Un capitaine de quinze ans. English Page 9

  CHAPTER VIII.

  A CATASTROPHE.

  Experienced whaleman as he was, Captain Hull knew the difficulty of thetask he had undertaken, he was alive to the importance of making hisapproach to the whale from the leeward, so that there should be nosound to apprize the creature of the proximity of the boat. He hadperfect confidence in his boatswain, and felt sure that he would takethe proper course to insure a favourable result to the enterprise.

  "We mustn't show ourselves too soon, Howick," he said.

  "Certainly not," replied Howick, "I am going to skirt the edge of thediscoloured water, and I shall take good care to get well to leeward."

  "All right," the captain answered, and turning to the crew said, "now,my lads, as quietly as you can."

  Muffling the sound of their oars by placing straw in the rowlocks, andavoiding the least unnecessary noise, the men skilfully propelled theboat along the outline of the water tinged by the crustacea, so thatwhile the starboard oars still dipped in the green and limpid sea, thelarboard were in the deep-dyed waves, and seemed as though they weredripping with blood.

  "Wine on this side, water on that," said one of the sailors jocosely.

  "But neither of them fit to drink," rejoined the captain sharply, "sojust hold your tongue!"

  Under Howick's guidance the boat now glided stealthily on to the greasysurface of the reddened waters, where she appeared to float as on apool of oil. The whale seemed utterly unconscious of the attack thatwas threatening it, and allowed the boat to come nearer withoutexhibiting any sign of alarm.

  The whale seemed utterly unconscious of the attack thatwas threatening it]

  The wide circuit which the captain had thought it advisable to take hadthe effect of considerably increasing the distance between his boat andthe "Pilgrim," whilst the strange rapidity with which objects at seabecome diminished in apparent magnitude, as if viewed through the wrongend of a telescope, made the ship look farther away than she actuallywas.

  Another half-hour elapsed, and at the end of it the captain foundhimself so exactly to leeward that the huge body of the whale wasprecisely intermediate between his boat and the "Pilgrim." A closerapproach must now be made; every precaution must be used; but the timehad come to get sufficiently near for the harpoon to be discharged.

  "Slowly, my men," said the captain, in a low voice; "slowly and softly!"

  Howick muttered something that implied that the whale had ceasedblowing so hard, and that it was aware of their approach; the captain,upon this, enjoined the most perfect silence, but urged his crewonwards, until, in five or six minutes, they were within a cable'slength of the finback. Erect at the stern the boatswain stood, andmanoeuvred to get the boat as close as possible to the whale's leftflank, while he made it an object of special care to keep beyond thereach of its formidable tail, one stroke of which could involve themall in instantaneous disaster.

  The manipulation of the boat thus left to the boatswain, the captainmade ready for the arduous effort that was before him. At the extremebow, harpoon in hand, with his legs somewhat astride so as to insurehis equilibrium, he stood prepared to plunge his weapon into the massthat rose above the surface of the sea. By his side, coiled in a pail,and with one end firmly attached to the harpoon, was the first of thefive lines which if the whale should dive to a considerable depth,would have to be joined end to end, one after another.

  "Are you ready, my lads?" said he, hardly above a whisper.

  "Ay, ay, sir," replied Howick, speaking as gently as his master, andgiving a firmer grip to the rudder-oar that he held in his hands.

  "Then, alongside at once," was the captain's order, which was promptlyobeyed, so that in a few minutes the boat was only about ten feet fromthe body of the whale. The animal did not move. Was it asleep? In thatcase there was hope that the very first stroke might be fatal. But itwas hardly likely. Captain Hull felt only too sure that there was somedifferent cause to be assigned for its remaining so still andstationary; and the rapid glances of the boatswain showed that heentertained the same suspicion. But it was no time for speculation; themoment for action had arrived, and no attempt was made on either handto exchange ideas upon the subject.

  Captain Hull seized his weapon tightly by the shaft, and having poisedit several times in the air, in order to make more sure of his aim, hegathered all his strength and hurled it against the side of the finback.

  "Backwater!" he shouted.

  The sailors pushed back with all their might, and the boat in aninstant was beyond the range of the creature's tail.

  And now the immoveableness of the animal was at once accounted for.

  "See; there's a youngster!" exclaimed Howick.

