y heart. I used to tell him all about England, and
how various articles in common use were manufactured. I taught him a
good deal of history and geography; and even arithmetic, by making use
of pebbles. By this exercise of my memory I benefited greatly, as I was
thus induced to recall subjects which I should otherwise in time have
forgotten.

Our comparatively pleasant life was, however, at length to come to an
end. From some motive which we could not understand--perhaps because
they thought we should attempt to escape--the savages at length
separated us, and compelled us to sleep in different huts; while we were
employed apart during the day. Harry, however, contrived one evening to
find me; and I then urged him, if he had an opportunity of escaping by
himself, not to run the risk of being caught by coming to look for me.
I said that I would either follow, or that perhaps Mudge would manage by
some means or other to obtain my liberty, should he not already have
left the island. There was some risk of this being the case, we agreed;
and if so, Harry said that he would come back to me rather than have to
live alone in Taboo Land, as we called it.

Several days passed after this, and though I looked about for Harry, I
could nowhere meet with him, so I began to hope that he had escaped.
Sometimes the dreadful idea occurred to me that the savages might have
killed him; and I was more inclined to think this, owing to the way in
which they began to treat me. I was made to work harder than ever; and
even the women, who had hitherto looked kindly on me, turned away their
faces; and I was often almost starving, being glad of the scraps left by
the women after their lords and masters had handed them the remains of
their meals. Still, being of a buoyant disposition, I did not give way
to despair, and trusted that I might some day effect my escape. I had
various plans for doing so. If I could get down to the coast, I thought
that I might make my way along the beach, hiding among the rocks in the
day time, and moving on in the water just at the margin at night, so
that no traces of my footsteps might be left.

As I returned very regularly to my hut at night, my savage masters
became less vigilant than before. At last I felt my captivity so
irksome that I determined at all risks to put my plan into execution. I
came back as usual to the village in the evening, and, pretending to
have hurt my foot, as soon as I had eaten