ce from below? Why not make a platform by
building stones around the post, until they had reached above watermark,
and then stand upon these? The very thing itself. A few stones, I had
noticed already, were piled around the base, no doubt placed there to
make the staff more firm. It would only be to bring up more stones,
build them into a _cairn_, and then get on the top of them!

Delighted with this new project of safety, I lost not a moment in
setting about carrying it into effect. There were plenty of loose
boulders lying over the reef, and I supposed that in a few minutes I
could heap up enough of them to serve the purpose; but I had not worked
long before I perceived that the job would occupy me longer than I had
anticipated. The stones were slippery, and this hindered me greatly in
carrying them--some were too heavy for me, and others that I had
supposed to be loose, I found to be half buried in sand, and held so
fast that I could not draw them out.

Notwithstanding these impediments, I worked on with all the strength and
energy I could command. I knew that in time I could raise the cairn as
high as required, but time had now become the all-engrossing subject of
my thoughts.

The tide had long since turned; it was rising; slowly and continuously
it was lipping nearer and nearer--slowly but with certainty was it
coming; and I perceived all this!

I had many a fall, as I scrambled to and fro; and my knees were bleeding
from contact with the hard stones; but these were not matters to grieve
about, nor was it a time to give way to hardships, however painful to
endure. A far greater hardship threatened--the loss of life itself--and
I needed no urging to make me persevere with my work.

I had raised the pile up to the height of my head before the tide had
yet risen over the rocks, but I knew that this would not be high enough.
Two feet more was wanted to bring the top of my cairn on a level with
high-water mark; and to accomplish this I slaved away without thinking
of a moment's rest. The work as it went on became more difficult. The
loose stones that lay near had all been used, and I was obliged to go
far out on the reef to procure others. This led to a great many severe
falls, in which both my hands and knees were badly bruised; besides, it
prevented me from making rapid progress. There was another cause that
delayed me. At the height of four feet the pile was on a level with the
crown of my head, an