He
was a giant in strength and a skilful wrestler. This helped to make him
popular.
[Illustration: Lincoln as a Boatman.]
For some months after leaving his father's home Lincoln worked in the
neighborhood, most of the time as a farmhand and rail-splitter. But he
desired something different. From time to time he had watched the boats
carrying freight up and down the river and had wondered where the vessels
were going. Eager to learn about the life outside his narrow world, he
determined to become a boatman. As soon as he could, therefore, he found
employment on a flatboat that carried corn, hogs, hay, and other farm
produce down to New Orleans.
But tiring at length of the long journeys, he became clerk in a village
store at New Salem, Illinois. Many stories are told of Lincoln's honesty
in his dealings with the people in this village store. It is said that on
one occasion a woman, in making change, overpaid him the trifling sum of
six cents. When Lincoln found out the mistake he walked three miles and
back that night to give the woman her money.
In less than a year the closing of this village store left him without
employment, and after this he had a varied experience, first in a grocery
store of his own, next as postmaster in New Salem, and then as a surveyor.
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