When Lincoln set him down on the right side of the river, the little dog showed his gladness by leaping upon everyone and barking wildly.
"His frantic leaps of joy repaid me for what I had done," said Lincoln.
Years afterward, when Lincoln was a busy lawyer, he was one day riding to court on horseback. With him were some friends of his who were also lawyers.
The small party had some distance to go. The day was warm and the roadsides were soft with spring mud.
Suddenly their gay talk was interrupted. "Cheep! cheep! cheep!" they heard. On the ground, not far from the roadside, two little birds lay in the grass. They had fallen from the nest in the tree above them. Their mother fluttered about, uttering pitiful cries.
"See those young robins that have fallen from their nest," said one man.
"That's too bad," said another. "They are sure to die down there."
"Some cat will get them," said a third.
On they went, but soon they missed Abraham Lincoln. They looked behind, but a turn of the road hid him from sight. "We can guess what kept him," laughed the leader. "He has stopped to put those robins back into their nest."
They were right. Abraham Lincoln was even then climbing the tree to the nest with the tiny birds cuddled tenderly in one big kind hand.