Many things that had before seemed a puzzle to him now became plain.

He was compelled, despite his youth, to meditate upon life, and he resolved that when he took up its thread again among his kind he would put his new knowledge to the best of uses.
He noted a growth of the body as well as of the mind.

An abundant and varied diet and plenty of rest gave him a great physical stimulus.

It seemed to him that he was taller, and he was certainly heavier.

Wishing to profit to the utmost, and, having a natural neatness, he looked after himself with great care, bathing inside the reefs once every day, and, whether there was work to be done or not, taking plenty of exercise.
He lost count of the days, but he knew that he was far into the autumn, that in truth winter must have come in his own and distant north.