The journey to their new home was very tedious
and lonely, for in some places they had to cut a roadway through the
forest. It took them three days to travel the last eighteen miles.
Having arrived safely in November, all set vigorously to work to provide a
shelter against the winter. The seven-year old boy was healthy, rugged,
and active, and from early morning till late evening he worked with his
father, chopping trees and cutting poles and boughs for their "camp," the
rude shelter in which they were to live until spring.
This "camp" was a mere shed, only fourteen feet square and open on one
side. It was built of poles lying one upon another and had a thatched roof
of boughs and leaves. As there was no chimney, there could be no fire
within the enclosure, and it was necessary to keep one burning all the
time just in front of the open side.
[Illustration: Lincoln's Birthplace.]
During this first winter in the wild woods of Indiana the little boy must
have lived a very busy life. There was much to do in building the cabin
which was to take the place of the "camp," and in cutting down trees and
making a clearing for the corn-planting of the coming spring.
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