as working, even Dennis. Sarah gave him a pan of soap and hot
water and told him to wash the cabin walls. The girls scrubbed the
table, the three-legged stools, and the corner cupboard inside and out.
Sarah climbed the peg ladder to peer into the loft.

"Tsch! Tsch!" she said, when she saw the corn husks and dirty bearskins
on which the boys had been sleeping. "Take them out and burn them, Tom."

"Burn them?" he protested.

"Yes, and burn the covers on the downstairs bed, too. I reckon I have
enough feather beds and blankets to go around. We're starting fresh in
this house. We'll soon have it looking like a different place."

Not since Nancy died had the cabin had such a thorough cleaning. Then
came the most remarkable part of that remarkable afternoon--the
unloading of the wagon. Sarah's pots and pans shone from much scouring.
Her wooden platters and dishes were spotless. And the furniture! She had
chairs with real backs, a table, and a big chest filled with clothes.
There was one bureau that had cost forty-five dollars. Abe ran his
finger over the shining dark wood. Sarah hung a small mirror above it
and he gasped when he looked at his reflection. This was the first
looking glass that he had ever seen.

Most remarkable of all were the feather beds. One was laid on the pole
bed, downstairs. Another was placed on a clean bearskin in the opposite
corner to provide a sleeping place for the girls. The third was carried
to the loft for the three boys. When Abe went to bed that night, he sank
down gratefully into the comfortable feathers. The homespun blanket that
covered him was soft and warm.

On either side, Dennis and Johnny were asleep. Abe lay between them,
wide awake, staring into the darkness. The new Mrs. Lincoln was good and
kind. He knew that. She had seemed pleased when Sally called her
"Mamma." Somehow he couldn't. There was still a lonesome place in his
heart for his own mother.

Something else was worrying him. Before going to bed, Sarah Lincoln had
looked at him and Sally out of her calm gray eyes. "Tomorrow I aim to
make you young ones look more human," she said. Abe wondered what she
meant.

He found out the next morning. Tom and Dennis left early to go hunting.
Abe went out to chop wood for the fireplace. When he came back, he met
the three girls going down the path. Sally was walking between her two
stepsisters, but what a different Sally! She wore a neat, pretty dress
that had belonged to Betsy.