But the flaps of his tent were parted, and Lincoln stood before him. Scott said:
“The President was the kindest man I had ever seen; I knew him at once by a Lincoln medal I had long worn.
“I was scared at first, for I had never before talked with a great man; but Mr. Lincoln was so easy with me, so gentle, that I soon forgot my fright.
“He asked me all about the people at home, the neighbors, the farm, and where I went to school, and who my schoolmates were. Then he asked me about mother and how she looked; and I was glad I could take her photograph from my bosom and show it to him.
“He said how thankful I ought to be that my mother still lived, and how, if he were in my place, he would try to make her a proud mother, and never cause her a sorrow or a tear.
“I cannot remember it all, but every word was so kind.
“He had said nothing yet about that dreadful next morning; I thought it must be that he was so kind-hearted that he didn’t like to speak of it.
“But why did he say so much about my mother, and my not causing her a sorrow or a tear, when I knew that I must die the next morning?
“But I supposed that was something that would have to go unexplained; and so I determined to brace up and tell him that I did not feel a bit guilty, and ask him wouldn’t he fix it so that the firing party would not be from our regiment.
“That was going to be the hardest of all—to die by the hands of my comrades.