SPERM WHALE 127 



called to the one boat not yet attached to a whale and 

 Hamm, the lanky fourth mate, brought his craft along- 

 side. Thomas's tub oarsman had just taken the other 

 boat's line and was about to bend it on to the eye splice 

 which hung over the edge of the tub ready for such an 

 emergency when the outgoing speed of the line slackened. 

 Thomas took it in his hands and there was almost no pull 

 on it. 



'The whale's rising! Haul in!' he cried, and hand over 

 hand the five of them pulled the line back into the boat. 



DkoTnas pyohed his Lance 

 into the while's "life 



Swish! The whale shot from the water a hundred 

 yards away. His huge body hung for a split second in the 

 air with water streaming from it and then with a resound- 

 ing smack it fell back on its side sending up fountains of 

 spray. 



'Haul up to her!' cried Thomas as he and Jamie 

 quickly changed places. 



He took up his lance and stood ready in the bows. 



'Oars!' he ordered, and the men rowed the boat over 

 the last few yards till they felt the bows touch the whale. 



Thomas probed his lance into the whale's 'life' till he 

 saw the red blood gush from its spout hole. 



