264 TEE CRUISE OF TEE " CACEALOT." 



speechless, awaiting a resumption of the clamour. At 

 last Abner broke the heavy silence by saying, ** I doan* 

 see the do' way any mo' at all, sir." He was right. 

 The tide had risen, and that half-moon of light had dis- 

 appeared, so that we were now prisoners for many hours, 

 it not being at all probable that we should be able to find 

 our way out during the night ebb. Well, we were not 

 exactly children, to be afraid of the dark, although there 

 is considerable difference between the velvety darkness 

 of a dungeon and the clear, fresh night of the open 

 air. Still, as long as that beggar of a whale would only 

 keep quiet or leave the premises, we should be fairly 

 comfortable. We waited and waited until an hour had 

 passed, and then came to the conclusion that our friend 

 was either dead or gone out, as he gave no sign of his 

 presence. 



That being settled, we anchored the boat, and lit pipes, 

 preparatory to passing as comfortable a night as might 

 be under the circumstances, the only thing troubling me 

 being the anxiety of the skipper oq our behalf. Presently 

 the blackness beneath was lit up by a wide band of phos- 

 phoric light, shed in the wake of no ordinary-sized fish, 

 probably an immense shark. Another and another 

 followed in rapid succession, until the depths beneath 

 were all ablaze with brilliant foot-wide ribands of green 

 glare, dazzling to the eye and bewildering to the brain. 

 Occasionally, a gentle splash or ripple alongside, or a 

 smart tap on the bottom of the boat, warned us how thick 

 the concourse was that had gathered below. Until that 

 weariness which no terror is proof against set in, sleep 

 was impossible, nor could we keep our anxious gaze from 

 that glowing inferno beneath, where one would have 

 thought all the population of Tartarus were holding high 

 revel. Mercifully, at last we sank into a fitfui slumber. 



