"Was your Betsy Ann an obliging woman?" "Yes, she was certainly very kind," responded the Governor, soberly. "Could she do other things than wash?" continued Mr. Lincoln with the same portentous gravity. "Oh, yes; she was very kind--very." "Where is Betsy Ann?" "She is now in New York, and wants to come back to Missouri, but she is afraid of banishment." "Is anybody meddling with her?" "No; but she is afraid to come back unless you will give her a protection paper." Thereupon Mr. Lincoln wrote on a visiting card the following: "Let Betsy Ann Dougherty alone as long as she behaves herself. "A. LINCOLN." He handed this card to her advocate, saying, "Give this to Betsy Ann." "But, Mr. President, couldn't you write a few words to the officers that would insure her protection?" "No," said Mr. Lincoln, "officers have no time now to read letters. Tell Betsy Ann to put a string in this card and hang it around her neck. When the officers see this, they will keep their hands off your Betsy Ann." ="FOOLING" THE PEOPLE= Lincoln was a strong believer in the virtue of dealing honestly with the people. "If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow-citizens," he said to a caller at the White House, "you can never regain their respect and esteem. "It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time." =HER ONLY IMPERFECTION= At one time a certain Major Hill charged Lincoln with making defamatory remarks regarding Mrs. Hill. Hill was insulting in his language to Lincoln, who never lost his temper. When he saw his chance to edge a word in, Lincoln denied emphatically using the language or anything like that attributed to him. He entertained, he insisted, a high regard for Mrs. Hill, and the only thing he knew to her discredit was the fact that she was Major Hill's wife. =HE "BROKE" TO WIN= A lawyer, who was a stranger to Mr. Lincoln, once expressed to General Linder the opinion that Mr. Lincoln's practice of telling stories to the jury was a waste of time. "Don't lay that flattering unction to your soul," Linder answered; "Lincoln is like Tansey's horse, he 'breaks to win.'" ="BAP." McNABB'S ROOSTER= It is true that Lincoln did not drink, never swore, was a stranger to smoking and lived a moral life generally, but he did like horse-racing and chicken fighting. New Salem, Illinois, where Lincoln was "clerking," was known the neighborhood around as a "fast" town, and the average young man made no very desperate resistance when tempted to join in the drinking and gambling bouts. "Bap." McNabb was famous for his ability in both the raising and the purchase of roosters of prime fighting quality, and when his birds fought the attendance was large. It was because of the "flunking" of one of "Bap.'s" roosters that Lincoln was enabled to make a point when criticising McClellan's unreadiness and lack of energy.