at last, after what seemed to me an age of waiting for it, a little pinkish tone began to glow in the mist to the eastward; and as that honest light got stronger the death-fires on the old galleon and on the wrecks around her paled quickly until they were snuffed out altogether—and then came the customary morning down-pour of rain.
with the return of the blessed daylight, and with the enlivening douse of cool fresh water upon me, i got to be myself again: my fanciful fears of the night-time leaving me, and my mind coming back soberly to a consideration of my actual needs. of these the most pressing, as my stomach told me, was to get my breakfast; and when that matter, in a very poor way, had been attended to, and i had drunk what water i needed—without much relishing it—from a pool that had formed on the deck where the timbers sagged down a little, i was in better heart to lay out for myself a plan of campaign.
in one way planning was not necessary. by holding to a northerly course i believed that i had got at least half way across my continent, and my determination was fixed to keep on by the north—rather than risk a fresh departure that might only carry me by a fresh way again into the depths of the tangle—until i should come once more to the open sea: if i may call open sea that far outlying expanse of ocean covered with thick-grown weed. but it was needful that i should plan for my supply of food as i went onward, that was to be got only by returning to the far-away barque; and also i felt an itching desire—as strong as at first blush it was unreasonable—to carry away with me some part of the treasure that i had found. that i ever should get out into the world again, and so have the good of my riches, seemed likely to me only in my most sanguine moments; but even on the slimmest chance of accomplishing my own deliverance i had a very natural human objection to leaving behind me the wealth that i had found through such peril—only to lie there for a while longer idly, and then to be lost forever when the galleon sank to the bottom of the sea.
as to the gold, it was plain that i could carry off so little of it that i might as well resign myself—having that which was better worth working for—to losing it all. but my treasure of jewels was another matter. this was so very much more valuable than the gold—for the stones for the most part were of a prodigious size and a rare fineness—that between the two there really was no comparison; and at the same time it was so compact in bulk and so petty in weight that i might easily carry the whole of it with me and a good store of food too. and so, to make a beginning, i picked the stones out of the slimy and stinking ooze in which they were lying and washed them clean in the pool of water on the deck; and then i packed them snugly into the shirt-sleeve in which my beans had been stored—and tickled myself the while with the fancy that most men would be willing for the sake of stuffing a shirt-sleeve that way to cut off the arm to which it belonged.
my packing being finished, and my precious bag laid away in a corner of the cabin until i should come to fetch it again, i was in a better mood for facing my long march back to the barque: for i had come to have fortune as well as life to work for, and those two strong stimulants to endeavor working together gave my spirits a great upward pull. and, fortunately, my cheerfulness staid by me through my long scrambling struggle backward along my blazed path; nor was it, in reality, as hard a journey as i had expected it to be—for i had but a light load of food to carry, barely enough to last me through, and the marks which i had left upon the wrecks in passing made my way plain. and so, at last, i got back to the barque one evening about sunset, and had almost a feeling of homecoming in boarding her again; and i was thankful enough to be able to eat all the supper i wanted, and then to lie down comfortably in her clean cabin and to rest myself in sound slumber after my many restless nights on rotten old ships reeking with a chill dampness that struck into my very bones.
i slept soundly and woke refreshed; and for that i was thankful, since the work cut out for me—to get back to the galleon with enough provisions to last me until i could cross the rest of the wreck-pack—was about as much as a strong man in good condition could do. however, i had thought of something that would make this hard job less difficult; for the ease with which i had carried a part of my food in long narrow bags, sausage-fashion—thereby getting rid of both the weight and the awkwardness of the tins—had put into my head the notion of carrying in that way the whole of my fresh supply, and so carrying at least twice as much of it. and i calculated—since i could go rapidly along my blazed path—that by cutting myself down to very short rations i could get back to the galleon with a bigger stock of provisions than that with which i left the barque when i made my first start toward the north—and if the galleon lay, as i believed that she did, about in the centre of the pack, this would give me enough food to last me until i got across to the other side. so i rummaged out some more of the linen shirts that i had found—taking a fresh one for my own wear to begin with—and set myself to my sausage-making with the sleeves of them; packing each sleeve with beans as tight as i could ram it, and working over each a netting of light line that i finished off with loops at the ends. ten of my big sausages i made into a bundle to be carried on my shoulders like a knapsack; and the rest i arranged to swing by their loops from a rope collar about my neck, with another rope run through the lower loops to be made fast about my waist and so hold them steady—and this arrangement, as i found when i tried it, answered very well. and finally, that i might carry my jewels the more securely, i cut off a sleeve from the oil-skin jacket to serve for an outer casing for them, and took along also some of the light line to net over the bundle and make it solid and strong; in that way guarding against the chance of their rubbing a hole in their linen covering—by which i might have lost them all.
i worked fast over my packing, and got it all finished and was ready to start away by not a great while after sunrise; yet when the time for my start came i hesitated a little, so darkly uncertain seemed the issue of the adventure that i had in hand. indeed, the whole of my project was a wild one, such as no man not fairly driven into it would have entertained at all. its one certainty was that only by excessive toil could i even hope to carry it through. all else was doubtful: for i knew not how distant were the farther bounds of the desolate dead region into which i was bent upon penetrating; nor had i ground for believing—since i had food in plenty where i was—that i would gain anything by traversing it; and back of all that was the gloomy chance of some accident befalling me that would end in my dying miserably by the way. while i was busily employed in making ready for my march i had grown quite cheerful; but suddenly my little crop of good spirits withered within me, and when at last i did go forward it was with a very heavy heart.
