Fig. 34. Bending the Ski. in the proper bent position by slipping the toe end of the shoe between the banisters on the back porch and nailing a cleat back of the heel end. When the ski was perfectly dry the toe strap was nailed on just back of the balancing point, and also another strap, to be secured about the ankle. Then a cleat was nailed onto the ski to fit against the heel of the shoe. In use we found it best to cut a groove in the bottom of the ski, so as to give us a better grip on the snow in climbing up hills. With the skis we had to use short poles or “ski sticks” to assist in starting, stopping and steering when coasting. The ski stick was a bean pole provided with a wooden block near the lower end, to prevent it from being forced too far through the snow.
The Swiss Snow Shoe or Swamp Shoe.
Fig. 36. The Swiss Snow Shoe.
The Swiss shoe was made primarily to assist us in exploring some boggy land a short distance up the river from our island. The original swamp shoes were made from the bottoms of two old baskets, and they worked so admirably that it was decided to equip the whole society with them. Uncle Ed, when told about them, informed us that that was the kind of snow shoe used in Switzerland. Of course, we could not afford to destroy a pair of baskets for each member of the club, and so we had to weave the shoes from the willows which grew on the island.
CHAPTER IV.
TENT MAKING.
We had a farewell meeting of the society the evening before Bill and I had to return to boarding-school. At this meeting plans were made for the Easter vacation. We also considered the matter of getting parental permission for our summer outing. So far we had been afraid to breathe a word of our plans outside of the society, since Fred had said something about it in the presence of Father and had been peremptorily ordered to banish all such hair-brained, Wild West notions from his head. We realized from that incident that the consent of our parents would not be so very easily obtained. But Bill came forward with a promising suggestion. He would write to his Uncle Ed and see if he couldn’t be persuaded to join the expedition. At first we demurred. We didn’t want a “governor” around all the time. But Bill assured us that his uncle was “no ordinary man”; that he would not interfere with our plans, but would enter right into them and give us many valuable pointers. Though not by any means convinced, we told him to go ahead and invite his uncle, as that seemed about the only means of winning over our fathers and mothers. The society was then adjourned until our Easter vacation began, each member promising to earn and save as much money as he could in the meantime to buy the materials for a tent and provisions for the summer outing.
Word From Uncle Ed.