Page:Abraham Lincoln, A Story and a Play.djvu/46

 won the greatest praise for himself. After this Mr. Douglas made other speeches, but every one was followed by a still greater one from Lincoln. It seemed almost laughable when people thought about it; here was this backwoodsman, a man of only a few months' schooling, holding his own against the polished gentleman of fine education. The railsplitter standing up against the "Little Giant!"

A more wonderful thing was yet to happen. The time soon came for Douglas to run again for the United States Senate. And Abraham Lincoln was chosen to run against him! Then it was that Lincoln's friends made plans for a debate between the two men. Seven meetings were taken up with this debate. So nobly did Lincoln speak, so grandly did he stand for right and justice, that the whole country now rang with his praise. He had suddenly become a leader and master of men.

As it happened, however, he was not made senator, but Douglas was again elected. If Lincoln had worked in a certain way, this would not have happened, but he had begun to look ahead. He wished to be chosen President of the United States! To do this, he thought it would be wisest to let Douglas win the election for senator.