"What do you mean 'nothing'?" said Astro. "Look!"
They followed Astro's pointing finger to the ceiling. Crisscrossed, from wall to wall, were heavy wooden beams.
"Raft!" Tom cried.
"That's right, spaceman," said Astro, "a raft. There's enough wood up there to float the Polaris. Come on!"
Astro hurried outside, with Tom and Roger following at his heels. They quickly climbed to the roof of the old building and soon were ripping the beams from the crumbling mud. Fortunately the beams had been joined by notching the ends of the crosspieces. Astro explained that this was necessary because of the premium on nails when the house was built. Everything at that time had to be hauled from Earth, and no one wanted to pay the price heavy nails and bolts demanded.
One by one, they removed the heavy beams, until they had eight of them lined up alongside the edge of the canal.
"How do we keep them together?" asked Roger.
"With this!" said Tom. He began ripping his space cloth into long strips. Astro and Roger tugged at the first beam. At last they had it in the water.
"It floats," cried Astro. Tom and Roger couldn't help but shout for joy. They quickly hauled the remaining beams into the water and lashed them together. Without hesitation, they shoved the raft into the canal, climbing aboard and standing like conquering heroes, as the raft moved out into the main flow of the canal and began to drift forward.
"I dub thee—Polaris the Second," said Tom in formal tones and gave the nearest beam a kick.