“Tuesday, Nov. 25. Made 3 pairs of shoes at 40 cents. Assisted in throwing up shop wood. Pleasant and cold.” His earnings for that day were $1.20. Besides, he made fuel ready for the winter. The fuel was from the wood lot on the Lye farm. The labor of gathering it was its chief cost. He never dreamed of a time when a fuel administrator would limit supplies of fuel to people. “Wed., Nov. 26. Made two pairs of village walking boots at 45 cents; two pairs military at 40 cents. Weather continues clear and pretty cold.” His earnings for this day were $1.70. Business was brisk with him. Clear cold weather must have started people buying winter footwear. “Friday, Nov. 28. Hauled the boat Ann into winter quarters, stripped her. Assisted Amos Tapley to get his boards in. Waited some time for shoes. Made one pair at 45 cents. Weather warm and cloudy.” His earnings this day from shoemaking were but 45 cents. Whether Amos Tapley paid him for getting in boards, or whether he just helped in a neighborly way is a matter he does not make clear in his diary. The ship Ann belonged to him. So he had no pay for his work on it. “Saturday, Nov. 29. Made 2 pairs of shoes at 45 cents. This week’s work comes to $5.87 exclusive of other work.” Five dollars and 87 cents for a week’s work in shoemaking! Some shoemakers earn that in a day these times. It was a normal week’s wage for Lye. The next Saturday he records: “This week’s work amount to $5.40.” It was less than $1 a day. Small pay that seems. But $1 went a lot farther then than these days. Lye’s costs of living were low. He farmed and fished and produced much of his own food stuffs, and gathered his own fuel. His “humble joys” were by no means expensive. He speaks of taking a book of sermons from the library, of going to camp meeting, and of walking to Boston to attend a theatre. Nothing very expensive in these. Lye speaks of earning $5.87 “exclusive of other work.” Evidently he had some source of income besides his pay for making shoes. Perhaps Amos Tapley paid him for helping to get in his boards. Later he “assisted Amos Tapley to repair wood shop.” And Saturday, Jan. 3, he records that “Hugh Floyd and his boy Isaac moved into our shop.” Doubtless they paid rent and he had an income as a landlord. His ventures in fishing paid him well. He records: “Friday, Sept. 2. Caught 750 fish about two miles southeast of Nahant.” A great haul that was. Plenty of food. Yet not much money, for fish was cheap, selling at six cents a pound, or thereabouts. He followed up fishing during the summer season. In addition to the profits from it he had a bounty of $35 for engaging in the codfish industry for four months. He records that to collect that bounty he “went on foot to Marblehead.” [Illustration: INSIDE THE TAPLEY OR LYE SHOE SHOP OF A CENTURY AGO]