one afternoon.

"When is he coming home?" asked Abe.

"Pretty soon, most likely."

Nancy laid down her sewing and tried to explain. Their pa had had a hard
time making a living for them. He was looking for a better farm. Tom was
also a carpenter. Maybe some of the new settlers who were going to
Indiana to live would give him work. Anyway, he thought that poor folks
were better off up there.

Abe looked surprised. He had never thought about being poor. There were
so many things that he liked to do in Kentucky. He liked to go swimming
with Dennis after his chores were done. There were fish to be caught and
caves to explore. He and Sally had had a chance to go to school for a
few weeks. Abe could write his name, just like his father. He could read
much better. Tom knew a few words, but his children could read whole
sentences.

[Illustration]

Abe leaned up against his mother. "Tell us the story with our names," he
begged.

Nancy put her arm around him. She often told the children stories from
the Bible. One of their favorites was about Abraham and Sarah. "Now the
Lord said unto Abraham," she began--and stopped to listen.

The door opened, and Tom Lincoln stood grinning down at them. "Well,
folks," he said, "we're moving to Indiany."

Nancy and the children, taken by surprise, asked questions faster than
Tom could answer them. He had staked out a claim about a hundred miles
to the north, at a place called Pigeon Creek. He was buying the land
from the government and could take his time to pay for it. He wanted to
start for Indiana at once, before the weather got any colder.

[Illustration]

It did not take long to get ready. A few possessions--a skillet, several
pans, the water buckets, the fire shovel, a few clothes, a homespun
blanket, a patchwork quilt, and several bearskins--were packed on the
back of one of the horses. Nancy and Sally rode on the other horse. Abe
and his father walked. At night they camped along the way.

When at last they reached the Ohio River, Abe stared in surprise. It was
so blue, so wide, so much bigger than the creek where he and Dennis had
gone swimming. There were so many boats. One of them, a long low raft,
was called a ferry. The Lincolns went right on board with their pack
horses, and it carried them across the shining water to the wooded
shores of Indiana.

Indiana was a much wilder place than Kentucky. There was no road
leading to Pigeon Creek; only a path through the fore