The old man stood amid a group of boys who were notching the logs. He had evidently been showing them some improvement on their methods, for as the scoutmaster stood there, he heard one of them say: "Is that right, Mr. Grimstone? Is that the way you mean?" The old man nodded. "You've got it, son; you'll find that'll save you a lot of time." "Say, Mr. Grimstone," piped up Harry Vedder, from the other side of the cabin, "won't you come over here, please?" "You wait a minute, Dumpling!" admonished Bob Gibson. "I'm next. He promised to give me some points about fitting 'em together." The scoutmaster's smile deepened as he came forward. "I guess I'll have to appoint you building foreman, Mr. Grimstone," he said. "Looks as if you knew a lot more about log-cabins than I ever will." From force of habit the other frowned, but his eyes were twinkling. "I'd orter, I reckon," he returned. "I built enough of 'em when I was loggin' up state. If it wan't for this pesky arm--" "That needn't interfere. You won't have to lift a finger. The boys are only too ready to work when they know how. Seriously, if you could oversee the building part, it would help us a lot. Then I could give all my time to getting out the logs, cleaning up, and looking after the chimney." "I s'pose I can," observed the old man, briefly. "I ain't fit for much else jest now--an' the sooner you're done, the sooner the mess'll be cleared up." So it was arranged, and the following Saturday found Mr. Grimstone promptly on the job. There was no question of his pleasure in the work, in spite of the occasional grumblings to which he gave vent in odd moments when he was not entirely lost in the novel occupation. To these the boys paid scant attention. They seemed to realize that they were merely superficial and really meant nothing, and from the first they got on admirably with the old man. They even joshed and joked with him, and before long he was retorting with sundry dry comments that sent them off into shouts of laughter. Under his supervision the cabin grew apace. When the logs were all cut and carried in, Mr. Curtis devoted himself mainly to the stone chimney which, though necessarily slower and more difficult work, progressed very well. The opening was made to take four-foot logs, and the stone facing filled up more than half that end of the cabin. The boys could not wait for its completion to give it a baptism of fire. When the sides were up three feet or more, they kindled a blaze and cooked lunch there--the first meal to be prepared in the cabin.