They made a wager of a new hat--the Sunday hat of beaver being still
costly.

Greene was betting unfairly--on a sure thing--as he had seen his
friend do what he asserted, all but the drinking flourish. Lincoln was
averse to the wagering at all, but to help his friend to the hat, he
consented to the feat. He passed through it, lifting the cask between
his two hands and holding the spigot-hole to his lips while he imbibed
a mouthful. As he was slowly lowering the barrel to the floor, the
winner exclaimed jubilately:

"I knew you would do it; but I never knew you to drink whisky before!"

The barrel was stood on the floor, when the drinker calmly expelled
the mouthful of its contents, and drolly remarked:

"And I have not _drunk_ that, you see!"

As a return for his action to win the hat, he asked Greene not to
wager any more--a resolve which he took to oblige him.


* * * * *


WORSTED IN A HORSE-TRADE.

Until Lincoln--seeing that his decisions created enemies, whichever
way they fell--renounced being umpire for horse-racing and the like
events, momentous on the border, he officiated in many such pastimes.