ot be so bad a resting-place as he had been forced to use
while drifting in the boat. He had now become accustomed to hardship
by bitter experience, and so he looked forward to the night without
care.

The day had been an eventful one, indeed, for him, and his last
adventure had been full of peril, from which he had been most
wonderfully rescued.

These thoughts were in his mind, and he did not fail to offer up
prayers of heartfelt gratitude to that good and merciful Being who had
thus far so wonderfully preserved him. With such feelings in his
heart, he sought out a sleeping-place, and after some search he found a
mossy knoll. Seating himself here, he reclined his back against it,
and in a few minutes the worn-out boy was buried in a deep sleep.

He slept until late on the following day, and on waking looked around
to see if there were any sails in view. None were visible. The tide
was about half way up, and the wide waters spread before him without
any vessel in sight. He then began his preparations for the day. He
hung his shirt upon a bush, and spread out the wet sail on the grass.
An examination of the biscuit showed him that they had scarcely been
injured at all, the water having penetrated only the lower part of the
box. He removed the lower layer of biscuit, and spread them out on a
rock in the sun to dry. After this he breakfasted, and wandered about
for a time. He then took a swim, and felt much refreshed. By the time
that his swim was over, he found that the hot sun had dried his shirt,
so that he could once more assume that very important article of
clothing.

The sun climbed high towards the zenith, and the tide came up higher,
as Tom sat there alone on his desert island, looking out upon the sea.
The boat from which he had hoped so much had proved false to those
hopes, and all the labors of the previous day had proved useless. His
attempt to escape had nearly resulted in his destruction. He had
learned from that experiment that no efforts of his could now effect
his rescue. He had done the very best he could, and it would not be
possible for him, with his present resources, to contrive anything
better than that which had so miserably failed. If he could only
procure some tar, he might then stop up the interstices; but as it was,
nothing of his construction would avail to keep back the treacherous
entrance of the water. It seemed now to him that his stay on the
island was destined to be