itted together at right angles with the under notch on one
side resting in the upper notch on the other, the whole length was snugly
in contact, with scarcely any chinks to be filled in.

"That's the great advantage of pine," said Mr. Curtis, when he had
explained the method to the boys. "Almost any hard wood will have bumps
and twists in it, but the trunks of pines growing as thickly as these
are practically straight from one end to the other."

"Are we going to build up the four walls solid, and then cut holes
for the door and windows and fireplace?" asked Paul Trexler, who had
evidently been reading up on the construction of cabins.

The scoutmaster shook his head. "That's the way many of them are made,
but I could never quite see its advantage. It's a mean job, sawing the
openings, and the full-length logs are lots harder to handle than shorter
ones, to say nothing of the waste of timber. Of course there'll have to
be full-length ones under and over the windows and over the door; but
if we measure accurately, there's no reason why we shouldn't leave these
openings as we go along, and so save time and labor. Spiking the door-
and window-casings to the logs will hold them together firmly enough."

The cabin had already been staked out, and when, presently, the lower
logs were set in place it was amazing what a difference the sight of
that simple rectangle made. Instantly the visualizing of their dream
became nearer and more concrete to the boys, its possibilities more
apparent. They could see at a glance its size and shape and spaciousness.
Entering through the door space, one could say that here would be the
bunks, there the windows, and that gap opposite, the fireplace. It
stimulated every one to renewed efforts. Blisters and tired muscles
were forgotten in the eager desire to get another tier of logs into
position. When Mr. Grimstone stalked into view, toward the middle of
the afternoon, he was greeted by urgent invitations to "Come ahead and
see how the cabin's going up!"

The old man responded stiffly, but it was impossible to maintain that
attitude long in the face of the boisterous, whole-hearted enthusiasm
of twenty boys. Inside of ten minutes he was chuckling over the awkward
efforts of one scout to handle an adz and showing him the proper method.
Within an hour, one would never have known him for the crusty, crabbed
recluse who had been at odds with the Hillsgrove boys for more than a
generation. He had