Lincoln, the unknown

34•LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNscience were awakened to a realization of what he hadoften heard and read. No doubt, as one of his companionshas said, "Slavery ran the iron into him then and there."One morning in their rambles over the city the trio passeda slave auction. A vigorous and comely mulatto girl wasbeing sold. She underwent a thorough examination at thehands of the bidders; they pinched her flesh and made hertrot up and down the room like a horse, to show how shemoved, and in order, as the auctioneer said, that "biddersmight satisfy themselves" whether the article they wereoffering to buy was sound or not. The whole thing was sorevolting that Lincoln moved away from the scene with adeep feeling of "unconquerable hate." Bidding his companionsfollow him he said, "By God, boys, let's get awayfrom this. If ever I get a chance to hit that thing [meaningslavery 1, I'll hit it hard."Lincoln became very popular with Denton Offut, the manwho hired him to go to New Orleans. Offut liked his jokes andstories and honesty. He employed the young man to go backto Illinois, fell trees, and build a log-cabin grocery store inNew Salem, a tiny village composed of fifteen or twenty cabinsperched on a bluff high above the winding Sangamon. Here Lincolnclerked in the store and also ran a grist and sawmill, andhere he lived for six years— years that had a tremendous influenceon his future.The village had a wild, pugnacious, hell-raising gang of ruffianscalled the Clary's Grove Boys, a crowd who boasted thatthey could drink more whisky, swear more profanely, wrestlebetter, and hit harder than any other group in all Illinois.At heart they weren't a bad lot. They were loyal, frank, generous,and sympathetic, but they loved to show off. So when theloud-mouthed Denton Offut came to town and proclaimed thephysical prowess of his grocery clerk, Abe Lincoln, the Clary'sGrove Boys were delighted. They would show this upstart athing or two.But the showing was all the other way, for this young giantwon their foot-races and jumping contests; and with his extraordinarilylong arms he could throw a maul or toss a cannon-ballfarther than any of them. Besides, he could tell the kind offunny stories they could understand; and he kept them laughingfor hours at his back-woods tales.