Page:Abraham Lincoln, A Story and a Play.djvu/44

 a week.

The fame of the young lawyer was now growing fast, and more people sought his services every year. The time came when a man was willing to pay five thousand dollars for his help in a single case. How different this was from those first days in Springfield, when Lincoln was satisfied to receive a fee of five dollars.

No matter how large a sum was offered, however, he was never willing to help anyone who seemed to be in the wrong. Nor was he ever too busy to aid those who had been his friends in his early days of sadness and struggle.

In this time of success, he was able to repay the kindness of the Armstrong family who had been good to him when he was a poor clerk in New Salem. Many a time Mrs. Armstrong had been as tender as a mother when he was poor and homeless. And now her son Jack was accused of murder, and the trouble was breaking her heart, Lincoln used his bright mind to defend the fellow. When the trial came, he spoke with such feeling that the hearts of all who listened were deeply touched. More than this,—his wise words proved that young Armstrong was innocent and he was set free.