IN WHICH PHIL'S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN IS FULLY SET FORTH.
In moving the pile of lumber to the river, we followed the path chosen
for the piano box, and as the road was all ready, there was no delay.
Morgan superintended its progress, having three men to assist him.
Another pile was immediately made at the site of the house, and started
on its way with four men to handle it. A third and a fourth were piled
up, and by the time the last was ready, the first had arrived at its
destination. Slowly as the masses of lumber were moved, the
transportation was effected much sooner, and certainly with less labor,
than the building could have been carried down by the soldiers.
As soon as the last pile had been started, the lieutenant and myself
went down to the water. We had placed the dozen logs, intended for the
foundation of the raft, in the right place, where there was water
enough to float the structure after it was built, and the heavy piano
had been placed near it. When the second pile of lumber arrived, the
officer ordered the men who had come with it to prepare the timbers.
They were placed about a foot apart, and secured by nailing boards
across them. By the time the foundation was completed, the rest of the
lumber was on the spot, and all our force were ready for the work.
The frame of the house was laid upon the logs, and then the boards were
placed upon them, alternate layers crossing each other, so as to bind
the whole firmly together. The raft, when completed, was twenty-four
feet long, and fifteen wide. The most difficult task was yet to be
performed--the loading of the grand piano. We found it necessary to
remove the raft to a place where the bank was more shelving, so that
the shore side of the structure would rest on the ground, because the
weight of the piano on one side would cant it over so that we could not
work.
For skids we laid down a couple of smooth, water-soaked sticks of
timber, sliding the piano box upon them down to the raft. As soon as
the heavy body was on the raft, the side which floated settled down
before the box had reached the middle of the platform. The raft was
gradually pried off the shore with levers, and as it came to a level,
the box was moved farther upon it, till it had been placed in the
centre. Then the structure floated in all its parts, and I was glad to
see that its equilibrium had been correctly calculated. The piano was
not a heavy load for the raft, for it floated well out of water, and
had buoyancy enough to sustain the weight of a dozen men.
"What shall we do with that wounded Indian, Phil?" asked Mr. Jackson,
when we had completed the loading of the box. "He will starve to death
in time, if we leave him here."
"We must take him with us, of course," I replied. "There are a great
many things at the house to bring down."
The lieutenant sent his men back, and we followed them. The wheelbarrow
was loaded with small articles, and each took all he could carry. They
were sent down to the raft, and directed to return. While they were
absent, we talked with the wounded Indian, who had been observing all
our movements with apparent interest. Though he was in a high fever,
and must have suffered severely from his injuries, he exhibited no
signs of pain in our presence. I told him that we would take good care
of him till he was well, and that we must convey him to the clearing,
where the surgeon of the troops would attend to him.
"No hang me--kill me?" he said, with a smile.
"No; that is not the way the Christians serve their enemies," added Mr.
Jackson. "We feed them, and cure them if they are sick or wounded."
"Why did you attack us, and murder one of us?" I asked. "We have been
friends."
"Indian come back and say white man kill chief. Must kill white man
then."
It was the ancient philosophy of the Indians, that one injury must be
repaid by another; but he entirely ignored the fact that the savages
had been the aggressors. I told him of the battle of the day before;
that his people had been routed with severe loss, and that they had
fled to their reservation.
"Smoke pipe now; no fight again; peace always," said he.
"I hope so," I added.
"Me no fight. Me white man friend. Hunt for white man, work for white
man, fight for white man; good friend always."
I think he was grateful for the favor extended to him. When the
soldiers came back from the raft, four of them were directed to convey
the camp bedstead on which the Indian lay to the river, and the rest
carried down the remainder of Mr. Gracewood's goods. We walked down to
the lower end of the island with the bearers of the bedstead. It was
placed on the raft, and the other articles were stowed so as to
preserve the balance of the structure.
"We are ready for a start," said Morgan. "But we ought to have a
steamboat to tow the thing down."
"I think we have men enough to handle it," I replied. "It is almost
night, and we must hurry up, though it will not take us long after we
get started."
Two of our boats were bateau, and the other was Mr. Gracewood's barge.
