I Mary

[Gene C]

I came across another slightly different version of the story, It's the same story with slightly different details.

It's from "Lincoln Talks", p.57 - Delayed Payment. The book is a collection of stories edited by Emanuel Hertz. (copyright 1939)

"Bunn asked Lincoln what the fee would be. Lincoln answered
that, if some time in the future he felt he had a fee coming, he
would ask Bunn for it. And Bunn had nearly forgotten all about the fee, when one
morning, as he was eating breakfast, Lincoln came in and asked
for a hundred-dollar fee in the case. Bunn said he would be glad
to pay the fee but wished to know why Lincoln had let the matter
go so long, and why the fee should be collected in the middle of
a morning breakfast.

And as Bunn told it later, "Lincoln's answer was that he needed
the money, not for himself, but for another who was in trouble
and needed his help. Three of his friends had spent the night in
a spree, had broken in almost the entire front of a grocery or
saloon; they were in the sheriff's office and would be placed in jail unless someone should settle for the damage done.
In a few moments I secured the money and turned it over to him. He seemed more or less relieved, and hurriedly left to interview the sheriff and release his friends.
I did not press him for names, but learned
that two of his friends were the sons of wealthy parents and the
third was his law partner. Lincoln was poorer than any of them,
and yet he seemed to regard it as his duty to crawl out of his bed
before daybreak to their rescue. I doubt if another man in Springfield would have done it. No wonder Lincoln sometimes thanked
God he was not born a woman!"
—John W. Bunn

I abbreviated the story, the full version is here - https://archive.org/details/lincolntalks...6/mode/2up

There are three other stories in this book attributed to John Bunn.
I didn't know who John Bunn was. This link from MR. Lincoln and Friends tells us something about him.
http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/the-boys/john-bunn/