The log cabin was completed by stopping up all the chinks between the logs of the walls. Strips of wood and bits of bark plastered with mud were driven into all the cracks and crevices until everything was made perfectly tight.
When our log cabin was completed we immediately transferred our camp from the tent to the hut. But at the very outset we were confronted with the problem of getting drinking water. We hadn't thought of that before. It was easy enough to move the filter barrels, but when it came to moving the water wheel we could find no suitable place for it anywhere near the log cabin. The water of Lake Placid was too quiet, while the mill-race and the rapids on the other side of Kite Island ran so swiftly that we were afraid the water wheel would be swept away with its course. The matter was carefully considered at a special meeting of the society. It occurred to Bill that we might build a windmill in place of the water wheel, and use it to pump water from a well which could be dug near the hut.
"We wouldn't have to use a filter, then," he said.
"Why, because the sand of the island will strain out all the dirt in the water. You see, the water in the well will have to soak in from the river, and by the time it gets through all the gravel and sand between the river and the well it ought to be filtered pretty clear."
[Illustration: Fig. 282. Digging the Well.]
That sounded logical, and so we adopted the plan at once. We chose a spot quite near the hut for our well. When we had dug down about 6 feet we struck water, but continued excavating until the water lay 3 feet deep in the well. While making the excavation we shored up the sides with planks, to prevent the loose soil from falling in on us and smothering us, as it so nearly did when we were digging our first cave. By "shoring," I mean we lined the walls with planks, which were driven into the ground with large wooden mallets. The planks were braced apart with sticks at frequent intervals. As the well hole grew deeper we had to rig up a bucket to haul the dirt out. Our bucket was a soap box attached to a rope, which passed through a pulley at the top of the well. The pulley was supported by a tripod made by firmly lashing together the upper ends of three stout poles and spreading their lower ends far enough apart to straddle the mouth of the well, as shown in Fig. 282. After the well had been carried down to a sufficient depth, we began laying the stone wall, which was to form the permanent lining. We knew that the wooden walls would not do, because they would soon decay. Our stone wall, which was built up of flat stones like the chimney of the log house, was not very strong, I fear, and had not the soil around it been pretty firm it would probably have caved in. However, if it served no other purpose, it formed a fairly good finish for the well.