I had almost forgotten to tell you how father built a chimney without
either bricks or mortar, for of course we had none of those things when
we first made our village.
[Illustration]
Our chimney is of logs plastered plentifully with clay, and fastened
to the outside of the building, with a hole cut through the side of the
house that the fireplace may be joined to it.
The fireplace itself is built of clay, made into walls as one would
lay up bricks, and held firmly together by being mixed with dried beach
grass.
It looks somewhat like a large, square box, open in front, and with
sides and ends at least two feet thick. It is so large that Sarah and I
might stand inside, if so be the heat from the fire was not too great,
and look straight out through it at the sky.
Father drags in, as if he were a horse, logs which are much larger
around than is my body, and mother, or one of the neighbors, helps him
roll them into the big fireplace where, once aflame, they burn from one
morning until another.