Father and Uncle Bob were building a small log house - at least it looked like that, but it had no roof, no windows and an open doorway. It had taken only one day to build it, and they had not bothered to take the bark off the logs.
No, it wasn’t going to be a playhouse, it was going to be an ice house. But what is an ice house? And what is it for? Uncle Bob liked to tease and to say it was something to make little girls ask questions.
The next day, they made several trips to Mr. Brooks’ sawmill to get sawdust. Finally they had a big pile of it leaning against one side of the ice house.
The following day, Father announced at breakfast, “We’ll be cutting ice today. It looks nice and thick. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all of thirty inches already. You girls can ride along and watch, but not too closely! It could get dangerously slippery when the water starts sloshing up over the ice.”
“I hope you men will be careful yourselves too,” Mother said, worrying. “This is one job I’ll be glad to see finished.”
Father was in a hurry to get started, so Mother excused the girls from dishes, and they were soon bouncing down the swamp road in the bobsled.
“Watch out for that big ice saw,” Father warned. “Those teeth have just been sharpened!” It was the longest saw the girls had ever seen. It was lying on the floor of the bobsled where they sat. Beside it was a big pair of iron ice tongs shaped like a huge chicken’s wishbone.
When they got out onto the ice, they found Uncle Bob was already shoveling the snow away from the place where they would be cutting. Father immediately began chopping and chipping to make a hole large enough to fit the big saw through.
“Say, this is really thick, Bob! I’m sure I’ve chopped through more than thirty inches already. There she comes! There’s the water! Good enough.”
Father laid the axe and chisel in the bobsled, for he always took good care of his tools. Next he carefully fitted the long saw down into the hole he had made. He began to pull it up and down, up and down, clear across the same spot Uncle Bob had shoveled. As the girls watched with big eyes, he began to cut large squares, and the icy water began to slosh up around his feet.
When he had a row of blocks cut, he got the ice tongs, pulled a big block of ice right out of the water and put it in the back of the bobsled. Then another and another.
Uncle Bob had finished shoveling and had started sawing another row of blocks while Father continued to pile them into the sled.
“Guess this will do for the first load,” Father finally said. “Want to ride on top, girls? Here you go!” Father swung them up. It was cold sitting up on their icy perch, and it seemed high up in the air. Peggy held on to Naomi, who didn’t seem to be afraid. The load was heavy and the horses pulled more slowly on the way back home.
“Now I’ll have to unload,” Father explained, as they pulled along side of the ice house. “Run into the house and warm up. Tell Mother that Bob and I will be in for a cup of coffee before long.”
The morning flew by, and by mid-afternoon there were rows and rows of square chunks of clear ice stacked one on top of the other. They were placed on the opposite side of the ice house from the big pile of sawdust. Back at the lake, there was now a big square of open water looking cold and dark.
“This might freeze nice and smooth tonight!” Uncle Bob was thinking out loud. “In a few days, if it doesn’t snow, it might be thick enough again to make a good, smooth skating rink for you girls.”
“Well Bob, that’s a good job done, isn’t it? Tomorrow we’ll pack it into the ice house and I think we should celebrate by churning up some ice cream. How does that sound, girls? Wait till you taste it -beats the store stuff all hollow, doesn’t it, Bob?”
The next day, the girls learned how the sawdust was to be used. Layers of it were shoveled in and packed around every chunk of ice they put into the ice house. When the last of the ice was fitted snugly in the sawdust and completely buried, it all filled every crack and crevice.
“There now,” Father exclaimed with satisfaction, “you’ll see that the saw dust will keep the ice from melting right through the heat of the summer and even into the fall. Now let’s go make that ice cream!”
While the girls watched, their father put a big chunk of ice into a burlap sack and whacked it hard with the flat side of an axe. Uncle Bob brought the ice cream freezer in from the kitchen shed. Mother filled the center container with a mixture of eggs, milk, cream, sugar and a little vanilla, then fitted a snug lid over it. Uncle Bob began to fill the crushed ice around the center container, sprinkling salt between the layers of ice.
“Why do you put salt on the ice?” Helen asked.
“I think it makes the ice colder, doesn’t it?” Naomi suggested.
“Well, in a way it does, because it makes the ice melt faster, and that makes the ice cream freeze more quickly. Now who wants to turn the handle? Why don’t you start, Peggy Jean; it’s easy now. After a while when the ice cream starts freezing, you’ll see it will get harder to turn.”
Each of the girls took several turns, and then Uncle Bob finished turning until it felt very stiff. Everyone gathered around, watching eagerly as Mother carefully brushed the top, wiping away bits of ice and salt. Then she lifted off the top and drew from the center the part she called the dasher, which she laid on a clean platter. Then each one got a spoon and helped to clean off the dasher, enjoying the delicious first taste.
“Mmmmmhh!” For a few moments everyone was too busy to talk. But all too soon, every bit was licked up and Uncle Bob put the freezer outside to “set firmer” until time for dessert.
Later, as each enjoyed a generous bowlful, the girls thought it was more than worth all the hard day’s work filling the ice house.