But the lesson was abruptly interrupted by Dutchy, whose
imagination was worked up to such a pitch that I actually believe he
thought he had been drowning. Anyway, he squirmed out of Uncle Ed's grasp,
and wouldn't play patient any longer. For several days after that we
couldn't persuade him to venture near deep water.
CHAPTER IX.
BRIDGE BUILDING.
Willow Clump Island was, for the most part, a trackless wilderness, and as
soon as we had made our map we laid out roads to the different important
points. Our main highway ran from Point Lookout to Tiger's Tail. This road
was made rather winding, to add to its picturesqueness, and from it a
number of shorter roads branched off.
Spar Bridge.
We ran a bridge across the mill-race at its narrowest point. This bridge
was made of trees which we had cut down in making our road. It was quite a
piece of engineering, built under Uncle Ed's guidance. Two frames were
made of the shape shown in Figs. 91 and 92. The side sticks were 15 feet
long and spaced about 10 feet apart at the base by crosspieces. At the
upper end one frame was made 6 feet wide and the other 5 feet wide. The
side and cross spars were mortised together and secured by lashing a rope
around them.
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