Young warriors were their escort into one of the great log houses, which
in their nature were much like the community houses found at a later day
in the far southwest. The building they entered was a full hundred and
twenty feet in length and about forty feet broad, and it had five fires,
each built in the center of its space. The walls and roof were of poles
thatched with bark, and there were no windows, but over each fire was a
circular opening in the roof where the air entered and the smoke went
out. If rain or storm came these orifices were covered with great
pieces of bark.
On the long sides of the walls extended platforms about six feet wide,
covered with furs and skins where the warriors slept. Overhead was a
bark canopy on top of which they placed their possessions. About a dozen
warriors were in the house, all lying down, but they rose and greeted
the three. Berths were assigned to them at once, food and water were
brought, and Robert, weary from the long march, decided that he would
sleep.
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