513 
the white whale 
the ocean, and trailing after *him the intertangled lines, continued his 
leeward way at a traveller’s methodic pace. 
As before, the attentive ship having descried the whole fight, again 
came bearing down to the rescue, and dropping a boat, picked up the 
floating mariners, tubs, oars, and whatever else could be caught at, 
and safely landed them upon her decks. Some sprained shoulders, 
wrists, and ankles ; livid contusions ; wrenched harpoons and lances : in- 
extricable intricacies of rope ; shattered oars and planks ; all these were 
there ; but no fatal or even serious ill seemed to have befallen any one. 
As with Fedallah the day before, so Ahab was now found grimly cling- 
ing to his boat’s broken half, which offered a comparatively easy float; 
nor did it exhaust him as the previous day’s mishap. 
But when he was helped to the deck, all eyes were fastened upon 
him; as instead of standing by himself he still half -hung upon the 
shoulder of Starbuck, who had thus far been the foremost to assist 
him. His ivory leg had been snapped off, leaving but one short sharp 
splinter. 
“Aye, aye, Starbuck, ’tis sweet to lean sometimes, be the leaner who 
he will; and would old Ahab had leaned oftener than he has.” 
“The ferrule has not stood, sir,” said the carpenter, now coming up ; 
“I put good work into that leg.” 
“But no bones broken, sir, I hope,” said Stubb with true concern. 
“Aye! and all splintered to pieces, Stubb! — d’ye see it? — But even 
with a broken bone, old Ahab is untouched ; and I account no living bone 
of mine one jot more me, than this dead one that’s lost. Nor white 
whale, nor man, nor fiend, can so much as graze old Ahab in his own 
proper and inaccessible being. Can any lead touch yonder floor, any 
mast scrape yonder roof? — Aloft there! which way?” 
“Dead to leeward, sir.” 
“Up helm, then; pile on the sail again, shipkeepers; down the rest 
of the spare boats and rig them — Mr. Starbuck, away, and muster the 
boat’s crews.” 
“Let me first help thee towards the bulwarks, sir.” 
“Oh, oh, oh ! how this splinter gores me now ! Accursed fate ! that 
the unconquerable captain in the soul should have such a craven mate!” 
“Sir?” 
