ABRAHAM LINCOLN -- CHAPTER 1

THE DEATH OF A PEASANT      "Come with me, Tom. I'm going to the field." This was spoken by the father of Thomas Lincoln in Bullitt, Kentucky, more than a hundred years ago.      Thomas was then about six years old. His two elder brothers, Mordecai and Josiah, were working in another field not far away.      Suddenly a bullet sang through the air. The father fell down dead. Tom, shocked, could neither speak nor move.    Mordecai, the eldest, ran to the cabin, and Josiah to the fort two miles off. Mordecai seized a gun and, looking through a hole in the loft, saw an Indian stooping to lift his little brother from the ground.      He fired, and the Indian fell to the ground. When Thomas managed to run into the cabin, Mordecai continued firing at the Indians among the bushes.      Soon Josiah arrived with soldiers from the fort, and the Indians fled. At that time the Indians in that region were hostile to white men. The name of the unlucky peasant was Abraham Lincoln, the same name as that of his grandson,the 16th President of the United States.