It came into my mind to refuse, and declare I
would sit out the night here by the boat. I knew that the shore
beyond, though it curved for two good miles, would not be wide enough
to contain his agony through the night hours. . . . But I had pushed
him far enough for the time. So we launched the boat again and
paddled her around and beached her on shelving sand: and soon after,
night fell.
"Farrell slept poorly. Three or four times I heard him start up, to
pace to and fro under the starlight: and each time the dog awoke and
trotted with him. . . .
"But he was up, brisk and early, with dawn; and he made quite a good
job of tacking bark over the boat's seams, while I sat and cobbled up
his boot with sailmaker's needle and twine. He made, indeed, and
though swift with the work, so good a job that, inspecting the boat
when he had done, I judged she would stand the strain of sailing--
whereas I had looked forward to a grilling pull in a craft that
leaked like a basket.
"At a quarter to ten, by my watch, we pushed off, stepped mast and
hoisted sail--a small balance-lug.
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