He had lain down on the
side of their bed near the horses, which, were tethered to trees only a
few feet away. He had gone to sleep with his pistol under his right hand.
Since the beginning of that long journey overland from Vermont Samson had
been wont to say that his right hand never slept. Late in the night ha
was awakened by an unusual movement among the horses. In the dim light of
the fire he could see a man in the act of bridling Abe's horse.
"Hold up your hands," Samson shouted as he covered the man with his
pistol. "If ye stir a foot I'll bore a hole in ye."
The man threw up his hands and stood still.
In half a moment Abe Lincoln and Harry had got up and captured the man
and the loosed horse.
This is part of the entry which Samson made in his diary a week or so
later:
* * * * *
"Harry put some wood on the fire while Abe and I led him up into the
light. He was one of the dirty white men we had seen at the tavern.
"'I'll give ye four hundred dollars for a hogs in good Michigan money,'
he said.
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