THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE CACHALOT. 
 
 THE LOG OF A SEA WAIF. 
 
 THE MEN OF THE MERCHANT SERVICE. 
 
 IDYLLS OF THE SEA. 
 
 WITH CHRIST AT SEA. 
 
 A SACK OF SHAKINGS. 
 
 DEEP SEA PLUNDERINGS. 
 
 THE APOSTLES OF THE SOUTH-EAST. 
 
 WITH CHRIST IN SAILORTOWN. 
 
 THE PALACE OF POOR JACK. 
 
 THE WAY THEY HAVE IN THE NAVY. 
 
A Whaleman's Wife 
 
 By Frank T. Bullen 
 
 LONDON : HODDER AND 
 STOUGHTON x X 27 
 PATERNOSTER ROW : MCMII 
 
PRINTED BY 
 
 SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 LONDON 
 
TO 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
 A SMALL TOKEN OF THE AUTHOR'S ESTEEM 
 FOR A STRONG CHRISTIAN 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 CHAPTER rAGE 
 
 I. UNREQUITED LOVE i 
 
 II. 'Y'ENI, VlDI, VICI' 9 
 
 III. A SUDDEN RESOLVE 17 
 
 IV. DEPARTURE 25 
 
 V. OUTWARD BOUND 34 
 
 VI. DISILLUSIONMENT 43 
 
 VII. A STRICKEN DEMON 54 
 
 VIII. A DISASTROUS DAY 5^ 
 
 IX. REUBEN EDDY, MARINER .... 85 
 
 X. THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 99 
 
 XI. AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD . . . .115 
 
 ivi309272 
 
viii A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XII. REPAIRING DAMAGES 130 
 
 XIII. THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE . . . .146 
 
 XIV. AMONG RIGHT WHALES 162 
 
 XV. A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE . . . .176 
 
 XVI. A REIGN OF TERROR 192 
 
 XVII. SALVAGE OPERATIONS 207 
 
 XVIII. HUMANITY REWARDED 221 
 
 XIX. A GREAT BLOW 236 
 
 XX. THE CYCLONE 251 
 
 XXI. A STRANGE RESCUE 267 
 
 XXII. THE MEETING 283 
 
 XXIII. FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS . . . .297 
 
 XXIV. CHECK TO THE KING, AND A NEW MOVE . 311 
 XXV. THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER . . . 326 
 
 XXVI. THE Loss OF THE GRAMPUS. . . . 344 
 
 XXVII. AND LAST .361 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 UNREQUITED LOVE 
 
 ' YEW don' seem ter keer any gret amount fer me, 
 Pris.' 
 
 The speaker was a young man of twenty or there- 
 abouts, whose loosely jointed frame showed, even 
 under the shapely rig of homespun, consisting of 
 just a shirt and pants, a promise to the observant eye 
 that he would presently develop into a man of 
 massive mould. He lay upon the stubbly ground, his 
 head resting on one arm, looking wistfully up into 
 the face of a girl about his own age. His clean- 
 shaven face wore that keenness of outline so charac- 
 teristic of the true Yankee blend in which the broad 
 Saxon or Frisian features seem to have been modified 
 by the sharp facial angles of the indigenous owners 
 of the soil. But in the softness of his grey eyes a 
 close observer would have foreseen a well of trouble 
 springing up for their owner on behalf of others. It 
 was the face of the typical burden-bearer. 
 
 In her face, on the other hand, there were evident 
 manifestations of discontent and weariness of restraint. 
 A healthy, pleasant countenance enough, with dark 
 brown eyes and curling hair, well-shaped nose and 
 
 B 
 
2 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 short upper lip just spotted with freckles. The eyes 
 looked, however, as if they could harden and grow 
 black upon occasion, while the square chin and firm 
 curve of the shut mouth told a plain tale of self- 
 will. There was just a touch of petulance in the quick 
 movement of her head as she replied : 
 
 ' You're so exactin', Rube. An' surely you 
 wouldn't want me to be a hypocrite an' gush over 
 you when I don't feel a bit like it. The honest fact 
 is that I like you better than anybody I've ever seen, 
 but you know I haven't seen many people at all ; and 
 as for the men folks about here, they're almost as dull 
 and stupid as the cattle themselves. An' more than 
 that, Rube, I'm afraid I don't know what this love is 
 that you seem to be et up with, an' I'm not going to 
 say I do to please anybody.' 
 
 There was silence. Over the wide stretches of 
 newly reaped land not a breath of air was stirring ; at 
 evening's beckoning finger the voices of the day were 
 hushed. It was nearing the gloaming of one of those 
 heavenly days common in Vermont towards the end 
 of harvest, when Nature seems to be contemplating 
 in satisfied peace the result of her summer's fruitage, 
 and baring her bosom to the mellowing sun for a while, 
 as if to store up warmth against the coming of the 
 fierce blasts of the bitter Northern winter. The smell 
 of the patient earth was sweet, restful in its effect upon 
 the senses, and insensibly moulding impressions upon 
 the mind that would remain through life ineffaceable 
 by any subsequent experiences, and assert themselves 
 in after-years by vivid reproductions of the present 
 scene. Yet the calm beauty of their surroundings 
 
UNREQUITED LOVE 3 
 
 had upon each of the two young people an almost 
 entirely opposite effect. He was permeated with a 
 serene sense of satisfaction with life in all its details 
 but one if only he could be certain that Priscilla 
 loved him ! Born and bred upon the typical Green 
 Mountain farm, educated up to the simple standard of 
 the village school, and utterly unacquainted with the 
 seething world beyond his horizon, he was as nearly 
 happy as it is good for man to be in this stage of 
 his existence. His parents, although, like himself, 
 New Englanders born and bred, had somehow 
 escaped from the soul-withering domination of that 
 cruel creed that finds an awful satisfaction in the 
 consignment to eternal fires of all who by one 
 hair's-breadth should dare to differ from its blindly 
 ignorant conception of theology. Love formed the 
 basis of their faith, and their ideas of an immanent 
 God were mainly derived from the parable of the 
 Prodigal Son. 
 
 Under such mild influences it was hardly wonder- 
 ful that Reuben Eddy had early ' got religion/ in the 
 queer phraseology of the States, although in his case, 
 as in that of his parents, there was scarcely any point 
 of resemblance common to the ordinary religious 
 professor. Following none of the orthodox forms of 
 worship, and pretending to no formulated creed, the 
 Eddys lived and moved and had their being in a 
 quiet consciousness of the friendliness of God. They 
 looked as if they would at no time have been sur- 
 prised, as they certainly would have been unafraid, 
 to see His face with their mortal eyes. They seemed 
 to love God, as birds sing, from an inward impulse 
 
 B 2 
 
4 A WHALEMAN'S* WIFE 
 
 that is not a duty but a part of the organism, as 
 natural a necessity as the breath or the heart-beat. 
 Yet, or perhaps because of this, they were intensely 
 human. There was none of that aloofness from the 
 interests of their kind that some excellent people 
 regard as the hall-mark of a Christian. In fact, they 
 were a lovable family whose influence was like that 
 of the spring sun upon all (though they were but few) 
 with whom they came in contact. 
 
 Within this last year or two, however, Reuben had 
 felt the deep placid current of his life strangely dis- 
 turbed. His life-long playmate, Priscilla Fish, whose 
 parents' farm (three miles away) was the nearest to 
 that of the Eddys, had suddenly assumed a totally 
 different appearance in his eyes. For some time he 
 went about dreamily wondering whatever the change 
 could be that had at once removed her so far above 
 the category of ordinary, everyday people, and at the 
 same time had made him long for her society so 
 ardently that every hour spent away from her seemed 
 to drag, and every thought was shot through and 
 through with side-issues about her. Now between 
 him and his father there had been a life-long intimacy, 
 gently sought and fostered by the elder man as soon 
 as Rube was old enough to know him. Thus they 
 were more than father and son they were David and 
 Jonathan, with no secrets from one another. So 
 after Reuben had wrestled with this new experience 
 long enough to be able to reduce it to some formulable 
 expression, he took it to his father, as he had done 
 every other difficulty as long as he could remember. 
 The old man listened in sympathetic silence while his 
 son described his symptoms with a gravity that would 
 
UNREQUITED LOVE 5 
 
 have been ludicrous but for its earnestness and sincerity. 
 How he felt like a caged bird until he saw Priscilla, 
 yet when she appeared he became hot and cold by 
 turns, and felt so awkward and clumsy that he wanted 
 to hide himself in the earth, and so on, in the same 
 old way that was all so new and disconcerting to 
 him. 
 
 Very gently the old man explained matters to 
 him, winding up with a merry twinkle in his eyes, as 
 he said : 
 
 ' Haow en the name er pashense yeu've shun clar 
 ov this complaint all these years ez er merricle. Ef 
 I know ye en I ain't so dead certain of that as I wuz 
 yew're just the kinder lad to fall in love fust go. 
 Anyhow, I'm goin' ter chip in 'n 'elp ye if it kin be 
 did et all.' 
 
 With all his fatherly instincts aroused, the fine old 
 fellow trudged over to his neighbour's farm that same 
 evening, and sought out old man Fish. In quaint 
 fashion, and blaming himself whimsically for his lack 
 of observation in not seeing how things were going 
 before, he explained the situation, finding, much to 
 his gratification, that Priscilla's father was entirely 
 agreeable to the match. Solemnly the two patriarchs 
 discussed ways and means, planning all manner of 
 pleasant things for the future of their children as 
 far as their sober wishes would allow them. That 
 Reuben and Priscilla should marry, inherit the Eddy 
 homestead, and glide placidly along through life as 
 their parents had done, seemed to these two fond old 
 hearts as roseate a prospect as could be desired. So 
 they sat on, exchanging their slow-moving thoughts, 
 until long past their usual early hour for bed. After 
 
6 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 a long pause, Farmer Eddy stretched himself with a 
 yawn and said : 
 
 'Wall, Zeke, I reckon I'll be gittin' to'rds hum. 
 Seems ter me we ben havin' er mighty long yarn to- 
 night, 'relse I'm most amazin' sleepy. Good-night 
 t'ye.' 
 
 There was no reply. It was perfectly dark, for 
 they had been sitting in the barn, and when the night 
 closed softly down they had not thought to get a 
 lamp, in their earnestness of conversation. Slightly 
 raising his voice, Farmer Eddy repeated his saluta- 
 tion, but it fell upon the unresponsive darkness 
 around like a pebble dropped into a deep well. With 
 a chill creeping over his scalp the old man reached 
 forward to where his friend was sitting and groped for 
 his hand. It was some seconds before he could find 
 what he sought, and when he did, the truth sank into 
 his marrow instantly : Ezekiel Fish was dead. 
 
 Trembling in every fibre, Eddy hastily made for 
 the house, coming into the well-lighted living-room 
 with his message in his face. The family, consisting 
 of Mrs. Fish, her two grown-up sons, and Priscilla, 
 were all seated there, eagerly discussing a knotty 
 point in some book Priscilla had been reading aloud, 
 but the entry of the old man and their first glance at 
 his face froze them into silence. Going straight up 
 to the mother, Eddy laid his trembling hand upon her 
 shoulder, and said, ' Hepziber, the Lord be good t'ye. 
 He's taken away yew're husband.' 
 
 There was no outcry. Priscilla came swiftly to 
 her mother's side and tried to soothe the heavily 
 stricken woman, whose silent suffering was pitiful to 
 see ; while the two sons and the old man, bearing 
 
UNREQUITED LOVE 7 
 
 lights, returned to the barn and reverently carried in 
 the body. The usual sad offices were soon rendered 
 to the remains, and with slow, uncertain steps Eddy 
 returned home to tell his sorrowful story and warn 
 Reuben that, for the present at any rate, a prior 
 claim to attention had been made upon their neigh- 
 bour's family. 
 
 Some months, therefore, elapsed before anything 
 of the matter that lay so close to his heart passed 
 Reuben's lips. But he was by no means impetuous, 
 and besides, he had always been trained to sub- 
 ordinate his wishes to those of others, so that while 
 his love was undoubtedly rooting and grounding 
 itself more firmly every day, he was able to abstain 
 from all mention of it to its object. Summer came, 
 and with it an opportunity during a long Sunday 
 afternoon's ramble with Priscilla to broach the im- 
 portant matter to her. She listened somewhat list- 
 lessly, it is true, but still she listened ; while Rube, 
 growing bolder as he went on, and marvelling at his 
 own powers of speech, poured out to her his hopes 
 and plans. But no enthusiasm could hold out long 
 under the unconcealed air of indifference with which 
 his fervent speech was received, and he soon sobered 
 down to wonder quietly how it was she took his 
 vehemence so coolly. Being ready, however, to 
 supply all deficiencies from his own abundant stock, 
 he was not unduly depressed. And as the days 
 went by his sweet sunny temperament asserted itself, 
 and hope, almost amounting to certainty, arose within 
 him that she would presently, as he had done, find 
 all things changed under the new light of love. Yet 
 in spite of his hopefulness, a weary sense of the hilly 
 
8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 road he was travelling would occasionally give him 
 serious pause, and he grew hungry for some return, 
 however slight, of his lavish affection. And it was 
 with one of these moods that this chapter and the 
 story open. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 VENI, VIDI, VICI* 
 
 AFTER the death of Ezekiel Fish the care of the 
 farm devolved upon the two brothers, both of them 
 typical Yankee farmers, but without a trace of the 
 kindliness so characteristic of the Eddys. Rube had 
 never been a favourite with them. They dared not 
 despise him openly he was too big and strong for 
 that ; but they spoke of him behirid his back in terms 
 of disparagement, and did all in their power to dis- 
 courage the slightest feeling of affection for him that 
 they imagined their sister to have. Jake, the elder 
 brother, a man some three years older than Rube, 
 had by virtue of his seniority assumed full charge of 
 affairs, and already had begun to launch out in 
 various speculative ways that troubled the old lady 
 sorely. His visits to Boston * on business ' were 
 frequent and prolonged, and already he was becom- 
 ing known to a few of his less reputable associates 
 as a ' feller thet wuz makin' things hum a bit' 
 
 In these altered circumstances it was no wonder 
 that Rube pressed his suit more earnestly than 
 ever. His unselfish nature was fully alarmed for 
 Priscilla's immediate future, and his anxiety on her 
 behalf gave his love an added lustre which it had 
 lacked before. But to his distress and chagrin, the 
 
io A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 steady growth of his affection did not awaken in her 
 the slightest responsiveness. To a stranger it would 
 have been at once manifest that she merely tolerated 
 the young man ; even to his love-blinded perceptions 
 the fact stubbornly persisted in revealing itself. 
 Rube endured this coldness patiently for months, 
 until on the evening of the commencement of our 
 story he had drifted almost unconsciously into a 
 protest against this treatment of himself by Priscilla 
 who, if she had never given him any encouragement 
 worth speaking of, had at least tacitly accepted him 
 as a lover. She had received his complaint in the 
 manner already specified, speaking the exact truth 
 about the state of her feelings towards him as far as 
 she knew them. The trouble was that she had not 
 quite realised the strength of a feeling of unrest and 
 discontent with her surroundings which had been 
 steadily eating into her mind for months past. It 
 was largely due to her brother Jake, who, in the 
 elated condition generally noticeable on his return 
 from Boston, was wont to launch into extravagant 
 praise of city life with its light and bustle and 
 abundant enjoyments. Naturally he was correspond- 
 ingly contemptuous of the well-ordered procession 
 of days characteristic of the country. The majestic 
 harmonies and sweet confidences of Nature, the 
 changeful orchestra of each day, and the placid 
 stillness of the nights, had become to his dis- 
 organised ideas like the stagnation of death. His 
 was that subtle malaise that stealthily undermines the 
 natural order of things, and, leaving the countryside 
 to go out of cultivation, herds men and women 
 together in vast feverish crowds to stew and fret 
 
'VENI, VIDI, VICI 5 ii 
 
 and die, but never to return to the quiet of the country 
 again. 
 
 This miserable change had, without her knowledge, 
 infected Priscilla also in such a manner that now every 
 task was irksome, the stillness of the evenings almost 
 unbearable. Irritability, which had never before dis- 
 figured her character, became increasingly noticeable. 
 Even Rube saw the change, but could not dream of 
 its cause, and innocently added to it by his dog-like 
 untiring affection. Matters were in this unsatisfactory 
 state when one evening the sound of wheels through 
 the crisp air warned the inmates of the Fish place 
 that Jake was returning from one of his Boston jaunts. 
 Priscilla dropped her knitting and went to the door 
 which looked across the wide paddock down the road. 
 To her surprise she saw in the fast approaching 
 buggy two forms. Jake was bringing a visitor ! The 
 prospect of any break in what had now become 
 almost an intolerable monotony so affected her that 
 she felt nearly intoxicated, her face flushed rosily, 
 and a tingling thrill that was almost pain rushed all 
 over her. Yet she could not move, but stood there 
 framed in the portal like a graceful picture, while the 
 buggy drew up at the roadside and the men alighted. 
 As they came across the paddock towards her she 
 saw that the stranger was tall and stalwart, walking 
 with the easy loose-jointed swing of the smart sailor. 
 He was dressed in the garb of an ordinary well- 
 clothed townsman, but a wide sombrero, of brown 
 velvet apparently, shaded his face. Whether by 
 accident or design on his part, this hat completed 
 his resemblance to one of the old conquistadores or 
 grandees of Spain painted by Velasquez. For his 
 
12 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 visage was swarthy and oval, his eyes large, black, 
 and brilliant, and the lower half of his face was 
 covered by a pointed beard and immense moustache 
 so black and thick and silky that it hardly seemed 
 of natural growth. To Priscilla's eyes he looked as 
 if he had just stepped across the years out of 
 Prescott's living page, and, like so many others of 
 her sex, in that moment she gave him her whole heart, 
 offered herself up to the husk of a man, unknowing 
 and uncaring what it contained. 
 
 Her mind in a confused whirl of thought, she 
 stood as if petrified until the travellers reached her, 
 and made no sign, even when Jake said, 'Thishyer's 
 my sister Priscilla, Cap'n. Pris, Cap'n Da Silva.' 
 The Captain bowed, gracefully enough because natu- 
 rally, but with evident signs that the movement was 
 unusual, and held out his small and well-shaped 
 brown hand to meet Priscilla's white and plump one. 
 The contact of their hands acted upon her like a 
 vigorous restorative, and the blood fled back again 
 from her face and neck, leaving them for the moment 
 unnaturally pale as she found her voice and bade the 
 stranger welcome. Even Jake's dull eyes could not 
 fail to see how powerfully his sister was impressed 
 by the Captain, and it pleased him well. Selfish and 
 grasping, he was by no means sorry to get rid of his 
 sister, nor did the thought of his mother's loneliness 
 affect him in the slightest degree. So that it was 
 with a chuckle of satisfaction he turned away to put 
 up his horse and buggy, saying carelessly as he did 
 so, ' 'Scuse me, Cap. My sister '11 look after you in 
 shape, won't ye, Pris ? ' 
 
 Thenceforward Priscilla and the Captain were 
 
'VENI, VIDI, VICI' 13 
 
 constant companions, their intimacy tacitly en- 
 couraged by Jake, who was in a high state of 
 satisfaction at the prospect of getting rid of his sister 
 finally. The mother made many attempts to gain 
 her daughter's confidence, for she felt an innate 
 distrust of the handsome stranger. But Priscilla, 
 forgetting all her mother's claims, avoided with 
 intuitive diplomacy any approach to the subject on 
 her part, showing at times an irritability of manner 
 that sorely troubled the old lady, who, having no one 
 to turn to in her distress of mind, was lonely indeed. 
 At last, one day when Pris, the Captain, and Jake 
 had driven off upon some excursion of pleasure, she 
 felt that she could bear the trouble alone no longer, 
 and taking advantage of her younger son's absence 
 at a neighbouring farm, she made a pilgrimage over 
 to the Eddy farmhouse, intent upon pouring out her 
 heart to Mrs. Eddy. The meeting between the two 
 old dames was full of pathetic interest, for Mrs. Eddy 
 loved her boy so fondly that, although she had never 
 felt drawn to Priscilla, it was enough for her that 
 Rube loved the girl. His happiness was the conside- 
 ration that overtopped all others in her heart. So 
 that when Mrs. Fish unburdened herself, her hearer 
 was torn by maternal solicitude for her boy, and for 
 the time her anxiety as to the effect this news would 
 have upon him was too great to allow her to reply 
 And when she did speak, her words sounded hollow 
 and unmeaning so much so that her visitor stared at 
 her wonderingly. For Mrs. Eddy's powers of consola- 
 tion and wisdom of counsel were matters of common 
 knowledge over a wide extent of country she was 
 looked up to as infallible. The look in her visitor's 
 
i 4 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 eyes recalled her to herself somewhat, and choking 
 down her feelings by a great effort, she said : 
 
 ' Wall, Hepziber, yewrs 's surely a hard case, 'n' I 
 kain't fur th' life of me see wut yew're to do. Ef Pris 
 is 'tarmined tu go her own way 'n' wun't listen to yew 
 on the matter 't all, 'n' ef, 's yew say, Jake's doin' his 
 best t' encourage her, yew're jest brought face to face 
 with th' wall, 's yew may say. My Rube w'd hev 
 made her a good husband, an' one 'bout whose record 
 there couldn't be any doubt ; but I've seen fur a long 
 time that she wuz jest puttin' up with him like she 
 didn't love him more J n she did me, 'n' you know she 
 never took ter me, ner dad eyther. Go home J n' pray 
 about it, Hepziber ; it's all we kin do. As fur myself, 
 I've got ter wrassle with th' Lord for my boy, fur how 
 he'll b'ar this I kain't begin ter think.' 
 
 And with this cold comfort (to her), Widow Fish 
 had to depart for the home she was beginning to 
 feel a stranger in, after all these years, leaving Mrs. 
 Eddy with a heart overflowing with sorrowful love for 
 her only son. With a natural dread of the effect the 
 news would have upon him, she put in practice all the 
 simple arts she knew to keep him in ignorance of what 
 was brewing, and finally succeeded, by the aid of her 
 husband, in despatching him to Boston on business 
 without his calling at the Fish place first. He was 
 absent from home for a fortnight, and when he returned, 
 after an hour or two spent with his father and mother, 
 he rose and said, with a transparent attempt to con- 
 ceal his eagerness : 
 
 ' I guess I'll jest stroll over an' see Pris. I'd like 
 to tell her 'bout some o' the Boston sights. 'N' I've 
 brought her a cunning little watch for a birthday 
 present.' 
 
VENI, VIDI, VICI' 15 
 
 The mother looked appealingly at her husband, 
 who, answering her gaze with eyes full of fondness, 
 rose, and laying his hand upon Rube's shoulder, said : 
 
 1 My son, yew' re a man in years an' strength, 'n' 
 I've brung ye up to be the good man I b'lieve y' are. 
 Y' haven't hed enny big trouble yet, but y' know ther' 
 ain't nothing in th' world yew kin 'pend on till it's tested. 
 Yew're goin' ter be tested now. Priscilla's married.' 
 
 The watch dropped from the young man's fingers 
 on to the stone floor and was broken. Except for 
 that sound there was absolute silence : none of the 
 three seemed to breathe. Presently Rube spoke : 
 
 1 Thank ye, father, fur tellin' me plain 'n' prompt. 
 Now I think I'll go upstairs 'n' rest.' 
 
 And with heavy uncertain steps Rube left the 
 kitchen, mounted to the little room he had occupied 
 since he was a child, and shut himself in. 
 
 It was true. With a haste that was explained by 
 the Captain as absolutely necessary on account of his 
 ship being ordered to sea at a very short notice, he 
 had pressed his suit when once he found how willing 
 Priscilla was to take him at his own valuation. Mrs. 
 Fish, thoroughly bewildered by the whole hasty pro- 
 ceeding, wandered about the house like an unquiet 
 ghost, doing nothing either to help or hinder the 
 preparations. Jake was unwontedly lavish with the 
 funds necessary, and indefatigable in giving assist- 
 ance, so that two days before Rube returned from 
 Boston the newly married pair had departed for New 
 Bedford with the intention of spending their honey- 
 moon on board Captain Da Silva's ship as she journeyed 
 southward on the commencement of her long voyage. 
 She was called the Grampus, and was one of the fine 
 
16 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 fleet of South Sea whaleships then sailing from New 
 Bedford, although so ignorant were the farm-folk of 
 Vermont of maritime matters that even Jake, smart 
 as he fancied himself, had but the dimmest, vaguest 
 idea of what the life was that his sister was going to 
 be shut up to for the next three or four years. Still less 
 did he care. As for Priscilla, she would have accepted 
 unquestioningly any situation into which she might 
 be brought so long as she was by the side of the man 
 she worshipped with a fierce unreasoning intensity. 
 Of Rube she never thought for more than a minute 
 at a time, and then it was only with a sense of relief 
 at the knowledge that he would trouble her no more. 
 From her mother she parted without regret : there 
 seemed to be no room in her mind for anything else 
 but intense satisfaction in the prize she believed her- 
 self to have won. Even the prospect of seeing the 
 great world which had once claimed all her desires 
 was but a feeble unit now in the vast sum of her 
 delight in the possession of Ramon Da Silva. Nor 
 was her joy in the least damped by the masterful way 
 in which he accepted all the affection she lavished 
 upon him. To do him justice, he was hardly to 
 blame for this. His career, from the time he had 
 enlisted as a green hand on board of an American 
 whaler at Fayal, in his sixteenth year, had been one 
 long series of successes, due to the great force of 
 his character, his utter unscrupulousness, and entire 
 absence of fear. Step by step he had risen in his 
 dangerous profession until he had become master of 
 a whaleship, while his name was a household word 
 among the fleet for smartness, courage, and 
 brutality. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 A SUDDEN RESOLVE 
 
 WHEN Rube came down the next morning and com- 
 posedly met his father's and mother's anxious looks, he 
 had the listless air of a man whose spirit had been 
 broken. There was a droop in his shoulders, a dul- 
 ness in his eyes that contrasted painfully with the 
 bright alertness of his glance and carriage of the day 
 before, But he said nothing of his blow, and his 
 parents wisely forbore to say anything either, trusting 
 that his young and healthy body would come to the 
 assistance of his mind, and that the wound would soon 
 skin over. Unfortunately for their hopes, his love had 
 been the pivot of his life. While a good farmer, a 
 good son, and a good business man, he had no hobbies, 
 he read little, and, being much alone, he had allowed 
 his passion for Priscilla to become so interwoven with 
 his every thought and action that the knowledge of 
 her loss had been like a rending of soul from body. So 
 he went about his duties like a somnambulist, seeking 
 no comfort, making no confidences, and apparently 
 as insensible to externals as a hypnotised man 
 would be. 
 
 In this dull round of daily tasks several weeks 
 passed away, until it happened that he found him- 
 self at the village grocery on some trivial errand. 
 
 c 
 
i8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 There was the usual knot of loungers ready to talk, and 
 absurdly grateful for the coming of any stranger with 
 something fresh to say. As he passed through them 
 with a brief nod of recognition to one and another, 
 and entered the store, he saw standing erect in their 
 midst a tall wiry-looking man, whose face was un- 
 familiar to him. Pausing for an instant, with the first 
 symptom of interest he had manifested for many days, 
 he heard the stranger say : 
 
 * Yas, 'n' if enny ov yew fellers hed th' grit ov a 
 chipmunk, yew wouldn't take twicet t' think overyer 
 anser. Wut man 'd go on grindin' mud all his life in 
 a dead-'n'-alive God-fergotten corner like this when 
 he's got 'n opportoonity of seein' the world all th' 
 world, mind ye, east, west, north, and south an' 
 makin' a small forchin 's well ? I dunno wuts 
 come over the yewth ov Amurica to-day. Sims t' 
 me they've lost their old vim 'n' push altogether. 
 Well, s' long, boys ; if I kain't persuade ye I kain't, 
 'n' there's an eend on 't, 'n' I mus' be gittin' 'long. But 
 ef enny ov ye wants time t' make up yer minds, I sh'l 
 be back this way ag'in ter-morrer ev'nin', 'n' that'll be 
 the las' chance you'll git, enny ov ye.' 
 
