ABNES'S WHALE, 69 



watchman was unfortunate Abner Gushing, whose trivial 

 offence had been so severely punished a short time 

 before, and he was gesticulating and howling like a 

 madman. Up from below came the deep growl of the 

 skipper, "Foremast head, there, what d'ye say?" 

 " B-b-b-blow, s-s-sir," stammered Abner; " a big whale 

 right in the way of the sun, sir." " See anythin', 

 Louey ? " roared the skipper to my companion, just as 

 we had both " raised " the spout almost in the glare 

 cast by the sun. " Yessir," answered Louis ; " but I 

 kaint make hi in eout yet, sir." ''All right; keep yer 

 eye on him, and lemme know sharp ; " and away he 

 went aft for his glasses. 



The course was slightly altered, so that we headed 

 direct for the whale, and in less than a minute after- 

 wards we saw distinctly the great black column of a 

 sperm whale's head rise well above the sea, scattering 

 a circuit of foam before it, and emitting a bushy, tufted 

 burst of vapour into the clear air. " There she white- 

 waters ! Ah bl-o-o-o-o-o-w, blow, blow ! " sang Louis ; 

 and then, in another tone, " Sperm whale, sir ; big, 'lone 

 fish, headin' 'beout east-by-nothe." " All right. 'Way 

 down from aloft," answered the skipper, who was already 

 half-way up the main-rigging; and like squirrels we 

 slipped out of our hoops and down the backstays, 

 passing the skipper like a flash as he toiled upwards, 

 bellowing orders as he went. Short as our journey 

 down had been, when we arrived on deck we found all 

 ready for a start. But as the whale was at least seven 

 miles away, and wo had a fair wind for him, there was 

 no hurry to lower, so we all stood at attention by our 

 respective boats, waiting for the signal. I found, to my 

 surprise, that, although I was conscious of a much more 



