"Why do you want me to return unharmed?" he asked.
"Because you are kind to the weak and forgotten folks of earth, and not many think of this kind: because I think often what the child said."
"What child?"
"The beaten and abused child of old Kelly that you saved from more pain."
"What was it the child said?"
"'God came,'" she said. "'And his name was Abe Lincoln.'"
There was an almost imperceptible twitching in Abe Lincoln's face.
"There are many children," she continued, "many suffering, sad and helpless ones who need a strong friend to help them. My father says you have a future. I want you to come back to your future."
"Do not fear for me. I will come back—to my future. Good-bye." And he held out his hand.