Abe Lincoln Gets His Chance
By Frances Cavanah
There was a new boy baby at the Lincoln cabin! By cracky! thought Dennis Hanks as he hurried up the path, he was going to like having a boy cousin. They could go swimming together. Maybe they could play Indian. Dennis pushed open the cabin door.
“Where is he?” he shouted. “Where is he?”
“Sh!” A neighbor, who had come in to help, put her finger to her lips. “The baby is asleep.”
Nancy Lincoln was lying on the pole bed in a corner of the one-room house. She looked very white under the dark bearskin covering, but when she heard Dennis she raised her head. “It’s all right, Denny,” she said. “You can see him now.”
Dennis tiptoed over to the bed. A small bundle, wrapped in a homespun shawl, rested in the curve of Nancy’s arm. When she pulled back the shawl, Dennis could not think of anything to say. The baby was so wrinkled and so red. It looked just like a cherry after the juice had been squeezed out.
Nancy touched one of the tiny hands with the tip of her finger. “See his wee red fists and the way he throws them around!” she said.
“What’s his name?” Dennis asked at last.
“We’re calling him after his grandpappy. Abraham Lincoln!”
“That great big name for that scrawny little mite?”
Nancy sounded hurt. “Give him a chance to grow, will you?”
Then she saw that Dennis was only teasing. “You wait!” she went on. “It won’t be long before Abe will be running around in buckskin breeches and a coonskin cap.”
“Well, maybe—”
The door opened, and Tom Lincoln, the baby’s father, came in. With him was Aunt Betsy Sparrow. She kissed Nancy and carried the baby over to a stool by the fireplace. Making little cooing noises under her breath, she dressed him in a white shirt and a yellow flannel petticoat. Sally Lincoln, two years old, who did not know quite what to make of the new brother, came over and stood beside her. Dennis drew up another stool and watched.
Aunt Betsy looked across at him and smiled. Dennis, an orphan, lived with her and she knew that he was often lonely. There weren’t many people living in Kentucky in the year 1809, and Dennis had no boys to play with.
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Frances Cavanah
Biography.
Frances Cavanah (September 26, 1899-May 2, 1982) was born in Princeton, Indiana. She received her education at DePauw University. Cavanah was interested in the theater as well as being an active member of various organizations including the Author’s League, National Historical Society, Society of Midland Authors, Washington Children’s Book Guild, Mortar Board, Theta Sigma Phi and Delta Delta Delta.
Cavanah’s professional career includes work as a member of the editorial staff, associate, and contributing editor at various well-thought-out publishing companies, including Row Peterson Incorporated and Rand McNally & Company. She later went on to be biographical editor of the World Book Encyclopedia and an anthology editor for the 1949 revision of Childcraft.
Frances Cavanah
