The
ideal spot seemed to be on the southern shore of Kite Island, which was
backed by a thick grove of trees but gave an unobstructed view in front
for a distance of about four miles down-stream.
Foundation of Log Cabin.
First we staked out the plan of the house. It was to be 12 feet long by 10
feet wide, so we leveled off a space of this area, and at the corners,
where the greatest weight of the building would come, large rocks were
embedded in the ground.
A Logging Expedition.
The logs for the house were cut from a tract of wooded land about five
miles up the river, belonging to Mr. Schreiner. To be sure we could have
cut the timber from our own island, but when Reddy had said something to
his father about our building a log cabin, Mr. Schreiner had warned us not
to cut down any of the trees without the owner's permission. All we could
learn about the owner was that his name was Smith, and that he lived
somewhere in New York city. It seemed unlikely that he would ever have
anything to say about our cutting down a few trees, but rather than run
any risk Mr. Schreiner advised us to make use of his woods for any timber
we might need. Accordingly we started out early one morning on a logging
expedition.
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