we had hardly washed clear of the ice in the heavy seas when "blow!" rang from the crow's nest. a school of whales close ahead, covering the sea with fountains, was coming leisurely toward the ship. there were more than thirty of them.
"bowheads!" shouted the mate.
their great black heads rose above the surface like ponderous pieces of machinery; tall fountains shot into the air; the wind caught the tops of the fountains and whisked them off in smoke; hollow, sepulchral whispers of sound came to the brig as the breath left the giant lungs in mighty exhalations. why they were called bowheads was instantly apparent—the outline of the top of the head curved like an indian's bow. as the head sank beneath the surface, the glistening back, half as broad as a city street and as black as asphalt, came spinning up out of the sea and went spinning down again.
our crippled captain in his fur clothes and on crutches limped excitedly about the quarter-deck glaring at $300,000 worth of whales spouting under his nose. but with so much ice about and such a heavy sea running he was afraid to lower.
if the whales saw the brig they gave no sign. they passed all around the vessel, the spray of their fountains blowing on deck. one headed straight for the ship. the mate seized a shoulder bomb-gun and ran to the bow. the whale rose, blew a fountain up against the jib-boom, and dived directly beneath the brig's forefoot. as its back curled down, the mate, with one knee resting on the starboard knighthead, took aim and fired. he surely hit the whale—there was little chance to miss. but the bomb evidently did not strike a vital spot, for the leviathan passed under the ship, came up on the other side and went on about its business.
the sight of all these whales passing by us with such unconcern, blowing water on us as if in huge contempt, almost seeming to laugh at us and mock our bombs and harpoons and human skill, drove the captain frantic. should he allow that fortune in whales to escape him without a try for it? with purple face and popping eyes he gazed at the herd now passing astern.
"lower them boats!" he cried.
"what?" expostulated mr. landers. "do you want to get us all killed?"
"lower them boats!" yelled the skipper.
"don't you know that a boat that gets fast to a whale in that ice will be smashed, sure?"
"lower them boats!" shouted the captain.
mr. winchester, enthusiastic and fearless whaleman that he was, was eager for the captain's order. his boat and mr. landers's went down. the waist boat—mine—was left on its davits. but gabriel, its boatheader, armed with a shoulder gun, went in the mate's boat. left aboard to help work ship, i had an opportunity to view that exciting chase from beginning to end.
with storm-reefed sails, the boats went plunging away over the big seas, dodging sharply about to avoid the ice cakes. not more than two hundred yards away on our starboard beam a great whale was blowing. the mate marked it and went for it like a bull dog. he steered to intercept its course. it was a pretty piece of maneuvering. the whale rose almost in front of him and his boat went shooting upon its back. long john let fly his harpoon. gabriel fired a bomb from his shoulder gun. there was a flurry of water as the whale plunged under. back and forth it slapped with its mighty flukes as it disappeared, narrowly missing the boat. down came the boat's sail. it was bundled up in a jiffy and the mast slewed aft until it stuck out far behind. out went the sweeps. the mate stood in the stern wielding a long steering oar. i could see the whale line whipping and sizzling out over the bows.
for only a moment the whale remained beneath the surface. then it breached. its black head came shooting up from the water like a titanic rocket. up went the great body into the air until at least forty feet of it was lifted against the sky like some weird, mighty column, its black sides glistening and its belly showing white. then the giant bulk crashed down again with a smack on the sea that might have been heard for miles and an impact that sent tons of water splashing high in air. for an instant the monster labored on the water as if mortally hurt, spouting up fountains of clotted blood that splattered over the ice blocks and turned them from snow white to crimson. then a second time the whale sounded and went speeding away to windward, heading for the ice pack.
it dragged the boat at a dizzy clip despite the fact that the line was running out so fast as to seem to the men in the boat a mere vibrant, indistinct smear of yellow. the boat was taken slicing through the big waves, driving its nose at times beneath the water, and knocking against lumps of ice. a long ice block appeared in its course. a collision seemed inevitable unless the boat was cut loose from the whale.
captain shorey was watching the chase with fierce intentness as he leaned upon his crutches on the forecastle head. he had been filled with great joy, seized with anxiety or shaken with anger as the hunt passed from one phase to another. he shouted his emotions aloud though there was never a chance for the men in the boats to hear him.
"good boy, long john," he had cried when the boatsteerer drove his harpoon home.
"that's our fish," he had chortled as the wounded leviathan leaped high against the sky and spouted blood over the ice.
now when it seemed possible that the mate would be forced to cut loose from the whale to save his boat from destruction, the captain danced about on his crutches in wild excitement.
"don't cut that line! don't cut that line!" he yelled.
mr. winchester realized as well as the captain that there was something like $10,000 on the other end of the rope, and he had no idea of cutting loose. towed by the whale the boat drove toward the ice. the mate worked hard with his steering oar to avoid striking the block. it was impossible. the bow smashed into one end of the ice cake, was lifted out of the water and dragged across to slip back into the sea. a hole was stove in the starboard bow through which the water rushed. the crew thereafter was kept busy bailing.
it was evident from the fountains of blood that the whale was desperately wounded, but its vitality was marvelous and it seemed it might escape. when mr. landers saw the mate's line being played out so rapidly he should have hurried to the mate's boat and bent the line from his own tub to the end of the mate's line. as an old whaleman mr. landers knew what to do in this crisis, but in such ice and in such high seas he preferred not to take a chance. he was a cautious soul, so he held his boat aloof. the mate waved to him frantically. long john and gabriel wigwagged frenzied messages with waving arms.
as for captain shorey on his crutches on the forecastle head, when it seemed certain that the whale would run away with all the mate's line and escape, he apparently suffered temporary aberration. he damned old man landers in every picturesque and fervent term of an old whaleman's vocabulary. he shook his fist at him. he waved a crutch wildly.
"catch that whale!" he yelled in a voice husky and broken with emotion. "for god's sake, catch that whale!"
all this dynamic pantomime perhaps had its effect on landers. at any rate, his men began to bend to their sweeps and soon his boat was alongside that of the mate. his line was tied to the free end of the rope in the mate's almost exhausted tub just in time. the mate's line ran out and landers' boat now became fast to the whale.
fortune favored landers. his boat was dragged over the crests of the seas at thrilling speed, but he managed to keep clear of ice. the whale showed no sign of slowing down. in a little while it had carried away all the line in mr. landers' tub. the monster was free of the boats at last. it had ceased to come to the surface to blow. it had gone down into the deep waters carrying with it the mate's harpoon and 800 fathoms of manila rope. it seemed probable it had reached the safety of the ice pack and was lost.
the boats came back to the brig; slowly, wounded, limping over the waves. the flying spray had frozen white over the fur clothes of the men, making them look like snow images. they climbed aboard in silence. mr. landers had a hang-dog, guilty look. the skipper was a picture of gloom and smoldering fury. he bent a black regard upon mr. landers as the latter swung over the rail, but surprised us all by saying not a word.
when the next day dawned, we were out of sight of ice, cruising in a quiet sea. a lookout posted on the forecastle head saw far ahead a cloud of gulls flapping about a dark object floating on the surface. it was the dead whale.
