of Josiah. Some of the boys called him "Old Bluenose" because of the large purple vein on the side of his nose. It made him look rather cross. He probably would want Abe to pay for the book, and Abe had no money. He opened the Crawford gate and marched up to the kitchen door. Josiah, his wife Elizabeth, and Sammy, their little boy, were having breakfast. When Abe explained what had happened, Mrs. Crawford patted his shoulder. He liked her. She was always nice to him, but he knew that her husband was the one who would decide about the book. Josiah took it in his big hands and looked at the stained pages. "Well, Abe," he said slowly, "I won't be hard on you. If you want to pull fodder three days for me, that ought to pay for the book." "Starting right now?" "Yep, starting right now." Josiah was actually smiling. "Then you can have the book to keep." Abe caught his breath. What a lucky boy he was! Three days' work and he could keep the book! He would have a chance to read about George Washington any time he wanted to. Never had he worked harder or faster than he did that morning. When the noon dinner bell rang, he seemed to be walking on air as he followed Josiah into the cabin. Sally was putting dinner on the table. Abe slipped up behind her and pulled one of her pigtails. Taken by surprise, she jumped and dropped a pitcher of cream. The pitcher did not break, but the cream spilled and spread over the kitchen floor. [Illustration] "Abe Lincoln! Look what you made me do!" cried Sally. "I just washed that floor. And look at that good cream going to waste." "'Tain't going to waste." Abe pointed to Elizabeth Crawford's cat, which was lapping up the delicious yellow stream. Then he began to sing: "Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo!" "Stop trying to show off!" said Sally. She was angry, but Sammy, Elizabeth's little boy, shouted with delight. That was all the encouragement Abe needed. The fact that he could not carry a tune did not seem to bother him. "Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo! Cat's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo! Skip to my Lou, my darling." Sally was down on her hands and knees, wiping up the cream. "Stop singing that silly song, and help me." Instead, Abe danced a jig. He leaned down and pulled her other pigtail. [Illustration] "Sally's in the cream jar, shoo, shoo, shoo." "That's enough, Abe," said Elizabeth Crawford. "Skip to my Lou, my darling." He whirled around on his bare feet and made a sweeping bow. Sally was close to tears. "Abe, I told you to stop," said Elizabeth Crawford. "You ought to be ashamed, teasing your sister. If you keep on acting that way, what do you think is going to become of you?" "Me?" Abe drew himself up. "What's going to become of me? I'm going to be President."