t even a cloud
on which to rest my aching eyes. The want of water which I could drink
was now becoming terrible. When I thought of it, my head began to turn;
my brain seemed to be on fire; and the public basins of Caneville, where
only the lowest curs used to quench their thirst, danced before me to add
to my torture; for I thought, though I despised them once, how I could
give treasures of gold for one good draught at the worst of them just
then.

There is not a misfortune happens to us from which we may not derive good
if our hearts are not quite hardened, and our minds not totally
impenetrable. Great as my sufferings were during this incident of my
life, I learnt from it much that has been useful to me in after years.
But even if it had taught me no other truth than that we should despise
nothing which is good and wholesome, merely because it is ordinary, I
should not have passed through those sad hours in vain. We dogs are so
apt, when in prosperity, to pamper our appetites, and, commonly speaking,
to turn up our noses at simple food, that we require, from time to time,
to be reminded on how little canine life can be preserved. All have not
had the advantage of the lesson which I was blessed with; for it _was_ a
blessing; one that has so impressed itself on my memory, that sometimes
when I fancy I cannot eat anything that is put before me, because it is
too much done, or not done enough, or has some other real or supposed
defect, I say to myself, "Job, Job, what would you have given for a tiny
bit of the worst part of it when you were at sea?" And then I take it at
once, and find it excellent.

As the sun got lower, clouds, the same in shape that had welcomed him in
the morning, rose up from the sea as if to show their pleasure at his
return. He sunk into the midst of them and disappeared; and then the
clouds came up and covered all the sky. I suffered less in the cool
evening air, and found with pleasure that it was growing into a breeze.
My pleasure soon got greater still, for, with the wind, I felt some drops
of rain! The first fell upon my burning nose; but the idea of fresh water
was such a piece of good fortune, that I dared not give loose to my joy
until the drops began to fall thickly on and around me, and there was a
heavy shower. I could scarcely give my rough coat time to get thoroughly
wet before I began sucking at it. It was not nice at first, being mixed
with the salt spray by which I had been so ofte