Life at the "Black-Salter's".--James wants to go to
Sea.--His mother will not give her Consent.--Hires out as a
Woodchopper.--His Powerful Physique.--His Strength of
Character.
About ten miles from the little settlement at Orange, and not far from
Cleveland, was a large potash factory, owned by a certain Mr. Barton.
The neighboring farmers, when they cleared their lands, would draw the
refuse logs and branches into a great pile and burn them. The ashes thus
collected, they sold to this Mr. Barton, who went by the name of
"black-salter," because the potash he manufactured was called in its
crude state, "black salts." At one time he needed a new shed where the
ashes were leached, and James assisted the carpenter who put it up.
The bright, industrious lad pleased the old black-salter, and he offered
him fourteen dollars a month, if he would come and work in his ashery.
This was two dollars more than Thomas was earning "away off in
Michigan," and James was greatly delighted at the prospect of earning
one hundred and sixty-eight dollars a year!
It was not, however, just the sort of work he would have chosen; and
the mother dreaded for her son the rough companionship of the
black-salters.
But James did not associate with the rude, coarse men out of
working-hours. Their profanity shocked him; and he gladly turned to the
books he found on an upper shelf at Barton's house.
As might have been expected, however, these books were very different
from any he had read before. "Marryatt's Novels," "Jack Halyard," "Lives
of Eminent Criminals," and "The Pirate's Own Book," were in fact more
dangerous companions for him than the coarse, brutal men would have
been. The printed page carried with it an authority that the excited boy
did not stop to question. He would sit up all night to follow in
imagination some reckless buccaneer in his wild exploits, till at last
an insatiable longing to be a sailor fired his brain.
"A life on the ocean wave" seemed to him, at that time, the "ultima
thule" of all his dreams. He longed to see some more of the world, and
to the inexperienced lad this seemed the quickest and surest way.
One day, he happened to hear Mr. Barton's daughter speak of him in a
sneering tone as her father's "hired servant." This was more than the
high spirit of James could bear. Years after, he said to a friend,--
"That girl's cutting remark proved a great blessing to me. I was too
much annoyed by it to sleep that night; I lay awake under the rafters of
that old farm-house, and vowed, again and again, that I _would_ be
somebody; that the time should come when that girl would not call me a
'_hired servant_.'"
The next morning James informed his employer that he had concluded to
give up the black-salter's business.
In vain Mr. Barton urged him to stay, by the offer of higher wages.
Much as he needed the money, the boy was determined to find some other
and more congenial way of earning a living. If he could only go to sea!
Fortunately none of the family favored this wild scheme of James.
His mother declared that she could never give her consent. "If you ever
go to sea, James," she said in her firm, decided tones, "remember it
will be entirely against my will. Do not mention the subject to me
again."
James was a dutiful son. He did not want to oppose his mother's will,
and yet he did want to go to sea.
A few days after he heard that his uncle, who was clearing a large tract
of forest near Cleveland, wanted to hire some wood-choppers. After
talking the matter over with his mother, he decided to offer his
services. He could not be idle, and wood-chopping was certainly
preferable to leaching ashes.
His sister Mehetabel, who was now married, lived near this uncle, so
James could make his home with her.
Altogether the plan pleased Mrs. Garfield, although she was loath to
part with her boy, even for a few months.
James engaged to cut a hundred cords of wood for his uncle, at the rate
of fifty cents a cord, and declared he could easily cut two cords a day.
Now it so happened that the edge of the forest where James' work lay
overlooked the blue waters of Lake Erie. With stories from "The Pirate's
Own Book" still haunting his brain, it was not strange that he often
stopped in his work to count the sail, and watch the changing color of
the beautiful waters.
By and by he noticed that the old German by his side, who seemed to
wield his axe so slowly, was getting ahead of him in the amount of work
accomplished. He began to realize that he was wasting a deal of time by
these "sea dreams," and resolutely turned his back upon the fascinating
waters.
It was not so easy, however, to drive out of his mind the bewitching
sea-faring tales he had read; and when those hundred cords of wood were
cut, he returned home with the old longing to be a sailor only
intensified.
He said nothing, for he did not wish to grieve his mother, and as it was
now the last week in June he hired himself out to a farmer for the
summer months, to help in haying and harvesting.
James was now a strong, muscular boy in his teens. He possessed,
naturally, a fine constitution, and his simple life and vigorous
exercise in the open air had greatly enhanced his powers of endurance.
Whatever he undertook he was determined to carry through successfully.
His strong, indomitable will conquered every difficulty, while his stern
integrity was a constant safeguard.