Just what happened then I can not say.  When I undertook to record the incident in the chronicles of the S. S. I. E. E. of W. C. I., I found there were five entirely different versions of the affair besides my own.  I knew that immediately after the shock I found myself struggling in the water just below the rock over which I must have been slung by the force of the impact.  Dutchy declared up and down that he had sailed fifty feet in the air astride of a log.  Bill had been almost stunned by a blow on the head and was clinging desperately to a jagged projection of the rock.  The ropes that had held the raft together had parted, scattering the logs in all directions, and I could see the rest of the crew hanging on to them for dear life.

Shouting to Bill to let go his hold on the rock.  I swam over and caught him as he drifted down, then I helped him ashore.  Leaving Bill to recuperate I rushed down the bank, shouting to the others to paddle the logs over toward shore.  Then I plunged in, and pulling myself up on the nearest log, paddled shoreward as we had done on the planks when shooting the rapids.  In this way one by one we corralled the logs, and after tying them together again resumed our voyage down the river.  We now had no swift water to fear and were able to guide the raft successfully down to Lake Placid.  But here we moored it, not venturing to take it past the millrace until we had gotten the oars from the scow and nailed on oar locks at each side and the rear, so that we could properly row and steer the raft safely to Kite Island.

The Sail-Rigged Raft.

[Illustration:  Fig. 265.  A Sail-rigged Raft.]

When we went up the river again we carried the oars with us, also the sail and mast belonging to our ice boat, as there was a good breeze blowing down-stream.  Our second trip was more successful.  The mast was stepped in a small but solid box nailed to the logs.  In the top of this box a hole was cut for the mast to fit into and then the mast was braced with guy lines.  We came down the river in fine style, steering straight for the opening in the dam, and just as we were about to shoot through Reddy and I plied the oars for all we were worth on the port (left) side so as to swing the raft around past the boulder.  However, we didn’t escape entirely without accident, for the raft rode up on a submerged ledge, dipping the starboard side clear under water and nearly tipping us over.  But in a moment the raft had righted itself and we had smooth sailing for the rest of the way.

Building the Log Cabin.

[Illustration:  Fig. 266.  Foundation Logs Notched.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 267.  Foundation Logs Fitted Together.]

[Illustration:  Fig. 268.  A Corner of the Log Wall.]