In spite of my supplications , they drew no nearer in , and what frightened me most of all , the new man tee-hee 'd with laughter as he talked and looked at me . Then he stood up in the boat and addressed me a long while , speaking fast and with many wavings of his hand . I told him I had no Gaelic ; and at this he became very angry , and I began to suspect he thought he was talking English . Listening very close , I caught the word `` whateffer '' several times ; but all the rest was Gaelic and might have been Greek and Hebrew for me . `` Whatever , '' said I , to show him I had caught a word . `` Yes , yes -- yes , yes , '' says he , and then he looked at the other men , as much as to say , `` I told you I spoke English , '' and began again as hard as ever in the Gaelic . This time I picked out another word , `` tide . '' Then I had a flash of hope . I remembered he was always waving his hand towards the mainland of the Ross . `` Do you mean when the tide is out -- ? '' I cried , and could not finish . `` Yes , yes , '' said he . `` Tide . '' At that I turned tail upon their boat -LRB- where my adviser had once more begun to tee-hee with laughter -RRB- , leaped back the way I had come , from one stone to another , and set off running across the isle as I had never run before . In about half an hour I came out upon the shores of the creek ; and , sure enough , it was shrunk into a little trickle of water , through which I dashed , not above my knees , and landed with a shout on the main island . A sea-bred boy would not have stayed a day on Earraid ; which is only what they call a tidal islet , and except in the bottom of the neaps , can be entered and left twice in every twenty-four hours , either dry-shod , or at the most by wading . Even I , who had the tide going out and in before me in the bay , and even watched for the ebbs , the better to get my shellfish -- even I -LRB- I say -RRB- if I had sat down to think , instead of raging at my fate , must have soon guessed the secret , and got free . It was no wonder the fishers had not understood me . The wonder was rather that they had ever guessed my pitiful illusion , and taken the trouble to come back . I had starved with cold and hunger on that island for close upon one hundred hours .
But for the fishers , I might have XXXXX my bones there , in pure folly .
English Greek dry-shod hour left neaps shellfish supplications wavings whateffer