82 THE WHALE HUNTERS 



Upwards, head, shoulders and belly clear of the water, 

 carrying the shattered craft upon its snout. Then, as the 

 upward momentum of the monster spent itself, it fell back 

 on to the water with a confusion of splintered timbers, 

 oars and men spilling from it like confetti. 



'Cut the line!' shouted Macy. Chimoo's knife went 

 through in one sweep and Macy steered his boat to the 

 rescue of his stricken shipmates. 



Then a veil of driving snow shut off the scene from those 

 on the deck of the Pilgrim. The captain, concerned now 

 as much for the safety of his ship as for those in the boats, 

 pointed her closer to the wind and edged her away from 

 the ice that was now massing dangerously along the coast 

 under the force of the gale. 



For the first time there came to Jonathan the full 

 realisation of the immense responsibilities that rested upon 

 the shoulders of his commander. For a brief second 

 he saw himself upon that poop-deck and the question 

 flashed through his mind of how he would behave in such 

 a situation if he were in command. 



The snow shower passed and he saw, more distant now, 

 Macy's boat picking Todd's men from a small area of 

 ice-fringed water. Three figures stood separately on the 

 surrounding floes beckoning for help ; but the men in the 

 water were in greater danger; for around the whale that 

 remained spouting upon the surface with the harpoon 

 still sticking from its side Jonathan saw the killer whales, 

 attracted by the scent of a stricken prey. At the first attack 

 the whale, his lungs now replenished with air, humped 

 his back, flipped his tail and disappeared. Some of the 

 killers followed in pursuit but a few remained to investi- 

 gate the strange scent of Man that still lingered in their 

 waters ; but by now all the men were safely out of the sea 

 and only the three on the ice awaited rescue. 



One was reached without difficulty but floes separated 

 the other two from their would-be rescuers and they tried 



