ith sufficient logs and
poles for the framework of their house and stable. The next day
construction was commenced. Four stout posts were set on end,
enclosing a rectangle twelve by sixteen feet. The tops of the posts
were connected by logs laid upon them, dovetailed at the corners
after the fashion of woodsmen, and held in position by wooden pins
driven in auger-holes. Lengthwise along the centre, to form a
ridgepole, another stout log was laid and the whole framework
supported by additional posts, among which were two on the east side
to enclose the door. Small poles were then placed on end, sloping
slightly inwards, and resting against the plate-logs. Similar poles
were laid from the plate-logs to the ridge-pole to support the roof.

Harris found a southern slope where the frost was out enough to admit
of him ploughing some sods. He knew he would not get as good a sod
here as later in the season might be found in some low-lying spot,
but his first consideration was to get some kind of permanent
shelter. So he ploughed the sods, three inches thick and fourteen
inches wide, and cut them into two-foot lengths with his axe, to the
sad injury of its cutting edge. These sods were then built into a
wall like bricks, resting gently against the framework of poles, from
which, however, they were separated by a padding of grass, which
Harris cut in a sleugh with his scythe, and small willows from the
ravine. This mattress of grass and willows prevented any earth
shaking through into the house itself. A framework made of a hewn log
was inserted in the south wall to leave space for a window, which
should be bought when the family finances could afford such luxuries.
For the time being it would be left open in fine weather and covered
with canvas when the elements were gruff or unruly. The rag-carpet,
when no longer needed as a tent, would be draped in the doorway,
pending the purchase of boards to make a wooden door.

For a roof grass was laid on the poles and covered tightly with sods.
Then Harris found a sticky, yellow clay in the side of the ravine,
and two or three inches of this he spread carefully over the sods,
like icing on a great cake. The greasy clay soon hardened in the sun,
and became so impervious to water that the heaviest rains of summer
made no impression upon it.

When, save for the missing door and window, the house was finished,
they stood in the centre and admired. It was absolutely the product
of their o