“I played my own blacksmith while you were on your hike this morning. I heated an old piece of wagon-tire and hammered it flat, then heated it red-hot and cut it with tools I found in the box.”
“All right, Verny! You shall take the prize this time,” Julie commended heartily.
“But that doesn’t give us a roof or rafters,” said Ruth.
“I have them all ready for you. I remembered them to-day when I inspected your work,” said Mrs. Vernon, leading the way down to the buckboard.
“Help me lift the seats off,” ordered the Captain.
This was done, and the curious girls then saw Mrs. Vernon pry out some small wooden wedges and lo! a board came from the floor of the buckboard. But stay! It was not from the floor, but one of the extra boards that had been laid down to form a double flooring.
Several boards were thus removed, and then it was found that the original floor of the buckboard was as good as ever.
“Why did you have another floor laid?” asked Julie.
“Jim suggested that we might need a few boards for see-saws, or some other fun, so he fitted these down over the real bottom of the buckboard. I forgot about them until I found your need of just such boards for your roof.”
“They’re not very thick or heavy,” said Joan, doubtfully.