"How many stakes have you, Bellows?"
"Seven," replied the student, rather sheepishly. "I see that there will be seven sections of the frame."
"Making no allowance for the docks, these seven sections are just alike, and contain precisely the same timbers," continued Mr. Brookbine. "This frame will be put together in sections, and each will be raised by itself, by the aid of rigging and machinery."
The boys began to ask questions, for some of them did not understand the sections yet. The instructor sent for a blackboard, which he placed on an easel; and with this he made the subject plain to all. There were seven tiers of timbers to be set up, when framed and put together, just like seven bricks, each placed on one end.
"Now we will drop the sections for a time, and take them up again when we are ready for them," the instructor proceeded, as he rubbed the drawings from the blackboard. He then drew an outline of Chowder Point and the shore near it. "Now I will mark where the twenty-one points of support of the building are to be placed;" and he put this number of small crosses on the board. "Some of these bearings are posts and some are blocks, as they are in the water or on the shore.
"The timbers which rest on these foundation-points are the sills. These are the first we frame. They are twelve inches square. We cannot find any in our pile ninety-six feet long, and we shall have to scarf or splice them." While he spoke, he drew the positions of the sills on the foundations.
"But the boats can't go through that timber to get into the docks," interposed Nat Long.
"Let us attend to the general plan of the frame, and we will alter it for the docks before we are done," replied the instructor, as he proceeded to draw the five cross-timbers connecting the sills. "Now the sills are laid down. Between the cross, or section sills, we put in the floor joist. How far apart are the sections, Gawner?"
"Sixteen feet."