attending the taking of this life-mask, as narrated by Mr. Volk, are well worth reproducing here.  “One morning in April, 1860,” says Mr. Volk, “I noticed in the paper that Abraham Lincoln was in Chicago,—­retained as one of the counsel in a ‘Sand-bar’ trial in which the Michigan Central Railroad was either plaintiff or defendant.  I at once decided to remind him of his promise to sit to me, made two years before.  I found him in the United States District Court room, his feet on the edge of the table, and his long dark hair standing out at every imaginable angle.  He was surrounded by a group of lawyers, such as James F. Joy, Isaac N. Arnold, Thomas Hoyne, and others.  Mr. Arnold obtained his attention in my behalf, when he instantly arose and met me outside the rail, recognizing me at once with his usual grip of both hands.  He remembered his promise, and said, in answer to my question, that he expected to be detained by the case for a week.  He added:  ’I shall be glad to give you the sittings.  When shall I come, and how long will you need me each time?’ Just after breakfast every morning would, he said, suit him the best, and he could remain till court opened at ten o’clock.  I answered that I would be ready for him the next morning (Thursday).  ’Very well, Mr. Volk, I will be there, and I’ll go to a barber and have my hair cut before I come.’  I requested him not to let the barber cut it too short, and said I would rather he would leave it as it was; but to this he would not consent....  He was on hand promptly at the time appointed; indeed, he never failed to be on time.  My studio was in the fifth story.  There were no elevators in those days, and I soon learned to distinguish his step on the stairs, and am sure he frequently came up two, if not three, steps at a stride.  When he sat down the first time in that hard, wooden, low-armed chair which I still possess, and which has been occupied by Douglas, Seward, and Generals Grant and Dix, he said, ’Mr. Volk, I have never sat before to sculptor or painter—­only for daguerreotypes and photographs.  What shall I do?’ I told him I would only take the measurements of his head and shoulders that time, and that the next morning I would make a cast of his face, which would save him a number of sittings.  He stood up against the wall, and I made a mark above his head, and then measured up to it from the floor and said:  ’You are just twelve inches taller than Judge Douglas; that is, just six feet four inches.’

“Before commencing the cast next morning, and knowing Mr. Lincoln’s fondness for a story, I told him one in order to remove what I thought an apprehensive expression—­as though he feared the operation might be dangerous.  He sat naturally in the chair when I made the cast, and saw every move I made in a mirror opposite, as I put the plaster on without interference with his eyesight or his free breathing through the nostrils.  It was about an hour before the mould was ready to be removed, and being all in one piece, with both ears perfectly taken, it clung pretty hard, as the cheek-bones were higher than the jaws at the lobe of the ear.  He bent his head low, and worked the cast off without breaking or injury; it hurt a little, as a few hairs of the tender temples pulled out with the plaster and made his eyes water.