At first he had thought of holding it by the painter, and patiently standing on the beach, but the sight of it now changed his purposes.  He thought that it would be a far more sensible plan to get on board, and keep the boat near the beach in that way.  His bit of stick, which he had found among the drift-wood, could be used as an oar, and was good enough to enable him to move the boat as much as would be necessary.  As he would have to wait for six hours at least, it was a matter of great importance that he should be as little fatigued as possible, especially as he had to look forward to a voyage, after the tide had fallen, attended with the possibility of increased labor and exertion.  All these thoughts came rapidly to his mind, but passed in much less time than it takes to tell it, so that Tom had scarcely seen the boat afloat than he rushed through the water, and clambered into it.  Then, taking his stick, he stood up and looked around.

The scene around has already been described.  Tom kept his stick in the water, so as to have it ready for use.  He purposed keeping the boat at a convenient distance from the shore by pushing and paddling.  By keeping it within a distance of from three to six yards, he thought he would, for the present at least, be able to keep afloat, and yet avoid the sweep of the tides.  He did not expect to remain in this particular spot all the time, but expected to find some place which would be out of the way of the tide, where he could float comfortably without being forced to keep in too close to the land.

But suddenly Tom’s thoughts and speculations were rudely interrupted.

It appeared to him that there was a very unusual feeling about the boat.  She did not seem as high out of the water as she ought to have been, and her bows seemed to be lower than they had been.  There was also a slight vibration in her, which he had never noticed before, and which struck him now as very peculiar.  In the midst of this there came to his ears a low, faint, and scarcely perceptible sound, made up of peculiar bubbling and gurgling noises, which sounded from the boat.

One brief examination showed him that the boat was certainly very much deeper in the water than she had been.

Five seconds later her bows had sunk farther.

Two seconds more, and Tom’s feet were surrounded by water up to his ankles.

The boat was filling!

Scarce had he made this discovery than the water rose swiftly up, the boat sank quickly down, the sea rolled over her sides, and the boat went to the bottom.