THE AMERICAN WHALEMAN. 41 



thought for (I allowed that I was down about a half-hour), 

 but, maybe, I only dreamed the dreams of the drowning, 

 and saw sights which flit through men's heads in their last 

 minutes. I asked Captain Davis once how long he'd been 

 kiting that time. The old chap grinned, and said he hadn't 

 looked at his watch, but he could now believe that the l cow 

 jumped over the moon' about the time when 'the little 

 dog laughed to see the sport, and the dish ran away with 

 the spoon.' " 



" How about Ben's yarn ?" we inquired of Chipman, who 

 sat quietly smoking his pipe on the end of the windlass. 



" Ben is about right in the main features of the case. I 

 happened to look straight down from the head of the boat, 

 when I saw the whale right under us, coming on a breach. 

 He glimmered as bright a blue in the deep water as my 

 sweetheart's bonnet. There was no time for thought, so I 

 only acted on instinct and followed mother's last advice, 

 never to let black skin go by the head of my boat without 

 putting an iron in it, which the dear creature gave, illustra- 

 ting it by throwing a fork at the black cat. But say, Ben, I 

 was mortal feared the old man might order you to starn off 

 before I could get my irons in. The whale didn't act so 

 ugly as Ben thought ; Ben was green then, you know, boys ; 

 but the durned critter did smash things when he hit us. 

 But, then, nobody was hurt, although some were mightily 

 skeart ; and the old man himself owned that he got confused 

 in his whirligig passage from the stern-sheets of the boat to 

 the water." 



Such were part of the yarns called forth by the adventure 

 of the day; and we young fellows retired to our virtuous 

 straw, in the main pleased that we had passed the first or- 

 deal without mishap, but sorry, of course, that we had miss- 

 ed this first chance for oil. 



After this, long days passed as we sped southerly. Many 



