He must know just how it went.
He took the watch all to pieces before he remembered how wrong it
was to do so.
Then he began to be frightened.
What if he couldn't put it together!
He knew his father was a very stern man.
Slowly and carefully the boy went to work.
And so bright was he that he succeeded in getting it together all
right.
His father did not find out the mischief.
Several years afterward Eli told him about it.
When Eli was thirteen years old his father married a second time.
Eli's stepmother had a handsome set of table knives.
She valued them highly.
One day Eli said, "I could make as good knives as those if I had
tools.
"And I could make the tools if I had common tools to begin with."
His mother laughed at him.
But soon after one of the knives was broken.
Eli made a blade exactly like the broken one, except its stamp.
Soon Eli was fifteen years of age.
He wished to go into the nail-making business.
It was during the Revolution.
Nails were made almost entirely by hand.
They were in great demand.
They brought good prices.
Eli asked his father to bring him a few tools.
His father consented.
The work was begun.
Eli was very industrious.
He made good nails.
He also found time to make more tools for his own use.
He put in knife blades.
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