"Judge Baldwin then went to Stanton, and was very briefly disposed of, with the same result. Finally, he obtained an interview with Mr. Lincoln, and stated his case.
"'Have you applied to General Halleck?' inquired the President.
"'Yes, and met with a flat refusal,' said Judge Baldwin.
"'Then you must see Stanton,' continued the President.
"'I have, and with the same result,' was the reply.
"'Well, then,' said Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, 'I can do nothing; for you must know that I have very little influence with this Administration."
MR. LINCOLN'S HORSE TRADE.
"When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois, he and a certain Judge once got to bantering one another about trading horses; and it was agreed that the next morning at 9 o'clock they should make a trade, the horse to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture of $25.00.
"At the hour appointed the Judge came up, leading the sorriest looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders. Great were the shouts and the laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal, set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed: 'Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade.'"