Page:Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field.djvu/153

 route for the Soldiers' Home. As calculated, he met the President half-way down the road and Lincoln, far from suspecting that the Marshal was on his trail, invited him to come along and have some fun. Well, the President had a jolly time at the Soldiers' Home, swapping stories with veterans and boys, listening to the singing, declaiming poetry and forgetting the care of his exalted office.

"And he kept up the fun on the way home, talking to his mule and explaining to 'Old Abe' what a 'Misery' Hill was. (He always used to call Lamon by his second name.) Hill, the President told his namesake, was always looking for danger, always suspecting somebody, never content with the troubles one couldn't escape, etc., etc. But while Lamon laughed at the President's sallies and encouraged his carefree humor, he kept both eyes open and if anything or anybody had stirred in front, back or at the sides of the road, his revolver was ready for emergency." 149