even more labour than the
first, for I could not get at it so well; besides, I had to widen the
aperture in the other, before I could reach the joining between two
pieces. The widening was not so difficult, as the soft plank split off
readily under the blade of my knife.

I worked cheerlessly at this second box, as I worked without hope. I
might have spared myself the pains; for during the operation the blade
of my knife frequently came in contact with what was inside, and I knew
from the soft dull object which resisted the steel with elastic silence,
that I was coming upon _cloth_. I might have spared myself any further
labour, but a kind of involuntary curiosity influenced me to go on--that
curiosity which refuses to be satisfied until demonstration is complete
and certain; and, thus impelled, I hewed away mechanically, till I had
reached the completion of the task.

The result was as I had expected--the contents were cloth!

The knife dropped from my grasp; and, overcome, as much by fatigue as by
the faintness produced by disappointment, I fell backward, and lay for
some minutes in a state of partial insensibility.

This lethargy of despair continued upon me for some time--I noted not
how long; but I was at length aroused from it by an acute pain, which I
felt in the tip of my middle finger. It was sudden as acute, and
resembled the pricking of a needle, or a sharp cut with the blade of a
knife.

I started suddenly up, thinking I had caught hold of my knife--while
half conscious of what I was doing--for I remembered that I had thrown
it with open blade beside me.

In a second or two, however, I was convinced that it was not that which
had caused me the pain. It was not a wound made with cold steel, but
with the venomous tooth of a living creature. I had been bitten by a
rat!

My lethargic indifference to my situation soon passed away, and was
succeeded by a keen sense of fear. I was now convinced, more than ever,
that my life was in danger from these hideous animals; for this was the
first actual attempt they had made upon my person _without provocation_.
Although my sudden movement, and the loud cries I involuntarily
uttered, had once more driven them off, I felt satisfied they would
become bolder anon, and take no heed of such idle demonstrations. I had
threatened them too often, without making them feel my power to punish
them.

Clearly it would not do to go to sleep again, with my person expose