 Although he had not heard any of the stranger's 
 preliminary discourse, and shrank from making in- 
 quiries, Rube's interest was aroused to the highest 
 pitch. He returned to his home with the few words 
 he had heard seething and bubbling in his mind. 
 For he felt that at last here was a way of escape from 
 the almost insupportable deadness of his life. He 
 could not realise that * the mind is its own place,' 
 and so, like a caged animal, seeing a door of hope 
 open to him, he felt an unconquerable longing to flee. 
 
A SUDDEN RESOLVE 19 
 
 He said not a word throughout the evening meal, 
 but that was so much his habit now that it passed 
 unnoticed. Mechanically he bowed his head at 
 ' worship,' but his father's reading of a chapter from 
 the Bible might have been in the original Hebrew for 
 all he understood of it. After gaining the solitude of 
 his room, he sat on the bed, his head on his hands, 
 trying hard to reduce the whirlpool of his thoughts 
 to some definite shape until far into the night, but in 
 vain. Only one idea seemed to stand out sharply 
 and distinctly against the misty tumult : he must go. 
 At last, wearied with mental conflict, he fell backward, 
 dressed as he was, and went to sleep. 
 
 He rose unrefreshed, with a racking headache for 
 the first time in his life, and went about his usual 
 round of duties automatically. But his face bore 
 such evident traces of his last night's conflict that 
 they could not escape his mother's keen eye. She 
 anxiously inquired after his health, but was met with 
 the careless reply that he was * all right.' She knew 
 better, of course, but it had never been her way to 
 force confidence, and so she manifested no more 
 curiosity. She only looked wistfully at her boy when 
 unobserved by him, and hovered about him as if 
 more than ordinarily solicitous for his comfort. All 
 day long he moved and looked like a man in a dream, 
 every thought, every feeling merged in one idea 
 escape. Strange, that it never occurred to him how 
 impossible it is for a man to flee from himself. 
 
 Without waiting for supper, and as if dreading to 
 be questioned, no sooner was the day's work done 
 than he strode off to the village grocery, assuming, 
 as he approached it, a most elaborate air of unconcern, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 and lounging into the midst of the little knot of list- 
 less men hanging about the door as if nothing 
 mattered an attitude common to all of them. He 
 had not long to wait. In about ten minutes after 
 his arrival a brisk footfall was heard, and turning the 
 corner sharply the lean, keen-looking stranger of the 
 previous evening strode into the midst of the group. 
 
 ' Evenin', boys/ he jerked out, diving into the 
 pockets of his pants at the same time and producing 
 a formidable plug of hard tobacco and a knife. 
 Having provided himself with a fresh cud and passed 
 on the materials to his next neighbour, he pro- 
 ceeded : 
 
 ' Wall, boys, hev ye made up yer minds yet ? 
 This, as the paestor sez, is the last time ov askin'. 
 Ye've got ter speak up now, 'relse stay right whar y' 
 are f'rever 'n' ever. 'N' that, / sh'd say, 'd be 'nough 
 t' decide fr'anny young man. Veg'tables don' count 
 anyhaow.' 
 
 This short harangue ended, he looked slily at his 
 hearers to see whether he had made any impression 
 upon them, but with the exception of a vacant half 
 laugh or two, accompanied by an uneasy shuffle on 
 the part of the utterers thereof, they might as well 
 all have been deaf for any notice they took of him. 
 But suddenly, to his astonishment (although he was 
 careful not to show it), Rube, who was a stranger to 
 him, stepped forward and said : 
 
 * Wall, stranger, I guess I'll hitch hosses with ye. 
 When d' ye start, an' what's th' 'rangements ? ' 
 
 1 Right, my boy, I'm real proud of ye. I'm 
 startin' this evenin' as ever is ; 'n' as t' 'rangements, 
 ye've only got ter sign thishyer paper agreein' t' join 
 
A SUDDEN RESOLVE 21 
 
 any ship I s'lect f'r ye, V take a little keepsake from 
 me in the shape of two-an'-a-haef dollars. Then 
 ye'll pack up yer traps, J n' I'll see ye booked through to 
 Noo Bedford. Yew'll start first thing in the morninV 
 
 Hardly looking at the form of agreement, Rube 
 signed, the stranger being provided with pen and 
 ink, and dropping the money loosely into his pocket, 
 he strode off homewards, leaving the loungers all agape 
 at the idea of Rube Eddy, who was well known to 
 be one of the steadiest and most comfortably esta- 
 blished young men in the county, going off at a 
 minute's notice to foreign lands. Long and earnest 
 was the discussion that followed, all sorts of possible 
 and impossible reasons for the step Rube had taken 
 being brought forward. The stranger lolled at his 
 ease, listening in the hope that Rube's example 
 might prove contagious, but, to his disappointment, 
 it seemed to have quite a contrary effect. The 
 talkers were like men who had just witnessed one of 
 their number take a plunge into the fathomless 
 abyss, from the brink of which they all drew back 
 with horror. This state of mind soon became evident 
 to the stranger, who, jerking himself to his feet, shook 
 himself, stretched, yawned, and finally said : 
 
 'Wall, boys, kain't linger with ye always. I'm 
 beginnin' t' feel like Rip Van Winkle meself in 
 thishyer slumbersom place. I reckon I shall hev to 
 hurry back to civilisation agen before I go to sleep 
 too. How on airth yew fellers keep 'wake long 
 'nough t' eat 'n drink I d'no.' 
 
 With this parting shot he turned on his heel and 
 disappeared into the gathering darkness, and they 
 saw him no more. 
 
22 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Meanwhile Rube, his mind a blank, reached home 
 and, hastily ascending to his room, busied himself 
 gathering together his clothing. Good serviceable 
 homespun, most of it, such as would be fit for any 
 work, however rough, that might fall to his lot. 
 Having made it into a compact bundle, with a 
 celerity that raised a dim wonder even in himself, 
 he drew himself up, as if bracing all his fortitude to 
 meet father and mother. Memories of the quiet, 
 pleasant years began to crowd in upon him, but with 
 a gesture as if to crush them back, he deliberately 
 walked down the narrow stairway, whose every step 
 seemed to utter a reproachful creak. Entering the 
 kitchen, he crossed over to the fireside, where his 
 parents sat facing each other and calmly talking over 
 some trivial happening of the day. Standing before 
 them, he waited a moment, while they both looked 
 up at him, and in that one swift glance his mother 
 knew that a crisis had arrived. In a husky voice, 
 that sounded as if it belonged to someone else, he 
 said : 
 
 ' Mother, Dad, I'm goin' away termorrer mornin'. 
 Fergive me fer leavin' ye like this, but I jest had ter 
 go. I'm no good here any more. I'm goin' t' sea, 'n' 
 when I come back mebbe I'll be a stronger man. 
 Naow I'm a wuthless, dreamy shote, 'n' I feel 's if 
 thishyer quiet easy life 'd certainly drive me mad 
 befo' very long.' 
 
 ' Must you go to-morrow, my son ? ' murmured 
 his mother hopelessly, for she knew the breed, knew 
 that once set upon a thing the Eddys were immov- 
 able, and yet she felt obliged to make an effort. 
 
 'Yes, mother. 'Greement's signed, th' airnest 
 
A SUDDEN RESOLVE 23 
 
 money's in my pocket, an' my duds are all packed. 
 I'm goin', sure.' 
 
 ' Rube,' said his father, ' we've been mighty cluss 
 friends all our lives, an' we ain't goin' ter fall eout 
 naouw, I'm dead shore o' that. But ye mout ha' told 
 me wut ye wuz meditatin'. 'T wan't far t' me, boy, 
 naow wuz it ? ' 
 
 For all answer Rube reached for his father's hand 
 and held it tight, while the working of his face 
 showed how hard the simple words had hit him. 
 
 The father broke the silence again by saying, 
 ' Let us pray.' With a sudden return to his child- 
 hood Rube knelt at his mother's knee, while the old 
 man, as had been his nightly wont ever since he first 
 brought home his young bride, but with an added 
 solemnity born of the shadow of his first bereavement, 
 spoke to his Friend : 
 
 1 Father, eour hearts air troubled. Yew've brung 
 us along a pleasant road right inter the green valley 
 of comfortable old age. We've hed a happy time to- 
 gether, 'n' this our son hez alwus ben a delight to us. 
 We looked that he sh'd still be so, that he sh'd close 
 eour eyes when we laid us down at last t' sleep. 
 P'raps we hev been selfish, 'n' need a lesson to teach 
 us wut it means to spare an only son. He's goin' 
 away from us f r a long time v/here, he doesn't know 
 himself; but however fur he goes, don't let him 
 get away from you. We don't ask you t' spare him 
 t' us ef it's necessary we sh'd never see him alive any 
 more ; but ef it might be, Father, you know how 'tis 
 yourself, 'n' therefore you know what it'll mean t' us 
 t' have him back again. Make him through all he'll 
 have t' bear such a man as yew'd love to have him, 
 
24 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 'n supply his place at home, if it ken be supplied, by 
 a truer sense of yew're presence with us. Bless my 
 son, O Father, and bless us, f'r yewr Son's sake. 
 Amen.' 
 
 Little more was said, although they sat hand in 
 hand far into the night. Rube wanted nothing that 
 his father could give him, having sufficient money 
 for all his prospective needs ; but he accepted his 
 mother's Bible gratefully, feeling that it would be a 
 palpable link with her. At last they went to bed, 
 where Rube, not from callousness, but from sheer 
 overstrain of mind, slept soundly. His mother lay 
 all through the hours silently praying, while the un- 
 hindered tears trickled slowly and continuously 
 down. And his father watched with her. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 DEPARTURE 
 
 MORNING broke over the Eddy homestead grey and 
 cheerless, a fitting reflection of the frame of mind 
 holding sway over its inmates. Rube came down 
 with his grip-sack in his hand, his best clothes donned, 
 and an air of stern resolve on his strong features. 
 He found his father and mother awaiting him in the 
 humble room where he had met them ever since his 
 mind first awakened to the knowledge of worldly 
 matters. For a few moments after the * good morn- 
 ings ' were said, no word further passed the lips of 
 the three. Suddenly the mother spoke, saying : 
 
 ' Rube, my son, you never told us wkar* you were 
 goinV 
 
 To some of us perhaps it may seem strange that 
 neither father nor mother had asked this question 
 before, but the fact is that in their secluded lives the 
 mere idea of one of them leaving home for so long 
 was sufficiently terrible, without any definition of the 
 precise locality to which the wanderer might be 
 directing his steps being thought of. But the 
 mother's heart was already in prospect reaching out 
 after the absent one, and therefore it was but fitting 
 and natural that she should be the first to desire to 
 
26 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 know whither he was going. Rube flushed a deep 
 red as the necessary vagueness of his reply dawned 
 upon him, but he said : 
 
 * I'm goin' ter sea, mother ; thet's all I know at 
 present. When I git t' Noo Bedford an' find out 
 whar' I kin git letters or write frum, be sure I'll let 
 you know to onct. I'm drefful sorry I kain't tell you 
 anythin' more 'n thet' 
 
 The morning meal, ample and palatable as it 
 always is on these Eastern farms, was spread, and the 
 three took their places at the board ; but although they 
 made a brave show of eating, the food would not be 
 got rid of, and suddenly Rube arose, as if the sight 
 of his father's worn face and his mother's eyes, bleared 
 with weeping through the long night, was too much 
 for him, saying as he did so : 
 
 ' Wall, it's time I wuz off. Good-bye, mother ; 
 good-bye, father. I know yewr prayers '11 hover 
 roun' me wharever I go ; and ez soon ez I hev worn 
 out this drefful restless feelin' I'll come back and 
 settle down, please God, never to go away any more.' 
 
 A silent kiss from the mother, a grave handshake 
 from the father, and Rube turned his back upon home. 
 Nor did he once look behind him as he strode down 
 the road towards where, in the little village, a con- 
 veyance was waiting to take him to the station, 
 whence he might reach New Bedford by railroad. 
 He did not look back because he feared to see his 
 mother's face. Not that his resolve to go would have 
 been thereby weakened, but that he could not help 
 feeling guilty in that he was weakly fleeing from 
 what he could not help knowing was his duty weakly 
 giving way to what he could not help knowing was 
 
DEPARTURE 27 
 
 after all, cowardice. But who shall dare to judge the 
 action of his fellow-men under abnormal conditions ? 
 1 Put yourself in his place ' is a good motto, but how 
 very rarely is it possible for us to act it out ! There- 
 fore, although many of us may very well feel inclined 
 to judge Rube harshly for thus deserting father and 
 mother and a life of usefulness, and becoming a wan- 
 derer on the face of the deep simply because the 
 woman of his choice could not be his, let us not 
 forget that ever since the world began, and men and 
 women have been able to recount their experiences, 
 strange things have been recorded as done by dis- 
 appointed lovers against their better judgment. 
 
 Rube's mind as the train sped him onwards 
 towards the beautiful New England town whence he 
 was to start upon his long sea journeyings was almost 
 a blank. Never given much to a habit of introspec- 
 tion, he was by reason of the shock that he had 
 recently received less able now to devote himself to 
 concentrated thought than ever ; and so, had he been 
 asked what he was thinking about during that long 
 railway journey, he would have replied, no doubt with 
 perfect frankness, ' Hardly anything.' I think this 
 experience is not uncommon, even among men and 
 women given to meditation, when suddenly they 
 have received a mental blow. Be that as it may 
 and I will own that it is a debatable point when 
 Rube arrived at New Bedford he had just the air of 
 stolid bewilderment that is generally noticeable upon 
 the faces of country-bred people first coming in con- 
 tact with the strangeness of life in a seaport town. 
 And truly one might have sailed the wide world 
 round and not have found a more wonderful seaport 
 
28 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 than New Bedford was in those days. Men of almost 
 every nation under heaven, clad in outlandish gar- 
 ments, jostled each other along the strongly smelling 
 wharves and picturesque streets bordering the bay. 
 New Bedford was then in the height of her prosperity 
 as metropolis of the whaling world. Over six 
 hundred fine ships came and went on their adven- 
 turous sea-questings, bringing with them from the 
 uttermost ends of the earth queer-looking denizens of 
 those far-off lands. Kanakas from the multitudinous 
 Isles of the Pacific, Aborigines from Central America, 
 Aleuts from Alaska, Japanese from Nippon, Chinese, 
 Malays, Papuans, and Dyaks from the East Indian 
 Archipelago, Lascars from Hindustan, Arabs from the 
 Persian Gulf, and last, but by far the most numerous 
 of all these wanderers, Portuguese of every hue, from 
 deepest black to creamy white, from the Fortunate 
 Isles. The diversity of peoples was not more won- 
 derful than the quaintness of their costumes, which 
 were, indeed, a chance medley of all the national 
 dresses of the world. Yet in every case a keen 
 observer, and one acquainted with the subject, might 
 have recognised evidences of an attempt on the part 
 of the wearer to give to his nondescript raiment some 
 national peculiarity. Not only were the people a 
 wonderful sight, but .another sense that of smell 
 was overpoweringly arrested on the crowded 
 wharves, where scores of weatherbeaten ships dis- 
 charged their greasy spoils, the odour from which 
 permeated the entire atmosphere, seizing upon a 
 stranger with almost intoxicating effect Then the 
 sounds ! the loud cries of the labourers as they 
 toiled to discharge the cargoes from the ships, the 
 
DEPARTURE 29 
 
 wonderful medley of languages spoken by the strange 
 seafearers slouching along the shore, and, pervading 
 all, the hollow murmur of the sea as it rolled in on 
 the beaches of the beautiful bay under the stress of a 
 strong landward gale. 
 
 Amidst these novel sights, sounds, and smells, 
 Rube made his way like a man in a dream towards 
 the place whither he had been directed, not with- 
 out considerable difficulty, as three out of every 
 four persons of whom he inquired his direction 
 did not understand a word that he said. This, 
 to a man who had never before met with anybody 
 not speaking his own tongue, was really bewildering, 
 and it was not therefore to be wondered at that by 
 the time Rube had found the building he sought, his 
 mental processes, never too acute, were reduced 
 almost to numbness. Inquiring timidly at the door 
 of the building to which he had been directed as the 
 place where he should find Mr. Sawtell, he was 
 answered nonchalantly by an elderly man, whose 
 grey beard was plentifully streaked with tobacco 
 juice, that if he went right in and took the first door 
 on the left he'd find what he sought. Rube meekly 
 obeyed, and entered a large, high-ceilinged room, 
 scantily furnished, with several desks enclosed by a 
 low fence and some benches. Two men sat at the 
 desks looking as unlike the embodiment of our 
 modern ideas of clerks as could well be imagined, for 
 both of them had soft wideawake hats perched on 
 the backs of their heads, both were smoking enor- 
 mous cigars, and both bore in their countenances 
 the expression of temporarily out-of-work pirates 
 more than that of peaceful quill-drivers. As Rube 
 
30 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 approached the nearest desk he was somewhat amazed 
 to see the clerk with his chair tilted back and his 
 feet apparently resting upon the papers before him. 
 He gazed at the strongly-marked lineaments of the 
 official, and that worthy returned his look with 
 interest, presently removing the cigar from his mouth 
 and saying : * Wai, young feller ; an' wut kin I hev 
 the pleasure ? ' Rube stammered out, rather inco- 
 herently : ' Mr. Sawtell engaged me th' other day to 
 come down here to jine a ship to go to sea.' ' Oh ! ' 
 said the clerk, * Sawtell engaged yer, did he ? And 
 wut mought be the name of the ship ? ' ' I don' 
 know,' replied Reuben, who was fast recovering his 
 equanimity ; * he jest told me to come right here.' 
 1 That's all right, sonny,' said the clerk. ' Sit down 
 thar an' wait fer him ; he'll be roun' bimeby.' 
 
 Reuben sat down as directed, and for nearly two 
 hours had the interest of seeing individuals, something 
 like himself, enter, ask almost the same question, and 
 receive almost the same reply, until the room was 
 fairly full. Then, when Reuben began to think that 
 the whole affair must be a mistake, Sawtell entered. 
 With him there came a man looking more like an 
 Eastern patriarch than a seafarer a tall, loose-jointed, 
 hook-nosed, grey-bearded man, clad in homespun, a 
 long coat reaching nearly to his feet, and a soft 
 steeple-crowned felt hat upon his head. But quaint 
 as his figure might be, there was no mistaking the 
 keen, eagle-like glance of his eyes as he swept them 
 round on the silent men meekly awaiting the arbiter 
 of their fate. And it was he, the Patriarch, who 
 spoke first. ' Is this the crowd you've gut fur me, 
 Sawtell ? ' * Yes, Cap'n Hampden, an' ez likely a 
 
DEPARTURE 31 
 
 lookin' lot 's ever I see.' * H'm, mebbe so, but jest 
 naow I guess there's a consid'ble quantity of plough 
 soil hangin' to 'em. But they do seem likely enough, 
 as yer say. However, I gut no time to spare. We're 
 bound out first tide to-morrer, an' if these gentle- 
 men air quite disengaged ' (waving his hand towards 
 the clerks) ' we'll purceed to business to once.' Then, 
 raising his voice, he addressed the waiting candidates 
 comprehensively, saying : ' Wai, young men, so ye 
 feel inclined to try yewr fortunes upon the ragin' 
 deep, do ye ? ' Muttered responses went up, of 
 which no man might gather the import, save that 
 they were in the affirmative. ' Right an' good,' said 
 the Patriarch ; 'step up here, and hear this gentleman ' 
 (with a sarcastic inflection upon the last word) ' read 
 eout t' ye the conditions of sarvice.' 
 
 With an unexpected alacrity one of the clerks 
 sprang to his feet, and, from a somewhat grimy 
 document, read in a high sing-song tone of voice an 
 agreement whereby the said crew covenanted to 
 proceed in the good ship Xiphias to any port or 
 ports of the navigable ocean in pursuit of whales, 
 seals, and any other denizens of the deep capable of 
 being made profitable to crew and owners ; voyage 
 not to exceed four years. It must be confessed that, 
 slurred over as the last two words were (uninten- 
 tionally, no doubt), several of the candidates suddenly 
 showed a wistfulness of countenance, as if they had 
 a prospective idea of what those four years might 
 mean, but no word was spoken by any of them. 
 Then, one by one, they stepped up to the desk and 
 signed their names, first being told that they would 
 be entitled to receive a good and sufficient quantity 
 
32 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 of cooked provisions, and the 25oth lay, in return for 
 their unquestioning obedience at all times to all orders 
 that Captain Hampden and his officers might issue 
 to them. And this important preliminary finished, 
 they were all sternly ordered, as being men now under 
 command, to be down at the ship by six o'clock in 
 the morning at latest. 
 
 So the newly engaged crew filed out of the office 
 and stood in a little group on the sidewalk hesi- 
 tatingly. A few words passed invitations to drink 
 for the most part and one or two spoke to Rube ; but 
 he answered them unthinkingly, feeling, indeed, the 
 need for being alone. It was all so new and strange 
 to the country-bred man, and he felt that conversa- 
 tion with anybody would be insupportable. So, with 
 muttered excuses, he left the company, and went for 
 a stroll along the wharves, taking in all the wonders 
 of this strange place with wide-open eyes, but most of 
 his other senses nearly out of action. At last, utterly 
 weary, he turned into a respectable-looking eating- 
 house by the waterside, and called for some food, 
 inquiring of the young woman who brought it 
 whether he might take up his lodging there for the 
 night. She answered * Yes ' with a surprised air, 
 and, apparently unable to overcome her curiosity, 
 put several questions to him, as to whence he came 
 and whither he was going, all of which he answered 
 evasively, conveying the idea that what he wanted was 
 to be left alone in peace with his own thoughts. 
 Quite unaccustomed to such rudeness on the part of 
 her customers, the young woman tossed her head 
 and departed, leaving him to his solitary meal. Nor 
 did she return again until, rapping on the table, he 
 
DEPARTURE 33 
 
 summoned her and asked to be shown his room. 
 With a scornful look at a man who could be so 
 utterly unresponsive to the offer of polite conversation, 
 she led the way to a very small, barely-furnished 
 chamber, showed him in and left him ; and he, with 
 the same bewildered air that he had worn ever since 
 reaching the town, slowly took off his clothes and 
 got into bed, although it was hardly yet dark. In a 
 few minutes the strain of the past twenty-four hours 
 was relaxed, and he was fast asleep. 
 
 I) 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 OUTWARD BOUND 
 
 RUBE awakened before dawn without being called, 
 but with a momentary feeling of terror lest he should 
 have overslept himself. The sound of a neighbouring 
 church clock striking five reassured him, and hurriedly 
 dressing he made his way downstairs, paid his modest 
 bill to the sleepy landlord, who was peering out into 
 the grey of the early morning, and rapidly passed 
 along the wharves in the direction of the ship which 
 had been pointed out to him the previous afternoon. 
 Arriving alongside, he was surprised to see how little 
 bustle and apparent preparation for seafaring was 
 in evidence. Several men were slouching about the 
 decks, and one energetic individual was bellowing 
 occasional orders in an exceedingly loud voice, but 
 beyond that the vessel might, for all he could see, 
 have been going to stay where she was indefinitely. 
 Presently, however, he noticed a little group coming 
 with swaying steps up the wharf, and soon they were 
 alongside, several of them evidently suffering from 
 their potations of the previous evening. Then the 
 tall patriarchal figure of the Captain appeared, stepped 
 on board, and instantly the ship wakened into life. 
 
 All unaware of what was expected of him, Rube 
 stood on deck just where he had first stepped over 
 
OUTWARD BOUND 35 
 
 the side, his few belongings in his grip-sack lying by 
 him, until a short, thick-set man, with a face like un- 
 polished mahogany, came up to him and said : * Naow, 
 wut yew doin' here hain't shipped as passenger, hev 
 ye ? Them yewr duds ? Get 'em below and be 
 mighty smart abaout it, 'less you want consid'ble 
 trouble.' Mechanically he obeyed the man's actions 
 more than his words, which were, indeed, more than 
 half of them almost unintelligible to him. Going 
 forward in the direction indicated by his interlocutor, 
 and finding his way below, he entered a large apart- 
 ment wrapped in the densest gloom, and it was not 
 until somebody (who, he could not see) struck a light, 
 that he was able to discern its outlines, to see all 
 around it bunks, some occupied by bundles of cloth- 
 ing and miscellaneous objects, and others by sleeping 
 men. The atmosphere of this dark den was foul in 
 the extreme so much so, in fact, that he felt choking 
 and, without losing any time, he pushed his belong- 
 ings into the nearest corner that presented itself 
 and hastened on deck. 
 
 The next hour passed with him like a fevered 
 dream. What he was doing or why he was doing it 
 he knew not at all ; for is there any creature more 
 helpless and ignorant than a grown-up man who, for 
 the first time in his life, takes part in the work of 
 a ship putting out to sea ? The very language is 
 unintelligible. Everything is so new, so strange, and 
 when presently to these mysteries is added the 
 curious staggering motion of the ship, the neophyte's 
 plight is a most unhappy one. But it may be 
 doubted whether of all the much-advertised remedies 
 for sea-sickness there are any so effectual as being 
 
 D 2 
 
36 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 kept at work, allowed no respite, no moment to 
 brood over the physical inconveniences that assail 
 the candidate for sea honours. The remedy is a 
 terrible one, it is true, but that it is effectual is 
 equally true, and so Rube found it. But when he 
 was ordered aloft to loose a sail he gazed piteously 
 up the rigging and mentally commended him- 
 self to the care of God. For as the ship was just 
 feeling the inroll of the wide sea, and putting on a 
 most disconcerting motion, it appeared to him per- 
 fectly impossible that he should be able to get up 
 aloft and down again alive. Added to this was the 
 fact that he had not the remotest conception of what 
 he was intended to do. But a stalwart Portuguese 
 standing near him when the order was given mur- 
 mured, * Kem along, Greenie ; I shows you haow,' 
 and, gratefully willing, in spite of his wretched bodily 
 condition, he clumsily clambered up the rigging after 
 his mentor, followed by a perfect hurricane of oppro- 
 brium from the officer on deck, who felt justly angered 
 at his most reprehensible want of smartness. He 
 gained the foretopsail yard, and then, despite all his 
 earnest endeavours to learn from the Portuguese 
 what he was supposed to do, was so overcome with 
 nausea that he could do nothing but hold on, just 
 hanging there, a limp, swaying body, unconscious of 
 everything around and about him in the utter misery 
 of his inner man. 
 
 Perhaps it is as well that we draw a veil over the 
 proceedings of the next few days. To follow a 
 novice like Rube through such an ordeal as he was 
 now undergoing, while it might certainly be in- 
 teresting, could not fail, if faithfully reported, to be 
 
OUTWARD BOUND 37 
 
 very distressing to anybody possessing a scintilla of 
 sympathy. Let it, then, suffice to say that on the 
 third morning at daybreak Rube, while sitting be- 
 tween the main stays keeping the look-out, began to 
 realise that an interest in his surroundings was 
 rapidly beginning. Also, for the first time since he 
 had left home, he found himself thinking of how 
 matters might be going on at the farm, and then, as 
 he pictured father and mother coming down to the 
 morning meal and offering up a prayer for the absent 
 one, his heart melted, familiar words of prayer formed 
 upon his lips, he bowed his head and sought the 
 ante-chamber of the King. And, for the first time 
 since he had received the news that had wrought 
 so tremendous a change in his life, he coupled with 
 his prayers the name of Priscilla, that she might be 
 blessed and helped wherever she might be, and that 
 her path in life might be made infinitely smoother for 
 her than she had, innocently enough, made his for him. 
 
