laid some logs down on the sandy shore as close to the water as he
could. On top of the logs he placed boards, and these he nailed on, so
they would not float away.

On top of the first layer of boards he placed others, crossing them to
and fro, as he had once seen his father and Uncle Tad making a float
near the dock. The float was like a raft, only it was anchored in the
bay and used for getting in and out of the fishing boats.

"How far you going to sail on the raft, Bunny?" asked Sue, as she helped
her brother lay in place the boards to be nailed. Sue did none of the
nailing. She tried it once, but she hit her fingers and thumb instead of
the nail, and she threw the hammer aside.

"Oh, we'll sail down until we get hungry, and then we'll go on an island
like the pirates and eat our lunch," Bunny answered.

By "sail" he meant pushing the raft along with a pole he had brought
from the orange grove.

"S'posin' there isn't any island?" asked Sue.

"Oh, I guess there is one," Bunny said, looking at the raft to see if it
needed any more boards to make it strong enough. "Anyhow, if we don't
find an island we can go on shore. Course an island would be more fun,
but we can have a good time anyhow."

"To be sure we can!" laughed Sue. "We've had lots of fun since we've
come down South, haven't we, Bunny?"

"Yes!" answered the little boy. He was too busy to talk much, for he was
thinking of the best plan to get his raft into the water. For the boards
and logs, now nailed together, must be shoved from the shore into the
river, else there could be no wonderful voyage down-stream to the
"pirate island."

Bunny had often seen his father move heavy boards from the shore into
the waters of the bay by means of rollers. Rollers are round pieces of
wood, like the rolling pin in mother's kitchen. Rollers placed under a
boat make it easy to launch into the water. If you have ever seen men
moving a house from one street to another you may have noticed that they
used rollers. Or they may have slid the house along on big beams which
were made slippery with grease or soap.

"I'll roll my raft into the water," said Bunny.

"And I'll help!" offered Sue, for she knew what rolling a boat into the
water meant--she had often seen her father do it.

Getting the raft into Squaw River was not quite as hard as putting the
craft together. By using a long pole Bunny managed to raise up one edge
of his nailed-together boards and logs, and und