He would wait till the tide was
flowing in, as the waters from the open sea were somewhat less chilled
than when returning from the head of the fiord; he would take the waters
at their warmest, and try and try again to make a footing upon the
islet. Meantime he would not trouble himself with thoughts of being a
prisoner.

His cave was really a very pretty place. As its opening fronted the
west, he found that even here there might be sunshine. The golden light
which blesses the high and low places of the earth did not disdain to
cheer and adorn even this humble chamber, which, at the bidding of
nature, the waters had patiently scooped out of the hard rock. Some
hours after darkness had settled down on the lands of the tropics, and
long after the stars had come out in the skies over English heads, this
cave was at its brightest. As the sun drew to its setting, near the
middle of the Nordland summer night, it levelled its golden rays through
the cleft, and made the place far more brilliant than at noon. The
projections of the rough rock caught the beam, during the few minutes
that it stayed, and shone with a bright orange tint. The beach suddenly
appeared of a more dazzling white, and the waters of a deeper green,
while, by their motion, they cast quivering circles of reflected light
upon the roof, which had before been invisible. Rolf took this brief
opportunity to survey his abode carefully. He had supposed, from the
pleasant freshness of the air, that the cave was lofty; and he now saw
that the roof did indeed spring up to a vast height. He saw also that
there was a great deal of drift-wood accumulated; and some of it thrown
into such distant corners as to prove that the waves could dash up to a
much higher waterline, in stormy weather, than he had supposed. No
matter! He hoped to be gone before there were any more storms. Tired
and sleepy as he was, so near midnight, he made an exertion, while there
was plenty of light, to clear away the sea-weeds from a space on the
sand where he must to-morrow make his fire, and broil his fish. The
smell of the smallest quantity of burnt weed would be intolerable in so
confined a place: so he cleared away every sprout of it, and laid some
of the drift-wood on a spot above high-water mark, picking out the
driest pieces of fire-wood he could find for kindling a flame.

When this was done, he could have found in his heart to pick up shells,
so various and beautiful were