pact. Dutchy declared up and down that he had sailed
fifty feet in the air astride of a log. Bill had been almost stunned by
a blow on the head and was clinging desperately to a jagged projection
of the rock. The ropes that had held the raft together had parted,
scattering the logs in all directions, and I could see the rest of the
crew hanging on to them for dear life.

Shouting to Bill to let go his hold on the rock. I swam over and caught
him as he drifted down, then I helped him ashore. Leaving Bill to
recuperate I rushed down the bank, shouting to the others to paddle the
logs over toward shore. Then I plunged in, and pulling myself up on the
nearest log, paddled shoreward as we had done on the planks when
shooting the rapids. In this way one by one we corralled the logs, and
after tying them together again resumed our voyage down the river. We
now had no swift water to fear and were able to guide the raft
successfully down to Lake Placid. But here we moored it, not venturing
to take it past the mill-race until we had gotten the oars from the scow
and nailed on oar locks at each side and the rear, so that we could
properly row and steer the raft safely to Kite Island.

THE SAIL-RIGGED RAFT.

[Illustration: Fig. 265. A Sail-rigged Raft.]

When we went up the river again we carried the oars with us, also the
sail and mast belonging to our ice boat, as there was a good breeze
blowing down-stream. Our second trip was more successful. The mast was
stepped in a small but solid box nailed to the logs. In the top of this
box a hole was cut for the mast to fit into and then the mast was braced
with guy lines. We came down the river in fine style, steering straight
for the opening in the dam, and just as we were about to shoot through
Reddy and I plied the oars for all we were worth on the port (left) side
so as to swing the raft around past the boulder. However, we didn't
escape entirely without accident, for the raft rode up on a submerged
ledge, dipping the starboard side clear under water and nearly tipping
us over. But in a moment the raft had righted itself and we had smooth
sailing for the rest of the way.

BUILDING THE LOG CABIN.

[Illustration: Fig. 266. Foundation Logs Notched.]

[Illustration: Fig. 267. Foundation Logs Fitted Together.]

[Illustration: Fig. 268. A Corner of the Log Wall.]

Our third expedition completed the number of logs we required for the
log cabin. Two large 12-foot logs were cho