CROSS COUNTRY WHALING 135 



every picturesque and fervent term of an old 

 whaleman's vocabulary. He shook his fist at 

 him. He waved a crutch wildly. 



"Catch that whale!" he yelled in a voice 

 husky and broken with emotion. " For God's 

 sake, catch that whale ! " 



All this dynamic pantomime perhaps had its 

 effect on Landers. At any rate, his men began 

 to bend to their sweeps and soon his boat was 

 alongside that of the mate. His line was tied to 

 the free end of the rope in the mate's almost ex- 

 hausted tub just in time. The mate's line ran 

 out and Landers' boat now became fast to the 

 whale. 



Fortune favored Landers. His boat was 

 dragged over the crests of the seas at thrilling 

 speed, but he managed to keep clear of ice. The 

 whale showed no sign of slowing down. In a 

 little while it had carried away all the line in 

 Mr. Landers' tub. The monster was free of the 

 boats at last. It had ceased to come to the sur- 

 face to blow. It had gone down into the deep 

 waters carrying with it the mate's harpoon and 

 800 fathoms of manila rope. It seemed prob- 



