Lincoln, the unknown

78 •LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNwhether it was necessary. "You know what you want," hewould say, "so go and get it." But in this instance, he rebelled:the family was small, and the house was entirely adequate. Besides,he was a poor man: he had only five hundred dollarswhen they were married, and he had not added much to it since.He knew that they couldn't afford to enlarge the house; and sheknew it also; but she kept on urging and complaining. Finally,in order to quiet her, he had a contractor estimate the cost, andLincoln told him to make it high. He did, and Lincoln showedher the figures. She gasped, and he imagined that settled thematter.But he was too hopeful, for the next time he went away onthe circuit she called in another carpenter, got a lower estimate,and ordered the work done at once.When Lincoln returned to Springfield and walked downEighth Street, he hardly recognized his own house. Meetinga friend, he inquired with mock seriousness, "Stranger, can youtell me where Mr. Lincoln lives?"His income from the law was not large; and he often had,as he put it, "hard scratching" to meet his bills. And now hehad come home to find a large and unnecessary carpenter billadded to his burdens.It saddened him, and he said so.Mrs. Lincoln answered him in the only way that she knewhow to react to a criticism—with an attack. She told him testilythat he had no money sense, that he didn't know how to manage,that he didn't charge enough for his services.That was one of her favorite grievances, and many peoplewould have backed her stand on that. The other attorneys wereconstantly irritated and annoyed by Lincoln's trifling charges,declaring that he was impoverishing the whole bar.As late as 1853, when Lincoln was forty-four years old andonly eight years away from the White House, he handled fourcases inthe McLean Circuit Court for a total charge of thirtydollars.Many of his clients, he said, were as poor as he, and he didn'thave the heart to charge them much.Once a man sent him twenty-five dollars; and Lincoln returnedten, saying he had been too liberal.In another instance, he prevented a swindler from gettinghold of ten thousand dollars' worth of property owned by ademented girl. Lincoln won the case in fifteen minutes. An hour