Practical Joke

Carl Sandburg, while he was writing another volume of his biography of Abraham Lincoln, would walk along the beach at Lake Michigan, reciting possible lines from his new book. He would always walk at the same time. The neighbors watched.

Then someone had an idea.

The neighbors hired a tall, thin actor. They asked him to don a long beard, a stovepipe hat, and a shawl -- and to try to look as much as possible like A. Lincoln.

Then they had him walk on the beach -- opposite Sandburg -- and encounter him at a point where the neighbors could watch.

They watched. The actor walked next to Sandburg.

Sandburg looked up, said something, and walked on.

The neighbors rushed down. What had Carl Sandburg said?

The Lincoln impersonator reported:


"He said, good morning, Mr. President."