"I am only making a model. My canoe will be made out of a big pine log, and large enough to hold three."
"Is it to be like the big sap-trough in the sugar-bush at home?"
Louis nodded assent. "I long to go over to the island; I see lots of ducks popping in and out of the little bays beneath the cedars, and there are plenty of partridges, I am sure, and squirrels—it is the very place for them."
"And shall we have a sail as well as oars?"
"Yes; set up your apron for a sail."
Catharine cast a rueful look upon the tattered remnant of the apron.
"It is worth nothing now," she said, sighing; "and what am I to do when my gown is worn out? It is a good thing it is so strong; if it had been cotton, now, it would have been torn to bits among the bushes."
"We must make clothes of skins as soon as we get enough," said Hector.—"Louis, I think you can manufacture a bone needle; we can pierce the hole with the strong thorns, or a little round bone bodkin that can be easily made."
"The first rainy day we will see what we can do," replied Louis; "but
I am full of my canoe just now."
"Indeed, Louis, I believe you never think of anything else; but even if we had a canoe to-morrow, I do not think that either you or I could manage one," said cautious Hector.