lled the boat slowly towards the shore. He then
towed it near to the rocks, dragged its bows up as far as he could, and
fastened it securely.

Then he looked around.

A few rocks were near him, about six feet high, jutting out of the
gravel; and beyond these were others, which rose out of the water. Most
of them were covered with sea-weed. A few sticks of timber were wedged
in the interstices of the nearest rocks. As to the rest, he saw only a
rocky ledge of small extent, which was surrounded by water. Beyond
this nothing was visible but fog.

At first he had thought that this was a beach, but now he began to
doubt this. He walked all around, and went into the water on every
side, but found no signs of any neighboring shore. The place seemed
rather like some isolated ledge. But where was it, and how far away
was the shore? If he could only tell that! He stopped, and listened
intently; he walked all around, and listened more intently still, in
hopes of hearing the sound of some neighboring surf. In vain. Nothing
of the kind came to his ears. All was still. The water was not rough,
nor was there very much wind. There was only a brisk breeze, which
threw up light waves on the surface.

After a time he noticed that the tide was going down, and the area of
the ledge was evidently enlarging. This inspired hope, for he thought
that perhaps some long shoal might be disclosed by the retreating tide,
which might communicate with the main land. For this he now watched
intently, and occupied himself with measuring the distance from the
rock where his boat was tied. Doing this from time to time, he found
that every little while the number of paces between the rock and the
water's edge increased. This occupation made the time pass rapidly;
and at last Tom found his stopping-place extending over an area of
about a hundred yards in length, and half as many in breadth. The
rocks at one end had increased in apparent size, and in number; but the
ledge itself remained unchanged in its general character.

This, he saw, was its extreme limit, beyond which it did not extend.
There was no communication with any shore. There was no more
indication now of land than when he had first arrived. This discovery
was a gradual one. It had been heralded by many fears and suspicions,
so that at last, when it forced itself on his convictions, he was not
altogether unprepared. Still, the shock was terrible, and once more
poor To