James walked round the tree and stood by the lower side of his scarf, and was about to strike.
“You mustn’t stand there; turn round and put your left shoulder to the tree, and your left hand on the lower end of the axe-handle, now strike.”
“I can’t cut so, it don’t come right, I ain’t lefthanded.”
“That indeed! but all good choppers, when they fell a tree, learn to chop either hand forward; you must put your right hand forward.”
“I couldn’t guide the axe with my right hand forward; I never could cut a tree down in that way. I should only hack it off.”
“Well, hack it then, you must creep afore you can walk, it comes just as unhandy to everybody at first.”
He then took James to a ravine, the sides of which were quite perpendicular and the edges covered with large trees, and said,—
“Now, suppose you wanted to cut one of those trees, you couldn’t stand on the lower side to cut, but must either cut them off all on one side, or chop right hand forward. Besides, there is often another tree in the way and you would have to cut both, to cut one.”
CHAPTER VIII.
INFLUENCE OF HOPE.
As the old gentleman ended, James heard the crash of a falling tree, and saw that Bertie had just dropped a much larger tree than the senior had given to him, and had also cut it right hand forward; this determined him, and he began to chop into the side of another tree while his instructor, feeling that James would rather not have his eye upon him, went to help Bertie.