After two weeks they came to John Hanks' home on the
prairies of Illinois. He made them welcome, then took them to see the
place that he had selected for their farm. In the cold winter light it
looked almost as desolate as Pigeon Creek had looked fourteen years
before. Tom Lincoln was beginning all over again.
This time he had more help. John Hanks had a great pile of logs split
and ready to be used for their new cabin. Abe was now able to do a man's
work. After the cabin was finished, he split enough rails to build a
fence around the farm. Some of the new neighbors hired him to split logs
for them.
The following spring, he was offered other work that he liked much
better. A man named Denton Offut was building a flatboat, which he
planned to float down the Illinois River to the Mississippi and on to
New Orleans. He hired Abe to help with the cargo. The two young men
became friends. When Abe returned home after the long voyage, he had
news for Sarah.
"Ma," he said, "Denton is fixing to start a store up in New Salem.
That's a village on the Sangamon River. He wants me to be his clerk.
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