r space blocks, in which position the stick
was securely nailed.

[Illustration: Fig. 176. The Sledge.]

It was our intention to shoe the runners with strips of brass, but these
were not procurable in our village, and we had no time to go down to
Millville. However, the village blacksmith came to our rescue and shod
our sledge with sleigh runner iron.

We had planned to make two more devices for our winter sports--a
toboggan and a peculiar looking contrivance called a "rennwolf," a
picture of which Dutchy happened to unearth in one of his father's
books. Unfortunately Bill and I had to return to school before either of
these was completed. However, the work was entrusted to Reddy, who was
quite handy with tools, and Jack, who was made secretary _pro
tempore_, took notes on the work.

THE TOBOGGAN.

[Illustration: Fig. 177. Tying Down the Head Piece of the Toboggan.]

The toboggan was made of light flexible hickory boards, 1/4 of an inch
thick, 6 inches wide and 8 feet long. Three of these boards were used,
and they were fastened together with cross sticks or battens, about 3
inches wide and 1/2 an inch thick. There were six of these battens
spaced about 15 inches apart, and secured to the floor boards with
flathead screws introduced from the under side and countersunk so that
the heads would not project below the bottom of the toboggan. At the
forward end we screwed on a head piece of oak, 3/4 of an inch thick,
1-1/2 inches wide and 20 inches long. The head piece was fastened to the
under side of the boards, so that when they were curved up into a hood
it would lie on top. The ends of the head piece, which projected 1 inch
each side of the boards, were notched to hold the rope, which was tied
fast after the boards had been steamed. The boards were steamed by
wrapping them in burlap for a distance of 2 feet from the forward end,
and pouring boiling water over them, as was done with the snow shoes
(page 39). Before bending the boards we had fixed screw eyes in the ends
of each batten, except the forward one; a rope had been strung through
these screw eyes and the ends were now tied to the head piece and drawn
tight so as to bend the boards into a graceful curve. In this way the
ropes were of service not only for curving the front end into a hood,
but also for side rails, to hold on by when shooting swiftly around
curves.

[Illustration: Fig. 178. The Toboggan.]

THE RENNWOLF.

The runners of the rennwolf w