writing. The wit he showed in taking revenge for a social slight by a
satire on the Grigsbys, who had failed to invite him to a wedding,
made a lasting impression in Gentryville. That he was able to write so
well that he could humiliate his enemies more deeply than if he had
resorted to the method of taking revenge current in the country--that
is, thrashing them--seemed to his friends a mark of surprising
superiority.

Others remembered his quick-wittedness in helping his friends.

"We are indebted to Kate Roby," says Mr. Herndon, "for an incident
which illustrates alike his proficiency in orthography and his natural
inclination to help another out of the mire. The word 'defied' had
been given out by Schoolmaster Crawford, but had been misspelled
several times when it came Miss Roby's turn. 'Abe stood on the
opposite side of the room,' related Miss Roby to me in 1865, 'and was
watching me. I began d-e-f--, and then I stopped, hesitating whether
to proceed with an i or a y. Looking up, I beheld Abe, a grin covering
his face, and pointing with his index finger to his eye. I took the
hint, spelled the word with an i, and it went through all right.'"

This same Miss Roby it was who said of Lincoln, "He was better read
then than the world knows or is likely to know exactly.... He often
and often commented or talked to me about what he had read--seemed to
read it out of the book as he went along--did so to others. He was the
learned boy among us unlearned folks. He took great pains to explain;
could do it so simply. He was diffident then, too."

[Illustration: JOHN W. LAMAR.