“I will talk as I please, and I should like to see the man that will stop me,” answered the bully, arrogantly. “If you think you are the better man, we’ll try it on the spot.”
Lincoln began to see that the man meant to
force a quarrel upon him, and he did not shrink from it.
“If you will wait till the ladies retire,” he said quietly, “I will give you any satisfaction you wish.”
The ladies had by this time completed their purchases, and were glad to leave the store.
No sooner had they left than the bully broke out into a storm of abuses and insults. The young clerk listened with the quiet patience habitual to him, and finally observed: “Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I may as well whip you as any other man.”
“That’s what I’m after,” answered the bully.
“Come outdoors, then,” said Lincoln.
Abe, when they were fairly outside, thought there was no need of further delay. He grappled with the bully, threw him upon the ground with ease, and, holding him there, rubbed some “smart-weed” in his face and eyes till he bellowed for mercy.