“I will. You know, of course, what a catamaran is, so I need not explain that. We will cut two logs, about twelve or fourteen feet long, one of them eight or ten inches thick and the other a mere pole. We’ll hew their ends sharp—boat-fashion—and lay them parallel to each other, seven feet or so apart. We’ll fasten them securely in place with stout poles at the bow and stern and amidships, binding the poles in place with limber vines. That will complete our framework. Then we’ll place a light pole longitudinally on the cross braces and about three feet inside the larger of our two logs. From the log to this pole we’ll construct a light deck of cane on which to stand as we paddle and push the craft along. Of course it will be a rude thing, very hard to manage, but as no part of it will be in the water except the two logs—one a mere pole—it will offer very little resistance, not half as much as a raft would.”
“No, not a tenth,” answered Larry.
“Come on,” said Cal. “We’re burning daylight. This job is yours, Dick, and you are to boss it, but I’ll be foreman of the gang and keep myself and the rest of you at work. We’ll let supper go till after dark, and utilize what’s left of the daylight in cutting cane, vines, poles and whatever else you need. Then we’ll be ready in the morning to cut the logs and begin the work of construction. Hoop la! We’ll be afloat again before the week’s up! Dick, you’re a dandy, and I’ll never accuse you of pessimism again. ‘Look up and not down, forward and not back, out and not in, and lend a hand.’ Dr. Hale put all there is of sound philosophy into that one sentence.”
After the darkness made an end of work for that day the boys sat down gleefully to their supper, and hopefully laid plans for the morrow. Presently Larry jestingly turned to Tom:
“It’s your turn now, Tom. You are credited in this company with something like a genius for finding things at the critical moment when we need them most. Why don’t you bring your abilities to bear on the present situation and find something—a chest of tools or a keg of nails, or something else useful?”
“Perhaps I will,” answered Tom. “Anyhow, I’m going out now to see what I can find in three traps I set yesterday. There have been coon tracks over that way every morning recently, and the gentleman who made them may have walked into one of my traps.”
The boys kept a number of torches ready for lighting, now that the lack of oil rendered the lanterns useless, and taking one of these with him, Tom set out to inspect his traps. He was gone for so long that his comrades were wondering what had become of him, when suddenly he appeared, coming from the direction of the bluff, though he had gone quite the opposite way.
“Did you get your coon?” asked Larry.
“No,” said Tom; “but I found something.”
“What was it, and where is it?”