turn from midnight
until one of the clock. Then, he explained to them about the burst plank
in the bottom of the boat, and how that it would have to be put right
before we could hope to leave the island, and that after that night we
should have to go most strictly with the victuals; for there seemed to be
nothing upon the island, that we had up till then discovered, fit to
satisfy our bellies. More than this, if we could find no fresh water, he
should have to distil some to make up for that which we had drunk, and
this must be done before leaving the island.

Now by the time that the bo'sun had made an end of explaining these
matters, we had ceased from eating, and soon after this we made each one
of us a comfortable place in the sand within the tent, and lay down to
sleep. For a while, I found myself very wakeful, which may have been
because of the warmth of the night, and, indeed, at last I got up and
went out of the tent, conceiving that I might the better find sleep in
the open air. And so it proved; for, having lain down at the side of the
tent, a little way from the fire, I fell soon into a deep slumber, which
at first was dreamless. Presently, however, I came upon a very strange
and unsettling dream; for I dreamed that I had been left alone on the
island, and was sitting very desolate upon the edge of the brown-scummed
pit. Then I was aware suddenly that it was very dark and very silent, and
I began to shiver; for it seemed to me that something which repulsed my
whole being had come quietly behind me. At that I tried mightily to turn
and look into the shadows among the great fungi that stood all about me;
but I had no power to turn. And the thing was coming nearer, though never
a sound came to me, and I gave out a scream, or tried to; but my voice
made no stir in the rounding quiet; and then something wet and cold
touched my face, and slithered down and covered my mouth, and paused
there for a vile, breathless moment. It passed onward and fell to my
throat--and stayed there ...

Some one stumbled and felt over my feet, and at that, I was suddenly
awake. It was the man on watch making a walk round the back of the tent,
and he had not known of my presence till he fell over my boots. He was
somewhat shaken and startled, as might be supposed; but steadied himself
on learning that it was no wild creature crouched there in the shadow;
and all the time, as I answered his inquiries, I was full of a strange,
horrid feeli