Chapter 30

PREPARING FOR THE EXPEDITION.

School closed on the 21st of June that year, just ten days before the expected arrival of Uncle Ed. The first thing we did was to set up our tent in the back yard and camp out so as to become acclimatized. It is good that we did this, for the very first night a heavy summer shower came up which nearly drenched us. The water beat right through the thin canvas roof of our tent. Had we been able to afford the best quality of canvas duck, such an occurrence would probably have been avoided. But we solved the difficulty by using a tent fly; that is, a strip of canvas stretched over the tent and spaced a short distance from it to break the fall of the rain drops.

TENT FLY.

Again we had to visit the village storekeeper; this time we bought out his whole remaining stock, sixteen yards of drill. This was cut into four-yard strips, which were sewed together as before and the ends turned up and hemmed. Tie strings were sewed to the ends of the strips so that the fly could be tied to the wall ropes of the tent. At the ridge the fly was supported about six inches above the tent rope by a second ridge pole held by pegs in the top holes of the tent posts.

PROVISIONS AND SUPPLIES.

The ten days before Uncle Ed arrived were busy indeed. We had to gather together the necessary provisions and supplies. Our personal outfits were very simple. Each member supplied himself with a change of underwear, a bathing suit, a blanket and a toothbrush. A single comb and brush served for the entire society, and was used on Sundays, the only day we really dressed up. All the rest of the time we lived in our bathing suits, except, of course, on cold rainy days. Our kitchen outfit consisted of a large cooking pot, two kettles, a frying pan, a coffee pot, a small oil stove, a half-dozen each of plates, cups, saucers, knives and forks, a dozen spoons, two tablespoons, and, in addition, several large plates and bowls for pantry use. We also took with us a dish-pan and several dish-towels. For our larder we collected the following: A bag of flour, ten pounds of sugar, two pounds of salt, three pounds of coffee, four pounds of oatmeal, four pounds of butter, two pounds of lard, six pound of beans, six pounds of rice, three pounds of bacon, six cans of condensed milk, a dozen eggs, box of pepper, and several jars of canned peaches and pears, and also a half dozen glasses of jelly.

It was Dutchy who suggested that we have a chicken yard, in connection with our camp, to supply us with fresh eggs. It was a capital idea, and by the dint of some coaxing we managed to secure the loan of a half dozen hens and a rooster.

Our miscellaneous list included a spade, pick and shovel, an ax, a hatchet, two large pails, a barn lantern, a can of kerosene, a dozen candles, a cocoa box filled with matches, a pair of scissors, needles, buttons, pins and safety pins, a spool of white and another of black cotton, fishing tackle, a roll of heavy twine, a coil of rope, and a set of dominoes and checkers. But most important of all was a chest of tools belonging to Reddy. These were all collected when Uncle Ed arrived. Dutchy also contributed a large compass, which we found very useful later on, for surveying the island.

CROSSBOW.

Reddy had a shotgun which he wanted to bring along, but my father, and Dutchy's as well, wouldn't let us go camping if there was to be any gunpowder along, so we had to leave it behind. Of course we didn't miss it at all when we got to the island, because there was so much else to do; but we all agreed with Dutchy, that "it wouldn't be no sort of a scientific expedition without takin' a gun along." As a substitute I suggested a bow and arrow. They all laughed at such a "kiddish" idea; all but Bill, I mean.

"It ain't such a bad notion," said he, "only a crossbow would be better. I've seen them made out of umbrella ribs so they'd shoot like greased lightning." Of course we had to have one of these wonderful weapons. Down in the ash heap we found two broken umbrellas with 27-inch ribs. Bill selected ten good ribs, from which he wrenched off the spreaders with a pair of pliers. The ribs were then bound together by winding stout twine around them. The winding was very evenly and closely done, so that the cord completely covered the ribs, making a solid rod of spring steel. But before winding we had laid in between the ribs a piece of heavy twine, to which the bowstrings could be tied after the bow was all wound. The stock of our crossbow was cut out of a board of soft wood 1 inch thick to as near the shape of a gun as we could get it. A hole was drilled through the muzzle end to receive the bow, and then the bowstring was tied fast. Along the upper edge of the barrel a V-shaped channel was cut. The channel was not very deep, only enough to receive a tenpenny nail with the head projecting half-way above the sides. A notch was cut across the barrel, through this channel, at the trigger end, and a trigger made of heavy iron wire, bent to the shape shown in Fig. 51, was hinged to the gun by a bolt which passed clear through the stock and through both eyes of the trigger. By using two nuts on the bolt, and tightening one against the other, they were prevented from working loose and coming off. When we wanted to fire the gun the bowstring was drawn back, and held by slipping it into the notch, and a nail was laid in the channel with its head against the bowstring. Then, on pulling the trigger, the bowstring was lifted out of the notch, and sent the nail off sailing. The long-grooved barrel insured a very good aim.

