to correspond to the level of the string, then place your sill on top of the posts, and test that with your level. If found to be correct, fill in the dirt around the posts and pack it firmly, then spike your sill to the posts. Go through the same operation with the opposite set of posts and sill. [Illustration: FIG. 68.] The first difficult work is now done, and, with the exception of the roof, the rest only needs ordinary care, and what old-fashioned people used to term “gumption.” It is to be supposed that you have already sawed off and prepared nine two-by-four-inch beams, each of which is exactly eight feet long. Set these on edge from sill to sill, equal distances apart, the edges of the end-beams being exactly even with the ends of the sills (Figs. 66 and 69). See that the beams all cross the sills at right angles, and toe-nail[10] them in place. You may now neatly Floor the Foundation with one-inch boards; these boards must be laid lengthwise with the building and crosswise with the beams. When this is finished, you will have a beautiful platform on which to work, where you will be in no danger of losing your tools, and you may use the floor as a table, on which to measure and plan the sides and roof. [Illustration: FIG. 69.] It is a good idea to Make Your Ridge-Plank and Rafters now, while the floor is clear of rubbish. Lay out and mark on the floor, with a carpenter’s soft pencil, a straight line, four feet long (A B, Fig. 70). At right angles to this draw another line, three feet six inches long (A D, Fig. 70). Connect these points (B D, Fig. 70), with a straight line, then complete the figure A B C D (Fig. 70). Now allow two inches at the top for the ridge-plank at B, and two by four for the end of the side plate at D. You then have a pattern for each rafter with a “plumb-edge” at B and a “bird’s-mouth” at D. The plumb-edge must be parallel with B C, and the two jaws of the bird’s-mouth (Fig. 71) parallel with D C and A D, respectively. Make six rafters of two-by-four-inch wood, one ridge-plank of two-by-six or seven-inch wood. [Illustration: FIGS. 70 and 71.] The “Purlins” and “Collar” can be made and fitted after the roof is raised. Set your roof-timber carefully to one side, and clear the floor for the studs, ribs, and plates. First prepare the end-posts, and make them of two-by-four. Each post is of two pieces (see Fig. 69). There will be four outside pieces which rest on the end-beams. These will be each five feet eight inches in length, and four inside pieces, each six feet in length; this allows two inches at the top for the ends of the end-plates to rest upon. Examine the Corner-Posts