"No, indeed. He sets out thin sounding, but his voice seems to work down into his chest as he talks and he sounds pretty good. After supper Pa brought in the cider. Mr. Graham came over and Dr. Allen, and they got Long Shanks talking and didn't want him to quit. Mentor Graham took a great liking to him. He lived in Kentucky once and then Indiana. He asked about the folks in these parts and when he heard Jo Kelsy owns a Shakespeare he said he was going to try to borrow it, said he's read the Bible till he knew it by heart and the Constitution and some other things but never seen a Shakespeare. When Mr. Graham told him he had fifty books his dull, gray eyes turned bright as new candles. He's terrible interested in books, but he don't have any time for girls." "How do you know?" "'Cause. Ma asked him if he saw the girl waving at him, when the boat stuck? He said, 'Yes'm--wasn't it kind of her?'" "Ma said, 'She's the prettiest girl in town.'" "He said, 'Yes'm--isn't that nice?'" "Ma said, 'She's the smartest girl in town.'" "He said, 'Yes'm--it's worth while to be smart!'" "Ma told him you was going to marry John McNeil. He said, 'They all do it.' And he never even asked your name." "I tell you what; you drop past to-morrow afternoon before supper. He'll be there then. He won't look at you, he's so funny. But you can see him." It was with as much interest as a person goes to a show that Ann Rutledge went to the Cameron home the next afternoon. She was doomed to disappointment. "He's gone," Nance informed her. "Where?" "Gone out to split rails for some folks that have come in from Indiana and are taking a homestead near Turtle Ford. He's going to split enough rails to fence the clearing. He's to get one yard of brown jeans dyed with white walnut bark for every four hundred rails. It's to make some new breeches." "That's an awful lot of work for a pair of pants." "Yes, but look at the length of his legs. A fellow with legs like that will always have to work extra to keep them covered." "I wanted to see him." "He's coming back. I heard him telling Pa he was going to open a store here for a man named Offutt. His wares haven't come yet. They will be here by the time the new breeches are ready. Then you can see him. You'll think him half-baboon and half-giraffe and he won't even notice you only to say 'Yes'm' and pull off his hat." "Does he have any name? You didn't tell it." "Name? O yes," and Nance laughed. "He's named after Abraham, of the Abraham, Isaac and Jacob family. The rest of his name is Lincoln." "Abraham Lincoln," Ann repeated. "I don't think that's such a bad sounding name." * * * * *