 While engaged in this sacred reverie he allowed 
 his head to droop upon his hand, and became for the 
 time utterly unconscious of his surroundings. 
 
 And so it came to pass that the second mate, 
 whose watch it happened to be at the time, making 
 his periodical prowl round the deck to see that all 
 was in order, peered up at the look-out place and 
 saw, as he thought, the watchman asleep. His next 
 move was to procure a bucket of water, which he 
 launched with accurate aim at Rube's crouching 
 form. Rube started upright, gasping and full of 
 bewilderment at this strange thing that had befallen 
 him. But he was not left long in doubt, for almost 
 immediately came a storm of profanity, interspersed 
 
3 8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 with grim warnings as to the kind and quantity of 
 evil that would befall him if ever again he went to 
 sleep on his look-out. At the first opportunity Rube 
 essayed to reply, and point out that he was not 
 asleep, not knowing, poor fellow, that no excuses of 
 the kind are ever accepted on board ship. His few 
 stammered words only brought the bucket flying at 
 his head, and being, after all, a sensible young fellow, 
 he took this rough hint to mean that the only 
 possible course for him to pursue, under present con- 
 ditions at any rate, was to take all that might be 
 tendered to him, making no reply unless ordered. 
 
 But the Xiphias was not at all a bad ship. We 
 may go farther, and say she was a good ship, because 
 Captain Hampden, stern grey Quaker that he was, 
 discountenanced all ill-usage of the crew that was 
 not, to his mind, absolutely necessary. And as he, 
 being part owner, had provided his crew with a 
 plentiful supply of fairly good food, another great 
 source of misery on board ship was removed from 
 them. But still the life for a time seemed very hard 
 to our hero, and would have been much harder but 
 for his magnificent physique and his splendid patience. 
 Moreover, he now found much comfort and a grand 
 outlet for his long pent-up affections in ministering 
 to the many needs of his hapless shipmates. For 
 they, like himself, were drawn largely from inland 
 dwelling people, and several of them were much 
 more helpless than he. They had come to sea all 
 unwittingly, without the slightest foreknowledge of 
 what awaited them, just as he had, and therefore, of 
 necessity, it would be some considerable time before 
 they could settle down to the stolid endurance which 
 
OUTWARD BOUND 39 
 
 is absolutely necessary for all those who go down to 
 the sea in sailing ships. 
 
 A week elapsed, during which all hands were 
 gradually being shaken down into their several 
 grooves. Every man on board had been allotted 
 his post in the boats or as a shipkeeper against the 
 day of battle with the monarchs of the deep. The 
 various green hands had now some of their greenness 
 mellowed, and were learning, or had learned, to get 
 aloft and do something else beside hold on tightly 
 when they got there. But this was the smallest part 
 the mere rudiments, as it were of their education. 
 Sailors on board whaling ships are, of course, re- 
 quired to be fairly smart aloft, fairly smart at the 
 ordinary avocations of a sailor ; but the principal 
 object of their life is that they shall be smart boat- 
 men, and herein they differ entirely from any other 
 merchant seafarers whatever. And this was soon 
 made evident to them, for at the first opportunity, the 
 weather being fine enough to admit of boats being 
 lowered with a crew of absolutely incompetent men 
 without danger of those valuable vessels being 
 damaged, all hands, except four retained to handle 
 the ship under the charge of the captain, were sent 
 away to practise boatmanship. 
 
 This was a severe trial, and all the green hands 
 suffered much. But even here Rube's patience and 
 muscular development stood him in good stead- 
 saved him, in fact, from the energetic attentions 
 lavishly bestowed by the officer and harpooner of his 
 boat upon the other occupants. It must be confessed 
 that he felt many misgivings upon being so near that 
 great heaving blue surface as he was in the frail whale- 
 
40 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 boat. Different (and so much harder) as his life had 
 already been on board the ship from all his previous 
 experiences, it was ease and comfort as compared with 
 this apparent tempting of fortune in a mere cockle- 
 shell. However, given sufficient energy on the part 
 of the teachers, a modicum of courage and sufficient 
 docility on the part of the taught, men can speedily 
 accommodate themselves to any alteration in their 
 habits of life, no matter how great it may be, and so, 
 after three days of tremendously hard training, Captain 
 Hampden expressed himself satisfied that his newly- 
 gathered crew of clodhoppers might safely be taken 
 into battle with the great sperm whale, and have a 
 reasonable chance of emerging therefrom victorious. 
 The weather had, mercifully to those new-comers, 
 been fairly fine for the time of year late autumn 
 although the wind had hung persistently from the S.E., 
 thus hindering their progress greatly ; but one morn- 
 ing at daybreak, the sky lowering threateningly, they 
 were suddenly attacked by a severe gale from the N.E. 
 Amid the hoarse cries of the officers and the blunder- 
 ing but hearty efforts of the crew, sail was shortened 
 to the two close-reefed topsails and foresail, and the 
 old Xiphias fled southward at a great rate for her. 
 Then it was that Reuben, being sent aloft upon some 
 errand of fastening a loose end, was suddenly seized 
 with an attack of giddiness and fell, an inert mass, 
 into the sea. In a wonderfully short space of time the 
 vessel was rounded to and a boat lowered and manned, 
 not by her own crew, but by picked men capable 
 of handling her as she should be handled. So smart 
 were their efforts that in less than ten minutes they 
 came up with the helpless form of Rube as he lay 
 
OUTWARD BOUND 41 
 
 unconscious upon the surface. He was seized and 
 hauled into the boat, brought on board, and im- 
 mediately subjected to the orthodox operations for 
 restoring life to the apparently drowned. Long and 
 carefully they toiled to bring him back to life, and at 
 last succeeded in doing so, but when he opened his 
 eyes upon the world again all the details of his previous 
 life seemed as if they had been completely obliterated. 
 Dismissed to the forecastle, he groped forward like a 
 man suddenly awakened from a long dream, and to 
 all the inquiries of his shipmates he turned a blank 
 face, an uncomprehending demeanour. 
 
 But his grand bodily powers enabled him to return 
 to his duties almost immediately, and from thence- 
 forward, strangely enough, he seemed to assimilate 
 all that was taught him with wonderful ease in fact, 
 as the hard-bitten officer to whose watch he belonged 
 said : ' Thet big hayseed o' mine seems as if 'e was a 
 born sailorman.' So fast did he learn that his watch- 
 mates became absurdly jealous of him a waste of 
 attention on their part, since of it he took not the 
 slightest notice whatever seemed, indeed, really 
 incapable of doing so. 
 
 Captain Hampden became interested in this peculiar 
 development, and occasionally condescended to ply 
 him with questions as to his previous experience, but 
 all in vain. Nothing could be got out of him, and, 
 baffled, the good old skipper had to content himself 
 by saying to his chief officer : * Wall, at any rate, we 
 seem to hev gut hold of a mighty good man.' And 
 gradually his quiet perseverance in well doing, the 
 impossibility of making him angry, and the readiness 
 with which he would always help to the utmost of his 
 
42 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 power any of his shipmates that were in trouble, won 
 him a high place in the hearts of all on board ; even 
 the Portuguese (never very friendly to men of northern 
 breed) could not withhold from him some uncouth 
 tributes of affection. 
 
 And so the ship made her way slowly down to the 
 Line, failing, however, to the disgust of the officers, to 
 raise a whale for the first month after her departure 
 from port. But the time was well spent, for all hands, 
 by dint of incessant practice, were now in a high state of 
 efficiency, only requiring their baptism of fire, if it may 
 be called so their initiation into the art and mystery 
 of whale-fighting to make them as good a crew as 
 any whaling skipper could desire to have under his 
 command. All bullying, hazing, and what we should 
 call brutality, had ceased. The ship was quite as 
 peaceful as any ' limejuicer/ and it was easy to see 
 from the contented faces and pleasant remarks of the 
 officers how well satisfied they were with the progress 
 made by the men under their command in the direc- 
 tion of becoming decent sailormen. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 DISILLUSIONMENT 
 
 PERHAPS it is high time that we returned for a while 
 to the career of our heroine in her new sphere. It 
 must be remembered that she, as so many other 
 young women have done, took a leap in the dark, 
 committing herself and her future to the care of a 
 man about whose antecedents and character she 
 knew absolutely nothing, having only in the few 
 short days of their acquaintance seen him at his very 
 best. But such was the glamour with which she had 
 invested her hero that, although she was startled and 
 troubled in mind by his brutal language and still 
 more brutal treatment of the men under his command 
 from the first hour that she came on board his ship, 
 she attributed it all to the necessities of a captain's 
 position. Every oath made her shudder, every blow 
 made her wince, yet she bore it all without remark, 
 as belonging to a new order of things of which she 
 had hitherto been entirely ignorant, and upon the 
 merits of which at present she felt herself quite 
 unable to give an opinion. Perhaps, had she been 
 able to hear the remarks that were passed by the 
 crew to one another when they thought such remarks 
 might safely be made, she would have shuddered 
 still more. But, poor girl, all such warning words 
 
44 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 were hidden from her, neither did she know how 
 could she, indeed ? that her husband bore the un- 
 enviable reputation of being the hardest skipper of 
 all the hard-bitten crowd of such men sailing from 
 the whaling ports of North America. Still, even her 
 trustful heart could not fail to be wounded at the 
 incessant cruelty which she was now compelled to 
 witness. 
 
 The crew, driven on board at the last moment 
 before sailing like a pack of cowed dogs, were a set 
 of miserable ragamuffins, taken, apparently, because 
 none others could be obtained at any price. There 
 were only two Americans among them two poor 
 lads from the Western States, who had run away 
 from home to go to sea ; the rest were representatives 
 of almost as many races as there were members. 
 This, in itself, made for the safety of the officers 
 made the brutality much less likely to be resented 
 successfully, because, among that medley of foreigners, 
 there could be no banding together for a common 
 purpose of revenge. Not that such an event was at 
 all probable, because, according to the fixed plan 
 pursued on board the majority of such vessels, the 
 precaution was taken while yet the crew, who were 
 nearly all green hands, were in the throes of nausea 
 and bewilderment at their strange surroundings, to 
 beat them, with or without pretext, until their spirits 
 were thoroughly broken and the possibility of their 
 retaliating was hopelessly remote. Captain Da Silva, 
 in spite of the presence of his wife, which might have 
 been expected to have a humanising influence over 
 him, was this voyage more savagely brutal than ever 
 he had been before. His four officers, who knew him 
 
DISILLUSIONMENT 45 
 
 well, and who were all eager followers of his plans 
 (had to be, indeed, in order to keep their position 
 with him), confessed one to another that the old man 
 seemed as if he wanted to show his bride how black 
 a demon he could be. He said, not by way of excuse, 
 but apparently stating a mournful fact, in conversa- 
 tion with his officers, that in all his fishing he had 
 never had such a crowd to deal with as he had got 
 this time, and before they had been at sea a week he 
 discussed with the officers elaborate plans for running 
 across to the Azores, driving his present crew overboard 
 and shipping a crowd of his fellow-countrymen there- 
 from. But this was going a little too far, for three 
 of his officers were Americans, and they by no means 
 relished the prospect of having an entire crew of 
 Portuguese on board an American ship. They felt 
 that it would be indeed exchanging the devils they 
 knew for the devils they did not know, and, as far as 
 they dared, made this plain to their brutal com- 
 mander. And he, wise as well as wicked, took the 
 hint, for he could not afford to lose such splendid 
 whalemen as his officers had proved themselves to 
 be. So, instead of working to the eastward, they 
 shaped a course for the Line, and met with such 
 good fortune in the shape of weather that, without 
 the parting of a rope-yarn, they found themselves at 
 the end of a fortnight well within the Tropics. 
 
 It was one of the characteristics of Da Silva's 
 career that he always seemed to have extraordinary 
 luck. This voyage was no exception, for no sooner 
 was the vessel shipshape, the whaling gear rigged, 
 and all fishing preparations made, than he, taking 
 the masthead trip one morning, sighted a grand 
 
46 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 school of sperm whales. Instantly his voice rang 
 throughout the ship, calling all hands to action, and 
 even those unhappy men who had had the hardest 
 experience of his cruelty could not withhold a tribute 
 of admiration for his wonderful powers of command, 
 presence of mind, and exact knowledge of how to do 
 the right thing at the right moment. 
 
 That scratch crew of wastrels, broken-spirited as 
 they were, seemed to catch a spark of his enthusiasm, 
 and exerted themselves in extraordinary ways in 
 order to gain his approval. 
 
 Priscilla, utterly neglected amid this hurly-burly, 
 sat perched on the taffrail looking with wide-eyed 
 wonderment upon the busy scene. A thrill of terror 
 seized her as she saw her husband, standing erect in 
 the stern of the first boat lowered, urging his 
 crew, with an unbroken stream of profanity, to the 
 highest efforts of which they were capable. She could 
 see the whales, but she hardly knew what was 
 afoot. All that was real to her was that the ship 
 was deserted by almost all hands, including the com- 
 mander, only three or four being left to handle the 
 sails. So there she sat solitary, alarmed, full of fears 
 for her husband's safety, for the result of this tre- 
 mendous manoeuvre, the object of which she only 
 dimly understood. The cries from the two men at 
 the masthead to those on deck she understood not 
 at all, nor did she dare to ask the helmsman for any 
 information for fear that her innocent inquiry might 
 reach her husband's ears later and be fiercely resented 
 by him. But he had obtained such a hold over her 
 that even now she did not blame him : she only felt 
 sorry that he should not have had time (as she put 
 
DISILLUSIONMENT 47 
 
 it to herself) to acquaint her with the reason for his 
 hurried departure. 
 
 Meanwhile the five boats, their crews straining at 
 the oars to the utmost limit of their strength, sped 
 away at right angles to the direction in which the 
 whales lay. The Captain kept the lead, not that the 
 men in the other boats were not doing their best, 
 but that he had a picked crew, and that every man 
 of them was working as if in imminent bodily fear of 
 some terrible punishment unless he exerted all his 
 muscular power. The oars rose and fell with the 
 regularity of steam pistons, the water foamed past 
 the boats, but no other sound was heard save the 
 laboured panting of the men and the low, hissing 
 execrations of the Captain. It is popularly supposed 
 that when rowing boats after whales there is a great 
 deal of shouted encouragement, either kindly or the 
 reverse, that the men themselves are apt to break 
 into song, as Dr. Beale permits himself to say, ' The 
 men sang the time-honoured whaling chant of "Away, 
 my boys, away, my boys, it's time for us to go," ' but 
 when it is remembered how very slight a sound, even 
 at the distance of miles, will suffice to alarm the 
 valuable quarry, it will at once be seen that ex- 
 perienced whale hunters would not be likely to do 
 such a foolish thing as to make unnecessary noises, 
 even supposing that they had breath to spare for 
 doing so. 
 
 At last, when the rowers felt as if their arms 
 would drop off at the shoulders, the Captain's deep 
 voice was heard saying, ' Peak oars, step mast, up 
 sprit.' These actions were immediately copied by 
 each of the other boats, and, in three minutes from 
 
48 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the time they had ceased rowing, the five boats, under 
 the steady stress of their big sails, were bounding 
 over the bright sea before the wind down on to the 
 whales. The propulsion with the oars had only been 
 resorted to for the purpose of obtaining a good 
 weather gauge. That once reached, and the sails 
 set, the boats' heads were turned at right angles to 
 the course they had been pursuing so that they 
 might now, with the wind almost astern, run down 
 upon the whales at high speed, and with the least 
 possible amount of splash. 
 
 It was a splendid sight, that group of unconscious 
 monsters calmly and methodically pursuing their 
 way, quietly attending to their own business of pro- 
 curing food and enjoying their life ; and here, close 
 at hand, stealing upon them like pirates upon a 
 helpless merchantman, this little flotilla of destroyers. 
 Each officer and harpooner was now in the throes of 
 expectation, every nerve tense, all their hopes high 
 that they would reach their prey before the periodical 
 descent of the whales took place. In nine cases out 
 of ten this would not have been the case, but here 
 again, Captain Da Silva's luck appeared to be in the 
 ascendant, for, as if the boats were living creatures, 
 full of eager desire to come to close quarters with the 
 enemy, they leaped forward with ever-accelerating 
 speed, until the foremost whale, a large bull of about 
 seventy barrels (or, say, sixty feet in length) was 
 only a couple of lengths ahead of the skipper's boat. 
 Hoarsely he growled, ' Stand up, Jose ! ' The har- 
 pooner's crouching form straightened itself, and, 
 raising the harpoon in both hands while steadying 
 himself by his left thigh in the hollow of the clumsy 
 
THE WHALE WENT STEADILY DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. 
 
 P. 49. 
 
DISILLUSIONMENT 49 
 
 cleat, he waited, a heroic figure, until, by a skilful 
 sweep of the steering oar, the boat swung end on to 
 the whale's broad side, and struck it, at the same 
 moment as the harpoon flew from those nervous 
 hands and buried itself in the quivering blubber up 
 to the hitches. Calmly pitching the stray line out of 
 the box over the boat's side, the harpooner turned to 
 go aft with the face of a man knowing that his duty 
 had been well done. Without taking the slightest 
 notice of the writhings of the tortured leviathan so 
 near or the tremendous commotion in the water, he 
 superintended the rolling up of the sail, the unship- 
 ping of the mast, and the passing of it aft where it 
 would be out of the way of the operations. 
 
 While the crew of the boat were thus engaged 
 the Captain, with that skill for which he was justly 
 famous, had, by means of the big steering oar, 
 manipulated the boat so that she lay at a safe dis- 
 tance from the whale. The hardly-pressed monster, 
 in orthodox fashion, finding that he could not 
 free himself from the galling weapon, descended 
 steadily, taking out line at a gentle rate, while the 
 Captain changed ends with the harpooner, unsheathed 
 his favourite lance, and awaited the return of the whale 
 to the surface. While so doing, his countenance was a 
 study in ferocity. The immediate prospect of blood- 
 shed seemed to arouse in him all the animal, and, as 
 he glared fiercely around upon his crew, they hardly 
 dared meet his eye, so terrible did he look. But he 
 was compelled to forego his delightful occupation for 
 a while, and remain as quiet as it was possible for 
 him to do while the whale went steadily down, down, 
 down. Meanwhile, by a piece of amazing good 
 
 E 
 
S o A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 fortune, each of the other boats had succeeded in 
 getting fast to a whale without any accident, and 
 now they were all engaged in the same manner as 
 the Captain's boat, waiting, with such patience as 
 the officers could command, for the rising to the 
 surface of their respective whales. The remainder of 
 the school, having apparently lost all control of 
 themselves, wandered aimlessly around the little 
 company of boats, going slowly backwards and for- 
 wards, thrusting their great heads out of the water 
 without apparently the slightest idea of what to do 
 or where to go, and arousing in the minds of the 
 officers, especially in that of the Captain, the fiercest 
 resentment at their inability to take more advantage 
 of so splendid an opportunity as was now offered 
 them. After a wait of nearly half an hour, all the 
 harpooned whales came to the surface at nearly the 
 same moment, and immediately the scene under- 
 went a change as complete as it is possible to 
 imagine. The wounded monsters, rushing frantically 
 in every direction in their vain efforts to escape, the 
 fierce guttural yells of the officers as they plied their 
 slender, gleaming lances upon those vast bodies, the 
 welling fountains of blood that befouled the bright 
 sea surface, all went to make up a picture of savagery 
 which could hardly be equalled by that presented in 
 any land battle. So successful was the conduct of 
 this first encounter that hardly two hours had elapsed 
 since the boats first left the ship when the whole five 
 whales were dead, the boats cleared up, and all was 
 in readiness for the prey to be taken alongside the 
 ship. She, being well and smartly handled by the 
 three or four people left on board, and having got well 
 
DISILLUSIONMENT 5 1 
 
 to windward of the area of battle, now ran down to 
 where the Captain's boat lay by the side of his dead 
 whale. Having made the line fast to a hole in the 
 whale's fluke, he ordered his boat to run alongside 
 the ship, and, climbing smartly on board, he super- 
 intended the hauling of the whale alongside. Now, 
 the ship being hampered by that gigantic body made 
 fast to her, it became necessary for the crews of the 
 other boats to tow their whales as best they could in 
 the direction of the vessel. Fearfully long and tedious 
 was the process, and the impatience of the Captain 
 rose to a height of almost maniacal fury, although he 
 knew full well that every man was doing his utmost 
 to perform the tremendous task allotted to him. 
 Without a break they toiled until the sun was nearly 
 setting, nor was one moment's respite allowed them 
 until the whole of the day's catch was secured along- 
 side and astern of the ship. Then, and not till then, 
 the Captain shouted with a grudging note in his 
 voice, ' Mr. Court, send the hands to dinner.' The 
 order was repeated by the mate, and the men wearily 
 dragged themselves below, where the food cooked 
 long ago was awaiting them. But as they went the 
 Captain shouted again, ' Look lively now ; yew 
 wanter be on deck again in twenty minutes.' Hav- 
 ing delivered himself thus, he turned towards his 
 cabin, where, for the first time that day, he greeted 
 his wife. She, quite bewildered by the day's pro- 
 ceedings, summoned up all her affection, and came 
 to greet him with arms outspread, but he, glowering 
 fiercely at her, said, ' I got no time for fooling now ; 
 I got something else to think about.' 
 
 This rebuff reduced her to a pitiable state of mind, 
 
52 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 for it was utterly incomprehensible. That she had done 
 anything to deserve it she could not feel, and, indeed, 
 it was a strange thing that a man in the height of his 
 success, having inaugurated his cruise in so splendid 
 a fashion, with enormous profits lying only waiting 
 to be realised, should be so hatefully morose and 
 savage in his demeanour. 
 
 It was a puzzle beyond hope of solution. The 
 meal was taken in utter silence, the food being bolted 
 in truly animal fashion ; and, while yet the last mouth- 
 fuls were being masticated, the skipper rose abruptly 
 from his seat and said, ' Now, then, Mr. Court, start 
 the hands again.' While they had been at dinner 
 the shipkeepers had completed their task of getting 
 the gear ready for cutting in, so that when the 
 officers came on deck and summoned the hands it 
 only remained to commence cutting in the whales at 
 once. Loud orders resounded along the decks, but, 
 for perhaps half a minute, there was no response, and 
 this seemed to act upon the Captain maddeningly. 
 Snatching a belaying-pin from the rail, he strode 
 forward muttering curses, and, beating his weapon 
 upon the scuttle hatch of the forecastle, he roared down 
 into the gloomy cavern, ' D' ye want to be smoked 
 out like a nest of hornets ? ' Full of alarms, the 
 weary men clambered up the steep ladder, but as the 
 first one reached the deck he was met by a tremen- 
 dous blow full in the face, which sent him reeling to 
 the deck. 
 
 It must be admitted that captain and officers 
 worked hardest of all ; in fact, they seemed like men 
 of steel rather than of flesh and blood, and even the 
 weary seamen could hardly refuse a tribute of admira- 
 
DISILLUSIONMENT 53 
 
 tion to the way in which they were led. By mid- 
 night, under the glare of blazing cressets suspended 
 from the davit heads, they had managed to cut in two 
 of the whales, and had decapitated the remaining 
 three, the great columnar heads being strung astern 
 by hawsers. Then the Captain reluctantly gave 
 orders that half the crew should retire for an hour 
 while the other half busied themselves in making 
 some sort of a clearance on the deck, which was now 
 piled almost from end to end with blubber, and ankle- 
 deep in oil. How speedily that hour passed for the 
 privileged ones only they could tell. Indeed, it 
 seemed but a moment before they were back at work 
 again, and the other half were sent for the same brief 
 period to rest. But the savage brute of a captain 
 took no rest. He seemed superhuman, and when 
 day dawned the whole of the spoil had been taken 
 on board, with the exception of the three heads, for 
 which no room could be found at present. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 A STRICKEN DEMON 
 
 IT has been a frequent matter of remark, not merely 
 by myself, but by all the writers with whom I have 
 conversed who have ever interviewed old sailors on the 
 subject of their experiences, how difficult it is for the 
 latter to tell what they have seen. Their memories 
 are most keen, but the mighty happenings they have 
 witnessed seem to overwhelm their simple vocabulary, 
 and they will suddenly break off in the midst of a 
 splendid tale, and, holding up their hands in a gesture 
 of despair, cry out, c Oh, God, if I could only tell ye 
 what I've seen ! ' I am led to think that perhaps it 
 is this felt inability to do justice to the memory of 
 what they have really seen that has often made 
 sailors possessed of vivid imaginations invent magni- 
 ficent lies, rushing by some curious mental paradox 
 into the opposite extreme, from the sober recital of 
 fact to an absurdly extravagant invention of fiction. 
 
 But be that as it may, there can be no doubt that 
 even those who have been most successful in the 
 attempt to transport their readers to the scenes which 
 they themselves have witnessed, are often touched by 
 the same feeling of inability, as the grandeur of the 
 scenes they would fain depict flashes through their 
 minds. They sit with poised pen present, indeed, as 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 55 
 
 to the body at their desks, but in spirit, by some 
 unexplainable mystery, away back amid the sur- 
 roundings of those former years, going through it all 
 again. And thus they sit waiting, waiting, prisoners 
 of hope, until relief comes in some commonplace 
 word or thought, and the pen is re-started, to run 
 perchance glibly enough until again arrested in like 
 manner. 
 
 These reflections irresistibly arise as I recall 
 similar scenes to the one which I would now de- 
 scribe : that splendid silken circle of sea and dume of 
 sky just commencing to palpitate with the glories 
 of the new day ; those low, tender ranges of softest 
 cloud like carelessly piled heaps of snowy down, with 
 sober grey bases almost parallel with the horizon, and 
 summits blushing sweetly with all the warm tints of 
 the coming sun ; through the eternal concave over- 
 head running tremulous sprays of liveliest colour 
 throbbing and changing incessantly on their back- 
 ground of deep violet, from which the modest stars 
 are quietly fading before the advent of morning. 
 Across the mirror-like surface of the ocean great 
 splashes of colour come and go in never-ending pro- 
 gression, although there be never a cloud from which 
 they may be reflected and their pure hues come direct 
 from the impalpable ether around. And in the centre 
 of it all, grating at first upon the mind as the only 
 discordant note in the harmony otherwise reigning, 
 is a ship surrounded by the greasy, mutilated carcasses 
 of her spoil that spoil which was so recently ful- 
 filling the exhortation of that glorious hymn, ' O ye 
 whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the 
 Lord, praise Him and magnify Him for ever.' What 
 
56 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 a hideous scene of squalor it does appear, to be sure ! 
 Great shapeless masses of flesh and fat and bone, huge 
 clots of black blood, an undefinable odour of death 
 for the time has not yet come for corruption to defile 
 air as well as sea and in the midst of it all, fiercely 
 toiling, hacking, thrusting, tearing, yelling, blasphem- 
 ing, are the slayers. From every pore the ship 
 exudes oil warm from the body, at every roll a new 
 extent of sleeky' water is thrust out from her slimy 
 sides. Gradually, as the space in her main-hold 
 known as the blubber-room becomes filled up, the 
 limited area on deck is piled with the masses of 
 blubber, and the oil which exudes from them fills up 
 the carefully caulked decks and at each wallowing 
 roll she makes rises against the bulwarks, which are 
 almost as impervious as the deck itself. So inside, 
 outside, half-way up the mainmast, she reeks with 
 blood and grease, while the water all around is a 
 seething mass of silent voracity. From who knows 
 how far away the hungry denizens of the deep sea have 
 hastened to the feast, summoned by some unerring 
 sense, of which we know nothing at all. No one, as 
 far as I know, has ever attempted to compute the 
 number of the host of sharks alone which surround 
 a whaleship while she secures her spoil ; so I shall 
 not try. It would be only a wild guess, after all, for 
 they come and go incessantly in utmost haste, and as 
 far as the eye can see the water is aboil with their 
 strugglings to secure at least some portion of the great 
 feast. 
 
