air,
Dick."

"I've been thinking that for sometime," replied Dick rather
gravely.

Hitherto they had confined their operations chiefly to their own
side of the lake, but as they ranged farther and farther in
search of furs they began to prowl among the canyons and narrow
valleys in the mountains on the other side. They made, rather
far up the northern side, some valuable catches of beaver, but in
order to return with them, they were compelled to come around
either the northern or southern end of the lake, and the round
trip was tremendously long and tiring.

"It's part of a man's business to economize time and strength,"
said Dick, "and we must do it. You and I, Al, are going to make
a canoe."

"How?"

"I don't know just yet, but I'm studying it out. The idea will
jump out of my head in two or three days."

It was four days before it jumped, but when it did, it jumped to
some purpose.

"First, we'll make a dugout," he said. "We've got the tools--axes,
knives, saws, and augers--and we'd better start with that."

They cut down a big and perfectly straight pine and chose a
length of about twelve feet from the largest part of the trunk.
Both boys had seen dugouts, and they knew, in a general way, how
to proceed. Their native intelligence supplied the rest.

They cut off one side of the log until it was flat, thus making
the bottom for the future canoe. They cut the opposite side away
in the well-known curve that a boat makes, low in the middle and
high at each end. This part of the work was done with great
caution, but Dick had an artistic eye, and they made a fairly
good curve. Next they began the tedious and laborious work of
digging out, using axes, hatchets, and chisel.

This was a genuine test of Albert's new strength, but he stood it
nobly. They chipped away for a long time, until the wood on the
sides and bottom was thin but strong enough to stand any
pressure. Then they made the proper angle and curve of bow and
stern, cut and made two stout broad paddles, and their dugout was
ready--a long canoe with a fairly good width, as the original
log had been more than two feet in diameter. It was both light
and strong, and, raising it on their shoulders, they carried it
down to the lake where they put it in the water.

Albert, full of enthusiasm, sprang into the canoe and made a
mighty sweep with his paddle. The light dugout shot away, tipped
on one side, and as Albert made another sweep with h