Two sticks of wood were then whittled to
fit snugly, but without jamming, into these holes. These sticks were then
nailed to the inner face of the door, with their whittled ends projecting
into the holes, forming pintles on which the door could turn. A narrow
strip of wood was nailed to the outer jamb for the door to close against.
The latch consisted of a stick of wood, fastened to the door at one end
with a nail. It hooked onto a catch whittled out of hard wood to the form
illustrated in Fig. 278, and nailed to the jamb. Then to keep the latch
from dropping too far when the door was open, and to guide it when slammed
against the catch, we whittled out a guard piece to the form illustrated
in Fig. 277, and nailed this to the door, with the latch projecting
through the slot of the guard. A string was now fastened to the latch and
passed through a hole in the door. A block was tied to the end of the
latch string to prevent it from slipping back through the hole; but at
night, when we did not want to be molested by any intruders, we untied the
block and drew in the latch string.
[Illustration: Fig. 276. The Door Hinges.]
[Illustration: Fig. 277. The Latch Guard.]
[Illustration: Fig. 278.
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