268 THE CRUISE OF TEE "CACHALOT:' 



of death, leaving our whale to the hungry crowds, who 

 would make short work of him. Downcast indeed, at 

 our bad luck, we returned on board, diEappointing the 

 skipper very much with our report. Like the true 

 gentleman he was though, recognizing that we had done 

 our best, he did not add to the trouble by cursing us all 

 for a set of useless trash, as his predecessor would have 

 done ; on the contrary, a few minutes after the receipt 

 of the bad news his face was as bright as ever, his 

 laugh as hearty as if there was no such thing as a 

 misfortune in the world. 



And now I must come to what has been on my mind 

 so long — a tragedy that, in spite of all that had gone 

 before, and of what came after, is the most indelible of 

 all the memories which cling round me of that eventful 

 time. Abner Gushing, the Vermonter, had declared at 

 different times that he should never see his native Green 

 Mountain again. Since the change in our commander, 

 however, he had been another man — always silent and 

 reserved, but brighter, happier, and with a manner so 

 improved as to make it hard to recognize him for 

 the same awkward, ungainly slab of a fellow that had 

 bungled everything he put his hand to. Taking stock 

 of him quietly during our day-long leisurely cruises in 

 the boat, I often wondered whether his mind still kept 

 its gloomy forebodings, and brooded over his tragical 

 life-history. I never dared to speak to him on the 

 subject, for fear of arousing what I hoped was growing 

 too faint for remembrance. But at times I saw him 

 in the moonlit evenings sitting on the rail alone, 

 steadfastly gazing down into the star-besprent waters 

 beneath him, as if coveting their unruffled peace. 



Two-thirds of our stay in the islands had passed 

 way, when, for a wonder, the captain took it into his 



