“The Captain said that the colony has no need for clerks and scholars; that unless I learn to use the musket and plow, it would be better for all if I immediately boarded a return ship to England.”
When the next man came out, I entered. Captain Smith was sitting behind a table made of rough, hand-sawed boards. The floor was yellow dirt, packed hard, and the small house contained only a single bed, table and chair, and a fireplace.
“Your name?” he commanded.
I told him. His eyes moved up and down the passenger list of our ship. When he found it, he placed a mark beside it. Then his face brightened. “Carpenter? Aye!”
“Only an apprentice, sir.”
“And how long were you an apprentice?”
I told him.
“Good. Good!” he said. “The company must not have known your trade or I’m sure they would ha