  And he was not mistaken. Startled by the blow of the harpoon themonster had heeled over on to its side, and the movement revealed ayoung whale which the mother had been disturbed in the act of suckling.It was a discovery which made Captain Hull aware that the capture ofthe whale would be attended with double difficulty; he knew; that shewould defend "her little one" (if such a term can be applied to acreature that was at least twenty feet long) with the most determinedfury; yet having made what he considered a successful commencement ofthe attack, he would not be daunted, nor deterred from his endeavour tosecure so fine a prize.

  The whale did not, as sometimes happens, make a precipitate dash uponthe boat, a proceeding which necessitates the instant cutting of theharpoon-line, and an immediate retreat, but it took the far more usualcourse of diving downwards almost perpendicularly. It was followed byits calf; very soon, however, after rising once again to the surfacewith a sudden bound, it began swimming along under water with greatrapidity.

  Before its first plunge Captain Hull and Howick had sufficientopportunity to observe that it was an unusually large balaenoptera,measuring at least eighty feet from head to tail, its colour being of ayellowish-brown, dappled with numerous spots of a darker shade.

  The pursuit, or what may be more aptly termed "the towing," of thewhale had now fairly commenced. The sailors had shipped their oars, andthe whale-boat darted like an arrow along the surface of the waves. Inspite of the oscillation, which was very violent, Howick succeeded inmaintaining equilibrium, and did not need the repeated injunctions withwhich the agitated captain urged his boatswain to be upon his guard.

  But fast as the boat flew along, she could not keep pace with thewhale, and so rapidly did the line run out that except proper care hadbeen taken to keep the bucket in which it was coiled filled with water,the friction against the edge of the boat would inevitably have causedit to take fire. The whale gave no indication of moderating its speed,so that the first line was soon exhausted, and the second had to beattached to its end, only to be run out with like rapidity. In a fewminutes more it was necessary to join on the third line; it was evidentthat the whale had not been hit in a vital part, and so far from risingto the surface, the oblique direction of the rope indicated that thecreature was seeking yet greater depths.

  "Confound it!" exclaimed the captain; "it seems as if the brute isgoing to run out all our line."

  "Yes; and see what a distance the animal is dragging us away from the'Pilgrim,'" answered Howick.

  "Sooner or later, however," said Captain Hull, "the thing must come tothe surface; she is not a fish, you know."

  "She is saving her breath for the sake of her speed," said one of thesailors with a grin.

  But grin as he might, both he and his companions began to look seriouswhen the fourth line had to be added to the third, and more seriousstill when the fifth was added to the fourth. The captain even began tomutter imprecations upon the refractory brute that was putting theirpatience to so severe a test.

  The last line was nearly all uncoiled, and the general consternationwas growing very great, when there was observed to be a slightslackening in the tension.

  "Thank Heaven!" cried the captain; "the beast has tired herself out atlast."

  Casting his eye towards the "Pilgrim," he saw at a glance that shecould not
be less than five miles to leeward. It was a long distance,but when, according to his arrangement, he had hoisted the flag on theboat-hook which was to be the signal for the ship to approach, he hadthe satisfaction of seeing that Dick Sands and the negroes at oncebegan bracing the yards to get as near as possible to the wind. Thebreeze, however, blew only in short, unsteady puffs, and it was onlytoo evident that the "Pilgrim" would have considerable difficulty inworking her way to the whale-boat, even if she succeeded at last.

  Meantime, just as had been expected, the whale had risen to the surfaceof the water, the harpoon still fixed firmly in her side. She remainedmotionless, apparently waiting for her calf, which she had farout-distanced in her mad career. Captain Hull ordered his men to pulltowards her as rapidly as they could, and on getting close up, two ofthe sailors, following the captain's example, shipped their oars andtook up the long lances with which the whale was now to be attacked.Howick held himself in readiness to sheer off quickly in the event ofthe finback making a turn towards the boat.

  "Now, my lads!" shouted the captain. "Look out! take a good aim! nofalse shots! Are you ready, Howick?"

  "Quite ready, captain," answered the boatswain, adding, "but itperplexes me altogether to see the brute so quiet all of a sudden."

  "It looks suspicious," said the captain; "but never mind; go on!straight ahead!"

  Captain Hull was becoming more excited every moment.

  During the time the boat was approaching, the whale had only turnedround a little in the water without changing its position. It wasevidently still looking for its calf, which was not to be seen by itsside. All of a sudden it gave a jerk with its tail which carried itsome few yards away.

  The men were all excited. Was the beast going to escape again? Was thefatiguing pursuit all to come over a second time? Must not the chase beabandoned? Would not the prize have to be given up?

