But we set to work upon it with a
will. We tightened up the nuts and screws all over it, and wound
the broken pole with wire. We nailed together the box so that the
rope could be taken off, and oiled the creaking springs. We had
no trouble in finding a top, as half the people in the country
had come in wagons provided with covers only a year or so before.
We got four bows and attached them to the box, one at each end,
and the other two at equal distances between. These bows were
made of hard-wood, and were a quarter of an inch thick and an
inch and a half wide. They ran up straight on either side for two
or three feet, and then rounded over, like a croquetwicket, being
high enough so that as we stood upright in the wagon-box our
heads would just nicely clear them. Over this skeleton we
stretched our white canvas cover, and tied it down tightly along
the sides. This made what we called the cabin. There was an ample
flap in front, which could be let down at night and fastened back
inside during the day. At the rear end the cloth folded around,
and was drawn together with a "puckering-string," precisely like
a button-bag.
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