Page:Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House.djvu/179

Rh looked more like a demi-god than a man crowned with the fleeting days of mortality. The moment the President appeared at the window he was greeted with a storm of applause, and voices re-echoed the cry, "A light! a light!" A lamp was brought, and little Tad at once rushed to his father's side, exclaiming: "Let me hold the light, Papa! let me hold the light!"

Mrs. Lincoln directed that the wish of her son be gratified, and the lamp was transferred to his hands. The father and son standing there in the presence of thousands of free citizens, the one lost in a chain of eloquent ideas, the other looking up into the speaking face with a proud, manly look, formed a beautiful and striking tableau. There were a number of distinguished gentlemen, as well as ladies, in the room, nearly all of whom remarked the picture. I stood a short distance from Mr. Lincoln, and as the light from the lamp fell full upon him,