Chapter Fourteen of "Kidnapped"

After being washed up on shore, Davie finds himself on a small islet, cut off from the mainland by a small river. He tries to cross the river, but finds it is too wide and deep. He returns to the shore to get his piece of wood, planning to try and float across, but the board has floated back out to sea. With no other choice Davie begins eating raw shellfish. They make him extremely sick. He knows that there is a village on the other side of the river but he can't get to it for help.

The next day he sees some fisherman, and wildly hails them from the shore. But, to his shock, they only point and laugh at him. The fishermen return later and reveal to him that the river gets very low at low tide. To his surprise and embarrassment, he finds he can practically hop across the river at low tide.