JOHN’S WAY. 149

that they said, and followed the directions
exactly. He worked slowly, but steadily ;
and when Mr. Naylor came along at night,
and saw how much he had done, he said,

“Well done, John! I don’t see but that
you will make a blacksmith.’

‘‘ John spent his evenings in reading and
studying, and one day Mr. Naylor told him
that he had some books in his library, and
John might read them. John was very
glad. 'The books were about mechanics
and engineering, and some about mathe-
matics. ‘There was one book on geom-
etry, which he wanted to study very much;
but he found he could not understand it very
well,alone. He wanted to study these things,
for he knew that if he could get knowl-
edge from books, and practical skill in the
shop, he might, one of these days, make a
first-rate machinist, like Mr. Naylor, and
undertake great works, instead of being a
mere journeyman blacksmith, working all his
life for a dollar and a half a day.

“John was a beautiful writer. He used
to take great pains with his writing at school,
and the master thought he was one of the best
Writers of his age he ever had. So, aftera

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