Statesmen . its iron into him then and there. He livedseveral years at New Salem, one of those littlemushroom villages that rise and fall in the un-easy movement of a new population, and hissucceeding years were homeless, half the timeworking and half the time idling, and withoutany special aim in life except to gain food andshelter. He was a pilot on a steamboat, clerk ina store or a mill, and drifting about from timeto time, always in pursuit of something , tending a country store suited himbest; it gave him leisure to read, study, andmeditate. As a wrestler and an athlete, the
Statesmen . its iron into him then and there. He livedseveral years at New Salem, one of those littlemushroom villages that rise and fall in the un-easy movement of a new population, and hissucceeding years were homeless, half the timeworking and half the time idling, and withoutany special aim in life except to gain food andshelter. He was a pilot on a steamboat, clerk ina store or a mill, and drifting about from timeto time, always in pursuit of something , tending a country store suited himbest; it gave him leisure to read, study, andmeditate. As a wrestler and an athlete, the tall, gauntyoung Kentuckian soon acquired great fame,and in an encounter with a party of overgrownyoung men of Clarys Grove, a settlement notfar from New Salem, he gave them a test of hisquality. The entire gang were ready to breakin and interrupt a wrestling-bout between him-self and one Jack Armstrong, when his antag-onist, resorting to foul play, so roused thewrath of Lincoln that, putting forth all his. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 191 giant strength, he Hung Armstrong in the air,the legs of the champion of the Clarys Groveboys whirling madly around his head. At thisastounding performance the entire party made adead set against the new-comer, who was calmlywaiting their onset, when the vanquished cham-pion chivalrously demanded a truce. ShakingLincoln by the hand, he said : Boys, Abe Lin-coln is the best fellow that ever broke into thissettlement. He shall be one of us. Lincolnby general consent became the peacemakerand the arbitrator of all the petty quarrelsof the neighborhood ; shunning vulgar brawlshimself, he attempted to keep others out ofthem, and when debate around the door of thecross-roads store grew too animated and blowscame in to settle disputes, the terrific windmill ofLincolns long arms invariably brought of the luxuries of that time with him wasa subscription to the Louisville Courier, thenedited by that famous Whig, George D. Pren-tice, and to secure the pape
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