72 BRINGING MR. TOWNSEND BACK AGAIN. 



out of him. He never even quivered. So the 

 line was made fast to a slit cut in old Blubbers 

 spout-hole, and we towed his huge carcass to the 

 Swift. On the way thither, Brother Bowline, 

 who was pulling bow oar, leaned forward between 

 strokes, and said, in jerky phrases interrupted by 

 his work, " I tell you, Charlie, young Townsend 

 would be sorry enough — if he could see us now, 

 don't you — say so, boy ? Never saw prettier 

 fight, no — body hurt, nothin' broke. Lord, how 

 I pity that fool on the island ! " 



It amazed me to see how easily we towed the 

 tremendous, sixty-foot carcass. After we once 

 got the whale started he seemed to propel himself. 

 You would never think it from his " model," and 

 yet the big beast can run like a race-horse when 

 he's alive. The motion is all but effortless — a 

 little squirming movement of the tail sends him 

 whizzing through the water. 



We cut that whale in and boiled out his blubber. 



Then we set about a most unaccountable task. 

 The old man ordered it and we had to obey, but 

 we growled while we worked. The task was no 

 less than the sending down of our light yards — 

 top-gallants and royals — and the striking of fore 

 and mizzen-top-gallant masts. There seemed to 

 be no need for such a procedure. There was only 



