They celebrated the erection of a new cabin as a noteworthy event.

As a social function it had a prominent place in the settlers' short list of pleasures.
Joe watched the proceeding with the same pleasure and surprise he had felt in everything pertaining to border life.
To him this log-raising appeared the hardest kind of labor.

Yet it was plain these hardy men, these low-voiced women, and merry children regarded the work as something far more significant than the mere building of a cabin.

After a while he understood the meaning of the scene.

A kindred spirit, the spirit of the pioneer, drew them all into one large family.