before such a crowd. He seemed to feel that Lincoln's physical prowess
shed glory on himself, and he declared the country over that his clerk
could lift more, throw farther, run faster, jump higher, and wrestle
better than any man in Sangamon County. The Clary's Grove Boys, of
course, felt in honor bound to prove this false, and they appointed
their best man, one Jack Armstrong, to "throw Abe." Jack Armstrong
was, according to the testimony of all who remember him, a "powerful
twister," "square built and strong as an ox," "the best-made man that
ever lived;" and everybody knew the contest would be close. Lincoln
did not like to "tussle and scuffle," he objected to "woolling and
pulling;" but Offutt had gone so far that it became necessary to
yield. The match was held on the ground near the grocery. Clary's
Grove and New Salem turned out generally to witness the bout, and
betting on the result ran high, the community as a whole staking their
jack-knives, tobacco plugs, and "treats" on Armstrong. The two men
had scarcely taken hold of each other before it was evident that the
Clary's Grove champion had met a match. The two men wrestled long and
hard, but both kept their feet. Neither could throw the other, and
Armstrong, convinced of this, tried a "foul." Lincoln no sooner
realized the game of his antagonist than, furious with indignation,
he caught him by the throat, and holding him out at arm's length, he
"shook him like a child." Armstrong's friends rushed to his aid, and
for a moment it looked as if Lincoln would be routed by sheer force of
numbers; but he held his own so bravely that the "boys," in spite of
their sympathies, were filled with admiration. What bid fair to be
a general fight ended in a general hand-shake, even Jack Armstrong
declaring that Lincoln was the "best fellow who ever broke into the
camp." From that day, at the cock-fights and horse-races, which
were their common sports, he became the chosen umpire; and when the
entertainment broke up in a row--a not uncommon occurrence--he acted