Lincoln, the unknown

74 • LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNLincoln was absent-minded, often sank into curious spellsof abstraction, and appeared to be entirely oblivious of theearth and everything that was on it. On Sundays, he would putone of his babies into a little wagon and haul the child up anddown the rough sidewalk in front of his house. Sometimes thelittle chap happened to roll overboard. But Lincoln pulledsteadily ahead, his eyes fixed on the ground, unconscious of theloud lamentations behind him. He never knew what had happeneduntil Mrs. Lincoln thrust her head out at the door andyelled at him in a shrill, angry voice.Sometimes he came into the house after a day at the officeand looked at her and apparently didn't see her and didn'teven speak. He was seldom interested in food; after she hadprepared a meal, she frequently had hard work to get him intothe dining-room. She called, but he seemed not to hear. Hewould sit down at the table and stare off dreamily into space,and forget to eat until she reminded him of it.After dinner he sometimes stared into the fireplace for halfan hour at a time, saying nothing. The boys literally crawled allover him and pulled his hair and talked to him, but he seemedunconscious of their existence. Then suddenly he would cometo and tell a joke or recite one of his favorite verses:"Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?Like a swift-fleeting meteor, a fast-flying cloud,A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave,He passes from life to his rest in the grave."Mrs. Lincoln criticized him for never correcting the children.But he so adored them that "he was blind and deaf to theirfaults." "He never neglected to praise them for any of theirgood acts," said Mrs. Lincoln, "and declared: Tt is my pleasurethat my children are free and happy, and unrestrained by parentaltyranny. Love is the chain whereby to bind a child toits parents.' "The liberties he allowed his children at times appear extraordinary.For example, once when he was playing chess with ajudge of the Supreme Court, Robert came and told his fatherit was time to go to dinner. Lincoln replied, "Yes, yes." But,being very fond of the game, he quite forgot that he had beencalled, and played on.Again the boy appeared, with another urgent message fromMrs. Lincoln. Again Lincoln promised to come, again he forgot.