arried inside of the
cabin and covered the ends of the logs at the chimney opening. The side
walls extended outward a distance of 3 feet, where they were joined by
the rear wall of the chimney.

THE PROPER WAY TO BUILD A STONE WALL.

In making our chimney we could not rely on the red shale to hold the
stones as firmly as good lime mortar would, so we had to be careful that
each stone, as it was laid, had a firm bearing. The stones were embedded
in a thick layer of mud, and if they showed any tendency to teeter we
propped them up by wedging small stones under them until they lay solid.
Another thing that we were very careful about was to "break joints";
that is, to keep the joints in each layer of the stones from coinciding
with those in the next layer, above or below. To make sure of this we
made it a point to lay a stone over each joint in the top of the wall
and then to fill in the space between the stones with smaller stones. In
this way the wall was made very substantial.

[Illustration: Fig. 273. How to Build a Wall.]

When the masonry had been carried up to the top of the chimney opening,
a heavy timber about 12 inches wide was laid across the walls close
against the wall of the building. This was to support the fourth wall of
the chimney, and so we flattened its upper surface. To prevent it from
catching fire it was covered with a thick plastering of mud, and then to
keep the mud from cracking and flaking off we procured a piece of tin
and tacked it over the log. The tin also extended over the top log of
the opening. Then we went on with the building of the chimney walls,
carrying them up about a foot above the ridge of the roof. Our chimney
was completed by paving the bottom with stones, well packed in mud and
nicely smoothed off to make the hearth. The hearth extended about 18
inches into the cabin, and was framed with logs, as shown in Fig. 275.

THE FLOOR OF THE CABIN.

A number of logs were now laid on the ground to serve as floor beams.
Slabs were used for the floor. We had some trouble in making the floor
perfectly even, because the floor beams were rather irregular, and a
great deal of time was spent in smoothing the logs off to a common
level. If we had the work to do over again we would have bought two or
three planks and laid them on edge to support the flooring.

[Illustration: Fig. 274. Building the Chimney.]

[Illustration: Fig. 275. Section through the Fireplace.]

THE DOOR HINGES A