“And you will have to take Tom’s place on the farm,” said Mrs. Garfield, addressing James. “That will be taking a step higher.”

“I can do it,” responded James, “though I am sorry Tom is goin.”

“We shall miss him sadly,” remarked Mrs. Garfield. “It will be more lonesome than ever when he is gone; but we must make the best of it.”

“It will be best all round, I’m thinking,” said Thomas,

“if it is the way for you to have a frame-house, mother. I mean that shall come about.”

“That will be nice, won’t it, mother?” exclaimed James, who was thoroughly prepared to appreciate a real house, after twelve years’ occupancy of a cabin.

“Yes, it will be nice indeed; almost too nice to prove a reality,” replied his mother.

“It will prove a reality,” remarked Thomas, with decision.

Thomas had spent much time, during the last five years, in cutting and preparing lumber for a new house, hoping the time would come when his mother could command money enough to employ a carpenter to erect it. He had prepared sufficient lumber for the house when he became twenty-one years of age; but there was no money to pay a carpenter to put it up. Now Thomas saw the way clear for erecting the house after awhile, and the prospect fired his ambition. He was willing to go to Michigan for that object alone; indeed, he rejoiced to go, if by so doing a frame-house could be secured.

Thomas was busy in preparing to leave, and James was equally busy in attending to lessons that Thomas gave him about the work to be done on the farm. The ground was to be ploughed, the wheat sowed, the corn and potatoes planted, with all the etceteras usually belonging to the season’s labour. Thomas had his directions to give concerning all these things, that his little brother might the more successfully perform the farm-work. However, his time at home was limited, as his engagement required him to be in Michigan at an early date; and soon he was gone.

It was almost like making another grave in the corner of the wheat-field to part with Thomas. He had been the mainstay of the family since the death of his father, and his mother had leaned upon him as mothers will upon a noble son; and now to miss his face and voice, and miss his counsels and labours, created a void in the home circle that brought tears to the eyes of all. It was a trying hour for James, to whom Thomas was both brotherly and fatherly. The most tender and loving confidence existed between the two. Thomas was proud of his gifted little brother, and James had perfect confidence in his efficient big brother. It was not strange. therefore, that James felt the absence of Thomas deeply, and deplored the necessity that compelled him to leave home. Nevertheless, he went to work upon the farm with a will. He knew how to labour, because he had laboured much with Thomas for four years, and was often called the “boy-farmer”; but now he was a farmer in a more important sense, and must rely upon his own judgment, plans, and efficiency to a great extent. He was much higher up than before in the matter of care and responsibility.

Here, as well as anywhere, we may describe the scenery about the Garfield estate, for that may have had an important influence upon the life and character of James. He was the sort of boy who delights in beauty and grandeur, to whom a river, mountain, or wild forest was more attractive than they often are to older heads. A person reared in the locality describes the scenery as follows:—

“Orange township is situated in the south-eastern portion of Cuyahoga County, fifteen miles from Cleveland. It is now, and always has been, strictly a farming town. There is no village within its limits.