r away ever the sea.
The air was bright, and stimulating, and exhilarating. All the scene
filled Tom's heart with gladness; and the approach of his deliverance
deepened and intensified this feeling.

XI.

Afloat again.--The rushing Water.--Down to the Bottom.--Desperate
Circumstances.--Can they be remedied?--New Hopes and Plans.

The boat was at last afloat before Tom's eyes.

At first he had thought of holding it by the painter, and patiently
standing on the beach, but the sight of it now changed his purposes.
He thought that it would be a far more sensible plan to get on board,
and keep the boat near the beach in that way. His bit of stick, which
he had found among the drift-wood, could be used as an oar, and was
good enough to enable him to move the boat as much as would be
necessary. As he would have to wait for six hours at least, it was a
matter of great importance that he should be as little fatigued as
possible, especially as he had to look forward to a voyage, after the
tide had fallen, attended with the possibility of increased labor and
exertion. All these thoughts came rapidly to his mind, but passed in
much less time than it takes to tell it, so that Tom had scarcely seen
the boat afloat than he rushed through the water, and clambered into
it. Then, taking his stick, he stood up and looked around.

The scene around has already been described. Tom kept his stick in the
water, so as to have it ready for use. He purposed keeping the boat at
a convenient distance from the shore by pushing and paddling. By
keeping it within a distance of from three to six yards, he thought he
would, for the present at least, be able to keep afloat, and yet avoid
the sweep of the tides. He did not expect to remain in this particular
spot all the time, but expected to find some place which would be out
of the way of the tide, where he could float comfortably without being
forced to keep in too close to the land.

But suddenly Tom's thoughts and speculations were rudely interrupted.

It appeared to him that there was a very unusual feeling about the
boat. She did not seem as high out of the water as she ought to have
been, and her bows seemed to be lower than they had been. There was
also a slight vibration in her, which he had never noticed before, and
which struck him now as very peculiar. In the midst of this there came
to his ears a low, faint, and scarcely perceptible sound, made up of
peculiar bubbl