His repast consisted of this, followed by the roast clams, which formed an agreeable variety.

Tom now felt like a giant refreshed; and while sitting in front of the evening fire, he occupied his mind with plans for the morrow, which were all directed towards enlarging his supply of provisions.

He awaked late on the next morning, and found the weather unchanged.  He tried to quell his impatience and disappointment, and feeling that idleness would never do, he determined to go to work at once, and carry out the plans of the preceding day.  It was now Thursday, the middle of the second week, and the fog had clung pertinaciously around him almost all that time.  It was indeed disheartening, and idleness under such circumstances would have ended in misery and despair; but Tom’s perseverance, and obstinate courage, and buoyant spirits enabled him still to rise above circumstances, and struggle with the gloom around him.

“O, go on, go on,” he muttered, looking around upon the fog.  “Let’s see who can stand it longest.  And now for my foraging expedition.”

Making a hearty repast out of the remnants of the supper of the preceding evening, he went first to the shore, so as to complete his search there while the tide should be low.  It was going down now, and the beach was all before him.  He wandered on till he came to where there was an immense ledge of sharp rocks, that went from the foot of the precipice down into the bay.  Over these he clambered, looking carefully around, until at last he reached the very lowest point.  Here he soon found some articles of diet, which were quite as valuable in their way as the clams and lobsters.  First of all, he found an immense quantity of large mussels.  These were entangled among the thick masses of sea-weed.  He knew that the flavor of mussels was much more delicate than that of clams or lobsters, and that by many connoisseurs these, when good and fresh, were ranked next to oysters.  This discovery, therefore, gave him great joy, and he filled his pan, which he had carried down, and took them back to the shore.  He also took an armful of sea-weed, and, reaching his camping-place, he threw the mussels in a hollow place in the sand, placing the sea-weed around them.  In this way he knew that they would keep fresh and sweet for any reasonable length of time.

Returning to the ledges of rock, he walked about among them, and found a number of pools, some of which were of considerable size.  These had been left by the retreating water; and in these hollows he soon saw a number of small objects moving about.  Some of them he caught without much difficulty, and saw that they were shrimps.  He had hoped to find some of these, but the discovery came to him like some unexpected pleasure, and seemed more than he had any right to count on.  Beside the shrimps his other discoveries seemed inferior.  There was a large number, and they could be caught without much trouble.  He soon filled his pan, and brought these also to his camping-place.  These he deposited in a little pool, which was on the surface of some rocks that lay not far from the shore.  Over these he also laid some sea-weed.