"Early the next month the old gentleman furnished his son Allen with a boat and a cargo of bacon and other produce with which he was to go to New Orleans unless the stock should be sooner disposed of.
Abe, having been found faithful and efficient, was employed to accompany the young man.

He was paid eight dollars per month, and ate and slept on board." The entire business of the trip was placed in Abraham's hands.
The fact tells its own story touching the young man's reputation for capacity and integrity.

He had never made the trip, knew nothing of the journey, was unaccustomed to business transactions, had never been much upon the river, but his tact and ability and honesty were so far trusted that the trader was willing to risk the cargo in his care.

The delight with which the youth swung loose from the shore upon his clumsy craft, with the prospect of a ride of eighteen hundred miles before him, and a vision of the great world of which he had read and thought so much, may be imagined.

At this time he had become a very tall and powerful young man.