"I have been thinking about that bill of yours," he said. He took the paper out of his wallet and forced it upon him. "I won't think of it any more." Cogdale took the bill. He told Lincoln that he did not know when he could pay it. But Lincoln hurried away, saying, "If you had the money, I would not take it out of your only hand!" A third story is told that: On September 17, 1862, the Confederate march into Maryland ended with the decisive defeat at Antietam. When the South pulled back, Lincoln called the Cabinet to a special meeting. He told the men that the time had come at last for his announcement of freedom to the slaves everywhere in the United States. After much doubt, he believed public opinion would now support this action. "Besides, I promised my God I would do it. I made a solemn vow before God that, if General Lee was driven back from Pennsylvania, I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slave!" People said that his signature appeared hesitant and uneven. However, Lincoln assured them that was not