Page:Abraham Lincoln, A Story and a Play.djvu/30

24 was more than paid for his trouble.

After Abraham helped the family get settled in the new home, he went on to the village of New Salem, where he became the clerk of a man named Offut. He was so kind and merry and told such good stories, that people liked to come to the store for the sake of talking with him, just as the folks of Gentryville had done. Besides this, they found he was so honest, that they could trust him in the smallest matters.

Now it happened, that one night after Abraham had closed the store, he counted up the money he had received, and found he had six cents too much. He was troubled, and thought about it for a long time. At last he remembered how it must have come about. He had given the wrong change to a certain woman.

He hastened to lock up the store, and started at once for the woman's house three miles away. As soon as he arrived there, he handed her the six cents, telling her he had made a mistake. Then, happy once more, he went home, caring little for the long walk, since he had done what was right. It is not strange that such things as this soon won for him the name of "Honest Abe."