“No, Fred, not one whit too large to carry lumber or molasses; she won’t be as big as the Ark; and the English mast and timber ships that come to Wiscasset and Portsmouth, are seven hundred tons and rising.”
“Isn’t she large for a sloop, sir?”
“Yes, but, as Isaac says, it will cost less to rig her, take less men to handle her, and if you find she don’t work well, you can stick another mast in her any time. Boys, let me plan a little for you; build her here, Charlie.”
“O, father, what an awful job it would be to bring all the timber from Pleasant Point, over here! and how much it would cost!”
“It won’t cost near as much as it would to build her there. If you build her there, all you’ve got is the timber; you must build a house to live in with a chimney, and even if it is a log house, it will cost something; you must hire or buy cattle to haul your timber, hay to keep them on, and somebody to cook for you. I’ve got a piece of land that I want cleared: if you will fall the whole piece for me, you can take your timber out of it. I’ll board your men for less than it would cost you to board them, a great deal; you and John won’t have to pay any board, for you’ll be at home.”
“But it’s pine timber, father.”
“Well, build her of pine; the trees are big enough to hew all the sap off, and it will last as long as you want her to, and she will be so buoyant you can’t load her.”
“But,” said Isaac, “the keel, stem, stern-post, and keelson must be hard wood, or oak.”
“Well, there’s hard wood enough for that on the lot; there’s rock maple for keel, yellow birch for keelson, stem and stern knees, and spruce for knees above. Charlie can get oak stem, stern-post, breast-hooks, or any other particular sticks for bitts or rudder he may want, at Pleasant Point.”
“I never heard of a vessel being built of pine,” said Charlie.