About this time Harry Needles arrived in Vandalia.  The Legislature had adjourned for a week-end.  It was a warm, bright Saturday, early in March.  The two friends went out for a stroll in the woods.

“Have you seen Mrs. Able’s sister, Mary Owens?” Abe Lincoln asked.

“I’ve seen her often.”

“What kind of a girl is she?”

“A good kind, but-heavy.”

“Fat?”

“Massive and most of her front teeth gone.”  Lincoln looked thoughtful.

“You look as if she had stepped on your foot,” Harry remarked.

“The fact is I’m engaged to her in a kind of a way.”

“Of course that’s a joke.”

“You’re right; it’s a joke, but I’m afraid she and her sister have taken it seriously.  A man must be careful of the heart of a young woman.  After all, it isn’t a thing to play with.  As usual, when I try to talk with women, I make a fool of myself.”

“It would be easier to make a whistle out of a pig’s tail than a fool out of you,” said Harry.  “I have joked like that with Annabel and other girls, but they knew that it was only fun.”

“Still true to your old love?”

“As firm as a nail driven in oak,” said Harry.  “I seem to be built that way.  I shall never care much for any other girl.”

“Do you hear from Bim?”

“Once in a while I get a long, playful letter from her, full of things that only Bim could write.”

“Stuart says she can get a divorce.  We know the facts pretty well.  If you say so, we’ll prepare the papers and you can take them up to Chicago and get them signed and attested.  Stuart tells me that we can serve them by advertising.”

“Good!” Harry exclaimed.  “Get the papers ready as soon as you can and send them up to me.  When they come I’ll mount that new pony of mine and start for Chicago.  If she won’t have me, let her take a better man.”

“In my opinion Bim will want you,” said the legislator.  “I’ll be coming home in a few days and will bring the papers with me.  The session is about over.  If the rich men refuse to back our plans, there’s going to be a crowd of busted statesmen in Illinois, and I’ll be one of ’em.”

“Shall you spend the summer in New Salem?”

“I don’t know yet what I shall do.  First I must tackle the delicate task of getting disengaged from Mary.”

“I shouldn’t think it would take long,” said Harry, with a smile.

“I can tell better after a preliminary survey.”

“No doubt Mrs. Able would like to have you marry her sister.  She knows that you have a promising future ahead of you.  But don’t allow her to look serious over that little joke.”

Abe Lincoln laughed and said:  “Mary would be like the man who traded horses unsight and unseem and drew a saw horse.”