A Colonial Wooing
and learn to work with hands as well as head the experience of every boy. To master the trade's secrets, to become a skilled workman, was, in short, to become a successful man; one that commanded, and deservedly so, the respect of his fellows.
Wheeled vehicles were not a prominent feature of the public roads at this time, and Bishop and Blake had but few carts to build or mend, but still they were not idle. They offered their services in every way as good mechanics, and there was enough simple furniture to be made and of miscellaneous repairing to keep their tools bright. The shop itself was a primitive affair, a long, low wooden shed, built of squared logs, and not unlike in general appearance many a dwelling in the lonely valley. There were two features, however, that appealed to every one who passed
by. During summer and early autumn a superb, spreading oak near the shop door cast a welcome shade, wherein the lounger was well content to linger, and a roomy fireplace with its rude forge, that defied the most earnest efforts of winter to make the place
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