to the
room.

"He misses Nancy," said Dennis bluntly, "the same as the rest of us.
Then Tom has been gone for quite a spell."

Sally put her hand on Abe's shoulder. "I'm scared. Do you reckon
something has happened to Pappy? Isn't he ever coming back?"

Abe stared into the fire. He was thinking of the wolves and panthers
loose in the woods. There were many dangers for a man riding alone over
the rough forest paths. The boy wanted to say something to comfort
Sally, but he had to tell the truth. "I don't know, I--"

He stopped to listen. Few travelers passed by their cabin in the winter,
but he was sure that he heard a faint noise in the distance. It sounded
like the creak of wheels. The noise came again--this time much closer. A
man's voice was shouting: "Get-up! Get-up!"

"Maybe it's Pappy!" Abe pushed aside the bearskin and rushed outside.
Sally and Dennis were right behind him.

"It _is_ Pappy," Sally cried. "But look--"

Tom Lincoln had left Pigeon Creek on horseback. He was returning in a
wagon drawn by four horses. He was not alone. A strange woman sat beside
him, holding a small boy in her lap. Two girls, one about Sally's age,
the other about eight, stood behind her. The wagon was piled high with
furniture--more furniture than the Lincoln children had ever seen.

"Whoa, there!" Tom Lincoln pulled at the reins and brought the wagon to
a stop before the door.

"Here we are, Sarah." He jumped down and held out his hand to help the
woman.

She was very neat looking, tall and straight, with neat little curls
showing at the edge of her brown hood. She said, "Tsch! Tsch!" when she
saw Tom's children. She stared at their soiled clothing, their matted
hair, their faces smudged with soot. "Tsch! Tsch!" she said again, and
Abe felt hot all over in spite of the cold wind. He dug the toe of his
moccasin into the frozen ground.

"Abe! Sally!" their father said. "I've brought you a new mammy. This
here is the Widow Johnston. That is, she was the Widow Johnston." He
cleared his throat. "She is Mrs. Lincoln now. I've been back to Kentucky
to get myself a wife."

"Howdy!" The new Mrs. Lincoln was trying to sound cheerful. She beckoned
to the children in the wagon. They jumped down and stood beside her.
"These here are my young ones," she went on. "The big gal is Betsy. The
other one is Mathilda. This little shaver is Johnny."

Dennis came forward to be introduced, but he had eyes only for Betsy.
She gave him a coy