I found employment, the third day after my arrival in New Bedford, in stowing a sloop with a load of oil for the New York market.
It was new, hard, and dirty work, even for a calker, but I went at it with a glad heart and a willing hand.

I was now my own master--a tremendous fact--and the rapturous excitement with which I seized the job, may not easily be understood, except by some one with an experience like mine.

The thoughts--"I can work! I can work for a living; I am not afraid of work; I have no Master Hugh to rob me of my earnings"-- placed me in a state of independence, beyond seeking friendship or support of any man.

That day's work I considered the real starting point of something like a new existence.

Having finished this job and got my pay for the same, I went next in pursuit of a job at calking.