The post which he had cut off was then sharpened at one end, so that he
could fix it in the sand when the time came, should it ever come. Here,
then, these preparations were completed.

After all his labor in the cabin nothing was found. The bedding, the
mattresses, the chests, the nautical instruments had all been ruined.
The tables and chairs fell to pieces when the sand was removed; the
doors and wood-work sank away; the cabin when cleared remained a wreck.

The weather continued hot and dry. At night Brandon flung himself down
wherever he happened to be, either at the brig or at the rock. Every day
he had to go to the rock for water, and also to look out toward the sea
from that side. At first, while intent upon his work at the ship, the
sight of the barren horizon every day did not materially affect him; he
rose superior to despondency and cheered himself with his task. But at
length, at the end of about three weeks, all this work was done and
nothing more remained. His only idea was to labor to effect his escape,
and not to insure his comfort during his stay.

Now as day succeeded to day all his old gloom returned. The excitement
of the last few weeks had acted favorably upon his bodily health, but
when this was removed he began to feel more than his old weakness. Such
diet as his might sustain nature, but it could not preserve health. He
grew at length to loathe the food which he had to take, and it was only
by a stern resolve that he forced himself to swallow it.

At length a new evil was superadded to those which had already afflicted
him. During the first part of his stay the hollow or pool of water on
the rock had always been kept filled by the frequent rains. But now for