 Of the other deep-sea citizens present I can say 
 little. They are to be seen of course, but only 
 occasionally, for this feast is peculiarly the shark's 
 
'A STRICKEN DEMON 57 
 
 great opportunity, and it is no easy matter for any 
 other fish to displace him. In the air, the hungry 
 self-invited guests may be few or many, according to 
 the position of the ship. In the North Atlantic birds 
 are far less plentiful than they are in the South, for 
 some reason which I have never been able to find 
 out, and consequently in this great scene of spoliation 
 which I am now attempting to limn there were only 
 about a dozen or twenty c gulls.' 
 
 During its progress, as during the hunting, Pris- 
 cilla sat on the top of the after-house motionless 
 under the influence of some horrible fascination 
 which she could not resist. She watched the lithe 
 form of her saturnine husband as, leaning over the 
 rail of the cutting-stage, he dealt blow after blow at 
 the black and white masses beneath him, or occa- 
 sionally varied his labours by a sidelong thrust which 
 severed some thieving shark's head from its body. 
 But she noted that while he appeared to be doing 
 more than any other member of the crew, his physical 
 efforts never interfered with his mental energies in 
 the oversight of his men. He seemed to know where 
 every man was, and what he was, or ought to be, 
 doing. An incessant stream of orders, threats, and 
 cursings poured from his throat, which was ap- 
 parently of brass, since it never got hoarse. The 
 only physical sign of his vocal labours was the foam 
 with which his raven-black beard was flecked. 
 
 Utterly brutal, utterly callous and heartless as 
 she now knew her husband to be, she could not 
 withhold from him a silent tribute of admiration for 
 his powers of command and organisation, and for his 
 courage. She felt shuddering pity for the poor men, 
 
58 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 who, against the most urgent calls of Nature to rest 
 their tortured limbs, went fiercely toiling on as if 
 only by that means could they avert sudden, violent 
 death. Once or twice she gave vent to a low moan 
 of compassion as she saw the Captain leap inboard 
 with a tiger-like spring and fall upon some man 
 whom his eagle eye had detected lagging behind the 
 others, assailing him with the utmost ferocity by 
 knocking him down, jumping on him, kicking him as 
 if determined to do him to death. Again and again 
 she turned to go, overcome by the horror of these 
 constantly recurring scenes, but she could not : she 
 was compelled to remain and witness them while 
 powerless to help and unable even to pray that God 
 would have mercy upon these poor wretches upon 
 whom man at least her man had none. 
 
 What man has done, man can and will do unless 
 restrained by powerful laws, and what was done amid 
 such scenes as I am recalling was gentleness itself 
 when compared with what went on aboard the galleys 
 of ancient days scenes which no modern writer 
 has dared, or would dare, to put comprehensively 
 into print. For even on board a whaler, where one 
 man embodied all the law or justice obtainable by 
 anybody, the blessed influences of Christianity in the 
 modifying of cruelty were felt, and things were thus 
 not nearly as bad as they might have been ; nay, they 
 were only in exceptional cases as bad as I have 
 represented. This fact, I think, deserves special 
 emphasis, because it goes to show that the majority 
 of men in command of these ships, knowing full well 
 that they were never likely to be called to account 
 for any cruelties they might commit in the name 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 59 
 
 of discipline, yet abstained from exercising their 
 autocratic power, or only used it when it became 
 undoubtedly necessary that they should do so. 
 
 Gradually the mighty task drew to its close. One 
 by one the vast carcasses were cut adrift and floated 
 away, each the centre of a writhing mass of hungry 
 creatures fiercely righting for places at the feast, 
 which, great as it was, seemed but a trifle compared 
 with the host of candidates for it. One by one the 
 huge square ' cases ' were hove up alongside and 
 their bland contents ladled out into the tanks below. 
 But when the last but one was being emptied, as it 
 hung, a weight of some twenty tons, suspended from 
 the cutting-in falls, Captain Da Silva went to the 
 waist, and, leaning up against the case, looked down 
 to see whether or not the precious spermaceti was 
 draining away from some cut in its walls, as he 
 suspected it was. As he did so the ship rolled ever 
 so slightly, and without any warning the massive 
 chain slings which held the case aloft tore out. It 
 fell like an avalanche descending, a big flap of 
 1 white horse ' or head integument curling round the 
 Captain's body and whirling him after it into the 
 fathomless depths. It was so terribly sudden that 
 Priscilla was momentarily stunned, but with returning 
 breath she uttered a wild cry of terror and fell fainting, 
 her overwrought condition of nerves unable to bear 
 this last great shock. For one moment the crew 
 also stood like statues, but ere one could count five, 
 the third mate and second boat-steerer had leaped 
 into the sea after their commander, although they 
 knew (none better) of the swarming sharks and the 
 many other reasons why they should be unsuccessful. 
 
60 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 But all traces of him had vanished, and realising that 
 not only were they most dangerously situated, but 
 that they could see better from above, they climbed 
 on deck again with all the speed they might, reaching 
 it at the same moment as Captain Da Silva's head 
 appeared on the other side above the rail. 
 
 For a few moments all who witnessed his rising 
 stared with starting eyes at what they deemed to be 
 his wraith, but his hoarse voice, full of anger, roused 
 them instantly from their brief lethargy. ' Naouw, 
 
 then, whutye all gapping at, like a lot er suckers 's 
 
 y'air. Git along wi' thet work, 'relse I'll be 'mong ye 
 in mighty short order, naouvv I'm telling ye.' And 
 each man sprang to his task as does a mettled horse 
 when the lash falls unexpectedly across his flanks. 
 And Captain Da Silva strode off muttering maledic- 
 tions. Perhaps it was all the formula of thanksgiving 
 which he knew : certainly no word of praise for the 
 miracle of his escape out of the very jaws of death 
 crossed his lips. He had been carried down by that 
 long sliver of skin which had enwrapped him and 
 held him tightly bound to the mighty mass of the case 
 until he felt as if his head were a boiler under a full 
 pressure of steam. But as the ' case ' sank, by some 
 mysterious influence it spun round, or rather revolved, 
 for its motion was but slow, and in doing so it un- 
 wound the clinging band from the skipper's body 
 Never having lost his presence of mind, and being as 
 nearly amphibious as the rest of his island country- 
 men, he sprang upward to the surface, just grazing the 
 bilge on the opposite side of the ship to that from 
 which he had descended, and grasping a bight of the 
 main sheet which dangled invitingly alongside, he 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 61 
 
 swung himself aboard, ready and alert to resume the 
 tyranny he loved. 
 
 The whole affair of his departure and return had 
 been so dramatically sudden that Captain Da Silva 
 was in his cabin shouting for Priscilla to give him dry 
 garments before she had recovered from her swoon. 
 His angry demands brought the trembling steward 
 at his best gait. To his breath-bated inquiry the 
 skipper shouted : 
 
 * Whar's Mrs. Da Silva, yew black beast ; whar's 
 my wife ? ' 
 
 ' Please, sah, de madam's done gone swounded, 
 an' I ain't can fotch 'er to yit. I ' 
 
 But flinging him aside as if he had been a bundle 
 of rags, the skipper rushed on deck to where Priscilla 
 was sitting up wearily passing a hand over her dazed 
 eyes and wondering what strange thing had befallen 
 her. He seized her arm roughly, and in tones of 
 
 deepest scorn demanded what sort of game she 
 
 called this ? Was he to wait in his wet clothes while 
 she lolled about on deck playing the (more unsavoury 
 adjectives) fool ? Mechanically she staggered to her 
 feet, and, like some unreasoning but faithful animal, 
 tottered towards the cabin. I doubt if she would 
 have been surprised had her husband accelerated her 
 progress by a kick, to such a numbness of brain had 
 she come. But she did his bidding, accepted all his 
 blasphemous grumbling, and made no sign. For she 
 was, in the fullest sense of that much-abused brace of 
 words, heart-broken. Her spirit was crushed, never 
 to awake again as it had been ; her love was dead, and 
 only patient, animal-like obedience remained. Did 
 any compunction arise in the man's mind for what he 
 
62 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 had done to that trusting, loving woman? Those 
 who think so little know the capacity of man for 
 cruelty. A grim smile lit up his diabolically hand- 
 some features as he noted her quiet performance of 
 his commands, and although he said no word it was 
 easy to see with what fiendish pleasure he realised this 
 new proof of his power to rule others with a rod of iron. 
 Without pausing to do more than glance at his 
 injuries one long black and green bruise which 
 wound twice round his body, and another extending 
 from his right thigh to his heel, with the skin broken 
 in many places he hastily dressed himself in dry 
 clothes and, without casting another glance at the 
 submissive figure of his wife, rushed on deck. 
 Fortunately for all of them, the crew were working 
 hard to secure the masses of junk (solid pieces, each 
 several tons in weight, cut from the whale's head), 
 lashing jaw-bones, clearing away try-works, getting 
 up mincing-machine and tricing up gear out of the 
 way of the all-pervading grease. He cast one com- 
 prehensive, scowling glance around, which deepened 
 in its frown when he found no cause of complaint, 
 and at once assumed sole command. For the next 
 hour his orders flew like volleys of musketry, 
 spurring on the almost spent men to give up the last 
 ounce of their strength. And then suddenly, as if 
 God had taken pity on those hapless men, the 
 tyrant's indomitable strength and pluck gave out 
 together, and he sank to the deck moaning feebly, 
 
 1 Take me below, ye, take me below.' Even 
 
 with what seemed the last breath he needs must 
 curse those upon whom he was now utterly dependent 
 for all his wants. 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 63 
 
 So, inert, all his great energy vanished, and his 
 wiry limbs hanging limply as loose ropes' ends, he 
 was borne below to his bunk, his appearance in this 
 guise startling Priscilla again, but arousing in her 
 now no such feelings as those with which she had wit- 
 nessed his disappearance over the rail so short a time 
 before. With quiet dignity she directed the bearers 
 where to lay him, thanked them, and dismissed them. 
 Then, left alone with the man for whom she had 
 given up her life, and more than her own life, had 
 she but known, she went about the duty of attend- 
 ance upon him methodically, carefully, but with no 
 more feeling than if he had been an utter stranger. 
 All that she could do for him she did, but of affection 
 in her ministrations there was no trace. Presently 
 with a feeling of relief, such as usually accompanies 
 the successful conclusion of a difficult task, she saw 
 him pass from coma to sleep, heard him breathe 
 naturally, and watched the ghastly pallor of his face 
 give place to its healthy olive hue. Then she took 
 some needlework and sat down by his side, ready to 
 attend upon him when he woke, determined to do 
 her very utmost for him dutifully, and hoping to 
 make faithful service take the place of the love she 
 knew she would never feel for him again. 
 
 Perhaps I may be pardoned for anticipating 
 criticism here by a word or two. I know well that 
 women can, and do, show love of the deepest, truest, 
 holiest kind for men who not merely speak to them 
 harshly, but beat, starve, or ill-treat them in every 
 way. But Priscilla was not one of these women. 
 It may be, too, that her love for Ramon Da Silva 
 was not love in the best sense of the word, but 
 
64 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 merely a hurricane gust of passion that for a season 
 had changed the whole surface of her being, while 
 leaving unruffled the great depths below. I do not 
 know, nor do I care to dogmatise, but of this I am 
 sure that there are many Priscillas about, worthy of 
 all the love of a good man, and fully capable of return- 
 ing it, whose love, calmly, thoughtfully given, would be 
 changed into utter dislike and contempt for the once 
 loved one if they should have the misfortune to dis- 
 cover him to be cruel or disgusting. And for one I 
 dare not say that they are therefore in any way worthy 
 of blame, or are not perfectly true and lovable women. 
 Now ensued a period of calm satisfaction for all 
 hands, tempered only by the knowledge that it would 
 soon come to an end. The exceedingly heavy toil 
 of mincing the blubber, boiling down the oil, storing 
 it in casks, and disposing those casks in easily acces- 
 sible positions about the decks, went on without 
 intermission, but quietly. Every man worked as if 
 the knowledge of his tyrant's impotence, for a time 
 at any rate, had supplied him with an incentive. 
 But the Captain was suffering utter torment below. 
 Ordinarily he was quite wanting in what we vaguely 
 speak of as nerves': he worried about nothing. Now, 
 however, his great strength entirely gone from him, 
 knowing how large a task was in hand on deck, and 
 knowing, too, how glad was every man on board 
 that he, their despot, was helpless, he raged and 
 fumed, and thereby retarded his recovery greatly. 
 But for those who came in contact with him, this 
 time was a terrible one. His poor wife and the 
 negro steward lived in utter terror of him, although 
 physically he was powerless to do them harm. 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 65 
 
 Perhaps it may be thought that too severe a de- 
 scription of this man has been given, and that thereby 
 some injustice has been done to men generally. But 
 if so, I would like to ask objectors whether they have 
 never had the misfortune to know anybody, not 
 necessarily a man, who would, given the opportunity 
 have behaved quite as badly as Captain Da Silva. 
 God knows, I have no wish to libel any of my fellow 
 men or women, but I am absolutely certain that but 
 for the grace of God, the sweet influences of Christi- 
 anity, there are very few of us who can be trusted with 
 absolute power over our fellows. And if any doubt 
 were possible, surely the records of the National 
 Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 
 would dispel it. The sight of helplessness does in 
 some infernal way seem to generate in many minds 
 an irresistible desire to inflict suffering upon the help- 
 less. And it needs all our faith in God, as well as all 
 our recollection of the tender love that fills so many 
 hearts, to keep us from feeling that mankind in 
 general is possessed by all those attributes which we 
 have agreed to consider as the characteristics of 
 Satan. Of course, like all other qualities, cruelty 
 needs special opportunities for its full development as 
 well as a deliberate cultivation. And for this reason 
 I have never been able to understand why so many 
 otherwise level-headed people should object to cor- 
 poral punishment for the perpetrators of cruelty, 
 since it is almost invariably the case that cruel 
 people are most tenderly solicitous for the care of 
 their own susceptibilities to pain. Exceptions there 
 are to this rule, of course, and Captain Da Silva was 
 one. No amount of corporal punishment would 
 
 F 
 
66 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 have deterred him from being again the merciless 
 monster he was by nature, given fitting opportunity ; 
 for he, as I have already endeavoured to point 
 out, had an almost Chinese disregard of personal 
 suffering. But even he was certainly no worse 
 for the tasting in his own proper person of some 
 of the pains he was wont to bestow lavishly upon 
 others. 
 
 Only two persons wished him speedily well, and 
 for obvious reasons. They were his personal attend- 
 ants. The chief mate, whose business brought him 
 below periodically to report progress, always had to 
 summon up all his courage to face his suffering chief, 
 always returned to upper air again acutely conscious 
 of relief, although he was a man of great ability and 
 resource, and, moreover, had the comforting know- 
 ledge that under his (comparatively) mild rule the 
 work was slipping along on greased wheels. But 
 (and this is one of the peculiarly subtle depravities of 
 some natures) he could not help feeling that his com- 
 mander's irritation at his own helplessness was in 
 no way lessened by the knowledge that affairs were 
 going on quite smoothly without his interference that, 
 in fact, it would have been in some measure an allevia- 
 tion of his sufferings could he have known that, bereft 
 of his oversight, matters were at sixes and sevens. 
 And each time the mate came to report, and gave 
 him the bland information that all was going as well 
 as possible, the men were working with a will, the 
 weather continued fine, and the blubber was yielding 
 most richly, the skipper was instant in cross-examin- 
 ation on every detail, apparently in the hope that he 
 might somehow find occasion to vent his long pent- 
 
A STRICKEN DEMON 67 
 
 up spleen upon someone else beside his wife and the 
 negro steward. 
 
 Nothing transpired, however, to gratify him, and 
 at the end of the sixth day from his accident the mate 
 reported all oil barrelled and half of it stowed ; that 
 the crew were busy now with lye and sand cleaning 
 
 up ; that the mastheads were manned, and But 
 
 right in the middle of his flow of words came the 
 most thrilling cry of ' Blo-o-o-o-w.' The mate 
 stopped in the middle of a word and looked round 
 listeningly. But his skipper, maddened almost 
 beyond endurance at the knowledge of his own help- 
 lessness, and that his subordinates would now have 
 an opportunity of showing their capabilities without 
 any overlordship of his, hurled at the listening mate 
 one long yell of profanity which had the effect of 
 sending the latter scampering rabbit-wise up the 
 tortuous cuddy stairs on deck. 
 
 Fortunately for Priscilla, the raging emotions of 
 her husband, conjoined with his bodily weakness, had 
 the effect of rendering him utterly helpless both in 
 mind and body. For a while she busied herself 
 quietly in such necessary attentions as she was able 
 to render, then, hearing as in some realistic dream 
 the weird tumult on deck, and feeling her own utter 
 loneliness, she did that which is, thank God, open to 
 us all, if in varying degrees. She lifted her tired 
 heart to God, remembering with a bitter pang of 
 repentance the many perfunctory repetitions of ' Our 
 Father ' she had performed ; a remembrance which 
 brought a host of others in its wake. The quiet 
 times of family worship she had yawned over 
 behind her hand, the glorious words of Holy Writ 
 
 F 2 
 
68 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 passing her then unlistening ears like meaningless 
 jargon, the tender father who had never given her 
 a harsh word during her recollection of him, the faith- 
 ful, plodding mother, whom she had forsaken at the 
 lightest word of a stranger, and the dog-like devotion 
 
 of But no ; that thought must not be encouraged. 
 
 From her uneasy seat she slid to her knees, and from 
 her overloaded heart poured forth her unspoken 
 prayers not for deliverance, but for strength, for 
 peace of mind, for knowledge how to do and say the 
 right thing and word at the right time. And as the 
 subtle communications passed between that suffering 
 heart and the Centre of all Solace, the blessed dew of 
 peace descended upon her spirit, and she felt that 
 the victory was won, for the present at any rate. 
 
 Meanwhile, though unheeded by her, the uproar 
 on deck had reached its climax, then suddenly ceased, 
 and a profound silence reigned. She sat, listening 
 intently, but in nowise alarmed : she felt past all that. 
 Until presently a comical black head, with wide white 
 eyeballs, protruded from the state-room door. Its 
 glance, fearfully questing, caught hers, and in reply 
 to her whispered inquiry came a murmur : c Dey J s awl 
 goen away, Mistis ; on'y me an' de cook, carpenter 
 an' cooper an' shipkeepers am lef . But it looks laik a 
 mighty fine school of spam whales dey 's onter, an' ef 
 dey gets um may be de skipper please, an't it ? ' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A DISASTROUS DAY 
 
 UNDOUBTEDLY there was a certain fierce delight in 
 Mr. Court's mind, as well as great relief, when he fled 
 precipitately on deck from the presence of the terrible 
 man who was his present commander. As any other 
 man of his abilities and bravery would have done, he 
 felt a certain measure of contempt for himself that 
 he should be so meekly subservient to one whom he 
 believed in his heart of hearts to be no braver or more 
 skilful than he was himself ; but the deeply ingrained 
 habit of discipline prevented that feeling from reach- 
 ing its logical conclusion. And, unlike the Dago, he, 
 being an Anglo-Saxon, also felt a certain compas- 
 sion for a man stricken down by accident in the 
 performance of his duty, and utterly unwilling to take 
 the smallest advantage thereof. More, in some dim 
 manner he felt that if his part were well played now } 
 there might be some alleviation in the lot of that pale 
 saint (for in such a light had the mate come to regard 
 Priscilla you cannot keep family secrets on board 
 a ship) ; and so, fired with all the best ambitions that 
 can energise a man, he sprang on deck, every sense 
 keenly alert. 
 
 The air was full of wailing cries of ' Bl-o-o-o-o-w. 1 
 All hands were waiting ready by their boats with an 
 
7 o A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 air of expectation, as if each man was taking the 
 highest personal interest in the outcome of the present 
 adventure. The second mate, standing on the little 
 bridge over the wheel conning the ship, no sooner saw 
 his superior than he said, * School o' th' biggest sparm 
 whale ever I sot eyes on, sir. Ain't one under a 
 hundred an' thutty bar'l, I swar. An' thar's one ef 
 he ain't the father of all the whales ever bo'n I ain't 
 ever seen one before.' 
 
 For all answer the mate shouted ' 'Way boats ! 
 Down from aloft.' And for the next few minutes the 
 whirring of patent sheaves, as the graceful boats 
 ran waterwards, the hoarse, gasping orders given by 
 the boat-headers, and the sharp concussions in the 
 water, filled the air. What a scene of furious energy 
 manifested by men who a little while before were 
 lolling uncouthly about as if incapable of any exertion 
 whatever, under no matter what stimulus or provoca- 
 tion ! Within five minutes the ship was deserted by 
 all her crew, save only the discontented half-dozen 
 whose unhappy lot it was to abide by the stuff and 
 labour monotonously to keep the ship as far to 
 windward of the arena of battle as might be. In 
 every man's heart there was a deep sensation of 
 thankfulness that one ominous figure was absent from 
 this fray that for once they were free to do their best 
 unhampered by the paralysing knowledge that, what- 
 ever they did, their efforts would surely be rewarded 
 by savage treatment which they must endure, be- 
 cause no safe way of rebellion presented itself. How 
 the rowers did lay to their oars ! How keenly when, 
 a sufficient weather gauge being reached, the sails 
 were set and the boats bounded blithesomely over 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 71 
 
 the blue waves under the stress of the freshening 
 breeze, did every man peer forward for sight of their 
 gigantic prey ; and how fervently each harpooner 
 hoped that he might be privileged to strike the first 
 blow ! 
 
 I have never been able to understand how it is 
 that all other seamen seem to have cherished con- 
 temptuous feelings towards the whale-fishers. That 
 they always have done so is undoubtedly true, and 
 possibly the foundation of so utterly false a senti- 
 ment may have been that it is but seldom that 
 ordinary seafarers have been able to witness the 
 mighty conflict between men and whales. Usually 
 when sailors meet whalers it is at a time when the 
 latter are conserving their energies against the 
 coming of the next great fight, or are greasily 
 labouring to harvest their spoil, an occupation which 
 needs much true appreciation of the romantic to see 
 anything in it at all worthy of admiration. In the 
 rare cases that have occurred when sailors have been 
 in at the death of a whale, they have been simply 
 stricken dumb with admiring wonder, and thence- 
 forward have enjoyed a vicarious popularity as the 
 retailers of yarns in the dog-watches to a gaping but 
 utterly sceptical crowd of their shipmates. 
 
 So, swiftly the four boats sped whalewards, the 
 mate always ahead, for his intense nervous energy 
 had communicated itself to his crew, who, not content 
 with the pace being made under the pressure of the 
 wind, had each stealthily seized a paddle, and were 
 thrusting them deeply into the hissing waters along- 
 side at every opportunity that was presented, as if 
 their overmastering impatience could not let them 
 
72 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 rest for one instant. Strange to say, on this occasion, 
 although it seemed to the mate that, large as the 
 whales were, they should have long ago made their 
 periodical descent, they did not do so, but lolled 
 about on the bright sea-surface in an orderly series 
 of rows which converged, until at the apex, as it 
 were, of the whole school lay the gigantic leader of 
 whom the second mate had spoken in such breathless 
 terms of admiration. There could at last be no 
 doubt about the matter : that school of whales had 
 seen their aggressors coming, and for some mys- 
 terious reason had decided that on this occasion they 
 would not obey their natural promptings bidding 
 them flee, but would await the foe and do battle with 
 him in befitting manner, with never a doubt as to 
 the issue. 
 
 The reason for this strange behaviour could not, 
 of course, be known to the mate, since even the 
 keenest of human observers has never been able to 
 penetrate the motives influencing what we are pleased 
 to call the ' lower animals ' in their pursuance of any 
 abnormal course of behaviour ; although there can be 
 no doubt that had he known why the whales thus 
 awaited him, the knowledge would not have caused 
 him to alter his procedure in any way. For he was a 
 perfectly brave man, whom no amount of prospective 
 peril could turn aside from what he considered to be 
 the path of duty. True, he was but an ordinary 
 example of the New England whale-fisher ; but it 
 must ever be remembered that this wonderful calling 
 i.e., hunting the sperm whale of necessity bred a 
 most extraordinary type of man, having as it did the 
 grand old Puritan stock to work upon. 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 73 
 
 So Mr. Court led his little flotilla into battle, 
 every man watching with keenest anticipation the 
 gently heaving masses of the mighty foes, and won- 
 dering much what so unusual an attitude portended. 
 Some of the fellows felt a queer clutching sensation 
 at the pit of the stomach as every bound of the 
 buoyant craft brought them nearer those silent, list- 
 less-looking whales. But it was not fear ; it was but 
 the nerve-centres notifying the brain to call up all 
 the energies of the body to face the unknown, and it 
 would at the first crash of battle be replaced by a 
 tautening of every muscle, an exaltation of spirit 
 heady as that produced by wine, and a great, if dimly 
 understood, sense of the power of man in the world. 
 
 A short, blast- like order, and Mr. Court, gripping 
 his steer-oar fiercely, bent his body almost double 
 and swung his boat's head round at right angles to 
 the leader of the great company. His harpooner, 
 Gonsalvo, one thigh firmly pressed into the ' clumsy 
 cleat/ raised the harpoon high overhead, and a hissing 
 expiration burst from his clenched teeth as the 
 weapon flew from his hand and buried itself up to 
 the hitches in the whale's broad side. One could see 
 the convulsive quiver run through that vast body as 
 the stab was felt ; but Gonsalvo did not look ; he 
 snatched up his second iron and hurled it after the 
 first to such good purpose that it buried itself like 
 the first one only about a foot higher up the body. 
 Then, turning coolly round, the gratified assailant 
 cast adrift the backstays of the mast and proceeded 
 to roll up the sail as if quietly coming alongside a 
 wharf. Meanwhile the boat had swung up into the 
 wind and lay side by side with the whale, at a 
 
74 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 distance of about twenty feet. Hoarsely the mate 
 encouraged his crew in their efforts to get the ham- 
 pering mast unshipped, keeping at the same time a 
 wary eye upon his prey. He was astonished beyond 
 measure to see that the whale made no sign beyond 
 that quivering of the skin before spoken of, but lay 
 as if meditating upon this strange event. Then with- 
 out further sign the whale sank, sank with hardly a 
 ripple, and for a moment or two all was quiet, just 
 giving Mr. Court an opportunity to glance around 
 and see that his lieutenants were all busily engaged 
 similarly to himself. 
 
 There was no lack of readiness or watchfulness ; 
 but suddenly a vast black mass appeared on the 
 other side of the boat, and with a perfectly inde- 
 scribable motion turned a somersault in the air, just 
 missing, in the downward sweep of that awful tail, 
 the frail boat by an inch or so. But the steer-oar 
 was snapped off soundlessly, like a radish severed by 
 the sweeping blow of a knife, leaving the boat help- 
 less. Mr. Court's orders flew ; his men seconded 
 him nobly, pulling first on this side, then on that, to 
 turn the boat ; but, bereft of that great oar aft, her 
 movements were slow and hesitating. Then uprose 
 that massive head, with jaws wide extended, which, 
 taking the boat amidships, crashed through her as if 
 she had been a stick of celery, destroying utterly two 
 men and seriously injuring the mate. His right arm 
 and leg were broken, and his whole side lacerated in 
 appalling fashion. 
 
