CHAPTER IX.
WAYS AND MEANS.
James called on the carpenter after supper and inquired if he could supply him with work.
"I may be able to if you are competent," was the reply.

"Have you ever worked at the business ?" "Yes." "Where ?" "At Orange, where my home is." "How long did you work at it ?" "Perhaps I had better tell you what I have done," said James.
He then gave an account of the barns he had been employed upon, and the frame house which he had assisted to build for his mother.
"I don't set up for a first-class workman," he added, with a smile, "but I think I can be of some use to you." "I will try you, for I am rather pressed with work just now." So, in a day or two James was set to work.
The carpenter found that it was as he had represented.

He was not a first-class workman.

Indeed, he had only a rudimentary knowledge of the trade, but he was quick to learn, and in a short time he was able to help in many ways.

His wages were not very large, but they were satisfactory, since they enabled him to pay his expenses and keep his head above water.