This story is a quite charming one about a girl who encounters the ghost of Abe Lincoln while on a school tour of the White House. Abe is very troubled because he does not know the state of things in our country and how everything worked out since 1865. He laments to the girl that he has a nightmare every night about a ship sailing rapidly for some shore, but he doesn't know where the ship is headed. He has this dream every night and continues to worry for our nation. The girl forces him to leave the "Executive Mansion" explaining that it is now called the White House and shows him the state of things. She eases his mind by showing him that the states are united and have equal rights. She assures him that we're working on man fighting with his fellow man and brings him to the moon. Overall he seems satisfied. When Quincy goes to sleep that night she has a dream of a tall man on a boat moving toward the rising sun.
The book goes on to tell us that night night before his assassination Abe Lincoln had the same dream he told the girl about in the story. He is noted to have had that dream before any momentous event. This story has a very uplifting feeling because of all the positive things Quincy was able to show President Lincoln about what great strides we've taken since then. It could be used in any class learning about the civil war. It would be great to raise the question to students, "What would President Lincoln say if he could see our country now?" They could brainstorm a little and then read this story to see some more possibilities.
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