  But no: the whale was not starting on another flight; it had merelyturned so as to face the boat, and now rapidly beating the water withits enormous fins, it commenced a frantic dash forwards.

  "Look out, Howick, she's coming!" shouted Captain Hull.

  The skilful boatswain was all on the alert; the boat swerved, as if byinstinct, so as to avoid the blow, and as the whale passed furiouslyby, she received three tremendous thrusts from the lances of thecaptain and the two men, who all endeavoured to strike at some vitalpart. There was a sudden pause. The whale spouted up two giganticcolumns of blood and water, lashed its tail, and, with bounds andplunges that were terrible to behold, renewed its angry attack upon theboat.

  None but the most determined of whalemen could fail to lose their headunder such an assault. Calm and collected, however, the crew remained.Once again did Howick adroitly sheer aside, and once again did thethree lances do their deadly work upon the huge carcase as it rolledimpetuously past; but this time, so great was the wave that was causedby the infuriated animal, that the boat was well-nigh full of water,and in imminent danger of being capsized.

  "Bale away, men!" cried the captain.

  Putting down their oars, the other sailors set to work baling with alltheir might. Captain Hull cut the harpoon-line, now no longer required,because the whale, maddened with pain and grief for the loss of itsoffspring, would certainly make no further attempt to escape, but wouldfight desperately to the very end.

  The finback was obviously bent on a third onslaught upon the boat,which, being in spite of all the men's exertions still more than halffull of water, no longer answered readily to the rudder-oar.

  No one thought of flight. The swiftest boat could be overtaken in avery few bounds. There was no alternative but to face the encounter. Itwas not long in coming. Their previous good fortune failed them. Thewhale in passing caught the boat with such a violent blow from itsdorsal fin, that the men lost their footing and the lances missed theirmark.

  "Where's Howick?" screamed the captain in alarm.

  "Here I am, captain; all right!" replied the boatswain, who hadscrambled to his feet only to find that the oar with which he had beensteering was snapped in half.

  "The rudder's smashed," he said.

  "Take another, Howick; quick!" cried the captain.

  But scarcely had he time to replace the broken oar, when a bubbling washeard a few yards away from the boat, and the young whale made itsappearance on the surface of the sea. Catching sight of it instantly,the mother made a fresh dash in its direction, the maternal instinctswere aroused, and the contest must become more deadly than ever.

  Captain Hull looked towards the "Pilgrim," and waved his signalfrantically above his head. It was, however, with no hope of succour;he was only too well aware that no human efforts could effectuallyhasten the arrival of the ship. Dick Sands indeed had at once obeyedthe first summons: already the wind was filling the sails, but indefault of steam power her progress at best could not be otherwise thanslow. Not only did Dick feel convinced that it would be a useless wasteof time to lower a boat and come off with the negroes to the rescue,but he remembered the strict orders he had received on no account toquit the ship. Captain Hull, however, could perceive that theapprentice had had the aft-boat lowered, and was towing it along, sothat it should be in readiness for a refuge as soon as they should getwithin reach.

  The boat was well nigh full of water, and in imminentdanger of being capsized]

  But the whale, close at hand, demanded attention that could ill bespared for the yet distant ship. Covering her young one with her body,she was manifestly designing another charge full upon the boat.

  "On your guard, Howick! sheer off!" bellowed the captain.

  But the order was useless. The fresh oar that the boatswain had takento replace the broken one was considerably shorter, and consequently itfailed in lever-power. There was, in fact, no helm for the boat toanswer. The sailors saw the failure, and convinced that all was lostuttered one long, despairing cry that might have been heard on boardthe "Pilgrim." Another moment, and from beneath there came a tremendousblow from the monster's tail that sent the boat flying in the air. Infragments it fell back again into a sea that was lashed into fury bythe angry flapping of the finback's fins.

  Was it not possible for the unfortunate men, bleeding and wounded asthey were, still to save themselves by clinging to some floating spar?Captain Hull is indeed seen endeavouring to hoist the boatswain on to adrifting plank. But all in vain. There is no hope. The whale, writhingin the convulsions of death, returns yet once again to the attack; thewaters around the struggling sailors seethe and foam. A brief turmoilfollows as if there were the bursting of some vast waterspout.

  In a quarter of an hour afterwards, Dick Sands, with the negroes,reaches the scene of the catastrophe. All is still and desolate. Everyliving object has vanished. Nothing is visible except a few fragmentsof the whale-boat floating on the blood-stained water.

  There is no hope.]