My first paying job

My aunt hired her son Terrell and me  to saw and deliver stove wood at a salary of 50 cents a day, three dollars for the six days. Now, I was accustomed to hard labor but being paid was totally new. We were what people then  called "half grown" but we had no hesitation in accepting the job.

We selected a beautiful and large pine and felled it without difficulty.  Sewing the log into the right length took awhile but we had six days.  Splitting  the sections into slabs was not a problem although this took quite a few hours.  Our problem was cutting the slabs into sticks the proper size for the stove.  I had seen dad chop  the slabs right up to his fingers.  We found this to be difficult, being barely able to handle the axe with one hand.. We adjusted, standing each slab upright and using both hands to swing the axe.

Once while we were taking a break, two large king snakes came toward  us, changed their direction slightly, and confidently passed us by.  I marveled at how fearless of us they  were.

We finished the first tree and sawed down another, soon cutting it up into stove wood.  We finished the job by  hitching a team to a wagon and delivering it to her house. Not only did I earn money, but I look back on it as one of the most enjoyable weeks of my youth.