Under whatever circumstances Lincoln was forced into a fight, the end could be confidently predicted.  He was sure to thrash his opponent and gain the latter’s friendship afterwards by a generous use of victory.  Innumerable instances could be cited in proof of this statement.  It is related that “One day while showing goods to two or three women in Offutt’s store, a bully came in and began to talk in an offensive manner, using much profanity and evidently wishing to provoke a quarrel.  Lincoln leaned over the counter and begged him, as ladies were present, not to indulge in such talk.  The bully retorted that the opportunity had come for which he had long sought, and he would like to see the man who could hinder him from saying anything he might choose to say.  Lincoln, still cool, told him that if he would wait until the ladies retired he would hear what he had to say and give him any satisfaction he desired.  As soon as the women were gone the man became furious.  Lincoln heard his boasts and his abuse for a time, and finding that he was not to be put off without a fight, said, ’Well, if you must be whipped, I suppose I may as well whip you as any other man.’  This was just what the bully had been seeking, he said; so out of doors they went.  Lincoln made short work of him.  He threw him upon the ground, and held him there as if he had been a child, and gathering some ‘smart-weed’ which grew upon the spot he rubbed it into his face and eyes until the fellow bellowed with pain.  Lincoln did all this without a particle of anger, and when the job was finished went immediately for water, washed his victim’s face and did everything he could to alleviate his distress.  The upshot of the matter was that the man became his life-long friend and was a better man from that day.”

The chief repute of a sturdy frontiersman is built upon his deeds of prowess, and the fame of the great, rough, strong-limbed, kind-hearted Titan was spread over all the country around.  Says Mr. Lamon:  “On one occasion while he was clerking for Offutt a stranger came into the store and soon disclosed the fact that his name was Smoot.  Abe was behind the counter at the moment, but hearing the name he sprang over and introduced himself.  Abe had often heard of Smoot and Smoot had often heard of Abe.  They had been as anxious to meet as ever two celebrities were, but hitherto they had never been able to manage it.  ‘Smoot,’ said Lincoln, after a steady survey of his person, ’I am very much disappointed in you; I expected to see an old Probst of a fellow.’  (Probst, it appears, was the most hideous specimen of humanity in all that country).  ‘Yes,’ replied Smoot, ’and I am equally disappointed, for I expected to see a good-looking man when I saw you.’  A few neat compliments like the foregoing laid the foundation of a lasting intimacy between the two men, and in his present distress Lincoln knew no one who would be more likely than Smoot to respond favorably to an application for money.”  After he was elected to the Legislature, says Mr. Smoot, “he came to my house one day in company with Hugh Armstrong.  Says he, ‘Smoot, did you vote for me?’ I told him I did.  ‘Well,’ says he, ’you must loan me money to buy suitable clothing, for I want to make a decent appearance in the Legislature.’  I then loaned him two hundred dollars, which he returned to me according to promise.”