f
cabin, which was scarcely habitable, and the summit of "The Man Rock,"
which was not difficult to scale.

From one or other of these refuges it was possible at low water, by
jumping from rock to rock, to gain the passage between the Douvres where
the Durande was fixed, almost without wetting the feet.

But low water lasts but a short while, and all the rest of the time he
would be cut off either from his shelter or from the wreck by more than
two hundred fathoms. Swimming among breakers is difficult at all times;
if there is the least commotion in the sea it is impossible.

He was driven to give up the idea of shelter in the sloop or on "The
Man."

No resting-place was possible among the neighbouring rocks.

The summits of the lower ones disappeared twice a day beneath the rising
tide.

The summits of the higher ones were constantly swept by the flakes of
foam, and promised nothing but an inhospitable drenching.

No choice remained but the wreck itself.

Was it possible to seek refuge there?

Gilliatt hoped it might be.

VII

A CHAMBER FOR THE VOYAGER

Half-an-hour afterwards, Gilliatt having returned to the wreck, climbed
to the deck, went below, and descended into the hold, completing the
summary survey of his first visit.

By the help of the capstan he had raised to the deck of the Durande the
package which he had made of the lading of the sloop. The capstan had
worked well. Bars for turning it were not wanting. Gilliatt had only to
take his choice among the heap of wreck.

He found among the fragments a chisel, dropped, no doubt, from the
carpenter's box, and which he added to his little stock of tools.

Besides this--for in poverty of appliances so complete everything counts
for a little--he had his jack-knife in his pocket.

Gilliatt worked the whole day long on the wreck, clearing away,
propping, arranging.

At nightfall he observed the following facts:

The entire wreck shook in the wind. The carcass trembled at every step
he took. There was nothing stable or strong except the portion of the
hull jammed between the rocks which contained the engine. There the
beams were powerfully supported by the granite walls.

Fixing his home in the Durande would be imprudent. It would increase the
weight; but far from adding to her burden, it was important to lighten
it. To burden the wreck in any way was indeed the very contrary of what
he wanted.

The mass of ruin required, in fact, the