Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had robbed his
neighbor’s hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with the foreman
of the jury that had convicted the hen stealer, he was complimented by
Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prosecution, and remarked: “Why,
when the country was young, and I was stronger than I am now, I didn’t
mind packing off a sheep now and again, but stealing hens!” The good
man’s scorn could not find words to express his opinion of a man who
would steal hens.