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Show 72 cancan in her rubber boots. "Not exactly," I stuttered. "It's to keep the water from splashing up between the logs." As we worked on the raft, the days gradually became longer. The snow began to melt from the mountainsides and wild flowers burst into bloom-the purple crocus and the bluebell. Geese and swans honked overhead, returning home. Spring was coming to the North, By the end of April the raft was finished. We christened her El Dorado, because she would take us to our land of gold. We waved her name from a flag atop the mast for all the world to see. I was proud of that raft. During the month of May I slept on the raft, just to keep an eye on her. One night as I was looking up into the starry heavens, I asked right out loud, "What do you think of this raft, Pa? What do you think?" He did not need to answer because I knew he liked it, just fine. That last month at Lake Bennett the stampeders, their boats finished, paced up and down the beach like caged animals. They dragged their boats out on the ice, each determined to be the first to sail. The El Dorado was there, too, loaded with our supplies, ready to go. |