Two men were placed in each, and the others upon the raft. I sat in the
stern of the barge to tend the drag-rope. Mr. Jackson was in one of the
bateaux. The lines were cast off, and the men, with their
setting-poles, pushed the raft from the shore. The current soon acted
upon it, carrying it over towards the north side of the river. We
followed the course taken by the raft on which we had transported the
twelve-pounder; and, profiting by the experience gained in that
enterprise, we guided our huge structure safely to the landing at the
mouth of Fish River. We landed our check-lines in season this time, and
everything worked entirely to our satisfaction. It was nearly dark now,
and we moored the raft to the shore for the night. The bed of the
wounded Indian was removed to the shanty, and the surgeon sent for.
The lieutenant and myself went to the Castle to report progress, while
the soldiers sought their camp. Mr. Gracewood staid in the house all
the time. He had hardly been out during the day. He was so rejoiced at
the reunion of his little family that he was not willing to leave his
loved ones even for a moment.
"I hope you left the piano where it will be safe on the island, Phil
Farringford," said Mr. Gracewood, when I had told him we had brought
over the house.
"No, sir; we did not."
"Did not? You know I love that instrument, and I hope, before the
summer is past, to hear Ella play upon it."
"We brought it with us, sir," I replied.
"Impossible!" exclaimed he.
"It is on the raft down at the landing."
"Phil is quite an engineer, and is entitled to all the credit of its
removal," added the lieutenant, who explained the means by which the
piano had been moved to the river, and floated to the landing.
"I am very glad, indeed, that you have brought it, Phil. We shall be
happy here this summer now," said Mr. Gracewood.
"Then you intend to stay here this summer."
"We have concluded to remain as long as Mrs. Gracewood and Ella can be
contented."
"I am afraid that will not be long," I added, glancing at Ella, who was
seated on Matt's chest.
"I am sure I shall be very happy here among such good friends," she
replied; and I could not help realizing how delighted I should be while
she was at the clearing.
"I will help you carry on your farm, Phil," continued Mr. Gracewood.
"We shall do well, I know."
I felt that paradise had been transported from the island to the
clearing, while, as we ate our supper, Ella told what a beautiful place
it was. It was so much pleasanter than the boundless prairies which
covered the greater portion of the country. It seemed as if
civilization had been transplanted to my field and forest as I looked
upon Mrs. Gracewood and her daughter. But I was sad when I thought that
the time must come, sooner or later, when they would leave me, and I
should be more desolate and lonely than ever before.
I slept in the barn again that night; but I hoped Mr. Gracewood's house
would be ready for the accommodation of his family by the next evening,
and that we should hear the melodious tones of the grand piano by the
following day, which would be Sunday. Ella was rapidly recovering from
the fatigues of her forced journey with the Indians; and I pictured to
myself the pleasure it would afford me to walk with her through the
forest, and sail with her on the river. When I went to sleep, I dreamed
that I went a fishing with her, and that a big gray trout pulled her
into the water, from which, of course, I had the satisfaction of
rescuing her.
The next morning Lieutenant Pope directed all his men to assist in the
erection of the house. We landed the big box, loaded it upon the wagon,
and hauled it up to the site which had been chosen for the new home of
the Gracewoods, not a hundred feet from the Castle. While a portion of
the troops carted the lumber, the others prepared the foundation of the
house. A series of posts were set in the ground, and sawed off on a
level about a foot above the sod, so as to make the lower floor dry and
comfortable. On those were laid the sills, and before noon the building
was up and half covered. All the boards and timbers were numbered, and
so many men made quick work of it. In the middle of the afternoon the
last board had been screwed on, the sides of the house had been banked
and sodded, and the structure was ready to receive the furniture.
Mr. Gracewood had used a ladder to reach the attic where he slept; but
Mr. Jackson thought he ought to have stairs for his wife and daughter.
I had a decided taste for carpenter's work, and promised to build them
as soon as possible. However, Mrs. Gracewood and Ella thought they
should like the ladder better, as it could be drawn up after them,
which would add to their safety in case the Indians should be
troublesome again.
The grand piano was taken from the box, and put in the front room.
While its owner was tuning it, I put up a couple of rude box bedsteads
in the attic, and filled them with clean hay. The cooking-stove was put
up in the rear apartment, and the whole building looked as though it
had never been disturbed, for everything had been placed as it was on
the island. I had the pleasure of conducting Ella to her new home,
where we passed a very pleasant evening.