The old sheet which Mother furnished us was laid out on the floor and two corners were folded over to the center as shown in the drawing, making a triangle with base 7 feet long and sides each about 4 feet 6 inches long.  The surplus end piece was then cut off, and a broad hem turned and basted all around the edges of the triangle.  Bill wanted to work the sewing machine himself, but Mother was afraid he would break something, so she sewed down the hem for us.  Then, under Bill’s supervision, she re-enforced the corners by sewing on patches of cloth.  Along the diagonal a strip of heavy tape was sewed, leaving loops at intervals, which afterward were cut and provided means for tying the sail to the mast.  Tie strings of tape were also sewed at the corners, as shown in the illustration, and then a trip was made to the garden in search of suitable spars.  A smooth bean pole of about the right weight served for the mast, and another stick with a crotch at one end served as the boom or cross-spar.  The spars were cut to proper length, and the sail was then tied on, as illustrated, with the crotch of the cross-spar fitted against and tied to the center of the mast.  A light rope, long enough to provide plenty of slack, was tied to the ends of the mast to assist in guiding the sail when in use.  In the meantime I had procured another sheet from one of our neighbors, and Bill helped me make a sail for myself.  It was not until long after dark that we finished our work.

[Illustration:  Fig. 4.  The Tape Tie Strings.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 5.  “Bill’s” Sail Complete.]

Willow Clump Island.

The next day we tried the sails and it didn’t take me very long to learn how to steer the device.  The wind had changed again and this time blew up the canal.  We took the line of least resistance, and went skimming up the ice lane like birds for several miles before we realized how far we were getting away from home.  As we rounded a bend in the canal, much to my astonishment, I saw just before us the bridge at Raven Hill, eight miles from our town.  We started to go back, but the wind was too strong for us, and there wasn’t much room in which to do any tacking; nor could we make any progress when the sails were folded.  I began to get extremely tired and rather exasperated at Bill for not having thought of the return trip before he led me such a hot pace up the canal.  But Bill was getting tired, too.

“Look here, Jim,” he said, “we haven’t covered a mile, and I’m worn out.”

“Why in thunder didn’t you think of this before we started?” I returned.

“How much money have you with you?” was the reply.

“What’s that got to do with it?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute.  How much have you?”

A careful search of my dozen odd pockets netted the sum of twenty-seven cents.

“I have fifty-nine,” said Bill, “and that makes eighty-six altogether, doesn’t it?  Isn’t there a railroad depot near here?”