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An American Robinson Crusoe by Samuel Buell Allison
page 25 of 108 (23%)

From his study of the woven cloth, Robinson saw he must have a firmer
thread than the strips of bark gave alone. He separated his bark into
long, thin strips. These he twisted into strands or yarn by rolling
between his hands, or on a smooth surface. As he twisted it he wound
it on a stick. It was slow, hard work. Of all his work, the making
of yarn or thread gave him the most trouble. He learned to twist it
by knotting the thread around the spindle or bobbin on which he wound
it and twirling this in the air. He remembered sadly the old spinning
wheel we had seen at his grandmother's house.

His next care was something to hold the threads while he wove them
in and out. He had never seen a loom.

After long study Robinson set two posts in the ground and these he
bound with seventy-two strands horizontally under each other. Then
he tied in the top at the left another thread and wove it in and out
through the seventy-two threads. So he tied seventy-two vertical
strands and wove them in and out. Thus he had a net three times as
long as his foot and as wide as long. He tied the four corners
together. He made a woven handle for it and put it on his shoulder
like a sack, saying gleefully, "This shall be my hunting bag."

[Illustration: ROBINSON'S LOOM]




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