Un capitaine de quinze ans. English Page 8

  CHAPTER VII.

  PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK.

  Great was the excitement that now prevailed, and the question of anattempt to capture the sea-monster became the ruling theme ofconversation. Mrs. Weldon expressed considerable doubt as to theprudence of venturing upon so great a risk with such a limited numberof hands, but when Captain Hull assured her that he had more than oncesuccessfully attacked a whale with a single boat, and that for his parthe had no fear of failure, she made no further remonstrance, andappeared quite satisfied.

  Having formed his resolve, the captain lost no time in setting abouthis preliminary arrangements. He could not really conceal from his ownmind that the pursuit of a finback was always a matter of some peril,and he was anxious, accordingly, to make every possible provision whichforethought could devise against all emergencies.

  Besides her long-boat, which was kept between the two masts, the"Pilgrim" had three whale-boats, two of them slung to the starboard andlarboard davits, and the third at the stern, outside the taffrail.During the fishing season, when the crew was reinforced by a hiredcomplement of New Zealand whalemen, all three of these boats would bebrought at once into requisition, but at present the whole crew of the"Pilgrim" was barely sufficient to man one of the three boats. Tom andhis friends were ready to volunteer their assistance, but any offers ofservice from them were necessarily declined; the manipulation of awhale-boat can only be entrusted to those who are experienced in thework, as a false turn of the tiller or a premature stroke of the oarmay in a moment compromise the safety of the whole party. Thuscompelled to take all his trained sailors with him on his venturousexpedition, the captain had no alternative than to leave his apprenticein charge of the schooner during his absence. Dick's choice would havebeen very much in favour of taking a share in the whale-hunt, but hehad the good sense to know that the developed strength of a man wouldbe of far greater service in the boat, and accordingly without a murmurhe resigned himself to remain behind.

  Of the five sailors who were to man the boat, there were four to takethe oars, whilst Howick the boatswain was to manage the oar at thestern, which on these occasions generally replaces an ordinary rudderas being quicker in action in the event of any of the side oars beingdisabled. The post of harpooner was of course assigned to Captain Hull,to whose lot it would consequently fall first to hurl his weapon at thewhale, then to manage the unwinding of the line to which the harpoonwas attached, and finally to kill the creature by lance-wounds when itshould emerge again from below the sea.

  A method sometimes employed for commencing an attack is to place a sortof small cannon on the bows or deck of the boat and to discharge fromit either a harpoon or some explosive bullets, which make frightfullacerations on the body of the victim; but the "Pilgrim" was notprovided with apparatus of this description; not only are all thecontrivances of this kind very costly and difficult to manage, but thefishermen generally are averse to innovations, and prefer theold-fashioned harpoons. It was with these alone that Captain Hull wasnow about to encounter the finback that was lying some four milesdistant from his ship.

  The weather promised as favourably as could be for the enterprise. Thesea was calm, and the wind moreover was still moderating, so that therewas no likelihood of the schooner drifting away during the captain'sabsence.

  When the starboard whale-boat had been lowered, and the four sailorshad entered it, Howick passed a couple of harpoons down to them, andsome lances which had been carefully sharpened; to these were addedfive coils of stout and supple rope, each 600 feet long, for a whalewhen struck often dives so deeply that even these lengths of lineknotted together are found to be insufficient. After these implementsof attack had been properly stowed in the bows, the crew had only toawait the pleasure of their captain.

  The "Pilgrim," before the sailors left her, had been made to heave to,and the yards were braced so as to secure her remaining as stationaryas possible. As the time drew near for the captain to quit her, he gavea searching look all round to satisfy himself that everything was inorder; he saw that the halyards were properly tightened, and the sailstrimmed as they should be, and then calling the young apprentice to hisside, he said,--

  "Now, Dick, I am going to leave you for a few hours: while I am away, Ihope that it will not be necessary for you to make any movementwhatever. However, you must be on the watch. It is not very likely, butit is possible that this finback may carry us out to some distance. Ifso, you will have to follow; and in that case, I am sure you may relyupon Tom and his friends for assistance."

  One and all, the negroes assured the captain of their willingness toobey Dick's instructions, the sturdy Hercules rolling up his capaciousshirt-sleeves as if to show that he was ready for immediate action.

  The captain went on,--

  "The weather is beautifully fine, Dick, and I see no prospect of thewind freshening; but come what may, I have one direction to give youwhich I strictly enforce. You must not leave the ship. If I want you tofollow us, I will hoist a flag on the boat-hook."

  "You may trust me, sir," answered Dick; "and I will keep a goodlook-out."

  "All right, my lad; keep a cool head and a good heart. You are secondcaptain now, you know. I never heard of any one of your age beingplaced in such a post; be a credit to your position!"

  Dick blushed, and the bright flush that rose to his cheeks spoke morethan words.

  "The lad may be trusted," murmured the captain to himself; "he is asmodest as he is courageous. Yes; he may be trusted."

