yet they were not a bad set of fellows. Mr. Herndon, who had a cousin
living in New Salem at the time, and who knew personally many of the
"boys," says:

"They were friendly and good-natured; they could trench a pond, dig
a bog, build a house; they could pray and fight, make a village or
create a state. They would do almost anything for sport or fun, love
or necessity. Though rude and rough, though life's forces ran over
the edge of the bowl, foaming and sparkling in pure deviltry for
deviltry's sake, yet place before them a poor man who needed their
aid, a lame or sick man, a defenceless woman, a widow, or an orphaned
child, they melted into sympathy and charity at once. They gave all
they had, and willingly toiled or played cards for more. Though
there never was under the sun a more generous parcel of rowdies, a
stranger's introduction was likely to be the most unpleasant part of
his acquaintance with them."

[Illustration: A CLARY'S GROVE LOG CABIN,--NOW FIRST PUBLISHED.

From a water-color by Miss Etta Ackermann, Springfield, Illinois.
"Clary's Grove" was the name of a settlement five miles southwest of
New Salem, deriving its name from a grove on the land of the Clarys.
It was the headquarters of a daring and reckless set of young men
living in the neighborhood and known as the "Clary's Grove Boys." This
cabin was the residence of George Davis, one of the "Clary's Grove
Boys," and grandfather of Miss Ackermann. It was built seventy-one
years ago--in 1824--and is the only one left of the cluster of cabins
which constituted the little community.]

Denton Offutt, Lincoln's employer, was just the man to love to boast