long in
such a way that he was about a hundred yards from the island, and
seemed to be drifting up the bay. The dark, shadowy shores were much
farther away than he had suspected. While struggling to bale out the
boat, he had forgotten how necessary it was to keep near to the shore.
He now saw his mistake, and strove to paddle the boat back again. With
such a clumsy oar it is not likely that he could have achieved his
desire at all, had the flood tide been stronger; but now it was about
at its height, and would soon turn, if it was not turning already. The
current, therefore, was but a weak one, and Tom found himself able to
move slowly back; but his progress was very slow, and working at such a
disadvantage was excessively fatiguing. At last he saw that if he
trusted to paddling he could never reach the shore. In a moment
another idea suggested itself; there was no time to lose, and he at
once acted on it. Darting forward, he loosed the sail. The wind was
still blowing from the north; at once the sail was filled, and,
yielding to this new power, the boat began to move more rapidly. Tom
tied the sheet astern, and, seizing his paddle, tried to scull the
boat. For some minutes he kept up this work, and the boat moved
steadily forward, nearer and still nearer, until the land was at length
not more than thirty or forty yards off.

But by this time the danger had come nearer, and the boat was already
half full of water. Tom began to see that it could not float as far as
the shore. What was he to do? He waited a little longer. He looked
around. The boat was drawing nearer, yet soon it must go down. To
ease it, it would be necessary to relieve it of his own weight. He did
not lose his presence of mind for a moment, but determined at once to
jump overboard. In his perfect coolness he thought of one or two
things which were of importance to him, and performed them swiftly and
promptly. First he took the box of biscuit, and placed it on the heap
of boards and canvas in the bows, so that it might remain as long as
possible out of reach of the water. Then he took the card of matches
out of his waistcoat pocket, and put them in his hat, which he replaced
on his head. To secure thus from damage the two necessaries of food
and fire was but the work of a few seconds. To throw off his coat,
waistcoat, and trousers, and hang them over the top of the short mast,
was the work of a few seconds more. By the time this had