 In the suddenness of the shock the mate was 
 mercifully spared the full realisation of his injuries ; 
 but the absence of pain only made his brain more 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 75 
 
 active, and his mental agony was extreme. For not 
 only had he been the victim of a complete defeat, 
 but he did not know how matters were proceeding 
 with his subordinates, and he feared the worst. 
 Then as he paddled mechanically, conscious of a 
 whelming drowsiness stealing over him, his left arm 
 touched something hard an empty line-tub. With 
 one last flash of energy he rove his arm through its 
 becket and passed immediately into blissful uncon- 
 sciousness, that merciful suspension of the * suffering ' 
 faculties that has been Divinely provided to smooth 
 the way from life to death of shrinking, sensitive 
 flesh. His poor fellows, those who were left, were 
 fortunately uninjured, but thoroughly demoralised at 
 the terrible shock they had received. They also were 
 able to support themselves amid the whirling waters 
 upon fragments of the broken boat ; but, of course, 
 like their officer, in a most precarious and tentative 
 fashion. 
 
 And round about them, in leisurely fashion, as if 
 contemplating the result of his strategical effort, 
 swam the whale, neither doing nor attempting to do 
 them any harm, but putting them in serious danger 
 of drowning from the abnormal whirling of the water 
 which the passage of his monstrous bulk effected. 
 Occasionally, too, there would appear, cutting the 
 water in erratic directions, the tall dorsal fin or 
 ' gaff topsail ' of a great shark, hunger-driven almost 
 to madness by the taint of blood in the water, but 
 (as yet) scrupulously respecting the bodily integrity 
 of the hapless men still living. Overhead flitted 
 restlessly a few birds, screaming mournfully, as if 
 they realised that in the effort of providing a great 
 
76 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 banquet for them man had utterly failed this time. 
 But of everything except the fast-weakening desire 
 of living the principal actors in this stormy scene 
 were utterly oblivious, and thus for a while we must 
 leave them. 
 
 The other three boats, arriving upon the scene 
 of conflict almost simultaneously, saw their leader 
 get fast to the monarch of the school. And had 
 they obeyed the regular rule, well known to them 
 all, they would certainly have deputed the fourth 
 boat to lie off and watch events, in case of need for 
 assistance. But, freed from the baleful overglance 
 of the skipper and fired to utmost emulation of each 
 other as they were, it was easy to forget so necessary 
 a precaution, and consequently, each singling out 
 his whale, the three boats rushed to the attack, 
 all harpooning about the same time. At once the 
 scene became almost indescribable. For the stricken 
 whales, unlike their leader, each fought with Titanic 
 energy to free himself from the galling weapon, rear- 
 ing monstrous heads high in the air at one moment, 
 at the next flourishing with sufficient force to smash 
 in a ship's side their mighty tails, the supple corners 
 of which actually snapped like whip-lashes from the 
 vigour with which they were lashed to and fro. 
 Also the loose whales, apparently with some indefinite 
 object in view of rendering aid, glided about and 
 between the combatants, making it impossible for 
 the men to do what they tried and converting the 
 sea into the semblance of the surface of a huge 
 cauldron of water fiercely boiling. 
 
 Yet such was the skill and energy displayed by 
 these hardly bestead hunters that for a considerable 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 77 
 
 time they all escaped damage, although they often 
 did so by a couple of inches only. At last, as they 
 were weakening, the first calamity came, sudden and 
 complete. The third mate's boat was towed swiftly 
 in a certain direction (and so furious had been the 
 fight that the sail had not yet been secured) until 
 the crew found themselves between two ominously re- 
 volving bodies, one that of the whale to which the 
 fourth mate was fast, and the other their own quarry. 
 There was no room wherein to use oars, nor was 
 there time had there been place, when the two huge 
 carcasses, rolling in opposite directions, crashed 
 against the tender shell of the boat, which collapsed 
 into matchwood, while the crew leapt madly upon the 
 shiny, slippery bodies of the monsters, and, slithering 
 downwards, disappeared in the smother of foam 
 around. 
 
 With a groan of regret the fourth mate cut from 
 his whale, and, regardless of his own immediate 
 danger, incited his crew with all his powers to pick 
 up their shipmates. And they did strive, literally for 
 dear life. The huge bulk of the whales brushing 
 past them, the frantic motions of their boat, apparently 
 harassed them not at all. Intent upon the orders of 
 the erect, keenly observant figure at the stern, they 
 pulled, backed, peaked oars, or lay still as commanded, 
 and while in the full tide of their tremendous labours 
 were suddenly hoisted, as if by some submarine 
 earthquake, upon the uprushing head of a whale ten 
 feet into the air. They were flung in a writhing 
 heap from their thwarts, and when they recovered 
 themselves they were clinging sadly to a wreck, for 
 the boat, although still holding together as to her 
 
78 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 frame, had her keel or backbone broken in three 
 places, and, full of water, just sufficed to sustain their 
 weary heads occasionally above the sea surface- 
 Even at that dread time the minds of all were bent 
 upon the fate of those whom they had failed to rescue. 
 For themselves they cared nothing ; they were 
 comparatively safe with something floatable beneath 
 their uncertain feet ; but alas for those who in that 
 tormented whirl of waves had not even a splinter 
 unto which they might cling hopefully. 
 
 What of the second mate? Well, some might 
 call him a coward, for although he had got fast like 
 the rest, before three minutes had passed, having 
 witnessed the disaster which had overtaken his 
 senior officer, he had coolly cut his line and withdrawn 
 with all the speed he could command from the arena. 
 One thing, and one only, was in his mind, and that 
 was how he could avoid being entangled in a fight, 
 so that he might, as soon as opportunity offered, 
 rush in and rescue some of the drowning ones. But, 
 as he afterwards said, never in all his fishing had 
 such a task fallen to his lot. For every whale in the 
 school seemed to make for him, and although they 
 did not attack, whales being magnanimous beyond 
 all other powerful and sensible animals, they circled 
 about him with majestic movement, occasionally 
 scarifying the faces of himself and his patient men 
 with the blistering drops from their condensed 
 spoutings as they blew across his boat, and clearly 
 made him understand that he existed only by their 
 favour. And he was fretting his heart to fragments 
 over his inactivity, and wondering how long it would 
 be ere he could emerge from his august environment, 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 79 
 
 and save those shipmates of his whom he knew to be 
 perishing so near. Even then he had no notion of 
 the completeness of the disaster. But his heart 
 failed him as he thought of meeting the tyrant of his 
 life, on that terrible man's recovery, and endeavouring 
 to explain away so great a failure. 
 
 Meanwhile as far as the eye could reach the boat 
 was hemmed in by whales, that with majestic move- 
 ment circled around their tiny captive, or, perpen- 
 dicularly erected in the water, protruded their vast 
 cylindrical heads from the surface like symmetrical 
 columns of black rock. Then, as if at a given signal, 
 the great assemblage divided, leaving between their 
 closely packed ranks a lane of clear water. Not an 
 instant was lost by Mr. Winslow ; if his hand 
 trembled, in its grip of the steer-oar, his voice did 
 not ; if his men looked wistfully at one another and 
 at their gigantic escort, they pulled none the less 
 lustily at the word of command. And presently they 
 came upon a pitiful sight. In an area that might 
 have been covered by a big ship's mainsail floated 
 listlessly six men, each clinging to some derelict 
 portion of their late vessel's equipment. None of 
 them appeared able to appreciate their most perilous 
 position ; no gasp of fear passed their cracked and 
 blistered lips when the long, quivering body of some 
 ravening shark glided closely past them. No ; for 
 them nothing mattered any longer : they had passed 
 beyond the reach of either hope or fear. And had 
 one remembered how painful were their lives, how 
 remote the possibilities of brightness ever lightening 
 their dreary way through the world, the thought 
 would inevitably have compelled admission that 
 
So A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 it was almost criminal to bring them back again to 
 the suffering they had left * behind especially re- 
 membering how full of pain to them would be the 
 process. 
 
 Such an idea, however, never occurred to those 
 tender-hearted if ruffianly looking rescuers. For- 
 getting all their own danger oblivious, indeed, to 
 anything else but the manifestly urgent needs of the 
 perishing ones they saw around them they toiled 
 furiously to get the exhausted men into their boat. 
 Nor did they desist until, the gunwale of the boat 
 being just awash, they were warned that any further 
 attempts to pick up men would certainly mean the 
 loss of all, both rescuers and rescued. Six were still 
 a-missing, but that could not be helped, and with the 
 utmost care they moved heavily off towards the ship, 
 which was standing down the wind in their direction. 
 A careful shipkeeper of a whale- ship always devotes all 
 his energies, as soon as boats have left, to keeping his 
 vessel to windward of the scene of conflict a position 
 of advantage whence, when the great fight is over, he 
 may run down with a free sheet and pick up the 
 boats and their gigantic prizes. 
 
 So that, although the time seemed interminably 
 long, it was really only a matter of minutes before the 
 boat was alongside the ship and the broken men were 
 being hauled on board. All the time this work was 
 going on the ship was the centre of a vast assemblage 
 of whales, seemingly satisfied that their enemies were 
 now powerless to harm them, and, although majesti- 
 cally refusing to attack a helpless foe, quite deter- 
 mined to let that foe see unmistakably what might 
 be his fate should his late prospective victims become 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 81 
 
 aggressive, No sooner were the rescued men on 
 board than Mr. Winslow, as if he and his crew were 
 machines of iron rather than men of weariable 
 muscles, pushed off from the ship's side and carefully 
 steering between the bulky bodies of the assembled 
 whales, made the best of their way back to where 
 they hoped to find the remainder of their shipmates. 
 Six were still missing, among them the mate, who 
 since the captain's accident had endeared himself to 
 all hands. But it really seemed as if their colossal 
 escort knew the errand they were upon, for their 
 progress was hindered in the most extraordinary 
 manner by the whales crowding about them. No 
 assault was made ; had it been, however slight, they 
 must all have perished ; but it was as if they were 
 incessantly reminded by the whales that forbearance 
 had, even with such magnanimous monsters, its 
 limits, and that while no advantage would be taken 
 of primary helplessness, they (the whalers) would not 
 lightly be permitted to help those who were receiving 
 the due reward of their own aggression. 
 
 So, with infinite pains, the second mate and his 
 hardly entreated boat's crew made their way back to 
 the scene of conflict, and found one man, the mate, 
 still afloat, and possibly alive. They could not be 
 sure of the latter, but took him in on the chance. 
 Further search, although prolonged to the utmost 
 limit of their endurance, failed to show them any 
 more of their lost shipmates, and at last in a faint 
 voice Mr. Winslow ordered them to give way for the 
 ship. As his men doggedly obeyed, and called up 
 their final reserve of energy, the attendant whales, 
 as if satisfied with the progress of the day's events, 
 
 G 
 
82 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 drew off, and with their great leader well ahead, took 
 their departure to windward along the bright glorious 
 path of the setting sun, whose rays touched their 
 mighty bodies with gold and made every little spray 
 they threw upwards in their stately progress glisten 
 like a shower of diamonds. 
 
 The overburdened crew reached the ship without 
 further incident, and, once alongside, realised how 
 terrible had been the strain imposed. For even the 
 simple business of hoisting the boat, usually a matter 
 of at most two minutes, became a herculean task 
 hardly to be accomplished by the united efforts of 
 all hands remaining capable of standing on their feet. 
 Once secured on her cranes, Mr. Winslow dismissed 
 his boat from his mind and wearily slouched to where 
 the mate lay on a mattress brought up by one of the 
 harpooners. So great was his loss of vigour, that 
 although he saw the mate had recovered conscious- 
 ness and was now peacefully asleep in his drying 
 clothes, he felt a dull want of interest in that fact, 
 as in everything else, and without taking further 
 interest of his surroundings or of the claims of his 
 position, he cast himself down in the little clear 
 space abaft the wheel on the starboard side, pillowed 
 his head upon his right arm, and immediately fell 
 asleep. 
 
 The shipkeepers that is, the four petty officers, 
 carpenter, cooper, steward, and cook, with the four 
 men appointed to assist them in the duty of manag- 
 ing the ship during the process of catching whales 
 had been hardly pressed both by work and anxiety. 
 But they saw and realised how easy had been their 
 lot as compared with that of the hunters; and 
 
A DISASTROUS DAY 83 
 
 although they had well earned a relief, they 
 said nothing, but went grimly on with their by no 
 means easy task of preparing the vessel for the night, 
 clearing away gear, &c. 
 
 Now during this terrible day Priscilla had found 
 great peace. We left her at its beginning comforted 
 as only those heavy-laden ones can be comforted 
 who are in direct communication with the Comforter. 
 Permeated by that Peace which passeth all under- 
 standing, she felt content to abide in quiet security any 
 event that might happen, and she looked down upon 
 the insensible form by her side with something of 
 the Divine compassion, although without one spark 
 of the human love which should exist between hus- 
 band and wife. All that her simple ideas of nursing 
 could suggest as good to be done for him she did 
 assiduously, while his face twitched convulsively, 
 unintelligible muttering flowed ceaselessly from his 
 lips, and every muscle of his body seemed as if 
 under the influence of a powerful galvanic battery. 
 
 It was very quiet down in the small cabin. The 
 workers on deck went about their duties softly in 
 dread of rousing the skipper, and only a faint echo 
 of an occasional carefully modulated cry from aloft 
 came stealing softly to her ears. She did not feel 
 hunger, weariness, or anxiety. Whenever the good 
 darkey steward could spare a few minutes from the 
 work of the ship he stole down to see if he could do 
 anything for her ; but beyond accepting a cup of tea 
 and a biscuit at midday, she gently declined all his 
 kindly offers. The only feeling, as she said after- 
 wards, that did occasionally shoot athwart the placid 
 state of her mind was one of thankfulness that her 
 
 G2 
 
84 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 husband was so long oblivious of all that must, she 
 knew, be going on, for she could not help realising 
 what his fury would be if, with all his senses about 
 him, he should be unable to take part in the hunting. 
 And so quietly the long day wore to its close. 
 She remained in utter ignorance of the outcome 
 until, at about 7 P.M., the steward crept to her side 
 with a cup of soup, and begged her to sup it. While 
 she languidly did so, he sketched for her in a few 
 hurried whispers the condition of things, and wound 
 up by saying, his swart face looking a ghastly green 
 in the dim light of the swinging lamp : * An' de good 
 Lawd Hisself only knows wa's gwine happen t' us 
 wen he comes to an' fine's eout abeout it. Lawd 
 hab massy on us all den.' She answered him not a 
 word, but, handing back the cup, laid her tired head 
 back in her chair and passed peacefully to sleep. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 
 
 WE left Rube not only entered conclusively upon his 
 new career, the very antithesis of all his previous 
 experiences, but, by one of those mysterious happen- 
 ings which prove how little we know of the workings 
 of the human brain, completely dissociated from that 
 former life of his as if it had never been. And yet 
 by some merciful connection, inexplicable in view of 
 his entire loss of memory, but certainly bridging the 
 dark gulf, his former Christian training not merely 
 influenced him, but its effect was intensely deepened 
 and strengthened. So with all his old attributes of 
 patience, of kindliness, of love ; attributes which all 
 must confess may exist without any acknowledgment 
 on the part of their possessor of the power of Christianity 
 at all. Also his physical powers developed amazingly. 
 Seemingly quite careless what he ate, but always with 
 bared head returning thanks to God for it, he throve 
 upon that poor food until his torso would have served 
 as a model for an ancient Greek statue of Hercules. 
 Upon his bright face the shadow of a frown was 
 never seen, his serenity of mind seemed proof against 
 all the pettiness of aggravation that men allow to do 
 so much harm in the world, the gnat-bites of daily 
 intercourse which fester into various plagues far more 
 
86 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 deadly in their continual evil than all the great crimes 
 which shock us so by the horrors of their incidence 
 upon the life of man. 
 
 And with all this he was essentially a man, taking 
 with highest intelligence his daily part in all around 
 him, excelling in ability as he did in strength every 
 one of his shipmates until he came to be looked upon 
 by them as a kind of demi-god whose superiority in 
 all things they ungrudgingly acknowledged because 
 he himself was obviously entirely unconscious of it. 
 Forward and aft it was the same. If any felt they 
 had aught to teach him they immediately did so 
 for the sheer joy of the thing ; he was so eager to 
 learn, so keen-witted in absorbing new knowledge, so 
 humble and entirely grateful. At first this attitude 
 of his was looked upon with suspicion by his ship- 
 mates, for suspicion and jealousy are baleful plants 
 that thrive apace on shipboard among the crew, 
 especially on long voyages ; then, when the impos- 
 sibility of being suspicious or jealous of such a man 
 had been fully demonstrated, good-natured, bantering 
 toleration took its place. This was succeeded by 
 reverence, which gradually overcame the most scep- 
 tical, those who longest maintained that * Rube wuz 
 jest a easy-goin' loony 'at y' c'd do anythin' y' liked 
 with.' This latter phase of feeling towards him 
 arose, I think, as far as the foc's'le was concerned, in 
 consequence of the stand he took against rows in 
 their common abiding place. Whenever men quar- 
 relled (and shore-folk can hardly imagine how difficult 
 it is to keep the peace in a small apartment tenanted 
 by thirty men), Rube was at once on hand, unless it 
 happened to be his wheel or masthead look-out. 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 87 
 
 And, owing to his great size and strength and utter 
 disregard of himself, it was impossible to bring off a 
 fight when he was about. For he would propose the 
 most absurd things, such as that the two belligerents, 
 if they felt they must beat somebody, should beat 
 him in turn ; but beat one another they should not 
 while he was able to prevent them, and they could 
 not doubt his ability to do that. Once an infuriated 
 man did strike him a heavy blow full in the mouth. 
 It was like striking a rock. Rube leaped at the 
 striker, caught his fist, and, holding it up, said, * Poor 
 feller, jes' look at them knuckles, they're all cut 
 about shameful. Less get a bit er rag an' tie 'em up.' 
 
 What could they do with a man like that but love 
 him ? Nothing. And surely never was man so loved 
 aboard ship before. When in the long evenings after 
 the first dog-watch the crew lolled about the fore part 
 of the deck smoking, it became quite an institution 
 for Rube to sit (he didn't smoke) and tell them stories 
 in his own quaint language out of the Bible from 
 memory. He possessed the only one on board, and 
 read it continually in his watch below, giving up to 
 its delights much of the time his great frame needed 
 for sleep. Perhaps the quotation of a sample of his 
 Bible yarns (as the fellows termed them) may be 
 admitted. 
 
 ' 'Way back in the old days, boys, it seems t' me 
 thet most people hed a mighty rough time of it. In 
 th' cities, frum what I c'n see, they wuz pow'ful little 
 'musement fur the wealthy folks 'cept buildin' uncom- 
 fortable palaces, stufBn' grub down their necks they 
 didn't feel to want, gettin' drunk, an' seein' a lot of 
 poor people suffer. Funny how a man or woman 
 
88 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 should like to see suffering ain't it ? Even then when 
 these rich folks was havin' what they persuaded 
 themselves wuz a hot ole time, they wuz always 
 expectin' some feller 'd come along an' make a big 
 hole in 'em with one o' them old-fashioned stickers 
 you see in pictures, about a foot long, four inches 
 wide, and razzur sharp on both edges. But they was 
 a lot o 1 people hadn't got no palaces. They was 
 something like sailors ashore always on th' move, 
 carryin' their grub with 'em, an' only stoppin' any 
 length o' time where there was water an' plenty grass 
 fur th' live stock. 'Course they managed t' steal a lot 
 of poor fellers 'at didn't know enough t' keep out er 
 the way, and make these slaves do all the work. 
 We're most of us built like that. Comfort was a 
 word that hadn't come into use those days ; but then 
 neither had indigestion, nerves, corns, or rheumatics. 
 Well, among these people was one a good deal better 'n 
 most ov 'em, though, of course, he had his faults, an' 
 his name was Isaac. Only that. Jest a given name, 
 an' no more : easy to remember. Now this good 
 man was well off as those days went. He had lots o' 
 sheep 'n' goats an' donkeys an' camels, an' a mighty 
 big country to travel about in, an' let 'em feed 
 wherever they would, with no rent or taxes to pay. 
 He had a wife he was very fond of only one, which 
 was sing'lar for those times, when th' best o' men didn't 
 seem able to get along without a bunch o' wives. 
 An' he had two sons. One of these sons was a fine 
 fellow, free an' open an' brave, fond of all manly 
 sports, but one of those chaps such as we say '11 never 
 get on in th' world. He was his father's darlin'. 
 The other was a quiet, say-nothin'-t'-nobody sort o' 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 89 
 
 feller, fond of hangin' around the tents and looking 
 after the breedin' o' the cattle an' sheep, an' he was 
 what we call a good business man. But you had 
 to watch him close, or he'd get t' wind'ard of ye 
 every time. His name was a sort o' warning to any- 
 body t j keep their weather eye liftin' when he was 
 havin' truck with 'em. It was Jacob, meanin' a feller 
 that gets into another feller's place after he's jockeyed 
 him out of it. An' he wasn't partikler who it was he 
 bested, his father or his brother jes' as soon as 
 anybody else. He was his mother's favourite. 
 
 * Well, after both boys had grown up, an' Jacob 
 had ben workin' off his little schemes pretty frequent, 
 'specially on his twin brother Esau, his dotin' mother 
 puts him up to a dodge to take in the old man, who 
 was gettin' pretty shaky, so 's he'd scratch Esau outer 
 his will, and put Jacob in. And between 'em they 
 rigged up Jacob in goatskins to make him feel like 
 Esau, who was one of those big, burly, hairy men, so 
 as his poor old father, who was blind, shouldn't know 
 the difference, an' give him all the property as well 
 as his blessin', which counted in them days fur even 
 more than property. And th' scheme worked all 
 right. But when Esau come home from the country, 
 and found it out, Jacob had to quit, or else Esau 
 would have killed him sure. So his mother lost him 
 altogether. I don't s'pose that bothered him greatly. 
 Anyhow, he did just as well in the new country he 
 run to, and in just the same way. An' he kem back 
 a good many years after with quite a procession 
 of wives an' children an' no end of property, an' who 
 should meet him but Esau, without any wives an' 
 children or property, but an army, which was almost 
 
9 o A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the best thing to have in those days, 'cause when 
 you'd got it you could get the other things whenever 
 you wanted 'em by taking 'em away from somebody 
 else. 
 
 ' And Jacob, bein' scared 'most to death, offers to 
 buy Esau off from what he s'posed was goin' to be 
 his revenge, with a whole heap of his property. But 
 Esau says, " Thanks, old man, I don't want to take 
 away what belongs to you ; I've got all I want. But 
 I'll send a bit of my army along with you to see that 
 nobody else comes and robs ye." But Jacob says to 
 himself, " Oh, no, this is just a scheme for taking all 
 I've got away bymeby." So he refused. An' they 
 parted, an' never saw one another again.' 
 
 Loud cries of ' Bully for Esau ! ' and opprobrious 
 remarks about Jacob, changing into utter bewilder- 
 ment when next evening Jacob's subsequent history 
 was told in the same quaintly familiar fashion, and 
 the justification of his being chosen by God was 
 pointed out. For not only did Rube tell Bible stories, 
 but in the most artless manner he based conversation 
 upon them ; never arguing, but gently suggesting ; 
 familiarising his hearers with Scripture in the most 
 pleasing way, and never attempting to compel belief 
 by his efforts. It is no exaggeration to say that in 
 spite of the disappointment felt by the men at the 
 long period of unsuccessful searching, Rube's sweet 
 influence was felt by all hands. And although many 
 of them still had their occasional doubts of his sanity, 
 none doubted the perfect goodness and beauty of his 
 character. 
 
 They became a very smart crew. Every duty 
 they were called upon to perform they did as if they 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 91 
 
 loved it, and the skipper's rugged face glowed with 
 eagerness to see how they would behave on whales if 
 and when the chance came. But it was not until 
 they were midway between the Line and Cape Horn 
 that they sighted their first sperm whale. He was a 
 lone whale of enormous size, and evidently making 
 a passage to some other feeding-ground, since he 
 kept his course as if steering by compass, spouting 
 with the utmost regularity a given number of times, 
 descending and rising again as if timed by a chrono- 
 meter. Cautiously, but with all the attention possible, 
 the ship was worked to windward of him, until, in a 
 suppressed shout, Captain Hampden gave the order, 
 ' 'Way boats ! ' It had previously been decided that 
 only two boats were needed for the job, so the first 
 and second mates' boats started, dropped alongside 
 lightly as foam flakes, and with a long, swinging 
 stroke they pulled away to windward. Rube was in 
 the mate's boat pulling midship oar the heaviest of 
 the five and the mate simply gasped with astonish- 
 ment to see how this recent yokel handled his 
 eighteen-foot oar, how all his powers were given to 
 its manipulation, and what a beautiful stroke he had. 
 They pulled for half an hour, then with sails set 
 to the strong breeze that was blowing, bore down 
 upon the unconscious whale, the other boat following 
 hard after them at a cable's distance. Nearer, nearer 
 they drew, all hands holding their breath. Now a 
 wide sheer to port because of that little eye's power 
 of seeing astern. They gain rapidly ; they are 
 abeam. A strong sweep of the steer oar, the main 
 sheet is slacked off, and the boat sweeps round and 
 leaps at the whale's broadside like a living thing. 
 
92 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Before she strikes, the harpooner has hurled his iron, 
 and it sinks its length into the black side ; the whale 
 is fast. Haul aft the sheet, flat as possible, the boat 
 flies up into the wind, the harpooner casting out the 
 stray line meanwhile, and there, although tossing 
 tremendously because of the fuss being made by the 
 indignant whale, they get the hampering sail rolled 
 up and mast unshipped and fleeted aft out of the 
 way. 
 
 Before they have finished their task the second 
 mate is alongside awaiting orders. He is told not to 
 go near, but wait and see what the whale is going to 
 do, always an uncertain factor in scenes like this. 
 The whale is going to behave in orthodox fashion 
 i.e., descend to where beyond these voices there is 
 peace. Downward he goes deliberately, as if hurry 
 were never less needed, but apparently taking no 
 heed of the strain kept on the line by the buoyant 
 boat above. Presently it becomes evident that he is 
 a stayer, for the second line-tub is nearly empty, and 
 he shows no signs of slackening in his downward 
 path. So the second mate is called upon to pass the 
 end of his line aboard, and it is spliced on at once. 
 (The strands are always kept plaited up, so that a 
 splice may be made almost as rapidly as a knot, and 
 much neater and more safe.) Still he goes down, 
 down, down ; while faces gather blackness as fake 
 after fake of line disappears. Will he never weaken ? 
 The heavy drogue (equal in retarding strain to four 
 boats) has been bent on at the splice, but seems to 
 have no effect upon him. The mate's heart sinks. 
 Up goes the urgent wheft, a signal to the ship that 
 more line is needed immediately ; but, alas ! it is too 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 93 
 
 late. There is a short interval of almost agonising 
 suspense, and the end of the line flips over the bows. 
 He is gone ! 
 
 Then the mate gives vent to his feelings. His 
 cursings comprehensively embrace everything he can 
 bring to memory, himself chiefly. When he is ex- 
 hausted Rube's lips are seen to be moving, and the 
 mate, fiercely desirous of some animate object where- 
 upon to vent his rage, yells, * You hayseed, what you 
 mumblin' about ?' (I suppress even the blank pro- 
 fanity with which every word or two is loaded.) 
 Rube softly replies, ' I was so sorry for your disap- 
 pointment and the skipper's that I was just askin' 
 God that all our labour shouldn't be lost.' 
 
