But the boy's restless spirit longed for a wider field. If he could only earn a little money, perhaps he would be able to buy a few books.
Passing the carpenter's shop one day, he saw a pile of boards at the door waiting to be planed. He stepped inside and asked for the job, which was readily given him.
"I will give you a cent a board," said the carpenter, "for I know you will do them well."
"How soon do you want them done?" asked James.
"Oh! it doesn't matter," answered the carpenter; "take your own time for them."
"All right!" said the boy, "I'll begin early to-morrow morning, just as soon as I get through with the chores on the farm."
Before night he had planed a hundred boards, and each board was twelve feet long!
He asked the carpenter to come and count them, lest he had made a mistake.
"That is too hard a day's work for a little fellow like you," exclaimed the astonished man; "but here are a hundred pennies, as I promised you."
This was the first money that James had ever earned, and it was with a proud, happy heart he emptied his load of coppers that night into his mother's lap.