ork
but not unpleasant. I know, for I have tried it when I was up among the
moonshiners in the mountains of Kentucky. Fig. 176 is from a sketch I made
up in Michigan, where two men were sawing down a tree as they frequently
do nowadays in place of chopping it down with an axe; this tree, however,
was first notched with an axe so that it would fall in the right
direction. Fig. 178 shows the peculiar teeth of one of these two-handled
saws. It is not necessary for you to be expert on the sort of teeth a saw
should have; any saw that cuts well for your purpose is the sort of saw
you need.

The Froe

Fig. 179 shows two forms of the froe, an implement used for splitting
shakes and shingles and clapboards like those on the roof of Fig. 171. The
froe is held by the handle with the left hand and hammered on the top with
a mallet held in the right hand. Fig. 177 shows two boys sawing a log up
into sections, but for our work in cabin building the woodsman's axe is
the real tool we need. The saw is all right and may be used if you have
it, but it is a little too civilized for real woodcraft work. You cannot
throw one of these saws over your shoulder as you would an axe and go
marching into the woods with any comfort. The saw is also a more dangerous
implement around camp than even a sharp axe.

XXVIII

LOG-ROLLING AND OTHER BUILDING STUNTS

OF course my readers know all about geometry, but if by the rarest of
chances one of them should not it will not prevent him from using that
science to square the corners of his log cabin. Builders always have a
ten-foot measuring rod--that is, a rod or straight stick ten feet long and
marked with a line at each foot from end to end. Make your own ten-foot
pole of as straight a piece of wood as you can find. With it measure six
feet carefully on the log _C_, _G_ (Fig. 180) and mark the point at _O_
(Fig. 180); measure eight feet on the other log _C_, _A_ (Fig. 180) and
mark the point at _N_. If these measurements have been carefully made from
_C_ to _O_ and from _C_ to _N_ and your corner is "square," then your
ten-foot pole will reach between the two points _O_ and _N_ with the tips
of the pole exactly touching _O_ and _N_. If it does not exactly fit
between _N_ and _O_, either the corner is not square or you have not
marked off the distances accurately on the logs. Test the measurements and
if they are not found true then push your logs one way or the other until
it is exactly