 The mate was dumb what could he say to this ? 
 And every man in the boat looked at Rube as if he 
 were uncanny they had no more idea than most 
 professing Christians have of the simple faith that 
 believes in an immanent God always ready and 
 willing to hear the requests of His children. And up 
 into the midst of their wonderment rose the whale, 
 the long line trailing behind him, evidently exhausted 
 by his tremendous efforts to reach a depth of safety. 
 A dozen strokes in reply to the swiftly shouted orders 
 of the mate, and they were alongside of him, the har- 
 pooner had hooked up the line and passed it into the 
 boat, and the mate had thrust his long lance so 
 fiercely in between the third and fourth ribs of the 
 leviathan that the whole vast body quivered from 
 snout to flukes with the pangs of approaching death. 
 Secure in the knowledge that he had dealt a death- 
 blow, the mate shouted to the harpooner to cut the 
 loose line adrift ; but even that small loss was 
 
94 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 avoided, for the second mate's boat sheered alongside 
 in the nick of time and took it. 
 
 No other stroke was needed ; a thin stream of 
 blood was seen to be trickling over the edge of the 
 spiracle, and the next great expiration hurled into 
 the air, with a bursting groan, masses of clotted blood 
 so large that it was almost miraculous how they had 
 been forced along the single air-tube which supplies 
 the lungs with breath. Filled with a great awe, the 
 new hands drew off slowly in obedience to the orders 
 given, unable to take their eyes off the dying giant. 
 And then, to their horror, they saw him suddenly 
 rear his gigantic head high in air, and hurl his body 
 along the blood-stained sea-surface in hundred-foot 
 leaps, swaying first to this side and then to that as if 
 under the influence of an agony so intolerable that he 
 was endowed with at least ten times his usual great 
 strength. All around his awful way the sea was torn 
 into a thousand fantastic shapes, and blocks of purple 
 foam were flung on high and caught by the wind, 
 which drove them like some dreadful snow in showers 
 of flakes far to leeward. At last and although the 
 paroxysm had only lasted about three minutes, they 
 seemed like hours there was a momentary lull : the 
 whale disappeared. But almost immediately after 
 there was an upheaval like the rearing of a suddenly 
 formed volcano in the midst of the sea, and high into 
 the air soared the whole mighty mass, apparently 
 hung suspended there for an appreciable space, and 
 fell ! In the thundering noise and violent commotion 
 occasioned by that great act, the hunters lost for a 
 moment their strained attention on the whale. When 
 they regained it he lay an inert mass, gently undu- 
 
HIGH INTO THE AIR SOARED THE WHOLE MIGHTY MASS. 
 
 P. 94. 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 95 
 
 lating to the touch of the waves, with his head as 
 usual pointed straight towards the wind's eye. 
 
 There was a great peace succeeding the tumult, 
 and a moaning little voice in the wind which filled 
 the air with mournfulness. Also the plash of the 
 wavelets over the quiet bank of flesh had in it, to all 
 seeming, a murmur of regret. The influences of that 
 restful time affected all for a brief space, and Rube's 
 eyes glistened as he thought of the cruel end so 
 suddenly befalling the brave, strong, harmless monster, 
 a short hour ago so placidly enjoying his life, and 
 perfectly filling his appointed place in the scheme of 
 things. But with a jerk all musings were ended, for 
 the mate's voice broke harshly upon the accented 
 silence, as he shouted, ' Naow, then, m' lads, pull two, 
 starn three, an' le's git th' tow line fast, 'relse the 
 ship '11 be here 'fore we're half ready.' She was 
 coming straight for them before the wind, and only 
 about a mile away a homely, clumsy-looking craft 
 enough, but invested for each of the green hands with 
 a new character now, a home of rest after their late 
 heavy toil, a place where they would be met with a 
 great satisfaction as returning conquerors bringing 
 their gigantic spoil with them, warriors who had 
 abundantly justified the training they had received. 
 They had been able in that one fleeting hour of tre- 
 mendous experiences to attain unto the highest 
 physical pleasure of which man is capable the sense 
 that, by the use of his puny powers, rightly directed, 
 he is able to overcome what seems to be at first sight 
 the most overwhelming odds brought against him. 
 All the solemnity of the first moments of victory was 
 forgotten, and even Rube's eyes sparkled with delight 
 
96 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 as he watched the look of content glowing on the 
 mate's face, as with his short boat spade he hacked 
 at the great limber tail until he had cut a hole in it 
 through which the tow-line could be passed. 
 
 The ship rounded to as easily as one of the boats 
 would have done, only about her own length from 
 the whale. And the mate with a triumphant roar 
 of ' Give way, m' lads^! ' steered for her, no man prouder 
 than he of the way in which his * greenies ' had 
 acquitted themselves on their maiden venture. The 
 grizzled leonine head of the skipper loomed in the 
 waist, where, the boards out, all was in readiness to 
 receive them. And as ready hands hooked up the 
 tow-line, and prepared to walk up alongside the huge 
 mass of their prize, he said to the mate standing 
 beneath him erect in the stern of the boat : ' Wall, 
 Mr. Pease, yew du seem t' hev got on t' a logy this 
 time. I sh'd say he's all ov a hundred an' forty bar'l 
 be his look, 'less he's dry-skin.' * Nary dry-skin 'baout 
 him, Cap'n Hampden,' replied the mate, cheerfully. 
 * He's jest a-teemin' outer him. Iron went in 's if it 
 hed fell into a kag er butter. Fattes' whale ever I 
 struck, 'n' thet's the cole truth, sir.' 
 
 Then with a joyful noise all hands tallied on to 
 the tow-line, and snaked that whale alongside in great 
 shape. Everything had been prepared for the arrival, 
 cutting falls rove, spades ranged, cutting stage ready, 
 and although the experience was absolutely novel 
 to most of the men, they were so keen, so eager to 
 do as they were told to the best of their ability, that 
 really I doubt whether the most seasoned crew could 
 have made a better show than they did. And this 
 in spite of the almost feverish desire possessed by all 
 
REUBEN EDDY, MARINER 97 
 
 to look upon the gigantic prize they had won in fair 
 fight from his appointed realm, the vasty deep. It 
 was all so wonderful, so new, so strange. And then 
 in hurried glimpses they saw coming up in the clear 
 blue around hosts of queer-looking creatures (to them, 
 for none of the new hands had ever seen a shark 
 before). One fellow, a lank Kentuckian, in a stolen 
 moment remarked in a stage whisper to a shipmate, 
 as they leaned over the rail hauling at the fluke- 
 chain, ' Gosh ! look 't all them little fish daown thar.' 
 Said little fish, rising rapidly, presently revealed 
 themselves as sharks averaging ten feet in length, 
 who, regardless of consequences, hurled themselves 
 end-ways at the whale's body, and gouged at it 
 furiously, as if driven mad by hunger. 
 
 The whale fairly secured alongside, the skipper's 
 voice rose above the tumult, commanding instant 
 attention from everybody. * Mr. Pease, let th' boys 
 go to dinner. I guess we won't miss an hour, and 
 th' weather looks sorter settled.' ' Dinner ! ' shouted 
 the mate, and there was a stampede forward, for every 
 man, as soon as he had time to think of it, was 
 ravenously hungry. The cook had, under orders 
 from the skipper, made a few additions to the usual 
 dietary, and it is not too much to say that every man 
 there when he sat down to enjoy his well-earned 
 meal was, for the time being, as happy as ever he 
 had been in his life. And only because the man 
 who controlled their destinies for the time had in 
 addition to his fund of common-sense, a little of the 
 milk of human kindness. 
 
 A little judicious appreciation costs nothing, and 
 is so valuable : it often lifts weary men over the dead 
 
 H 
 
98 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 centres of life ; indeed, it often makes a youth who, 
 full of fear lest in his very anxiety to do well he has 
 made some irreparable mistake, feel that no effort 
 can be too great to please a man who has recognised 
 his desire to do his duty. And when, at the call of 
 * Turn to ! ' the rested, well-fed crowd climbed on 
 deck again into the keen, pure air, and found that 
 while they had been dining the skipper and his 
 officers had been toiling at the stupendous task of 
 cutting off the whale's head, they almost felt ashamed 
 at having taken so long over their meal. 
 
 I know very well that there will be many a 
 cynical sneer at this, but that does not matter at all 
 so long as the thing is true. If men (and I care not 
 whether they be white, black, brown, or yellow) are 
 treated like cattle they will yield worse than bovine 
 service ; if they are pampered and allowed to feel 
 that they can do as they like, they will, their natural 
 depravity getting the upper hand, become practically 
 worthless ; but if, as under Captain Hampden, they 
 are kept under discipline, yet made to feel that their 
 efforts to do well are fully appreciated, they will 
 behave as men should behave who realise to the full 
 the dignity of obeying the call of duty, who realise 
 abundantly how good it is to be a man. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE GOOD SHIP ' XIPHIAS ' 
 
 OF definite purpose I have italicised the adjective in 
 the heading of this chapter because I have often 
 feared that readers of ' The Cruise of the Cachalot ' 
 may have been led to believe that there could not 
 be such a thing as a good whaleship. And yet even 
 there I did try to show how vast a difference a change 
 of captains made. The Xiphias, however, was good 
 from the beginning. A certain amount of unavoid- 
 able suffering was endured by the new hands at the 
 beginning of the cruise, consequent entirely upon the 
 sudden violent change in their lives. And perhaps 
 the officers were just a trifle exuberant in their 
 attentions to the helpless, clumsy men they were 
 endeavouring to lick into shape. But there never 
 was any actual cruelty. Discipline once firmly 
 established, and rudimentary ideas of the work they 
 must do instilled into the men's minds, their lives 
 became as comfortable as a sailor's life can ever be 
 at sea. They worked hard, but only at necessary 
 duties, and they were never wantonly deprived of 
 needed rest. Their food was none too good, but it 
 was certainly better than usual and always plentiful. 
 Even here the genial spirit of the skipper was able 
 to exercise itself beneficially for the comfort of his 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 men. He and his officers were always on the keenest 
 look-out for fish of any sort, and no effort was spared 
 to catch them, all sorts of fishing tackle being carried 
 for the purpose. He knew, too, many little dodges 
 by means of which sea-fowl could be rendered 
 palatable, and was a past master in the art of devising 
 changes of dietary for his crew. 
 
 But more than all this, the man himself was one 
 of those glorious old Yankees who combine with a 
 supreme ability to command their fellows a power of 
 enforcing discipline among the roughest with splendid, 
 never-failing courage the simple, fun-loving, joyous 
 instincts of a child : terrible in their just anger to 
 meet as a tiger in the jungle, but happy and light- 
 hearted as any child when their men behave like 
 men. So that Captain Hampden was not merely 
 obeyed, he was loved both by officers and men, and 
 all the more because not one of them would have dared 
 to impose upon him in any way. I speak feelingly, 
 for I know the man, who now, midway between 
 eighty and ninety years of age, is not in his second 
 childhood, but his first, his broad back unbent, his 
 hawk-like eye undimmed, his huge limbs as steady as 
 they were half a century ago. To him the children 
 flock as to one who understands them. They talk 
 to him as to one of themselves, and parents laughingly 
 upbraid him with being foremost among the mischief- 
 loving urchins of the sweet little New England town 
 in which he lives. And I am sure that when the 
 call comes for him to close his long and useful 
 schooling here, he will lie down to sleep with the 
 perfect confidence of a little child. It would be an 
 impertinence to say * God bless him,' for God has 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 101 
 
 blessed him exceedingly abundantly, and made him 
 also a blessing to many thousands who are the 
 happier for his having lived. 
 
 But I must get back apologetically to the Xiphias, 
 with her crew girding their loins to the great task in 
 front of them. The cutting-in of the first whale of a 
 voyage is always a serious matter, since the crew, 
 however willing, must needs be educated in the 
 performance of an entirely novel task. I am anxious 
 not to repeat myself, but the work of collecting the 
 spoil from a dead whale is of so wonderful a character 
 is, in spite of the greasy nature of the surroundings, 
 so truly romantic that the temptation to dwell upon 
 its description is ever present. To the casual un- 
 thinking observer there may seem nothing very 
 wonderful in the operation of cutting-in, except the 
 astounding magnitude of the masses raised from the 
 body and disposed of in the blubber-room and on 
 deck. But really it is a piece of work requiring not 
 merely the utmost skill and care on the part of its 
 directors, but a certain natural aptitude as well, for 
 want of this latter characteristic always entails an 
 enormous amount of extra labour upon the crew. 
 Take, for instance, the preliminary operation of 
 cutting off the huge head. Even with the utmost 
 skill this task demands an amazing amount of 
 muscular force, but if that be wrongly applied it is 
 indeed a heart-breaking job. There is practically 
 nothing to guide the eye in the selection of a line 
 upon which to start cutting down into the body and 
 finding the junction of the neck. And there is in a 
 whale of the size captured by the Xiphias fully six 
 feet of muscular tissue to be severed by the spades 
 
102 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 before the central bone is reached. In other words, 
 the diameter of the body there is about fourteen feet. 
 A few inches to one side or the other, and the work 
 may take double the number of hours it should do, 
 while the able whaleman will plunge unerringly down 
 through the mass blow after blow of his razor-edged 
 spade until he feels he cannot see his blade strike 
 the exact spot in the centre of the joint, a ball-and- 
 socket about fourteen inches in diameter. 
 
 So well had Captain Hampden and his officers 
 performed their task that when the crew rushed on 
 deck eager for work the joint had been severed, a 
 hole had been bored through the snout, and the end 
 of a snout-chain was already passed through this hole 
 and dangling down under water, awaiting the turning 
 over of the carcass to be got hold of. This was for 
 the purpose of dropping the head astern when it was 
 cut off, for it is always the last to be dealt with. 
 
 Swiftly the chain-sling was passed round the 
 base of the lower jaw, hooked to one of the big 
 tackles, with a cheery shout the windlass levers were 
 manned, and presently, upward pointing, arose the 
 shaft of bone, studded with foot-long teeth, while the 
 officers cut vigorously away at the throat, and started 
 the unwinding of that thick overcoating of rich fat 
 their prize had worn so long. And all the while the 
 busy spades of the skipper and mate went plunging 
 almost with the regularity of a pair of pistons down 
 into the scarph dividing the head from the body, 
 until as the first blanket piece rose alongside the 
 head slipped easily aft and floated, an almost cylin- 
 drical mass of some thirty-five tons in weight, at the 
 end of a hawser passed over the taffrail. 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 103 
 
 All plain sailing now for a time. Merrily 
 clattered the pawls, accentuated by the occasional 
 cries of ' Heave on yer whale ! ' * Surge on yer piece ! ' 
 ' 'Vast heaving ! ' ' Lower away ! ' Walk back ! ' and the 
 like, all so definite in their application with seamen, 
 and so utterly unintelligible ashore. So briskly, indeed, 
 did the work go on that in less than an hour from 
 the time that the first blanket piece was lowered into 
 the blubber-room, all hands were gratified to see the 
 great flukes dangling at the end of a tackle, the last 
 joint of the backbone having been cut through and 
 the mountainous mass of black flesh allowed to drift 
 slowly away, torn at by innumerable sharks on all 
 sides, and the centre of a perfect cloud of screaming 
 sea-birds. 
 
 Now for the head. Smart as the work had been, 
 there was no time to be lost. Although the whale 
 had been struck at 8 A.M., it was now nearly 3 P.M. 
 Barely three hours of daylight remained ; and, besides, 
 on the south-eastern horizon there was rising a mass 
 of cloud, with outlines as sharp and clearly defined 
 as those of a mountain. It loomed ever higher, vast, 
 menacing, and deepening into blackness. But although 
 the skipper could not help casting an anxious glance 
 to windward occasionally, his manner was cheery 
 as ever, and he and his officers toiled as if fatigue 
 was to them a word without meaning. Certainly, 
 whatever other virtues be denied them, the Yankee 
 whaling officers could never be accused of laziness. 
 If they worked their men almost to death they 
 never spared themselves : they always led the way, 
 and showed by their example what a man could do 
 if he tried. 
 
104 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 The task of dividing the 'case' and 'junk' from 
 the head, which was now taken in hand, is the 
 heaviest of all, not excepting cutting off the head. 
 For the case is a huge oblong tank, full of pure sper- 
 maceti, and extending almost the whole length of the 
 head, of which, indeed, it forms nearly half the bulk. 
 It must be cut out, for in a whale of this size it con- 
 tains nearly three tons of spermaceti as fluid as oil, 
 and there is no way of getting at this precious sub- 
 stance without lifting the whole case. Lifting the 
 head entirely is sometimes effected, but only when 
 the whale is small. In so large a one as this 
 the lifting of the case alone when detached is a task 
 demanding the utmost energy of all hands, and often, 
 when a heavy sea is running, straining the ship 
 dangerously. Even then it cannot be taken on 
 board, but must be suspended alongside, and the 
 spermaceti baled out of it with a bucket in a most 
 cumbrous and unsatisfactory way. The junk, being 
 one solid mass cut off the point of the snout, and 
 weighing about four or five tons, is easier dealt with, 
 since a slip of the spade in cutting it off does not 
 mean a possible leakage of all its valuable contents, for 
 in it the spermaceti is contained in cells as water is 
 held in a sponge, and is, moreover, almost congealed. 
 By dint of the most strenuous toil, the junk and 
 case were separated, and the former hove on deck 
 and secured, half an hour before dark. Then the 
 mighty case was hooked on and held up alongside. 
 As the ship was beginning to roll uneasily in the 
 new cross swell coming up from the south-east, 
 precursor of the impending storm, it was necessary 
 to pass a heavy chain around it to bind it in to the 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 105 
 
 side. Then a light spar was rigged across the two 
 tackles, high above the case, and a single whip or 
 pulley, with a rope running through it, to one end of 
 which was attached a long bucket. Then a man 
 he happened to be a merry little Irish teamster, 
 named MacManus mounted nimbly aloft, and sat 
 upon the spar grasping a spade pole, with which to 
 push the bucket down into the case after he had slit 
 open the top of it. Then, at his word, the waiting 
 men on deck hauled the bucket out and lowered it 
 to the tank awaiting its contents on deck. 
 
 Meanwhile all on deck were as busy as ants. 
 Inspired by the skipper, they toiled to get the decks 
 clear, and certain of them, at the word, rushed aloft 
 to furl the few remaining sails that were set, except 
 the close-reefed main topsail. Rube, being on the 
 leeside, did not trouble to cross the deck and go up 
 in orthodox fashion, but as he climbed somewhat 
 wearily he saw MacManus take a header from his 
 precarious seat into the yawning cavity of the case. 
 A scream of horror burst from his lips, but over- 
 coming the paralysis that momentarily affected his 
 bodily powers, he leaped like a cat from the main 
 shrouds to the cutting falls, and, grabbing the bucket 
 in one hand, slid down into the yawning chasm 
 beneath. As he went he felt the slimy walls of the 
 great case embracing him all round, and thought with 
 agony of the depth beneath him fourteen feet at 
 least of oil then soundlessly the bland greasiness 
 closed over his head, and all was darkness. But his 
 mind was clear, and his hope was high that those 
 who saw him go would spring to the whip and haul 
 up ere it was too late. And while he thus thought 
 
106 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 he groped with one arm through the bucket loop, 
 and, feeling something hard, seized it with a drowning 
 man's grip just as he felt himself ascending. Reluc- 
 tantly those sucking walls yielded up their prey ; his 
 arms felt as if they were being torn from their 
 sockets ; but although there was a roaring as of 
 loudest thunder in his ears, he held on. And pre- 
 sently he hung limply in mid-air, one arm still 
 through the bucket loop, the other around the body 
 of MacManus. Four eager and willing men slid 
 down the falls and seized the pair. Securing them 
 with ropes passed to them from the main- top, they 
 lowered them as rapidly as possible on deck. Even 
 then there was no time to be lost, for both were 
 apparently dead ears, nostrils, and mouths being 
 clogged with the rapidly coagulating spermaceti. 
 But after the application of some highly original 
 methods of clearing it away, and most patient artificial 
 respiration following it, the pair gradually returned 
 from their visit to the shades, and sat up won- 
 deringly. 
 
 It was not for several hours that either of them 
 could recall what had befallen them, and when they 
 did both fell a-trembling violently as they again 
 realised the sensation of sliding down into that dark- 
 some well of grease. But Rube recovered first, having, 
 as he said, the need laid upon him to offer up thanks 
 to God for permitting him to save his shipmate's life. 
 He remembered how, as he slid out of the fast-fading 
 daylight, his heart said, 'O God, make me save 
 him,' and he felt that by nothing short of a miracle 
 he had been able to do so. Poor MacManus could 
 not speak of it, so broken up was he, but for hours, 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 107 
 
 emitting every now and then a rending sob, he lay 
 holding Rube's hand in his as if only by so doing 
 could he be prevented from gliding back again into 
 that pit of death. 
 
 This accident had, of course, caused much delay, 
 but still, through the now almost pitchy blackness of 
 the night, by the aid of cressets of blazing fuel 
 suspended from the boat-davits, the work had gone 
 on, until at four bells (10 P.M.) a few strokes of a 
 spade released the ponderous mass from its slings, 
 and with a sullen, thunderous boom it fell back into 
 the sea. Immediately upon its disappearance the 
 skipper ordered half the crew below for a couple of 
 hours' rest, and himself hastened to visit the victims 
 of the late mishap. He found MacManus asleep, 
 nervously twitching all over, but Rube lying with hands 
 folded on his breast, his lips moving slowly as he 
 murmured praises for his deliverance. 
 
 * Well, Rube, 'n' haow d'ye seem t' be hittin' it 
 b* now, hey ? ' said the old man cheerily. 
 
 Rube turned on him a dazzling smile, and 
 answered in a quiet tone : ' Jes 's grand 's grand kin 
 be, Cap'n. I don't know as I was ever so happy in 
 all m' life. Only one thing I'm sorry fur, 'at I kain't 
 be up 'n' doin' my share o' th' work thet's goin' on. 
 But as yew're all so kind, I don't feel able t' worry 
 nearly 's much 'bout thet 's I feel I oughter.' 
 
 'Jes' yew stop right thar,' said the skipper. 
 ' Don't wanter hyar 'et yew're worryin' any J t all. 
 Why, blame my cats, I want ye well, 'n' haow in 
 thunder air ye goin' t' git well ef you lays thar 
 a-worryin'? Guess me an' th' rest ov yew're ship- 
 mates '11 dew all th' worryin' thet's called fur till 
 
io8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 yew're round again. We kain't git 'long 'thout yew a 
 bit, } n' thet's a fact.' 
 
 * Ah, Cap'n,' murmured Rube, * it does sound good 
 ov ye to say so, and say it so kinder tender like. 
 Fact is, yew're all of ye so kind 'at I'm 's happy as a 
 man k'n be. Nothin' don't seem able t' hurt me. 
 Naow and then thar's a set o' blurred pictures comes 
 up in my mind of a long time ago, when I was very 
 unhappy an' looked ahead to see nawthin' but trouble 
 an' misery waitin' fur me all my days. But it never 
 gits quite clear. I never remember anything fur 
 certain, and I don't seem ter I kain't seem ter feel 
 'at I keer a row o' pins what's goin' t' happen ter- 
 morrer. I seem ter ben here all my life, 'n' don't 
 want a little bit t' be anywhere else. I ain't gut 
 a care ner a fret ner a want in the world.' Then, as 
 the Captain turned as if about to leave abruptly for 
 the need upon him to do so was great Rube gently 
 laid a detaining hand upon his arm, saying : ' Cap'n, 
 I believe it's all the goodness of God. Some of us 
 don't think as much of Him as we might. I know 
 I don't, but I b'lieve ther' ain't one of us but what 
 thinks more about God's love to 'em than they do 
 'bout anythin' else in this world.' ' Stop,' almost 
 shouted the skipper, * yew're hurtin' me wuss 'n ye 
 know. I dassent say a word 'at w'd hurt yer faith in 
 us, but fur God's sake don't make us out like that. 
 I kain't tell ye haow mean an' low down an' ord'nary 
 yew make me feel when yew talk like that. Naow I 
 must git, fur yew're mighty low, 'n' I got work wants 
 doin'. Try an' git t' sleep an' be about among us as 
 quickly as ever yew can.' And the skipper hurriedly 
 departed. 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 109 
 
 In truth he was glad to get away from what was 
 rapidly becoming an intolerable situation. Back to 
 his mind had been brought with startling clearness 
 the old Quaker home, the sweet placid face of his 
 mother, as with a cooing gentleness she taught him 
 to utter his earliest prayers to the All-Father with 
 whom she was on such beautifully intimate terms. 
 He remembered how the light upon his mother's face 
 always seemed to him to be reflected from the sky, 
 and how he used to shut his eyes tight and wish that 
 he might have a vision of that dear Friend whom he 
 felt sure that mother could see and hear so clearly. 
 Also the grave face of his father came up before him, 
 never, as far as he could remember, lit by a smile, 
 always looking as if the tremendous realities of life 
 had left their indelible impress there. He knew that 
 while he had loved his mother he had reverenced his 
 father, but never seemed able to get beyond that feel- 
 ing of awe-stricken admiration. Then came the death 
 of both those holy ones, the breaking up of the old 
 home, and the gradual loss through the struggling 
 years that followed of personal communion with his 
 mother's Friend, while still retaining through all the 
 hardnesses of a whaler's life a blend of her sweet 
 temper and his father's exalted rectitude. And now 
 he was set a-wondering in the presence of this gentle 
 * greenie ' how much he had lost through his gradually 
 letting slip his acquaintance with his mother's God. 
 But like most men of Anglo-Saxon race, he felt 
 a strange fear lest he should betray to anyone around 
 him these ennobling, uplifting thoughts that welled 
 up from his heart. His face burned and his voice 
 trembled curiously as he walked among his toiling 
 
no A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 men, glancing furtively at each familiar face as if 
 wondering whether any of them could detect any 
 difference in him for difference he knew there was 
 from what he had been yesterday. 
 
 After a short interval of oversight, a few words with 
 the officers who were superintending the commence- 
 ment of the trying-out process, and an entirely con- 
 tented look around at the storminess of the night, he 
 said to the second mate, who was in charge of the 
 watch at the time : ' Wall, Mr. Peck, I guess I'll go 
 and turn in fur a spell. It's goin' t' be a dirty night, 
 an' ye mout 's well rig up the cover over th' try-works, 
 'case it rains, 'r she ships any water. Don't want th' 
 pots bilin' over 'n catchin' light, do we ? Nawthin' 
 else yew'd like t' talk t' me abaout, is there, 'fore I go 
 below ? ' ' No, sir,' said the officer; * everythin' seems 
 to be goin' in good shape so far, 'n' as fur this dirt, 
 wall, I reckon the moon's 'bout due at seven bells 'n 1 
 I shouldn't wonder if she scorfs it all.' ' Ha, ha,' 
 laughed the old man ; ' it's mighty certain she wunt 
 scorf the fly jib anyhaow. It's too well fast fur thet. 
 Good-night.' He alluded to the old, old yarn at sea 
 of the careful mate who, because the night was 
 threatening in appearance, asked the skipper whether 
 he shouldn't ' take some of the kites off her.' ' Oh, 
 no,' said the skipper, ' the moon '11 scorf (eat) all 
 that ' (alluding to the ugly appearance of the clouds). 
 But when aroused by the tumult on deck an hour or 
 two latter the skipper came rushing on deck and 
 anxiously inquired what had become of the flying 
 jib, the mate replied nonchalantly, ' Oh, the moon's 
 scorfed that, sir.' 
 
