n and eventually to flow out of the spout into
the cask.

Our old windmill was sold to a farmer near Lumberville when we broke
camp that fall. We carted it over and set it up for him. A number of
years later I saw it still faithfully at work pumping water for his
cattle. The original pump had been worn out and a new one substituted,
but otherwise the old windmill remained just as we had first rigged it
up.

[Illustration: Fig. 295. Fig. 296. Action of the Pump.]

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE GRAVITY RAILROAD.

"About all we lack now," said Dutchy, when the windmill had been
completed, "is a railroad."

"Then suppose we build one," was Bill's unexpected rejoinder.

We all thought he was joking, but he wasn't.

"I don't mean a steam railroad," he said, "but a gravity railroad."

"A what?"

"A gravity railroad. Oh, you know what that is--a roller toboggan--the
kind they have down at Coney Island." And he went on to explain how we
could rig up a simple roller toboggan on our island.

His plan was to build an inclined trestle on the high ground just below
the lagoon, and then run wooden tracks along the shore down to the
pontoon bridge, and across the mill-race to Kite Island. We started
first to dig a road down to the bridge, because the bank was quite high
at this point. The task was rather greater than we anticipated, but we
kept steadily at it until we had cut a fairly good road through the
bank, though the grade was rather steep.

Before proceeding with the trestle and track we thought the best plan
would be to build our car, and then we could use it as a gauge to
determine how far apart the rails should be set.

THE CAR.

[Illustration: Fig. 297. Putting the Car Body Together.]

First we got a 2 x 4-inch scantling, and cut from it two lengths, each 4
feet 6 inches long. These were laid on edge just 30 inches apart, and
then a number of boards were nailed across from one scantling to the
other and sawed off flush with their edges. The floor thus formed was
now turned over so that the scantlings lay uppermost and the sides of
the car were then nailed on with their edges overlapping the ends of the
floor boards. The sides, which were about 18 inches high, were each made
of two boards firmly battened together. Great care was taken to securely
nail both the flooring and the sides to the scantlings, because these
scantlings were to carry the wheels of the car. The car body was
completed by nailing on the