and was lashed down
by strips of wet elk-hide. These we knew would tighten as they dried,
and press the pole firmer than ever against the boards.

"We now laid a second row of the clap-boards--with their lower ends
riding the upper ones of the first row, and thus securing them. The
second row was in its turn secured by a horizontal pole, along its
bottom, and at its top by the lower ends of the third row; and so on up
to the ridge.

"The other side was shingled in a similar manner; and the ridge itself
was secured against leakage, by allowing the clap-boards, on one side,
to project upwards, and shelter the ends of those on the other. This
gave our cabin quite a chanticleer sort of comb along its top, and added
to the picturesqueness of its appearance.

"Our house was now built and roofed, and we could say that we had
finished a house without ever having been inside of it--for as yet it
had neither door nor windows. As the spaces between the logs were not
yet `chinked,' it looked more like a gigantic cage than a house.

"Our next day was devoted to making the door and window--that is, making
the apertures where these were to be. We designed having only one
window--in the back.

"The manner in which we opened our doorway was very simple. Having
first carefully rested the logs--which were to be on each side of the
door--upon firm wedges, we sawed away the parts between. Fortunately,
we had a saw, or this operation would have given us a good deal of
trouble. Of course, we sawed away the proper size for a door; and thus
our doorway, by placing the lintels and posts, was complete. In a
similar manner we cut out our window in the back. We then went to work
upon one of the soft tulip-trees, and sawed out enough plank to make a
door and window, or rather a window-shutter. These we cut to the proper
size, and bound them together by slats, and trenails made out of the
hard locust-wood. We then hung them--both door and window-shutter--with
strips of elk-skin. That night we carried in all our bedding and
utensils, and slept under the roof of our new house.

"It was still far from being finished; and the next day we set about
building a fireplace and chimney. This, of course, was to be in one of
the gable ends; and we chose that looking northward--for we had built
our cabin fronting the east. We wedged the logs precisely as we had
done with the door, and then sawed away the space between--up to the
height of an