“Not unless you become a mean man,” quickly answered his sister.

“You had rather I would get the title by shooting men in war, than bringing goods from foreign ports, had you?” said James, in a sarcastic manner.

“I rather you would be a wood-chopper all your days than to be a sailor,” was his sister’s prompt reply. “I think mother would say the same. You have too much talent to throw away on the deck of a ship.”

James received no encouragement from any quarter to become a sailor; and his aspirations in that direction became somewhat modified. He thought less of a sea-faring life for a time, and devoted himself to wood- chopping with commendable industry. Two cords a day were cut and piled with ease. He could have cut two cords and a half each day without lengthening his days inordinately. But he had fixed the limit when he began, and James was not the boy to change his purpose.

His sister owned a few books, and his uncle more; and, between them both, James was quite well provided with reading. A newspaper, that his uncle took, occupied his attention till each number was read through. Nor were the books objectionable, like those at Barton’s. They were healthy and profitable volumes for such a reader as James, who preferred a book to the society of the young men of the town, who might gather at any rendezvous. His reading, too, appeared to offset his growing desire for the sea. Engrossing his attention in the subject-matter of the books, excluded, in a measure, at least for the time, his hankering for a ship. His evenings were wholly given up to reading, some of them extending considerably beyond bed-time. The temptation to lengthen his evenings for reading he could not resist so readily as he could the temptation to lengthen the days for chopping.

James chopped the hundred cords of wood in fifty days, and received his pay, according to the contract. On paying him, his uncle said:

“I hope you will not always be a wood-chopper, James, although it is a necessary and honourable business. But you are competent to do something of more consequence. The way may open for you to get an education yet: how would you like that?”

“I should like it,” answered James, although he would have said, “I want to go to sea,” if he had really dared to risk it. But he had good reason to suppose that his uncle would resolutely rebuke any such expression. So he desisted. Nor did he tell a falsehood by saying that he would like to acquire an education, for his taste was strong in that direction; but he could discover no way into that field of clover.

Bidding his uncle and sister good-bye, James returned home, and presented his mother with the balance of the fifty dollars, after paying for his board. His mother was rejoiced to see her boy, wondering all the while if his desire for a seafaring life survived. She thought it not best, however, to open a subject that was so unpleasant to her, for fear it might prove agreeable to him. Nothing was said about the sea.

It was the last week in June, and James would like a job for the summer. His uncle Amos told him of a farmer, five or six miles away, who wanted to hire a man through haying and harvesting, about four months. James went immediately to see him, bargained to work for him from July to November, four months, and accordingly took up his abode with the man on the first day of July.

A stout, muscular fellow like James was supposed to be an efficient hand in the hay-field. His employer liked his appearance, and expected much of him. Nor was he disappointed. His strength enabled him to swing a scythe and pitch hay with power, though he was a boy in age. Then he possessed a boy’s pride in his strength, and delighted to astonish his employer by an exhibition of it. Boy-like, he found great pleasure in keeping squarely up with his employer in the mowing field, sometimes cutting his corners. His power of endurance was remarkable; and he never appeared to tire, or “play out,” as the boys say.

James found no books here, or none worth mentioning. The people cared little about reading, though they were people of character. But farming was their business, and they worked early and late. When