[Illustration: Fig. 129. Wedge Pieces at the Ends.]
[Illustration: Fig. 130. The Cross Braces.]
CHAPTER XI.
HOUSE BUILDING.
One afternoon Fred, who had waded over to Lumberville after some
provisions, came splashing back holding aloft a large square envelope. It
was from Uncle Ed and contained a photograph of a group of Wichita Indians
building a large grass lodge. In a brief explanatory letter Uncle Ed
suggested that we build a similar hut on our Island.
The Grass Hut.
[Illustration: Fig. 131. Making the Frame of the Straw Hut.]
[Illustration: Fig. 132. Doorway of the Hut.]
The grass lodge appealed to us as very picturesque, and we set to work
immediately on its construction. We made our hut much smaller, however,
only 12 feet in diameter, and 8 or 9 feet high. First we procured two
dozen light poles between 10 and 12 feet long. These we set up about 18
inches apart in a circle like a stockade, the sticks being buried in the
ground to a depth of 12 inches. At one side a space of 3 feet was allowed
for a doorway. Inside the stockade we erected a working platform of planks
supported on barrels, and standing on this we took two opposite poles,
bent them inward and lashed their upper ends together.
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