and frame the doors and window openings.
The front window of the cabin was to be close beside the door, so we
merely widened the door opening at the top to include the window opening
as well (see Figs. 271 and 272). The door was made 2-1/2 feet wide, and
was cut down to the foundation logs. The window opening was cut to a
depth of 24 inches. Before sawing out the opening we wedged pieces of
wood between the logs along the line we were to follow with the saw, so
as to keep them in place. After the opening had been made a couple of
stout boards were nailed to the sawed ends of the logs at each side, to
hold them securely in place and make a suitable framing for the door.
The cleats were then removed. The foundation log and the one at the top
of the opening were flattened, to serve as the sill and lintel of the
door. Between the door and window a short post was wedged in place. This
post was flattened on opposite sides, so that the door jamb could be
nailed against it on one side and the window frame on the other. The
side window was next cut out and framed. After it had been framed it
measured 2 feet square.

[Illustration: Fig. 272. The Finished Roof.]

THE FIREPLACE.

Then came the task of building our fireplace. First we sawed out the
opening, cutting right through the rear foundation log. Then we gathered
from the river a large number of the flattest stones we could find. With
these we planned to build the three outer walls of our chimney. But the
question of getting mortar to bind the stones together bothered us for a
while.

"If only we could find a bed of clay. Don't any of you know of one
around here?" queried Bill.

But none of us remembered seeing any clay bed in the vicinity.

"If we were in south Jersey now," I said, "we could use some of that red
mud they have down there. It sticks like the mischief to shoes and pant
legs. I bet it would hold those stones together."

"Red mud? Why there's plenty of it over the hill, back of Lumberville,"
said Reddy. "All the roads over there are red shale roads, and I saw
some red banks along the river when we went after the logs."

That was just what we wanted. The banks Reddy referred to turned out to
be genuine red shale, and soon we had ferried several scow loads of the
stuff down to Kite Island. When the shale was wet it made quite a sticky
mortar. The foundations of the chimney were laid in a trench about 2
feet deep, and the side walls of the chimney were c