Soon after the arrival of the Chandler family in the township Mr. Chandler commenced preparations to build a house. Before the coming of May he had a frame up, ready to cover; also a supply of boards and nails. Keeping house at Mr. HarrimanÕs, where the room was so limited, had become irksome to both families. Mrs. Chandler cherished a strong desire for a home of her own at the earliest possible date. One day, early in May, Mr. Chandler was to start on a business trip to Bangor on horseback. He would be absent three days. As he rode from the dooryard Mrs. Chandler mysteriously hinted that on his return he would find something to surprise him. He had no sooner disappeared in the forest than she summoned their hired man, Sampson Silver, to he assistance, directing him to equip himself with the necessary tools and go to the house frame which was short distance away and nail to frame and rafters enough boards to shield herself and family from wind and rain. Mr. Silver, entering into the spirit of the joke, had accomplished the work he was directed to do by nightfall of the first day. At the close of the second day, which opened auspiciously for the accomplishment of their plans, beds, cooking utensils, and other things necessary to a rude form of housekeeping had been moved in and the family had taken possession of their new quarters.

But now to their dismay ominous clouds were rapidly gathering. About midnight while the members of this little family might have been indulging in pleasant dreams, inspired by the sentiment that Òbe it ever so humble there is no place like home,Ó the rain suddenly came, and, to use a modern phrase, Òthe storm centerÓ seemed to rest directly over the devoted household. With the ready command of expedients characteristic of the early settlers, Mrs. Chandler promptly summoned the hired man, and together they rolled beds and bedding into the smallest possible compass and covered them with boards which were at hand, thus saving them from getting wet. The morning of the third day dawned pleasantly and it was spent in obliterating the traces of the recent rain and preparations for the reception of Mr. Chandler on his return from Bangor.

The mind of the latter as he approached his home was sharply exercised over the solution of the character of the surprise that awaited his return. Emerging from the shadows of the forest, just as night was settling over the scene, into the little opening which he had often looked on as the site of his future residence, he met his wife who smilingly invited him to the comforts of their new home. This was the surprise so mysteriously suggested as he rode from the Harriman cabin three days earlier. Mr. Chandler now continued the work on the new house which Mrs. Chandler had so heroically begun, until it reached the condition of a comfortable dwelling.