Out of patience, Lincoln replies to letter from Miles, who has mortgage on land worth $1,200 to secure debt of $203.41. "Suppose I foreclose," he asks, "you will bid the same; if nobody bids more, all will be well; but somebody will bid more; and then how will you stand? You will have to let the land go for that sum; or bid higher, and advance the cash for all above that sum. Don't you see?" Abraham Lincoln to George U. Miles, [17 February 1856], CW, 2:332.