on a farm wagon. He
had helped us dig the cave under the cedar tree, and when he learned
that we would need some lumber to build a safe cave, he told us that he
had an uncle who owned a lumber mill on the Morris River, from whom he
was sure we could get all the slabs we wanted. Of course, we were
delighted, and laid our plans for an elaborate cave house. Hillock
promised to be on hand on the following Saturday afternoon with his load
of lumber.

EXCAVATING FOR THE CAVE.

We immediately set out to make the necessary excavation. The side of a
bushy knoll was chosen as a suitable site. First we carefully
transplanted the bushes that grew in the square we had marked out for
the cave, and cutting the sod into squares, piled it all neatly to one
side. Then we shoveled away the top-soil and heaped it up for future
use. After that we dug away the sandy subsoil. The cave proper we
planned to make about 8 feet by 10 feet, with a passageway 2 feet wide
and 6 feet long, leading in from a large bush at the base of the knoll.
Our excavation was therefore somewhat T-shaped (see Fig. 182). At the
deepest part we had to dig down about 10 feet.

[Illustration: Fig. 182. Excavation for the Cave.]

[Illustration: Fig. 183. Framework of the Cave.]

The digging was all done by Saturday, when Hillock pulled up with a big
load of slabs. Slabs are a very unsatisfactory kind of wood for most
purposes. Being the outside cut, they are usually very irregular and
weak in spots. In many places they are almost clear bark. Of course, had
our pocketbooks permitted, we would have used stout scantlings for the
corner posts of our cave house and substantial boards for the walls,
roof and flooring, but we had to be content with materials at hand.
Eight of the best slabs were selected for our corner posts; four of them
we cut to the length of 8 feet and the others to a length of 6 feet. The
long slabs were set up at the rear of the cave, two at each corner, one
flat against the rear wall, with its edge buried in the corner, and the
other against the side wall, with its edge tight against the rear slab,
as in Fig. 183. The same was done at the forward corners with the
shorter slabs. A couple of slabs were now set up on each side of the
passageway, and a corresponding pair against the rear wall. The upper
and lower ends of the uprights were then connected with slabs, called
stringpieces.

[Illustration: Fig. 184. The Siding and Flooring.]

The side