 Diving below, the old man took a searching look 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' in 
 
 at his barometer, noted the direction of the ship's 
 head, and then passed on to his own tiny state-room, 
 slipped off his boots and sat down. Alone with his 
 thoughts, they flew back again to that far-off time to 
 which they had been directed by his contemplation 
 of Rube. Slowly his head dropped upon his hands, 
 lower and lower he bowed himself, until, utterly 
 oblivious of all the sea-noises around him, of the 
 uneasy motion of his ship as she headed the 
 rising sea, or of his responsibility for the welfare 
 of every soul on board, he slipped down upon his 
 knees, and as simply as ever he did when a child, 
 but with an added fervour, he lifted up his heart 
 to God. 
 
 It was at least half an hour before he rose from 
 his knees, but in the space of that brief period he had 
 learned more than most men learn during the whole 
 of their lives. Confessing his sins he asked for 
 pardon, admitting his blindness he asked for sight, 
 acknowledging his ignorance he asked for teaching ; 
 and he obtained all his desires. Then with a sense 
 of lightness and freedom from care never before felt 
 he lay down on his little settee to be ready for a 
 call, and in about the space of one minute was fast 
 asleep. 
 
 On deck, the scene to an uninitiate would have 
 been appalling. With a monotonous, never-ceasing, 
 and ever-increasing wail the wild wind bore down 
 out of the windward blackness upon the brave old 
 ship. A peep over the weather bulwarks revealed 
 the long, long ranges of gleaming wave-crests rolling 
 down upon her, their uncanny greenish light flicker- 
 ing against the black background and showing by 
 
ii2 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the distances they were apart longitudinally how 
 mightily the waves had grown. There was a fasci- 
 nation about them, too, which held the observer 
 gazing until like a splash of small shot a spray of 
 spindrift struck him in the face and sent him smart- 
 ing to shelter. But as if it had been the finest of 
 summer evenings the steady stress of labour continued. 
 Up from the blubber-room were hurled the massive 
 horse-pieces of blubber, carved with so much labour 
 from the great blanket pieces by the slipping, strug- 
 gling labourers below. Of all the strange places I 
 have ever seen I think the blubber-room of a whale- 
 ship at night in a gale of wind is beyond comparison 
 the strangest. It is a square space of about thirty 
 feet each way and between six and seven feet high. 
 Into it are piled the blanket pieces, those immense 
 widths of blubber, each weighing a ton or so, which 
 have been ripped from the carcass of the whale. In 
 uncouth masses they lie one upon another, piled often 
 almost to touching the beams overhead. As the 
 ship rolls they glide and heave upon one another as 
 if still actuated by the breath of the monster they so 
 lately covered. From a beam, generally in a corner, 
 swings a primitive lamp, little more than accentuat- 
 ing the darkness. And at the beginning of opera- 
 tions two dim forms crawl precariously about among 
 those greasy masses, occasionally slipping a leg down 
 into a temporary crevice and having it squeezed into 
 numbness before being able to withdraw it. They 
 wield short-handled spades like Dutch hoes, and with 
 infinite labour hew off blocks from the masses of 
 blubber of a fit size to pass through the mincer. 
 When they have a dozen or so of these blocks ready 
 
THE GOOD SHIP 'XIPHIAS' 113 
 
 they must needs in some unexplainable fashion 
 balance themselves under the hatchway, and with a 
 sort of diminutive pitchfork hurl the blocks (horse- 
 pieces) upwards into a shallow trough secured to the 
 coaming or upper edge of the hatch, whence the 
 attendant on the mincer loads a tub with them and 
 drags them away. And unless these blubber-room 
 men be exceedingly skilful as well as strong, 
 they will not only never have a breathing space 
 during the six hours of their stay below, but will, 
 in addition, have to bear much contumely from the 
 officer in charge, who will be instant in his sarcastic 
 inquiries as to what they may be doing below 
 whether they are asleep or not. 
 
 The clank-clank of the mincer is unceasing, tall 
 tongues of flame from the funnels of the try-works 
 make long red smears upon the gloom as they stream 
 away to leeward, and the two harpooners feed the 
 bubbling cauldrons with minced blubber, bale out the 
 sufficiently boiled oil, and watch with unceasing care 
 against a sudden splash of cold water into the pots, 
 which may cause the oil to rise in a moment, and, 
 overflowing into the furnaces, set fire to the ship. 
 All the watch is so busy that there is no time to 
 notice the weather, or moralise upon this most 
 romantic scene a ship's company who, having 
 succeeded in winning from a hostile element the 
 spoil of the mightiest creature known, have now con- 
 verted their vessel into a floating factory, and under 
 the most extraordinarily difficult conditions con- 
 ceivable are engaged in realising that spoil in order to 
 convey it to their home port thousands of miles 
 away. 
 
 I 
 
ii 4 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Here let us leave them for awhile, and exercising 
 our privilege of instant transition, glance back at the 
 quiet village whence the departure of our hero with- 
 drew so much consolation and manly assistance in 
 the old age of his parents. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 
 
 SATURDAY night in the Eddy homestead. In their 
 respective chairs, occupied by them with hardly a 
 break through thirty-eight years of ideally happy 
 married life, sat Farmer Eddy and his wife. The 
 labours of the week were ended, the hired people 
 gone to rest, and husband and wife sat face to face 
 as they had done for so many years, but never until 
 the last six months with such weary hearts. Mrs. 
 Eddy had aged very much. Not that any care for 
 her boy's spiritual welfare worried her she felt as 
 certain of him in that respect as if he had been always 
 under her eye. But since his departure from New 
 Bedford in the Xiphias it was as if he had passed 
 into the eternal silence, and although she said little 
 her heart-hunger was terrible. His last letter was 
 but half-a-dozen lines, hastily scrawled and posted 
 without signature, telling his parents that he was out- 
 ward bound on a South Sea whaling voyage, and in 
 the hurry of the moment omitting to mention even 
 the name of his ship. Naturally, therefore, as the 
 days went by lengthening into weeks, the weeks into 
 months, the disease of uncertainty made her its prey, 
 and she aged fast, perhaps as much from the heroic 
 effort she made to conceal her anxiety from her hus- 
 band as from its direct effect. 
 
 I 2 
 
n6 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Alas, what Mrs. Eddy endured has too often been 
 the lot of American mothers. For in those days 
 recruiting agents for the New England whalers 
 prowled about the country beguiling simple young 
 men with specious tales of the glories of a roving life 
 and the wealth they would by-and-by bring home. 
 And as the recruits never knew where they were 
 going except that it was out upon the wide ocean, 
 nor when they might possibly return, except that it 
 must not legally be longer than four years, the news 
 they were able to send their people at the time of 
 shipment, even supposing they felt in good heart 
 enough to do so, was of necessity extremely meagre. 
 Nor were opportunities for sending letters frequent 
 afterwards. An occasional whaler was spoken which 
 might or might not be homeward bound in the course 
 of a year or so. It was hardly worth while entrusting 
 letters to such a casual packet as that. And the land 
 touched was almost always carefully selected for its 
 aloofness from civilisation, as well as its offering few 
 inducements to a would-be deserter who was anxious 
 to return home. 
 
 Farmer Eddy went about much the same as usual 
 but noticeably graver, and, if possible, more gentle 
 than ever. He never spoke to his neighbours about 
 his son, and scarcely ever to his wife, but this latter 
 omission mattered little, since at the evening prayer 
 he had ever since Rube's departure devoted at least 
 half of that pleasant season to pleading with his Father 
 for his son. Together as the old couple knelt they 
 saw with the eye of faith Rube upheld in right-doing, 
 cleansed by affliction, drawn nearer to God, and never 
 unmindful of them. Their simple assurance that all 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD ny 
 
 was well with him never wavered, nor, although they 
 so seldom mentioned his name at any other than 
 these sacred times, did either of them lose his image 
 from their mental vision for one waking hour. Here, 
 however, Farmer Eddy had one advantage over his 
 wife the usual one, she was the mother. And as such 
 she could no more help yearning over her absent son 
 than she could help breathing. Her faith was as robust 
 as her husband's without doubt, but, oh, she wanted 
 her boy back so badly. 
 
 In a worldly sense all had prospered with them, 
 and looked as if that prosperity would continue. And 
 they had been almost compelled to extend their 
 possessions by the acquisition of the Fish farm. For 
 after Priscilla's departure with her husband, Mrs. Fish, 
 feeling utterly alone except for the hired girls who 
 came and went, visibly drooped day by day. Mrs. 
 Eddy came as often as she could to visit her old friend, 
 but that was not often, and moreover her visits were 
 of necessity very short. Not only was Mrs. Fish 
 lonely, but her heart was a prey to all sorts of appre- 
 hensions. Jake, her eldest son, was steadily going 
 from bad to worse, leaving the oversight of the farm 
 more and more to his younger brother Will, who, 
 instead of rising to the occasion, chafed and fretted 
 at his position of, as he put it, farm-bailiff without 
 salary, except what Jake was minded to fling him 
 occasionally with an air of lofty contempt. Unknown 
 to either his mother or brother, but not unsuspected, 
 Jake was also mortgaging the farm up to the very roof- 
 tree of the house, and, with an infatuation almost 
 amounting to lunacy, was spending the money in 
 riotous trips to New York and Boston. He appa- 
 
n8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 rently did not permit himself to think at all of the cer- 
 tain ruin he was courting, nor spend one thought upon 
 the unmerited suffering he was bringing upon his 
 mother and brother. 
 
 The climax was reached at last by his returning 
 from one of his New York trips accompanied by an 
 exceedingly handsome but vulgar young woman, 
 whom he swaggeringly announced as his intended 
 bride. His brother and mother were sitting at their 
 evening meal when this happened, and when he 
 made the announcement his mother, with one swift 
 and comprehensive glance at her son's female com- 
 panion, rose from her seat, saying, ' Will, he'p me up 
 stairs.' Jake, his face flaring with rage, interposed 
 between the departing pair and the door, demanding 
 almost in a shout and with many oaths what they 
 meant by insulting him and his intended wife. Re- 
 leasing his mother's arm, Will took a step towards 
 his brother, saying quietly and distinctly : ' Yew 
 misbul shote, ain't it 'nough fur yew t' break mother's 
 heart with yer goin's on but yew must insult her ole 
 age by bringin' thet home an' flauntin' it in her face. 
 Naow, 'r ye goin' t' git aout o' eour way or ain't 
 ye ?' 
 
 There were no more words. Jake, maddened, 
 flew at his brother's throat, and the pair, both strong 
 young men, but the elder much debilitated by his 
 recent excesses, writhed and wrestled and tumbled 
 about the living-room like a pair of tigers. The 
 woman Jake had brought with him, retreating to a 
 safe corner, eyed the wretched struggle with a serene 
 aloofness befitting a Roman amphitheatre, but the 
 mother sat wringing her hands and feebly calling 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 119 
 
 upon her sons for God's sake to cease their unnatural 
 strife. Suddenly, over the wreck of the table, the 
 pair collapsed, Will uppermost. Hoarsely he shouted, 
 as with one knee on his brother's breast, one hand 
 clutching Jake's throat, he raised himself a little : ' Y' 
 onnatural beast, will y' git eout o' this, 'r sh'll I kill 
 ye t' onct ? Y' ain't fit t' live, I know, but b' th' 
 Tarnal y' ain't fit t' die. Will y' git 'r shall I mash 
 y'r face into a jelly ? ' ' Yes, I'll go,' gasped the 
 almost choking man, and Will, carefully releasing 
 him, watched him out of the house, and into the 
 buggy, which had been waiting ever since he arrived. 
 No sooner had the pair taken their seats, and the 
 horse, under a merciless cut of Jake's whip, had 
 bounded off, than Will returned to his mother, finding 
 her in a dead faint ; indeed, looking as if coming to 
 again was a quite unlikely contingency. Desperately 
 alarmed, Will called for the hired girl, who had been 
 busy outside, and leaving his mother to her care, 
 hitched up his cart and drove furiously over to the 
 Eddy place. It did not take many minutes for him 
 to persuade Mrs. Eddy to return with him to the aid 
 of his suffering mother. But when they arrived she 
 was past all earthly comfort. Her mind wandered 
 from the good man of her youthful days to Priscilla 
 and Jake ; the only one she did not mention in her 
 rambling remarks was Will. But he, good fellow, 
 made no sign of how this omission smote upon his 
 heart. Nevertheless, could anyone have read his 
 thoughts, it would have been seen how deeply he was 
 wounded, and how sincere was his unspoken resolve 
 that, should his mother die, the home of his youth, 
 grown hateful to him, should know him no more. 
 
120 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 At 4 A.M. Mrs. Fish passed away, still unconscious 
 of those around, still talking more or less intelligibly 
 of her husband and elder son and daughter. And 
 Mrs. Eddy, tired out, having first persuaded Will to 
 retire, went to her own well-earned rest against the 
 labours of the coming day. The following week 
 tried her and her husband to the utmost, for Will, 
 besides being almost penniless (his brother having had 
 every cent he could lay hands on), manifested much 
 eagerness to be gone and leave everything just as it 
 was. Farmer Eddy was at his wits' end what to do, 
 and it was no small relief to him when a Boston 
 lawyer camel down empowered to sell the place and 
 all that was on it to the highest bidder for the benefit 
 of the mortgagees. Then it was that Mr. Eddy 
 decided to buy, being, as he said, desirous that the 
 heart-broken young man, now so eager to be gone, 
 should, if he were ever able, be allowed to redeem the 
 home of his childhood from the careful hand of a 
 friend instead of seeing it pass into the unsympathetic 
 grip of a stranger. Will professed entire indifference, 
 but no doubt the unostentatious kindness of his 
 father's old friend did him much good especially 
 when in the kindest manner possible Farmer Eddy 
 pressed upon him a sufficient store of dollars to allow 
 him time to look around in Chicago, whither he was 
 bent upon going. 
 
 Farmer Eddy saw him off, gave him his blessing, 
 but very little advice (wise man ! full well he knew 
 how advice at such a time would be received), but 
 earnest encouragement to keep up communication 
 between himself and his old home ; * for who knows ? ' 
 said the good old fellow ' your sister may want a 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 121 
 
 home some day. 1 To his utter amazement Will 
 turned upon him almost fiercely, saying : ' That 
 wouldn't be a bad thing for her. It might throw for 
 her the true light upon how she treated mother. Don't 
 talk t' me of Pris. I don't care a cent what becomes 
 
 of her ' But the farmer, with uplifted hand, 
 
 stayed him, saying : ' Don't, Will. Yew're het up 
 naow, an' say wut ye don't at all mean. Thar, we 
 won't persoo th' subjec'. Let me know as often as 
 ye can haow yew're gittin' along, an' I'll be glad. 
 Good-bye, my boy, good-bye.' And the last of the 
 Fish family departed. 
 
 Thenceforward the Fish place received even more 
 attention than did his own homestead from old man 
 Eddy. He looked upon it in the light of a sacred 
 trust, a view in which he was keenly supported by 
 his wife. For he did cherish an earnest hope that 
 some day his old friends' children might be reunited, 
 purged by suffering, and, returning to their old home, 
 find with grateful hearts how good to them had been 
 the God of whom they had thought so little. And 
 to this end he and his wife added to their nightly 
 intercourse with their Friend the petition that these 
 wayward ones might yet be gathered in and find 
 peace at home. 
 
 Of Priscilla, of course, they had never heard a 
 word since her departure, but without a shade of 
 resentment they remembered her and wondered how 
 she was faring. Their ideas, naturally, could be only 
 of the vaguest, since they knew no more than they 
 did of Reuben where she was or whither she was 
 going. But from what they had heard from Will, 
 applying sensibly considerable allowance for pique, 
 
122 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 they feared that she had before now found how great 
 a mistake she had made, and had repented too late 
 to avoid the suffering it had entailed. But none of 
 these reflections had the effect of making them 
 despair of a righting of matters at the long last, and 
 so they cheerfully took up the additional burden of 
 their self-imposed duties, finding that, so far from 
 their being irksome to perform, they brought with 
 them many consolations. If only they could have 
 heard from Rube ! But apparently that could not 
 be, and so they waited, in patient well-doing, for the 
 breaking of the day. 
 
 When Jake, driven forth ignominiously from the 
 home he had so wronged, by the brother he had de- 
 spised, returned to New York, he was utterly reck- 
 less. Without troubling to look into his affairs, he 
 and his companion were driven from the depot to a 
 high-class hotel, where they immediately resumed 
 the course of high living and deplorable extravagance 
 which seemed to have become necessary to Jake's 
 life. Now, the squandering of money is a thing that 
 requires very little teaching, and can be carried on 
 successfully in most so-called centres of civilisation, 
 but I doubt very much whether any great city can 
 afford the spendthrift more facilities for speedily 
 reaching the end of his resources than New York. 
 For its plethora of supereminently wealthy men have 
 perhaps unconsciously raised such a standard of ex- 
 penditure as does not obtain anywhere else in the 
 world, and, of course, this is ever before those fools 
 who have neither sufficient money nor brains as a 
 shining example to go and do likewise as closely as 
 circumstances will permit them. Without blaming 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 123 
 
 the multi-millionaires too much, there can be no 
 doubt that the example most of them set in the 
 direction of foolish waste of money is wholly evil. 
 
 So it came about that a fortnight after Jake 
 Fish's return to New York he had exhausted every 
 possible means of raising funds, and was confronted 
 with the prospect of being utterly unable to meet 
 his bill due on Saturday at the Hoffman House. 
 Sobered a little by this, he consulted his companion 
 on the matter, and suggested her parting with some 
 of the costly jewellery he had given her. Vain fool ! 
 She sympathised with him tearfully, avowed her 
 willingness to share a crust with him rather than live 
 in luxury with any other man, said the shock had 
 so unnerved her that she must go and lie down 
 awhile to recover herself, after which she would come 
 with him and dispose of all the glittering ' trash ' yes, 
 she called it that when they would go away to some 
 quiet spot and be very happy. Overjoyed, Jake 
 lavished multitudinous caresses upon her, sent her 
 up stairs, and retired to the smoke-room to work out 
 some plan for making these new funds go as far as 
 possible without too much appearance of retrench- 
 ment. Then in his easy chair, surrounded by every 
 luxury of appointment a man could desire, he fell 
 asleep. 
 
 He was awakened by a waiter, who handed him 
 a scented note. At first he stared at the man stupidly, 
 only half awake, and utterly uncomprehending. 
 Then as sense returned he tore open the envelope 
 and read : 
 
 * Dear Jake, You've had a pretty high old time, 
 and so have I. But you might have the savvy to let 
 
124 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 it go at that. You must be a bigger fool than even 
 I took you for if you imagine that I am going to 
 slide down to the bottom along with you, and begin 
 by coughing up all the stuff you've paid me with. 
 No, no ; you've been playing long enough : now run 
 along like a wise little man and earn something. I'm 
 off on a much better campaign. Good luck. Not 
 yours, * A. C. 
 
 * P.S. If you feel inclined to kick, watch out how 
 you do it. It isn't very healthy exercise for you.' 
 
 Jake read this letter thrice without understanding 
 a word of it. Its general import he knew, and it had 
 paralysed him. He sat staring stupidly at the paper 
 until the waiter, nudging him, politely called his 
 attention to the fact that his bill was before him. 
 That roused him as does the far-heard crack of the 
 fowling-piece arouse the timid hare. Summoning all 
 his energies, he dismissed the waiter with a curt ' All 
 right, I'll 'tend t' this d'reckly,' and rising, lounged 
 toward the lift, his head throbbing furiously. Poor 
 wretch, he was really more fool than rogue thoroughly 
 selfish, yet beaten by one more selfish than himself, 
 upon whom he had lavished all he had ; heartless 
 towards his own, yet punished for his benevolence to 
 a stranger who had befooled him ; he was really 
 a fair type of a large class of men everywhere who 
 are only virtuous because they lack opportunity or 
 initiative to be otherwise. Reaching his sumptuous 
 room, he found his clothes bestrewing the floor, 
 showing how thorough had been the search made by 
 the departed one for portable plunder. He felt his 
 head beginning to swim, and realising that he must 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 125 
 
 escape or make the acquaintance of a Tombs gaoler, 
 he pulled himself together, slammed his door, and, 
 descending by another lift, passed from the hotel and 
 was soon lost in the crowd. 
 
 Now, there is one tremendous difference between 
 the cities of North America and those of Great 
 Britain in respect of their harbourage of such men as 
 Jake Fish was now in a fair way to become. London, 
 for instance, seems to offer a premium to the most 
 worthless. A loafing, shiftless vagabond need exer- 
 cise no ingenuity, no originality of resource, in order 
 to be better looked after in every way than, let us 
 say, a seaman in a 'merchant ship. London work- 
 houses swarm with humans of this type, well fed, 
 well clothed, well housed, and, oh, so tenderly en- 
 treated as to work. Any little ailment that a working 
 man would never notice is considered sufficient 
 warrant for lapping these spoilt children of fortune 
 in cotton wool and tenderly nursing them back to 
 convalescence again in palace chambers fitted with 
 all the appliances for the healing of disease that the 
 mind of benevolence and medical skill can devise. 
 And for all this the sorely burdened ratepayer must 
 needs provide, although he, in common with most of 
 England's working poor, thinks of the workhouse as 
 the home of disgrace, and would in most instances 
 rather die of starvation in silence than go there. 
 
 But in North America, while there is great store 
 of loafers, not confined either to the lowest class, they 
 must have some original talent, some inventive 
 enterprise about them, whether in criminal way or 
 merely low trickery. Otherwise they become hoboes, 
 or as we should call them in England ' tramps,' whose 
 
126 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 chief qualifications must be an unconquerable aversion 
 to work, great powers of passive endurance, a love 
 of filth in fact, a reversion to the worst type of savage 
 without one savage virtue. There is little room, 
 however, for the hobo in a city. The exercise of his 
 chosen calling needs great open spaces sparsely peopled, 
 where there are hardly any police. Moreover, the 
 hoboes, according to Mr. Josiah Flynt, are a close 
 corporation looking with much disfavour upon would- 
 be recruits, so that admission to their ranks is not 
 easily gained. 
 
 Jake Fish then, had he realised it, was in evil 
 case. He was a veritable prodigal, unrepentant, and 
 with no father's house to return to in case of repent- 
 ance. Only fit for farming, and hating that furiously, 
 he had no idea of doing anything else for his bread, 
 and, as we have seen, his tastes were costly. Conse- 
 quently, now that he had spent all, he felt that he 
 had a bitter grievance against society for not graci- 
 ously providing him with the means to continue his 
 career of viciousness. But he was, besides, an arrant 
 coward, an essentially worthless man, such as may 
 be, by a miracle, made into a useful member of 
 society, but, alas, very seldom is. He drifted down, 
 down, down. The few dollars in his pockets when 
 he left the hotel were squandered with the same 
 utter absence of forethought as had always charac- 
 terised him, and then, when, driven by hunger, he 
 would have obtained some labouring work, he found 
 himself fiercely shoved aside by far better men. 
 
 He disappeared. Not that there is not work and 
 food for all in the Great Republic, but the conditions 
 of life are strenuous, and if a man will not work, and 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 127 
 
 work hard, he must scheme, and that cleverly, or he 
 will certainly disappear as Jake did, and no one will 
 take any trouble to inquire whither. 
 
 Will, on the other hand bright, eager, and indus- 
 trious arrived in Chicago with resolute determina- 
 tion to take his fate by the throat, also to husband 
 his small resources with the utmost care while seeking 
 among the busy throngs for something that he could 
 do. And he was determined not to stand choosing, 
 but to do as he had read that so many others had 
 done take the first employment offered, no matter 
 how deficient in qualification he might feel himself to 
 be for it, and, having once got work, to strive man- 
 fully to keep it, and rise from one point to another 
 by ceaseless attention and industry, and, above all, to 
 avoid the saloon (public-house) as he would a plague- 
 spot. Fortunately for him, he had never acquired 
 the taste for dissipation which had destroyed his 
 brother, for opportunity had been lacking. It was 
 not a question of moral principle at all. And now, 
 although he did not know it, would not have believed 
 it had he been told, he was in a position of the utmost 
 danger. Without any home ties, with no religious 
 convictions, nothing to safeguard him from ruin, 
 he might easily have sunk ; but he had no physical 
 inclination for the destroying vices, having never 
 been tempted. 
 
 At this juncture he was standing one day watch- 
 ing a busy little knot of porters loading up packages 
 of hardware from a warehouse into a couple of heavy 
 waggons. The swiftness and apparent eagerness with 
 which they did their work, without any appearance of 
 being driven, appealed to him, and unconsciously his 
 
128 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 face took on a wistful expression he would so much 
 have liked to be one of that busy band. A keen- 
 eyed, pleasant-faced man of middle age, who stood in 
 the doorway with a book in his hand making certain 
 entries, caught sight of the waiting, earnest-looking 
 man. And being of an imaginative, romantic turn of 
 mind (which, scoff at the idea as you may, is almost 
 essential to the making of a successful business man), 
 be began in a side alley of his brain to build up a 
 theory concerning this evidently country-bred young 
 fellow who was watching manual labour being carried 
 on with such manifest desire to take part in it. 
 Moreover, the owner of the warehouse, for it was he, 
 was a kindly Christian, whose interest in all men, but 
 specially his own employes, was proverbial in Chicago 
 that humming hive of business that contains so 
 much that is evil, but, thank God, has also so much 
 that is pre-eminently good. 
 
 Will began to move away slowly, but Mr. 
 Schermer made half-a-dozen swift strides after him, 
 and tapping him smartly upon the shoulder, said, 
 * Say, young man, are you looking for work ? ' 'I 
 am, sir,' Will replied smartly. ' Then come right in 
 here, and I'll start you at once. I'm wanting a 
 young fellow of your build pretty bad.' And in ten 
 minutes Will felt that he was on the high road to 
 fortune. Plenty of work, not difficult to learn, good 
 thews and muscle to do it, and a hearty, appreciative 
 man at the head of things ; he was delighted. More 
 by a turn of Fortune's wheel than any design discover- 
 able by man, Will had fallen into just the place he 
 needed, where not only did he receive fair play, but 
 where the employer kept ever before himself the fact 
 
AT THE OLD HOMESTEAD 129 
 
 that each of his men was an individual soul for whom 
 Christ died, and not just the cog of a machine ; 
 where the employer shouldered his responsibility for 
 his men as he did the bills he endorsed, and with just 
 the same absence of consciousness that he was doing 
 anything more than his obvious duty. No one 
 praised him for meeting his bills as they fell due ; 
 why should they praise him for considering the men 
 who were serving him faithfully, and all the more 
 faithfully because they knew full well that their 
 employer had their interests at heart as well as his 
 own nay, that he regarded their interests and his as 
 inseparable ? 
 
 I must leave Will here, under the most favourable 
 conditions, to push his manful way up the ladder of 
 prosperity, and to preserve, if he can, a measure of 
 humility with it all, in that it was his lot to fall into 
 good hands without any seeking of his own. Also I 
 have a half-guilty feeling that this has been a prosy 
 old chapter, quite at variance with the strain of high 
 adventure which I have endeavoured to maintain 
 throughout the rest of the book. And now we must 
 return to Priscilla. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 REPAIRING DAMAGES 
 
 THE old Grampus^ all unknowing of the hopes and 
 fears and aches and pains she bore, rolled uneasily 
 throughout that terribly long night. To tell the 
 exact truth, she was often left entirely to herself, 
 existing only by the good will of the elements or any 
 passing ship. In much the same condition as the 
 remnant of a beaten army, whose outposts, weary to 
 death, fall down and sleep weltering in mud and 
 blood because poor human nature has said her last 
 word, the broken mate lay sleeping, his fractured 
 leg, benumbed from heel to thigh, straightened out, 
 and his utterly worn-out body not disturbing it by a 
 single movement. The battered men below in the 
 stifling reek of the foc's'le also lay asleep (blessed be 
 God for sleep and death), utterly unconscious of their 
 woes. The shipkeepers, whom a sense of duty kept, 
 desperate as their need was, from sleeping too long 
 at one spell, lay in uncouth attitudes about the moon- 
 lit deck. Occasionally one of them would rise and 
 aimlessly rove aft to the binnacle, gaze into its 
 glittering oval with eyes that distinguished not North 
 from South, and then with another owl-like glance 
 aloft would stagger forward and tumble down asleep 
 again. And the missing ones, six stalwart men who 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 131 
 
 yesterday morning were each a centre of activity and 
 private hopes, desires, and possibilities ? At any rate 
 their rest would be long and sound. 
 
