Abraham Lincoln was fond of a good story, and it is a well-known fact
that he often illustrated an important point in the business at hand by
resorting to his favorite pastime. Probably one of the best he ever told
he related of himself when he was a lawyer in Illinois. One day Lincoln
and a certain judge, who was an intimate friend of his, were bantering
each other about horses, a favorite topic of theirs. Finally Lincoln said:
“Well, look here. Judge, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll make a horse
trade with you, only it must be upon these stipulations: Neither party
shall see the other’s horse until it is produced here in the court yard
of the hotel, and both parties must trade horses. If either party backs
out of the agreement, he does so under a forfeiture of $25.”
“Agreed,” cried the judge, and both he and Lincoln went in quest of their
respective animals.
A crowd gathered, anticipating some fun, and when the judge returned
first, the laugh was uproarious. He led, or rather dragged, at the end
of a halter the meanest, boniest, rib-staring quadruped--blind in both
eyes--that ever pressed turf. But presently Lincoln came along carrying
over his shoulder a carpenter’s horse. Then the mirth of the crowd was
furious. Lincoln solemnly set his horse down, and silently surveyed the
judge’s animal with a comical look of infinite disgust.
“Well, Judge,” he finally said, “this is the first time I ever got the
worst of it in a horse trade.”