"Sonny, that is the best thing you will ever _take_."


* * * * *


DRINKING AND SWALLOWING ARE TWO THINGS.

It has been stated that Lincoln, after reigning at the village store,
had become the idol of the settlement. A stranger to whom he was
shown was not properly impressed. One of the clerk's friends, William
Greene, bragged that his favorite was the strongest man in the
township--this was not affecting the critic--and even went on:
"The strongest in the country!"

"H'm! not the strongest in the State!" denied the stranger. "I know
a man who can lift a barrel of flour as easily as I can a peck of
potatoes."

"Abe, there, could lift _two_ barrels of flour if he could get
a hold on them."

"You can beat me telling 'raisers', but--"

"Taking a lift out of you or not, I am willing to bet that Abe will
lift a barrel of spirits and drink out of the bunghole to prove he
can hold it there!"

"Impossible! What will you lay on the thing?"