is aside to use as a rudder.

But now, in what direction ought he to steer?

This was an insoluble problem. He could tell now by the flow of the
current the points of the compass, but could not tell in which
direction he ought to go. The New Brunswick coast he thought was
nearest, but he dreaded it. It seemed perilous and unapproachable. He
did not think much better of the Nova Scotia coast. He thought rather
of Cape d'Or, as a promising place of refuge, or the Petitcodiac. So,
after long deliberation, he decided on steering back again, especially
as the wind was blowing directly up the bay.

By the time that he had finished these preparations and deliberations
the boat was afloat. Eagerly Tom pushed it away from the shoal;
eagerly, and with trembling hands, he let the sail unfold, and thrust
the board into the water astern. The boat followed the impulse of the
wind, and the young sailor saw with delight that his experiment was
successful, and before long the dark rocks of Quaco Ledge were lost to
view.

Now, where there is a definite object to steer by, or a compass to
guide one, and a decent rudder, even an inexperienced hand can manage
to come somewhere near the point that he aims at. But take a boat like
Tom's, and a rude and suddenly extemporized sail, with no other rudder
than a bit of board, with no compass, and a surrounding of thick fog,
and it would puzzle even an experienced sailor to guide himself aright.
Tom soon suspected that his course was rather a wild one; his board in
particular became quite unmanageable, and he was fatigued with trying
to hold it in the water. So he threw it aside, and boldly trusted to
his sail alone.

The boat seemed to him to be making very respectable progress. The
wind was fresh, and the sea only moderate. The little waves beat over
the bows, and there was quite a commotion astern. Tom thought he was
doing very well, and heading as near as possible towards the
Petitcodiac. Besides, in his excitement at being thus saved from mere
blind drifting, he did not much care where he went, for he felt assured
that he was now on the way out of his difficulties.

In an hour or two after leaving the ledge it grew quite dark, and Tom
saw that it would be necessary to prepare for the night. His
preparations were simple, consisting in eating a half dozen biscuit.
He now began to feel a little thirsty, but manfully struggled against
this feeling. Gradually the darkness grew