ts drying.

It was now about three o'clock in the afternoon, and Tom's researches
along the shore were successfully terminated. He had found all the
different articles that he had thought of and his new acquisitions were
now lying about him.

These were,--

Clams,
Lobsters,
Mussels,
Shrimps,
Dulse.

As he murmured to himself the list of things, he smiled triumphantly.

But still there was work to be done. Tom intended to keep fashionable
hours, and dine late, with only a lunch in the middle of the day. His
explorations of the afternoon were to be important, and he hoped that
they would be crowned with a portion of that success which had attended
the work of the morning. He took, therefore, a hasty lunch of biscuit
and cold lobster, washed down with water, and then set forth.

This time he turned away from the shore, and went to the top of the
island. He carried in his hand a bit of rope, about a dozen feet in
length, and went along the edge of the cliff as far as he could,
turning aside at times to avoid any clumps of trees or bushes that grew
too thickly. In front of him the line of cliff extended for some
distance, and he walked along, until, at last, he came to a place where
the gulls flew about in larger flocks than usual, almost on a line with
the top of the rock. He had not noticed them particularly on his
former walk along here; but now he watched them very attentively, and
finally stood still, so as to see their actions to better advantage.

Tom, in fact, had made up his mind to procure some gulls' eggs,
thinking that these would make an addition to his repast of great
importance; and he now watched the motions of these birds, so as to
detect the most accessible of their nests. He did not have to watch
long. A little observation showed him a place, just under the cliff,
not far away from him. Hastening forward, he bent over, and, looking
down, he saw a large number of nests. They had been constructed on a
shelf of rock immediately below the edge of the cliff, and the eggs
were within easy reach. The gulls flew about wildly, as the intruder
reached down his hands towards their nests, and screamed and shrieked,
while some of them rushed towards him, within a few feet of his head,
as though they would assail him and beat him off. But Tom's
determination did not falter. He cared no more for the gulls than if
they were so many pigeons, but secured as many eggs as he could carry.
Th