  It cannot be denied that the captain was not wholly without compunctionat the step he was taking; he was aware of the danger to which he wasexposing himself, but he beguiled himself with the persuasion that itwas only for a few hours; and his fisherman's instinct was very keen.It was not only for himself; the desire upon the part of the crew wasalmost irresistibly strong that every opportunity ought to be employedfor making the cargo of the schooner equal to her owner's expectations.And so he finally prepared to start.

  "I wish you all success!" said Mrs. Weldon.

  "Many thanks!" he replied.

  Little Jack put in his word,--

  "And you will try and catch the whale without hurting him much?"

  "All right, young gentleman," answered the captain; "he shall hardlyfeel the tip of our fingers!"

  "Sometimes," said Cousin Benedict, as if he had been pondering theexpedition in relation to his pet science, "sometimes there are strangeinsects clinging to the backs of these great mammifers; do you thinkyou are likely to procure me any specimens?"

  "You shall soon have the opportunity of investigating for yourself,"was the captain's reply.

  "And you, Tom; we shall be looking to you for help in cutting up ourprize, when we get it alongside," continued he.

  "We shall be quite ready, sir," said the negro.

  "One thing more, Dick," added the captain; "you may as well be gettingup the empty barrels out of the hold; they will be all ready."

  "It shall be done, sir," answered Dick promptly.

  If everything went well it was the intention that the whale after ithad been killed should be towed to the side of the schooner, where itwould be firmly lashed. Then the sailors with their feet in spikedshoes would get upon its back and proceed to cut the blubber, from headto tail, in long strips, which would first be divided into lumps abouta foot and a half square, the lumps being subsequently chopped intosmaller portions capable of being stored away in casks. The ordinaryrule would be for a ship, as soon as the flaying was complete, to makeits way to land where the blubber could be at once boiled down, anoperation by which it is reduced by about a third of its weight, and bywhich it yields all its oil, the only portion of it which is of anyvalue. Under present circumstances, however, Captain Hull would notthink of melting down the blubber until his arrival at Valparaiso, andas he was sanguine that the wind would soon set in a favourabledirection, he calculated that he should reach that port in less thanthree weeks, a period during which his cargo would not be deteriora
ted.

  The latest movement with regard to the "Pilgrim" had been to bring hersomewhat nearer the spot where the spouts of vapour indicated thepresence of the coveted prize. The creature continued to swim about inthe reddened waters, opening and shutting its huge jaws like anautomaton, and absorbing at every mouthful whole myriads of animalcula.No one entertained a fear that it would try to make an escape; it wasthe unanimous verdict that it was "a fighting whale," and one thatwould resist all attacks to the very end.

  As Captain Hull descended the rope-ladder and took his place in thefront of the boat, Mrs. Weldon and all on board renewed their goodwishes.

  Dingo stood with his fore paws upon the taffrail, and appeared as muchas any to be bidding the adventurous party farewell.

  When the boat pushed off, those who were left on board the "Pilgrim"made their way slowly to the bows, from which the most extensive viewwas to be gained.

  The captain's voice came from the retreating boat,--

  "A sharp look-out, Dick; a sharp look-out; one eye on us, one on theship!"

  The Captain's voice came from the retreating boat. _Page72_]

  "I must get you to keep your eye upon that man" _Page73._]

  "Ay, ay, sir," replied the apprentice.

  By his gestures the captain showed that he was under some emotion; hecalled out again, but the boat had made such headway that it was toofar off for any words to be heard.

  Dingo broke out into a piteous howl.

  The dog was still standing erect, his eye upon the boat in thedistance. To the sailors, ever superstitious, the howling was notreassuring. Even Mrs. Weldon was startled.

  "Why, Dingo, Dingo," she exclaimed, "this isn't the way to encourageyour friends. Come here, sir; you must behave better than that!"

  Sinking down on all fours the animal walked slowly up to Mrs. Weldon,and began to lick her hand.

  "Ah!" muttered old Tom, shaking his head solemnly, "he doesn't wag histail at all. A bad omen."

  All at once the dog gave a savage growl.

  As she turned her head, Mrs Weldon caught sight of Negoro making hisway to the forecastle, probably actuated by the general spirit ofcuriosity to follow the maneuvers of the whale-boat. He stopped andseized a handspike as soon as he saw the ferocious attitude of the dog.

  The lady was quite unable to pacify the animal, which seemed about tofly upon the throat of the cook, but Dick Sands called out loudly,--

  "Down, Dingo, down!"

  The dog obeyed; but it seemed to be with extreme reluctance that hereturned to Dick's side; he continued to growl, as if still rememberinghis rage. Negoro had turned very pale, and having put down thehandspike, made his way cautiously back to his own quarters.

  "Hercules," said Dick, "I must get you to keep your eye upon that man."

  "Yes, I will," he answered, significantly clenching his fists.

  Dick took his station at the helm, whence he kept an earnest watch uponthe whale-boat, which under the vigourous plying of the seamen's oarshad become little more than a speck upon the water.