The hymns which he most loved must have had influence not only on his
religious spirit, but also on his literary taste. Those which are
mentioned are, "Am I a soldier of the cross?" "How tedious and
tasteless the hours," "There is a fountain filled with blood," and
"Alas, and did my Saviour bleed?" Good hymns every one of them, in that
day, or in any day.

Having no slate he did his "sums" in the sand on the ground, or on a
wooden shovel which, after it was covered on both sides, he scraped
down so as to erase the work. A note-book is preserved, containing,
along with examples in arithmetic, this boyish doggerel:

Abraham Lincoln
his hand and pen
he will be good but
god knows When.

The penmanship bears a striking resemblance to that in later life.

[Illustration: Lincoln's Early Home In Indiana.]

About a year after Thomas Lincoln's family settled in Indiana, they
were followed by some neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow and Dennis Hanks,
a child. To these the Lincolns surrendered their camp and built for
themselves a cabin, which was slightly more pretentious than the first.
It had an attic, and for a stairway there were pegs in the wall up
which an active boy could readily climb. There was a stationary table,
the legs being driven into the ground, some three-legged stools, and a
Dutch oven.