sailors would call it, was now slipped over the stake, and the rope hauled
tight by drawing up the tie block, as shown in Fig. 43. A still later
improvement consisted in making ties of stout galvanized iron wire, bent
to the form shown in Fig. 44. The wooden ties were apt to swell and split
open when exposed to the weather, while the wire ties could always be
relied upon.

The walls of the tent were held down along the bottom by railway spikes
hooked through the tent loops and driven into the ground. Wooden pegs with
notches to catch the loops would have served as well, but Dutchy happened
to find a number of the spikes along the track and in his usual convincing
manner argued that they were far better than pegs because their weight
would hold the cloth down even if they were not firmly embedded in the
ground.



The Annex.

[Illustration: Fig. 46. Cutting out the Annex.]

[Illustration: Fig. 47. The Annex Applied.]

We were surprised to find out how small the tent was after it was set up.
We could see at once that when we had put in all the stores and provisions
we would need, there would not be room enough for six boys and a man to
stretch themselves out comfortably in it. Bill had evidently made a
miscalculation, but he suggested that we remedy the error by building an
annex for our kitchen utensils and supplies.