The new frame house was a great improvement on the log cabin. It contained three rooms on the ground floor, and two above, and it was altogether better finished and more comfortable than the ruder dwelling had been. The building of the new house had been a most enjoyable time to James, and it had also been a valuable experience to the observant lad. He turned it over in his mind for several months, and then he told his mother that he thought he might be able to earn some money by working at the carpenter's trade. She said that he had quite enough to do, but she was willing to let him try.
"Yes, I will try," said James, for he had long ago found out that there was nothing like trying.
An hour later he was in the carpenter's shop. The man gave him a hearty welcome. When he heard the object of the lad's mission, he at once said—
"I shall be glad to give you a job. I like boys who want to help their mothers. I don't like lazy boys, and I know there is not a lazy bone in your body."
James agreed to begin on the following day, and the carpenter gave him a pile of boards to plane. He was to receive a halfpenny for each board; and to his own delight, and the carpenter's astonishment, he planed one hundred the first day, and received four shillings and twopence. Once more was Mrs. Garfield struck dumb. Her feelings of joy and thankfulness could not find expression in words. Was there ever a mother so blessed with devoted sons? Silently the mother clasped her boy in her arms, and in this way showed the love she could not speak.
James continued to spend as much time as he could spare from the farm work in helping the carpenter, and then, when the winter school opened, he once more gave all his attention to his studies. The day after the school closed, the carpenter engaged him to assist in building a barn. This gave him employment until farming began, and he was paid at the rate of two shillings a day.
When the work was done, he received four pounds, and what was worth more, both to him and his worthy mother, the hearty commendation of his employer, who said, as he gave him the money—
"You have earned every penny of it."
About this time James borrowed a copy of Robinson Crusoe, which he eagerly devoured. It opened a new world to the lad's inquiring mind, and awakened within him a strong desire to travel and see something of the world.
Two or three incidents of his youth may here be told, as they serve to still further illustrate the different phases of his character.