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.

[Illustration:  Fig. 282.  Digging the Well.]

The Windmill Tower.

[Illustration:  Fig. 283.  Frame for the Tower.]

The mouth of the well was carefully covered with planks while we constructed the windmill above it.  For the tower of the windmill we chose four long sticks.  They must have measured about 16 feet in length, and were from 4 to 6 inches in diameter.  With them we made two frames of the form given in Fig. 283, using slabs to brace them apart.  These frames were now set in position, with their lower ends firmly planted in holes in the ground, and the tower was completed by nailing on a number of diagonal braces.  A couple of boards were nailed across the upper ends at opposite sides, and holes were drilled through them to provide bearings for the wind wheel shaft.

The Crank Shaft.

The shaft was a piece of heavy iron rod which we procured from the blacksmith at Lumberville.  Under Bill’s direction the blacksmith hammered a U-shaped bend at the center of the shaft, so as to form a crank, and then he flattened the rod near the ends (see Fig. 284).  When the shaft was set in its place these flat spots lay just outside of the bearing boards, and then, to keep the shaft from sliding back and forth in its bearings, we fastened on two clamps over these flattened parts.  The clamps were made of pairs of hardwood blocks bolted together in the manner indicated in Fig. 285.

[Illustration:  Fig. 284.  The Crank Shaft.]