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.
He repaired broken machinery.
He did many other things beyond the skill of country workmen.
Eli worked in this way two winters.
He made money.
He worked on the farm in the summer.
At one time Eli took a journey of forty miles.
He visited every workshop on the way.
These visits taught him much.
He found a man who could go back with him and help him in his business.
At the close of the war it did not pay to go on with the nail-making.
The ladies began a new fashion about that time.
This was the use of long pins for fastening on their bonnets.
He made very nearly all the pins used.
Eli made these pins with great skill.
This work was done in the time spared from his farm work.
He also made excellent walking canes.
During all these years Eli"s schooling had been received at different times at the district school.
He was very fond of arithmetic.
During his nineteenth year he made up his mind to have a college education.
His step-mother did not wish him to do this.
But he worked hard and saved his money.
A part of the time he taught school.
He was twenty-three when he entered Yale College.
He borrowed some money, for which he gave his note.
At one time one of the college teachers wished to show his pupils some experiments. But some of the things to be used were broken.
Eli offered to mend them.
This he did, and succeeded in surprising every one.
A carpenter lived near his boarding place.
Eli asked for the loan of some of his tools.
The careful carpenter did not wish to lend them.
He at last gave his consent in this way:--
The gentleman with whom Mr. Whitney boarded must promise to pay all the damages.
But he soon saw how skilful Mr. Whitney was.
He was surprised and said: