The Scientific American Boy; Or, The Camp at Willow Clump Island

tting parental permission for our summer outing. So far we had been afraid to breathe a word of our plans outside of the society, since Fred had said something about it in the presence of Father an

"no ordinary man"; that he would not interfere with our plans, but would enter right into them and give us many valuable pointers. Though not by any means convinced, we told him to go ahead and invite his uncle, as that seemed about the only means of

rom Un

ed together for Roof

d be delighted to join the expedition. He could not be on hand before the 1st of July, but that would give us plenty of time to make all necessary preparatio

anvas

a sum of money had been collected, nearly $15.00, if I remember rightly; at any rate pl

gh to hold us. It took 34 yards, 30 inches wide. Then we visited the village store to make our purchase. Canvas we found a little too expensive for us, but a material called drill

rds and 26 inches each. The strips we

ch overlapping edge, as shown in Fig. 38. A 1-inch hem was then turned and sewed at the ends of the goods, so that the piece measured exactly 17 feet long. It served for the roof and side walls of the tent. Our next operation was to cut three strips 11 feet long, and

m up for a distance of exactly 3 feet 6 inches. After all the door strips had been sewed along their c edges the sewing was continued up the diagonal or a edges. In cutting out the door

t Set Up in

were procured. These were fastened at the top of the side walls, that is, 3 feet 6 inches fr

the door pieces tie strings of tape were fastened. A rope 15 feet long was attached to the peak at the front and at the rear of the tent. The front and rear posts of the tent were made from scantlings measuring 2 by 4 in

he ridge pole. A number of these peg holes were provided, so that if the canvas stretched the ridge pole could be raised or lowered to prevent the walls from dragging on the ground. We set up the tent in our back yard to see if it was properly constructed. Twelve stakes were require

Bl

The Wood

each measured 3 inches long. A hole was drilled into t

sailors would call it, was now slipped over the stake, and the rope hauled tight by drawing up the tie block, as shown in Fig. 43. A sti

lit open when exposed to the weather, whil

otches to catch the loops would have served as well, but Dutchy happened to find a number of the spikes along the track and in his usual convincing

An

nd provisions we would need, there would not be room enough for six boys and a man to stretch themselves out comfortably in it. Bill ha

utting out

e more yards of drill were bought and cut into two strips, each 17 feet 2 in

lines B B in Fig. 46. This wedge-shaped piece measured 2 feet at the outer end of the annex, and tapered down to a point at the inner end. The canvas was then sewed together along these edges. Tie strings were sewed to the inner edge of the annex and corresponding ones were attached to the main tent a little ways back from the edge, so that the two could be tied together, with the annex lapping