ked himself as he ate his biscuit. He
could not see why he should not be able to accomplish this. As far as
he could see, there ought to be plenty of shell-fish of various kinds
on these shores. The more he thought of it, the more probable it
seemed. He determined to solve the difficulty as soon as possible. On
former occasions he had arranged his work on the evening for the
succeeding day. On this evening he marked out this work for the
morrow, and arranged in his mind a comprehensive and most diligent
search for shell-fish, which should embrace the whole circuit of the
island.

With this in his mind, he arranged the fire as usual, so as to keep it
alive, and then retired to his camp for the night. The presence of a
roof over his head was grateful in the extreme. He let down the canvas
folds over the entrance, and felt a peculiar sense of security and
comfort. The moss and ferns which he had heaped up were luxuriously
soft and deliciously fragrant. Over these he stretched his wearied
limbs with a sigh of relief, and soon was asleep.

So comfortable was his bed, and so secure his shelter, that he slept
longer than usual. It was late when he awaked. He hurried forth and
looked around. The fog still rested over everything. If possible it
was thicker and more dismal than even on the preceding day. To his
surprise, he soon noticed that it had been raining quite heavily
through the night. Around, in many places, he saw pools of water, and
in the hollows of the rocks he saw the same. This could only have been
done by the rain. Going back to his camp, he saw that the canvas was
quite wet. And yet the rain had all rolled off. Not a drop had
entered. The moss and the fern inside were perfectly dry, and he had
not the slightest feeling of dampness about him. His camp was a
complete success.

He now went off to search for clams. The tide had been high at about
six in the morning. It was now, as he judged, about ten or eleven, and
the water was quite low. Selecting a piece of shingle from his
wood-pile, he walked down over the mud flat that extended from the
point, and, after going a little distance, he noticed the holes that
give indications of the presence of clams beneath. Turning up the sand,
he soon threw out some of them. He now dug in several different
places, and obtained sufficient for the day. These he carried back to
the bank in triumph. Then he stirred up his fire, heaped on plenty of
wood,