noon
We landed the big box , loaded it upon the wagon , and hauled it up to the site which had been chosen for the new home of the Gracewoods , not a hundred feet from the Castle . While a portion of the troops carted the lumber , the others prepared the foundation of the house . A series of posts were set in the ground , and sawed off on a level about a foot above the sod , so as to make the lower floor dry and comfortable . On those were laid the sills , and before noon the building was up and half covered . All the boards and timbers were numbered , and so many men made quick work of it . In the middle of the afternoon the last board had been screwed on , the sides of the house had been banked and sodded , and the structure was ready to receive the furniture . Mr. Gracewood had used a ladder to reach the attic where he slept ; but Mr. Jackson thought he ought to have stairs for his wife and daughter .