They split out cedar shingles, with the frow, four feet long, fastening them to the rafters and purlins, with poles held down with wooden pins and withes. Upon these they put brush to break the dash of the rain, and prevent the rain and snow from being driven by force of the wind under the shingles, as they intended it for a permanent camp, in which to leave furs and provisions during their absence on trapping and hunting excursions. They made a solid door of cedar plank, hung on wooden hinges, a deacon’s seat, and a rack around the sides, covered with hemlock and cedar brush, for bedsteads.
“We ought to have a stool or two,” said Uncle Isaac; “we want something we can move round; we can’t move the deacon’s seat, and we can’t move the fire.”
He cut down a spruce that had long straight limbs and cut some chunks from the top three feet long, leaving a sufficient number of limbs on each side for legs; he split the pieces in halves, and smoothed the split side with a draw-shave.
“There,” said he, setting it up before the wondering boys, “there’s a backwoodsman’s stool: them are legs won’t want any gluing, and if anybody wants a cushion, they can put some moss on it.”
While Uncle Isaac was at work on the stools, Charlie, Joe, and John were splitting out boards to make a table.
“The first stormy day that comes,” said Uncle Isaac, “I’ll make some bark dishes, and the rest of you can make some spoons, and we’ll have some shelves; it’s just as well to be comfortable. There’s just one thing we do want desperately; that is, a fireplace, to keep the fire from spreading all over the camp, taking up so much room, and also a chimney, instead of a hole in the roof.”
“We can build a fireplace of green logs,” said Joe.
“Yes, but it will burn out in a short time.”
“I wonder if we couldn’t find some rocks or clay somewhere; or is everything froze fast?”
“I don’t believe but by cutting a little ice, we could find stones, and clay too, in the river. It don’t freeze hard here in the woods, as it does out in the clear.”