200 THE CBUISE OF TEE " CACHALOT:* 



little w'ile you see it come true. 'N w'en dat happens 

 w'at's gwine ter happen, I'se real glad to tink it gwine ter 

 be better fer you — gwine ter be better fer eberybody 

 'bord de Cach'lot ; but I doan keer nuffin 'bout anybody 

 else. So long." He held out his great black hand, 

 and shook mine heartily, while a big tear rolled down his 

 face and fell on the deck. And with that he left me 

 a prey to a very whirlpool of conflicting thoughts and 

 fears. 



The night was a long and weary one — longer and 

 drearier perhaps because of the absence of the darkness, 

 which always made it harder to sleep. An incessant 

 day soon becomes, to those accustomed to the relief of 

 the night, a burden grievous to be borne ; and although 

 use can reconcile us to most things, and does make even 

 the persistent light bearable, in times of mental distress 

 or great physical weariness one feels irresistibly moved 

 to cry earnestly, " Come, gentle night." 



When I came on deck at eight bells, it was a stark 

 calm. The watch, under Mistah Jones' direction, were 

 busy scrubbing decks with the usual thoroughness, while 

 the captain, bare-footed, with trouser-legs and shirt- 

 sleeves rolled up, his hands on his hips and a portentous 

 frown on his brow, was closely looking on. As it was 

 my spell at the crow's-nest, I made at once for the main- 

 rigging, and had got halfway to the top, when some 

 unusual sounds below arrested me. 



All hands were gathered in the waist, a not unusual 

 thing at the changing of the watch. In the midst of 

 them, as I looked down, two men came together in a 

 fierce struggle. They were Goliath and the skipper. 

 Captain Slocum's right hand went naturally to his hip 

 pocket, where he always carried a revolver ; but before he 



