"What do you suppose Jim is after?" I asked. "Perhaps he is going to have us hollow out a canoe apiece and go sailing down the Colorado to see who will reach the end or get drowned first."
"Maybe he thinks that it will make the logs more buoyant and they will float higher if they are hollow," suggested Tom.
"It will take us a month or more to finish all these logs," I grumbled.
"What shape do you suppose the raft will be?" Tom inquired.
"Something like this," I said, taking my index finger and drawing a square in the sand. Tom shook his head.
"That would be too clumsy," he said, "and it would be striking on every rock and would be terribly hard to steer."
"What's your idea?" I asked.
"Instead of having it square, I would have it this shape," he answered. And he drew an oblong figure in the sand while I looked on.
"Yes," I said, "and if it ever swung sideways to the current it would dam the river besides spilling us out."
"I would have a long steering oar on the stern and that would keep her head to the current," he replied.