in debt for
the sixty dollars, the whole price of the land being one hundred and
sixty; but to his great surprise and pleasure Mary Erskine told him,
as they were coming home from seeing the land after the burn, that she
had seventy-five dollars of her own, besides interest; and that she
should like to have sixty dollars of that sum go toward paying for
the land. The fifteen dollars that would be left, she said, would be
enough to buy the furniture.

"I don't think that will be quite enough," said Albert.

"Yes," said Mary Erskine. "We shall not want a great deal. We shall
want a table and two chairs, and some things to cook with."

"And a bed," said Albert.

"Yes," said Mary Erskine, "but I can make that myself. The cloth will
not cost much, and you can get some straw for me. Next summer we can
keep some geese, and so have a feather bed some day."

"We shall want some knives and forks, and plates," said Albert.

"Yes," said Mary Erskine, "but they will not cost much. I think
fifteen dollars will get us all we need. Besides there is more than
fifteen dollars, for there is the interest."

The money had been put out at interest in the village.

"Well," said Albert, "and I can make the rest of the furniture that
we shall need, this winter. I shall have a shop near the house. I have
got the tools already."

Thus all was arranged. Albert built his house on the spot which Mary
Erskine thought would be the most pleasant for it, the week after her
visit to the land. Three young men from the neighborhood assisted him,
as is usual in such cases, on the understanding that Albert was to
help each of them as many days about their work as they worked
for him. This plan is often adopted by farmers in doing work which
absolutely requires several men at a time, as for example, the raising
of heavy logs one upon another to form the walls of a house. In order
to obtain logs for the building Albert and his helpers cut down fresh
trees from the forest, as the blackened and half-burned trunks, which
lay about his clearing, were of course unsuitable for such a work.
They selected the tallest and straightest trees, and after felling
them and cutting them to the proper length, they hauled them to
the spot by means of oxen. The ground served for a floor, and the
fire-place was made of stones. The roof was formed of sheets of
hemlock bark, laid, like slates upon rafters made of the stems of
slender trees. Albert promised Mary Erskine t