MEGAPHONE.

Another device we made in preparation for the expedition was a megaphone. A sheet of light cardboard 30 inches square was procured. At the center of one edge a pin was stuck into the cardboard, then a piece of stout thread was looped over the pin and the two ends were knotted together just 5 inches from the pin. Another knot was also made 29 inches from the pin. Now, with a pencil hooked into the loop, and resting first against the inner knot and then against the outer one, two arcs were drawn on the paper, one of 5-inch radius and the other of 29-inch radius. A line was now drawn from the pin to the point where the longer arc met the right hand edge of the paper, and a dotted line was drawn from the pin to a point 1-1/2 inches from the edge at the other end of the arc. From a point 1 inch to the left of the pin we then drew a line to the left end of the arc. With a scissors we cut the cardboard along the arcs and straight lines, all but the dotted line, leaving a piece of the shape shown in Fig. 55. This piece was rolled into a cone with the right edge lapped over the left edge and lying against the dotted line. In this position it was held by means of several brass fasteners of the kind shown in Fig. 56.

A mouthpiece was formed out of a block of wood in which a large hole had been drilled. The block was then cut away until the walls were quite thin. The hole was reamed out at the top, as shown in Fig. 57, and the outer surface was tapered so that the small end of the megaphone would fit snugly on it.

We planned to reach our camping grounds by way of the canal, and had provided for that purpose a large scow, which we expected to tow up to Lumberville and drag over to the river.

THE SCOW.

Our scow was made as follows: Two 3/4-inch pine boards, 12 inches wide and 12 feet long, were selected from Reddy's father's lumber pile. These were used for the side pieces of the boat, and we tapered them off at the end to a width of 3-1/2 inches. This was done by making a straight cut from the end to a point three feet back along the edge of the board and then rounding off the edge with a draw-knife. When one board had been shaped, it was used as a pattern for the other, which was thus cut to exactly the same size. For the end pieces two strips, 4 inches wide and 2 feet 10-1/2 inches long, were sawed out of a 1-inch board. Then for the bottom we procured a number of 3/4-inch boards, 12 feet long and 8 inches wide, which we cut into 3-foot lengths. At Bill's suggestion, before nailing the parts together, we secured some strips of flannel, which were saturated with paint, and laid between the seams so as to make the boat perfectly water-tight. The side and end boards were then nailed together, with the strips of flannel between, the side boards overlapping the end boards, as shown in Fig. 59. After planing down the end boards until their edges laid flush with the edges of the side pieces, the bottom boards were nailed on, strips of cloth being inserted between them, as well as along the edges of the side and end boards. To brace the bottom a 3/4-inch board was placed at the center, inside the boat, and bent down against the floor, to which it was nailed with wire nails. The nails were driven into the board from the outer side of the boat and were clinched inside. Along the upper edges of the side boards two strips 2 inches wide and 1 inch thick were nailed. Two notches were cut in the inner side of each strip before it was nailed on. The notches were 1/2 inch deep, 1-1/2 inches wide, 3 inches apart and about 5-1/2 feet from the stern end. When the strips were nailed in place these notches formed sockets to receive the rowlocks. A strip was also nailed across the stern of the boat and formed with two central notches, to receive the rowlocks for a steering oar. This strip, however, was 3 inches wide, and projected 1 inch above the end board, so as to lie flush with the deck boards, which were later applied. Six thole pins, 1/2 inch thick, 4-1/2 inches long and 2 inches wide, were cut out of an oak board. The lower end of each pin was reduced to a width of 1-1/2 inches for a length of 2 inches. The thole pins were then fitted snugly in the notches. Two cleats, nailed to the side boards inside, 7 inches below the upper edge, served to support a seat board 1 inch thick and 2 feet 10-1/2 inches long. The aft edge of the seat was about 10 inches forward of the rowlocks. The boat was completed by nailing on a couple of deck boards at each end. The oars were made of 2-inch pine boards, 5 feet long and 5 inches wide. They were blocked out at Mr. Schreiner's sawmill and then shaped and smoothed down with a draw-knife and spoke-shaved. They were 1-1/4 inches at the handle and 2 inches immediately below, tapering down to a diameter of 1-1/4 inches at the top of the blade. The blades were 18 inches long, 5 inches wide, and planed down to a thickness of 1/4 inch along the edges.