Softly Comes the Dawn 127 



opens its cavernous mouth so that foam cascades from its wall of 

 baleen plates, and without further ado leaps head downward and 

 plunges straight into the deep. Without warning of any kind one 

 of the shallops simply upends and disappears below, and it is some 

 seconds before its dozen occupants bob to the surface. Another goes 

 careening off to one side, water pouring over its gunwale, while 

 two others are also upended and smoke sizzles from the forepieces 

 where the lines run out at an uncalculable speed. But the presence 

 of the big ship saves the day, and the floundering mariners swim 

 towards it and are hauled out of the cold waters, one by one, chat- 

 tering and cursing. 



Meanwhile strange things are happening below. The great beast 

 making its final plunge in a vain attempt to rid itself of the multiple 

 hnes and harpoons that now are attached firmly to its blubber, and 

 crazed by a hundred deep wounds from the keen lances, finds its 

 strength unequal to the pull from above, which includes a very 

 bouyant wooden boat firmly attached to it by no less than three 

 stout lines. Sounding to only a slight depth, it gives up the struggle 

 and lets itself float slowly to the surface, and as soon as its head 

 breaks through the waves the struggle is all but over. More keen 

 blades lance into it from every side and with an audible gasp it opens 

 its mouth and belches up gallons of blood; its great tail lashes twice 

 and then all is still. As everyone relaxes, two of the caravels inch 

 forward and the lines attached to the beast are drawn aboard. They 

 close upon either side of the huge thing and hold it suspended be- 

 tween them. 



Frangois Sopite still stands quietly with his hands behind his back, 

 his keen features and dark eyes fixed upon the prize, but the rest 

 of the company raises a shout of triumph. There is a long pause 

 while the wind moans in the rigging and the ships bump against 

 the vast corpse between them. The first stage of the experiment is 

 successfully completed. Now to see whether the great idea itself 

 will work. The captain gives an order very quietly and men leap to 

 work. 



Down on the flat, cluttered deck in the belly of the caravel stands 

 an odd structure, seemingly quite out of place on the high seas. 

 It is a rectangular thing like a small house neatly built of bricks. 

 On top of it are two large, round holes in which sit huge, hemispheri- 



