It will be remembered that in my former expedition into the two boxes of
cloth--while in hopes of finding more biscuits, or something else that
was eatable--I had ascertained the sort of packages that surrounded
them, as well as those that were placed above. It will be remembered,
also, that on that end of the first cloth-case which lay towards the
hatchway I had found a bale of linen; but on the top of the same case
rested another of cloth, apparently similar to itself. Into this one on
the top I had already effected an entrance; and therefore I could now
count upon having made so much way _upward_. By emptying the upper case
of its contents, I should thus have gained one clear stage in the right
direction; and considering the time and trouble it took to hew my way
through the side of one box, and then through the adjacent side of
another, this portion of my work already accomplished was a matter of
congratulation. I say already accomplished, for it only remained to
drag down the pieces of cloth contained in the upper box, and stow them
away to the rear.
To do this, then, was the first act of my new enterprise, and I
proceeded to its execution without further delay.
After all, it did not prove a very easy task. I experienced the same
difficulty as before, in detaching the pieces of cloth from one another,
and drawing them forth from their tightly-fitting places. How-ever, I
succeeded in getting them clear; and then taking them, one at a time, I
carried, or rather pushed them before me, until I had got them to the
very farthest corner of my quarters, by the end of the old brandy-cask.
There I arranged them, not in any loose or negligent manner, but with
the greatest precision and care; packing them into the smallest bulk,
and leaving no empty corners, between them and the timbers, big enough
to have given room to a rat.
Not that I cared about rats sheltering themselves there. I no longer
troubled my head about them; and although I had reason to know that
there were still some of them in the neighbourhood, my late sanguinary
_razzia_ among them had evidently rendered them afraid to come within
reach of me. The terrible screeching which their companions had
uttered, while I was pounding the life out of them, had rung loudly all
through the hold of the ship, and had acted upon those of the survivors,
that had heard it, as a salutary warning. No doubt they were greatly
frightened by what they had heard; and perceiving that I was a dangerous
fellow-passenger, would be likely to give me a "wide berth" during the
remainder of the voyage.
It was not any thought about the rats, then, that caused me to caulk up
every corner so closely, but simply with the view of economising space;
for, as I have already said, this was the point about which I had the
greatest apprehensions.
Proceeding, then, in this vigorous but careful manner, I at length
emptied the upper box, and finished by stowing away its contents behind
me. I had managed the latter to my entire satisfaction, and I was under
the belief that I had repacked the pieces of cloth in such a manner as
to lose scarcely the bulk of one of them of my valuable space.
The result had an encouraging effect upon me, and produced a
cheerfulness of spirits to which I had long been a stranger. In this
pleasant mood I mounted into the upper box--the one which I had just
cleared--and after placing one of the loose boards across the bottom,
which had been partially removed, I sat down upon it, leaving my legs to
hang over into the empty space below. In this attitude, which was
entirely new to me, and in which I had plenty of room to sit upright and
at my ease, I found a new source of gratification. Confined so long
within a chamber whose greatest height was little over three feet, while
my own was four, I had been compelled to stoop in a crouching attitude
whenever I attempted to stand; and I was even obliged to sit with my
legs bent, and my knees on a level with my chin. These inconveniences
are but slight, when one has only to suffer them for a short while; but
under long endurance, they become irksome and even painful. It was,
therefore, not only a release, but a great luxury to me, to find that I
had room enough to sit upright, and with my legs at full stretch.
Better still, I could also _stand_ erect, for the two boxes now
communicated with each other, and it was full six feet from the bottom
of the one to the top of the other. Of course my own height being only
four, left two feet of space between the crown of my head and the
ceiling of my new apartment, which I could not even touch with the tips
of my fingers.
Perceiving my advantages, I did not remain long seated. I had gone into
the upper box, chiefly for the purpose of making a survey of its
dimensions, and also to ascertain whether I had quite cleared out its
contents; and then I had sat down as described. But I was not long in
this attitude, when it occurred to me that I could enjoy a "stand up"
still better; and with this idea I slipped back again till my feet
rested on the bottom of the lower case, while my head, neck, and
shoulders remained within the compartment of the upper. This gave me an
attitude perfectly erect, and I was not slow in perceiving that this was
for me the true position of rest. Contrary to the usual habit of human
bipeds, standing was to me easier than sitting; but there was nothing
odd about the thing, when it is remembered how many long days and nights
I had spent either seated or on my knees; and I now longed to assume
that proud attitude which distinguishes mankind from the rest of
creation. In truth, I felt it to be a positive luxury to be permitted
once more to stand at full height; and for a long while I remained in
this attitude without moving a limb.
I was not idle, however. My mind was active as ever; and the subject
with which it was occupied was the direction in which I should next
carry my tunnel--whether still upward, through the lid of the
newly-emptied case, or whether through the end that lay toward the
hatchway? The choice lay between a _horizontal_ and a _vertical_
direction. There were reasons in favour of each--and reasons also that
influenced me against one and the other--and to weigh these reasons, and
finally determine upon which direction I should take, was a matter of so
much importance that it was a good while before I could bring my plans
to a satisfactory conclusion.