how poor and comfortless was his home, how hard his life, and how many were his disadvantages, the greater will be our marvel that from such a wretched beginning Abraham should have been able to attain so glorious an end.

When Mr. Lincoln first arrived in Indiana, in 1816, he set up a rude dwelling-called a “half-faced camp ;" and we can form some idea of this miserable abode when we learn that it was a rough hut of poles, which was enclosed on only three sides, while the fourth was quite open. In this shed, for it was nothing more, Abraham with his parents and sister had to spend their first year in Indiana; and it was not until the end of that time that Mr. Lincoln was able to erect a better dwelling-place.

The new log cabin, though stronger and warmer than the old one, was, however, a very poor habitation, and had but one room and a loft above it. It had no floor, and no furniture except a few threelegged stools, while the only bedstead consisted of a rough crotch of wood covered with leaves; and into this, which was occupied by their parents, little Abraham and his sister would, we are told, creep on winter nights, when their own rough couch on the ground was too cold for them to remain in it.

From this time forward-that is, after the completion of the new cabin in the building of which he had assisted by cutting poles and logs-Abraham, young as he was, began to help his father in the

work of clearing the forest land around their dwelling. Great trees had to be cut down with the axe, and the stumps either burned, or sometimes pulled, with all their tangled roots, from the ground; the timber had to be piled into heaps, or cleared away; the land had to be harrowed, or, when it was sufficiently free from roots, ploughed, so that seeds and vegetables might be planted; and in all these operations, as well as in the other kinds of work there were to do, young Lincoln willingly took his share. Oxen were at that time used in ploughing, harrowing, and other agricultural work; and we can picture Abraham's delight when he was old enough to assist in yoking the teams to the rough implements that were employed, or to walk by their side when the ploughing or harrowing was going on.

It was when he was very young, too, that Abraham learnt the use of the rifle, in which all settlers had to be skilled, for it was by its aid that they secured much of their food; and it is related that when he was but a child he astonished his parents by one day shooting and killing a great wild turkey, which he brought in triumph to his mother.

But though Abraham was always willing and eager to help his father in the way I have told you, whether as wood-cutter or ploughboy, or indeed in whatever capacity he was needed, there was another pursuit which at this time occupied not a little of his thought and attention, and the bent of his mind in this direc

tion had been gradually, but most clearly, showing itself ever since the family had settled in Indiana. This was a constant endeavour to seek information of every sort.

Before his parents had removed from Kentucky, they had contrived to afford the lad some schooling, though, with his sister, he had actually to walk eight miles each day to obtain it; but it was for a very short time that he had attended school, nor does he seem to have been taught anything except a little writing and spelling. And though, as we shall see, he went to school in Indiana a few years later, yet, as Lincoln used in after life to say, he "did not, during all his boyhood, receive instruction for more than six months altogether."

But the days spent at the Kentucky school were far from having been thrown away, and, few though they were, they engendered in him that thirst for knowledge and that longing for study which were soon to be so strongly developed in him. So, when only between eight and nine years of age, we find Abraham, during every moment that he can spare from his work in the forest, devoting himself as far as he can to self-improvement, and turning to the best account the little instruction he had received from his teacher. And thus it is that we see him practising penmanship in the queer manner referred to at the beginning of this chapter; for slates and pencils and paper, it must be remembered, were

scarce, and not easily obtainable in the remote place where he was living.

Still, the boy's opportunities for learning much were very few at this period; and the only books which the Lincoln family possessed were the Bible, the Catechism, and a spelling-book. But he was not daunted. The lack of books only made him study the few he had the more closely; and these he was soon able not only to read, but the last two he knew by heart, and he could repeat many chapters from the Bible.

And thus learning all he could, with the limited means at his command, and-though almost hoping against hope for more books and greater facilities for getting on-yet never discouraged, three years in Indiana passed, during which time one or two events happened of which I must tell you.

The first was one which must have been very welcome to the Lincoln family. It was the settlement in the "half-faced camp"-which they had vacated, and which adjoined their cabin-of an aunt and uncle of Mrs. Lincoln, named Sparrow, together with a nephew named Dennis Hanks. To Abraham, especially, the coming of these relatives to the lonely spot where he lived was a great joy; for not only was it pleasanter to have them living close to his home, but in Dennis, who was but a lad, he found one who would naturally be his companion and playmate. And, though of almost opposite dispositions,

the two boys were soon fast friends, and always remained so.

In the year following the arrival of the Sparrows, another event of a different kind happened, and the gloom which it brought to the Lincoln family was very deep. A disease, called milk-fever, unfortunately prevalent at that time in Western America, broke out about twenty miles from the Lincoln cabin, and in a short time not only were Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow fatally attacked, but, worse than all, Mrs. Lincoln was stricken down by it, and in a few days Abraham was motherless.

Living in such a spot as that in which their home was situated, there was no place of worship which the Lincolns could attend; and Mrs. Lincoln was therefore buried in the forest by her husband. Mr. Lincoln, however, knew that about seventy-five miles away there was a minister who occasionally in the journeyings he made visited his district; and having a strong wish that a service should be held over his wife's grave, he naturally thought of Mr. Elkins— that was his name—and determined if possible to ask him to come for that purpose. But there was a great difficulty. It was too far to travel to fetch him, even if he were certain of the minister's precise whereabouts at the time; he was unable to write; so he was in a serious dilemma.

The difficulty was overcome, and in a most unlooked-for manner. Much to the astonishment of