Andy lashed the boards into place, threading the thongs through the
holes and drawing them round the brace several times at each place
where provision had been made for them. Thus a dozen thicknesses of
fibre bound the boards to the brace at each set of holes.

It was now necessary to collect the spruce gum and prepare it. Gum was
plentiful enough, and in half an hour they had collected enough to
half fill the frying-pan. To this was added a little lard, and the gum
and grease melted over the fire and thoroughly mixed.

"What you puttin' the grease in for?" asked Jamie curiously.

"So when we pours un in the cracks and she hardens she won't be
brittle and crack," David explained.

The hot mixture was now poured into the joints between the boards and
at all points where the new boards came into contact with the boat,
and into the holes where the lashings occurred. In a few minutes it
hardened, and the boys surveyed their work with pride and
satisfaction.

"Now we'll try un," said David, "and see if she leaks."

"She'll never leak where she's mended," asserted Andy.

They slipped the boat into the water and Andy's prediction proved
true. Not a drop of water oozed through the joints, and the boat was
as snug and tight and seaworthy as any boat that ever floated.

"'Tis too late to start to-night," said David, "but we'll be away at