d arrive at the full recollection of
his situation. Gradually it all came before him--the night of horror,
the long drift, the frantic struggles, the boom of the surf, the
shrill, penetrating tone of the fog horn, his own wild screams for
help, the thunder of the breakers, and the grasp of the giant wave; all
these, and many more, came back to his mind; and he was all too soon
enabled to connect his present situation with the desperate position of
the preceding night.

In spite of all these gloomy thoughts, which thus rushed in one
accumulated mass over his soul, his first impulse had nothing to do
with these things, but was concerned with something very different from
useless retrospect, and something far more essential. He found himself
ravenously hungry; and his one idea was to satisfy the cravings of his
appetite.

He thought at once of the box of biscuit.

The sail which he had pulled forward had very fortunately covered it
up, else the contents might have been somewhat damaged. As it was, the
upper edges of the biscuits, which had been exposed before being
covered by the sail, were somewhat damp and soft, but otherwise they
were not harmed; and Tom ate his frugal repast with extreme relish.
Satisfying his appetite had the natural effect of cheering his spirits,
and led him to reflect with thankfulness on the very fortunate presence
of that box of biscuit in the boat. Had it not been for that, how
terrible would his situation be! But with that he could afford to
entertain hope, and might reasonably expect to endure the hardships of
his situation. Strange to say, he was not at all thirsty; which
probably arose from the fact that he was wet to the skin.

Immersing one's self in water is often resorted to by shipwrecked
mariners, when they cannot get a drink, and with successful results.
As for Tom, his whole night had been one long bath, in which he had
been exposed to the penetrating effects of the sea air and the fog.

He had no idea whatever of the time. The sun could not be seen, and so
thick was the fog that he could not even make out in what part of the
sky it might be. He had a general impression, however, that it was
midday; and this impression was not very much out of the way. His
breakfast refreshed him, and he learned now to attach so much value to
his box of biscuit, that his chief desire was to save it from further
injury. So he hunted about for the cover, and finding it underneath
the oth