 Priscilla woke about midnight, and looked uneasily 
 about her. The almost stifling atmosphere of the 
 tiny cabin, the reek of the lamp, and the innumerable 
 exhalations from below, made the place almost un- 
 bearable. And as with a feeling of nausea over- 
 powering her she surveyed her prison, there came to 
 her, like a voice from a previous life, the most vivid 
 recollection possible of the sweet breath stealing over 
 the fields of her old home ; of the careless days 
 when singing she went about her household work ; 
 of the many delights brought by the changing seasons, 
 each with its own particular charm ; yes, even the 
 hard, bitter winters when all the land was held in a 
 grip of steel, and only amusement, out of doors, seemed 
 possible. That seemed to her like a glimpse of 
 paradise, from which, by her own act and because 
 she did not value its joys, she had been shut out : 
 she had exchanged it for this. And her eyes filled, 
 her heart swelled with self-pity, regret, repentance, 
 until suddenly a hoarse murmur by her side resolved 
 itself into : Pris, whar air ye ? ' 
 
 Immediately she was recalled to present realities. 
 Swift as thought she had asked and received strength, 
 and leaning over her helpless husband, she said, quite 
 tenderly, ' Yes, dear, I am here. What can I do for 
 you ? ' Apparently ignoring her gentle question, he 
 muttered savagely but disconnectedly, ' What's th' 
 matter ? whar's everybody ? what's doin' ? call th' 
 mate.' I do not see any necessity for indicating the 
 stream of fantastic blasphemies which followed, 
 
 K2 
 
I 3 2 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 apparently to emphasise his demand for information. 
 They made her shrink, as does a delicate skin upon 
 meeting a cold blast ; but as soon as she was able 
 she said, ' The mate has been badly hurt, Ramon, but 
 I can call the second mate if you will. He can 
 explain so much better than I can what has happened.' 
 * Well, whyn't yew call him, then ? Kain't ye see, 
 yo' pulin' idiot, 'at I want t' know t' know^ d' ye 
 hear ? ' More horrible emphasis, in the midst of 
 which Priscilla crept from the cabin, and, going to 
 the companion, rung a little handbell, an agreed 
 signal for summoning the steward. That worthy 
 man was lapped in profoundest slumber by the side 
 of the galley, but at almost the first tinkle of the little 
 bell he sprang to his feet, and, hastening to the 
 companion, listened breathlessly to his mistress's 
 orders (he called them so, but they sounded more 
 like entreaties). 
 
 As soon as he understood them he departed, and 
 returning in two minutes announced to Priscilla that 
 he had succeeded in arousing the second mate, who 
 was coming immediately. Receiving Priscilla's in- 
 structions to keep handy in case she wanted anything, 
 he retired to the lee-side of the skylight and waited. 
 In about a minute the second mate appeared, still 
 heavy with sleep (the deep sleep of utter exhaustion 
 from which he had been aroused), and lumberingly 
 made his way down into the darksome cabin. Tapping 
 gently at the skipper's state-room door, he was greeted 
 with a torrent of oaths, and understood that if he 
 didn't hurry in nameless consequences awaited him. 
 Trembling in every limb, he instantly obeyed, and 
 presently stood beside his commander's couch like 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 133 
 
 an utterly abject coward. Yet he was, as we have 
 seen, nothing less than a hero. His deeds on the 
 preceding day were those of a man who counted the 
 preservation of his own life but a very little thing, if 
 haply he might save some of his shipmates from 
 death. In the midst of those aggressive monsters 
 he did not quail, but led his men on to deeds as 
 noble as any that have ever been recorded yet here 
 he stood abashed and quivering before a helpless 
 man morally as much his inferior as it was possible for 
 a man to be. Mystery of mysteries, and one that 
 men have never yet taken sufficient account of, even 
 with the stupendous object-lesson of that utterly con- 
 temptible animal, but supereminent commander of 
 men, Napoleon, before their eyes. The meanest 
 soldier of Napoleon's armies was a greater hero than 
 he ; but the possession of that awful power of 
 domination enabled this utter egotist, this unutterable 
 cad, to rule Europe and send to sordid deaths 
 rejoicingly hundreds of thousands of men, most of 
 whom were in a moral and physical sense im- 
 measurably superior to himself. 
 
 Thus Mr. Winslow stood before his skipper, who, 
 glaring up at him with an expression of fiercest 
 contempt in his black eyes, demanded of him why he 
 had not reported before the doings of that disastrous 
 day. Falteringly, as if personally to blame for the 
 skipper's incapability of receiving any information 
 before, Mr. Winslow began his melancholy narration. 
 His nervousness, coupled with a most excusable 
 desire to make the best account he could of an 
 exceedingly bad job, caused him at times to be 
 almost unintelligible, and subjected him to the 
 
! 3 4 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 fiercest abuse from the skipper. But this incitement 
 had one good effect It tended to brevity of account, 
 and in ten minutes there was little left to tell. For a 
 moment or two after he ceased speaking there was 
 a dead silence, through which the ceaseless wash of 
 the watchful waves outside against the topsides could 
 be felt rather than heard. 
 
 Then suddenly the skipper spoke again. * 'Spose 
 ye' re all hard at it repairin' damages, hey ? ' ' Well, 
 sir/ stammered the officer, ' ye see, sir ' Give 
 me none o' yer lyin' backin' an' fillin', y' lazy hog, 
 
 > r ni ' He got no further. All Mr. Winslow's 
 
 manhood came to his assistance, breaking through 
 the mysterious bonds that had held him so long. 
 With all his nervousness gone, he made one stride 
 nearer the skipper, a dangerous light gleamed in 
 his blue eyes, and he said : ' Stop right thar, Cap'n 
 Da Silva. Ther' ain't a man aboard this ship but 
 wut 's done his duty like a man, an' no one could ha' 
 done any better. We're all nearly dead with fightin' 
 fag, all 'cept me sleepin' w'ere we fell down, an' some 
 of us is broke up so in body 'at it'll be months before 
 we're fit again. An' you dare t' lie there J n' speak t' 
 me ov lyin' and laziness. Say it again, an' jes' 's if 
 yew wuz any other varmint I'll choke th' life outen 
 ye where ye lie.' He wound up with a terrible oath. 
 But Priscilla rose and confronted him, her grave eyes 
 looking unnaturally large in the whiteness of her 
 face. ' Go on deck, Mr. Winslow,' she said; 'you 
 forget yourself. The Captain is very ill and irritable, 
 and cannot be held responsible for what he says.' 
 Without a word the second mate bowed his head and 
 departed, leaving her alone to face the fiendish 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 135 
 
 malice of her husband, who, as soon as his officer had 
 departed, turned upon her and exhausted even his 
 perverted ingenuity in abuse. 
 
 Strange to say, this bad exercise seemed to im- 
 prove his bodily condition, for in about an hour, 
 during which Priscilla waited on him with the utmost 
 care and in as perfect a silence as if she were stone 
 deaf to his shameful words, he ordered her to assist 
 him to dress. When she had done so he staggered 
 to the state-room door, rudely thrusting aside her 
 proffered arm, and dragged himself on deck. As 
 soon as he was gone from the room she prayed with 
 all her heart on her lips for peace, filled with pity 
 for the poor men above now that their tyrant was 
 unloosed again. A hoarse cry of pain sent a thrill 
 of sympathy through her, but she would not be dis- 
 tressed, believing that in some way she would have 
 a satisfying answer to her prayer. 
 
 On deck the skipper, his cold heart full of 
 malicious intent, had stumbled over the body of the 
 steward lying by the side of the cabin skylight, and 
 kicking savagely at the prostrate man had aroused 
 him to an immediate sense of his peril. Scrambling to 
 his feet, the frightened black man was slinking below, 
 when the hoarse command of the skipper to ' Come 
 here ' arrested him, and he obeyed with shaking knees. 
 ' Whar's the helmsman ? ' demanded the Captain. ' I 
 d' no, sah,' pleaded the steward. ' I'll go see, sah.' 
 ' Stop right whar y' air, will ye ? ' was the fierce answer, 
 and in the dim light of the binnacle the steward saw 
 the skipper's hand go to his hip-pocket, produce 
 something that glittered, and immediately a couple 
 of shots rang out startlingly through the quiet night. 
 
136 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 At that dread summons men began to appear from 
 all around, first of them all the second mate, with 
 wild inquiry in his eyes. * Mr. Winslow,' snarled the 
 skipper, whose voice was growing stronger with each 
 word he spoke, ' call all hands t' make sail. A hand 
 't th' wheel at once/ By this time all those who were 
 able to do so had mustered, and with the instinctive 
 habit of obedience, as if all recollection of their 
 recent interview had disappeared from his mind, the 
 second mate replied in his usual tone, ' Aye, aye, sir/ 
 then roaring, ' All hands make sail, loose taups'ls 'n 
 t'gallants'ls fore and aft. Clear away stays'ls, jib, 'n' 
 spanker. Naow git a move on yerselves, d' ye hear ? ' 
 
 There was a rush to obey, for all felt somehow 
 that their brief season of relief from the skipper's 
 oversight had come to an end, and as they disap- 
 peared in different directions with their old frantic 
 haste, the skipper said to the second mate in a voice 
 that could not be overheard by any other : * See 
 hyar, Mr. Winslow, fur what yew said to me to-night 
 I'll pay ye full price an' interest, ef it takes me all 
 this voy'ge. But fur now yew go scot free 'cause I 
 need yer assistance, 'n' I hain't goin' t' hev enny 
 limejuicer rot of bullyin' my officers 'fore the men an' 
 destroyin' disciplin'. Only ef thar's enny sign ov ye 
 playin' it on me, wall, yew'll hev to shoot quick 'r 
 yew'll be a goner. I'm heeled an' I'm watchin' fur 
 ye.' Again the second mate replied steadily, * Aye, 
 aye, sir,' and almost instantly after his shouts of 
 ' Sheet home fore taups'l, sheet home mizen taups'l, 
 histe away stays'ls,' &c., made the solemn night 
 hideous. 
 
 A low groan a little forward of where the skipper 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 137 
 
 stood caused him to move that way, and, stooping, 
 he found the mate, who had been aroused to a 
 miserable consciousness of bone-wrenching pain by 
 the clamour around him. Stooping towards him, 
 the skipper said in a grating tone, ' Wall, 'n' wut's 
 wrong with yew ? Whyn't yew gettin' abaout yer 
 dooties? Pretty fine condition yew've let the ship 
 git into in a few days.' Pausing as if for a reply, 
 and receiving none, the skipper went on, ' What in 
 thunder yew lyin' thar fur ? Don't ye know it's " all 
 hands " ? ' ' Kain't move, sir,' came slowly from the 
 mate's parched lips, as if dragged thence by torture, 
 * fur me right arm an' leg seem 's if they wuz one big 
 pain. Fact, I seem to be all raw on thet side of me. 
 Kain't I hev a drink o' water, sir ? ' * Wall, I guess 
 yew kin. Here, boy ! ' to one of the younger men 
 hastening across the deck, ' give the mate a drink of 
 water, an' look slippy.' The skipper looked on while 
 the unfortunate man drank as if his poor throat had 
 been a bed of unslaked lime. Then he said, ' I 
 guess yew wun't du any wuss till daylight, 'n' I'll be 
 all th' better fit to see wut kin be done with ye. But 
 yew've made a hell ov a mess ov th' cruise, naow, 
 ain't ye ? ' The sufferer drew in his breath sharply 
 as this mental blow was added to all his physical 
 sufferings, but he did not indeed, he could not 
 answer. The merciful climax of suffering was 
 reached, the broken human machinery protested 
 vainly to the surcharged brain, and Mr. Court, re- 
 lapsing into blessed insensibility, passed into a place 
 where neither the malignity of man nor the liabilities 
 of the body could trouble him. 
 
 The Captain strode away muttering until he stood 
 
138 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 by the wheel and gazed into the face of the compass. 
 He was revolving in his mind the possibilities of 
 fetching the Cape Verde Islands, as they were now 
 on the edge of the Doldrums, those neutral latitudes 
 between the trade winds that are such a sore trial to 
 the patience of sailing-ship masters. Only a gentle 
 zephyr was stirring, like the last breath of the depart- 
 ing N.E. trade winds, and it was rather a serious 
 question to decide whether to struggle eastward to 
 Brava, or keep on southward, doing all the repairs 
 possible until reaching Rio de Janeiro. One thing only 
 was needed to turn the scale the personal touch. 
 And it availed. He knew the place so well ; although 
 he had not been born there, much of his youth had 
 been spent there, and he was sure not only of getting 
 a few fresh hands who would be devoted to himself, 
 but there would not be the faintest opportunity given 
 for any one of his remaining crew to desert. So he 
 gave a muttered order to the helmsman, followed by 
 a shout of ' Square away the mainyard/ as the old 
 ship fell off the wind. With his usual skill and alert- 
 ness he conned her as she slowly wore round on to 
 the port tack, and to his grim satisfaction he found 
 that she would head a little to the northward of east, 
 and that the breeze was even then freshening a little. 
 By this time the whole of the available canvas had 
 been set, and the men were busy coiling up the gear. 
 Again the skipper called Winslow to him, and in 
 a quiet, passionless tone gave him certain orders 
 concerning the repairing of damage that would keep 
 all hands busy for some time to come. Then the 
 carpenter and cooper were summoned, and each 
 received a few vitriolic remarks concerning their 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 139 
 
 so-called laziness, coupled with a warning that before 
 long they would have paid very dearly for the advan- 
 tage they had taken of his helplessness. Moreover, 
 he told them that, being now quite well again, he was 
 fully prepared to keep them at their work, if he had 
 to do it at the mouth of a revolver. They stood 
 perfectly silent and submissive, neither attempting 
 the faintest justification of himself, and when dismissed 
 with the contemptuous remark, ' Naow git t' hell eout 
 er this, an' do some work/ they turned and slunk 
 away like beaten curs. Both were Americans of the 
 best type, both were splendid workmen of middle age, 
 with whose way of performing their duties it would 
 seem utterly impossible to find any fault, and yet 
 both endured such utterly undeserved and blistering 
 contumely as this without a word, and, what is more, 
 without a thought of retaliation. So well had they 
 been trained in whaleship ways. 
 
 Thus having resumed the reins of power in 
 altogether vigorous fashion, and reasserted his ability 
 to make himself feared as well as obeyed fore and 
 aft, the skipper went below, growling as he passed the 
 helmsman, * Naow jes' keep her full an' bye, an' ef I 
 
 hear anythin' shakin', by I'll shake yew, till y' 
 
 don' know whether yew're dead 'r alive.' The man 
 replied cheerfully in the stereotyped phrase, 'Aye, 
 aye, sir,' relieved beyond measure to find that he 
 should be free of the presence of his enemy for a little 
 while, at any rate. 
 
 The skipper's first action on getting below was to 
 send for the steward by ringing his bell, and on the 
 darkey's immediate appearance to order some food 
 and coffee to be prepared for himself. Of his wife 
 
i 4 o A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 he took not the slightest heed. Then going to his 
 medicine-chest he took out the little book of simple 
 instructions in surgery and medicine that is always 
 part of the furniture of a ship's medicine-chest, and, 
 seating himself at the cabin table, with one hand 
 fiercely tugging at his black beard, he began to study 
 the chapter on setting broken limbs. A sardonic 
 smile twitched upwards the corners of his mouth as 
 he imagined how the poor mate would suffer. There 
 was just a glint of pleasure in the thought lighting 
 the otherwise beclouded horizon of his mind. When 
 he had settled to his own satisfaction the course of 
 his operations upon his mate (fancy learning to set a 
 broken arm and leg in an hour !), he sulkily called to 
 his wife, ' Here, you, git me some bandages ready, 
 an' be quick abaout it.' She, watching for his lightest 
 word, came on the instant, and quietly asked how long 
 and how wide he wanted them. Even this essential 
 question seemed to afford him an opportunity of 
 venting more of his spleen upon her, but wearying of 
 that soon (indeed, he was as yet far from strong), he 
 supplied the information, and went on with his 
 studies. Then lying down upon the transom locker 
 he composed himself to sleep, well satisfied with his 
 watches work. 
 
 On deck the ship hummed like a hive. Even the 
 men who had been so badly bruised that the most 
 elementary exercise of humanity would have allowed 
 them to rest, dragged themselves wearily up out of 
 the forecastle, and did whatever they could do 
 towards the general refitment which was going on. 
 Some were hoisting on deck coils of ' tow-line/ the 
 beautiful rope which is fastened to the harpoons ; 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 141 
 
 others were taking the superfluous turns out of it, and 
 stretching it by passing it through a block as high as 
 the topgallant crosstrees, and coiling it again and 
 again the reverse way of the lay. Others, again, were 
 fitting harpoons to poles, and securing to them their 
 bridles of tow-line ; others were doing the same to 
 lances, or putting keen edges on new weapons. 
 Several, under the carpenter's orders, were working 
 away at the repairing of the one boat which had been 
 picked up, sawing timbers and planks, and carefully 
 unriveting broken knees from splintered skin. Two 
 men were assisting the cooper to make new line-tubs. 
 And amidst it all Mr. Winslow moved alert, with 
 eyes like a cat's, unhindered by the encompassing 
 darkness, but for all that earnestly desirous of the 
 day. 
 
 Unto these toilers at last came the blessing of 
 light, bringing with it a certain satisfaction, as it 
 always does, to those who have been working in the 
 dark, but also sadly associated with the idea that the 
 skipper would soon be on deck among them. Every 
 now and then one of them would glance furtively aft 
 in search of his dreaded appearance, and, relieved 
 temporarily by the assurance that he was not yet 
 among them, would renew energetically his efforts 
 to accomplish his task. Suddenly all hands were 
 startled by his voice, all its old vigour having 
 returned, shouting, 'Mr. Winslow.' The second 
 mate immediately hurried aft, and saying inquiringly, 
 * Yes, sir,' awaited his orders. ' Clear away the car- 
 penter's bench, an' bring it aft here ! ' snarled the 
 Captain. * Pedro, Bibra, come here.' The carpen- 
 ter's bench having been placed on the fore side of the 
 
142 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 skylight, athwart the deck, the steward made his 
 appearance, carrying the bandages and certain 
 bottles, also some pieces of rough but thin boards, 
 just portions of canned meat cases with the nails 
 drawn, split to necessary narrowness, and cut in 
 proper lengths. At an order from the Captain, the 
 two Portuguese harpooners lifted the still insensible 
 body of the mate on to the bench, and began to 
 bare his broken limbs, a most difficult task, owing 
 to their having become glued to the clothing with 
 dried blood. 
 
 This operation roused him at once from his stupor, 
 and with groans that shook his whole frame his glazed 
 eyes opened. He muttered feebly, ' For God's sake 
 go easy : ain't I sufferin' enough ? ' But a glance at 
 the skipper showed these rough attendants that, even 
 had they been inclined to yield to the mate's prayer, 
 and 'go easy,' they dare not, so, disregarding his 
 agony, they persevered, and after dragging and 
 slitting and soaking his clothes, succeeded at last 
 in exposing the leg and arm, each with fragments of 
 bone protruding through the torn and swollen flesh. 
 By the time this had been done the mate could only 
 feebly gasp, ' Water ! water ! ' and the steward, with 
 a fearful glance at the skipper for permission, put a 
 pannikin full to his cracked lips. Then with a corner 
 of the towel he carried he was about to wipe the 
 sweat from the mate's drawn face, but an execration 
 from the skipper caused him to scuttle back into his 
 place like a frightened rabbit. 
 
 The operation began, and really it is questionable 
 whether the utter callousness and brutality of the 
 operator were not more merciful to the sufferer than 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 143 
 
 the tender, half-afraid manipulations of a kind- 
 hearted and unskilful man would have been. For in 
 any case much pain had to be endured, and, as I 
 have before noted, the human body can only feel a 
 certain amount. When that has been borne, what- 
 ever you may have to endure does not matter in the 
 least as far as your consciousness of it goes. It is a 
 comforting thought when reading of the infliction of 
 ancient tortures. So now, before the mangled arm 
 had been straightened, the fragments of bone drawn 
 within the swollen muscles, the mate had again 
 lapsed into insensibility. The attendants glanced 
 fearfully at the white, set face, and from it to the 
 scowling visage of the skipper, but dared not utter 
 their fears that the patient was dead. The operator 
 worked on with a skill amazing to see in one who had 
 never performed such an operation before, nor had 
 ever seen such a thing done. Without again refer- 
 ring to his book, without a moment's hesitation, he 
 placed the splints, passed the bandages, saturated 
 them with carbolic lotion, and then, having satisfied 
 himself that, in spite of the ghastly appearance of 
 the mate's side, it was only an extensive superficial 
 laceration -there were no ribs broken he ordered the 
 two harpooners to carry the patient to a mattress 
 placed for his reception on the after corner of the 
 deck behind the tiller, and leave him there. The 
 steward was given orders to keep an eye on him, and 
 feed him occasionally with a little soup and bread, 
 and again the skipper retired below. 
 
 By this time the meal-hour had arrived eight 
 bells and a brief respite from their labours was 
 enjoyed by all hands. The day was fair and bright, 
 
144 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the wind was steady at about north, and the old ship 
 was making good progress. So Mr. Winslow sent 
 everybody but the helmsman to breakfast, and him- 
 self came aft and sat beside his brother officer, full 
 of pity, but oppressed by his own utter inability to 
 do anything for him. But he had the satisfaction of 
 noting how well the work of repairing the broken 
 limbs had been done, and, as he was thinking how 
 even the worst of men sometimes compel our admira- 
 tion, he was intensely gratified to see Mr. Court open 
 his eyes and look wearily round. ' Wall, haow d' ye 
 feel abaout it naow, sir ? ' said he earnestly. The 
 mate stifled a groan, and at last managed to reply, 
 1 Winslow, I'd rather ten thousan' times 'a' died than 
 ben thro' wut I've suffered this laest twenty-four 
 hours. But I don't feel 's much pain J s I did, an' if 
 only I k'n git a little food 'at I k'n eat I think I sh'll 
 do. Ole man's awful mad, ain't he ? ' Bending his 
 head close down, Winslow gave the mate a hurried 
 outline of the proceedings since the skipper's return 
 to command, and wound up by saying, ' He ain't said 
 nawthin' abaout it, but I believe he's makin' fur Cape 
 Verdes. We're carryin' all sail to th' eastward.' 
 ' Thank God fur that,' murmured the mate ; ' thar'll 
 be some chance ov seein' a doctor if I need one 
 by then. Say, Winslow, ef ye k'n git one o' th' 
 fellows t' give an eye to me now an' then, I'll be 
 glad.' 
 
 For all answer Winslow patted his cheek, and in 
 response to the breakfast bell departed below. He 
 and the mate, while respecting each other, had not 
 been chums in any sense of the word, but the recent 
 happenings had drawn them very close, this feeling 
 
REPAIRING DAMAGES 145 
 
 especially affecting Winslovv. And he began to feel 
 as if he could do anything, endure anything on the 
 mate's behalf while he was so helpless yes, even 
 dare the risk of being shot by the skipper, if he 
 should go too far in his calculated brutality. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 
 
 FAVOURED by exquisite weather, and trade-winds 
 hanging well to the northward, the Grampus ploughed 
 steadily along towards her objective, no one but the 
 skipper knowing that it was Brava. After the first 
 three days of almost frantic labour the skipper's ex- 
 perienced eye noted how stale the men had become ; 
 want of rest and poor food had reduced them so that 
 threats and blows no longer goaded them ; they 
 were fast approaching that stage when nothing 
 matters, and suffering least of all, because it had 
 become a normal condition. So Captain Da Silva, 
 being anything but a fool, * let up ' on them as he 
 termed it, not because he considered their punish- 
 ment at all adequate to the crime they had com- 
 mitted of being beaten in spite of having done their 
 best, but because he needed their services in the 
 future. He restored their regular watches, and 
 although the amount of quite unnecessary work still 
 carried on would have caused a mutiny in any British 
 merchant ship, this crew chuckled to think what a 
 good time they were now having. And, besides, 
 their lives were not so devoid of interest, for there 
 could be no doubt that they were bound to some 
 anchorage it did not matter much where they 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 147 
 
 would see the land again and perhaps taste vege- 
 tables. 
 
 And the sorely wounded mate, despite the rough- 
 ness of his treatment, the almost utter absence of 
 nursing, steadily improved. His iron constitution, a 
 certain ox-like patience, and the absence of drugs 
 combined with perfectly pure air all these helped 
 to make his recovery marvellously rapid. But he 
 almost had a relapse ten days after the accident. 
 He had so far progressed as to be able to sit up 
 upon an improvised little platform by the taffrail, 
 and was watching the sea, when his dull eye suddenly 
 brightened, his form stiffened, and lifting up his 
 voice he raised the cry of 'Blow!' The skipper 
 since the surgical operation had held no conversation 
 with the injured man, except one or two of the 
 briefest remarks passed each day, just what were 
 absolutely necessary. But now he spun round on 
 his heel, his black eyes flaming, and shouted, * Whar 
 away, Mr. Court ? Aloft there ! wut ye doin' ? 
 Kain't ye see 't all?' Springing up on the little 
 hurricane deck peculiar to all whaleships, he at once 
 caught sight of the whale, a big lone fellow, pro- 
 ceeding in leisurely fashion due south. Without 
 apparently considering for one moment the fact that 
 he had only two boats to use, he issued his orders, 
 sharp and sudden like rifle-shots. Sail was shortened 
 to the topsails, the vessel put upon the other tack ; 
 then, springing upon the starboard quarter, where 
 the best boat hung, he shouted, ' 'Way boats ! ' sweep- 
 ing contemptuously away the third mate, who of 
 course was standing by to take his place in his 
 regular craft. A whirring of the sheaves followed, 
 
 L 2 
 
i 4 8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 and down went the boat, striking the water fairly 
 and being released at once with a smartness delight- 
 ful to see. Then, grasping the dangling falls with 
 one hand, the skipper turned to the mate, who lay 
 fretting himself into a fever at his inability to move, 
 saying as coolly as if just setting off for a pleasure 
 trip, ' Guess yew k'n con th' ship whar y' air, Mr. 
 Court, kain't ye?' 'Sure, sir/ murmured the mate, 
 the prospect of being able to do something seeming 
 delightful to him. No answer, but for a moment the 
 skipper's body was outlined against the sky as he 
 launched himself downwards, struck the boat, seized 
 the steer oar, and issued his orders. Away flew both 
 boats as if the lives of their crews depended upon their 
 utmost speed. 
 
 Now, I do not wish to weary my readers with 
 repeated accounts of whale-fights, and therefore I 
 must omit all the circumstantial details of this one. 
 But I do need to say that Captain Da Silva had 
 apparently found exceeding compensation for his 
 late tribulations in this opportune encounter, and he 
 behaved as one possessed of a demon of destruction, 
 to whom no mishap could possibly come. Yet he 
 was by no means reckless. Every precaution that 
 could be taken against disaster he took, but, on the 
 other hand, he neglected no opportunity of rushing 
 in whenever and wherever the slightest opening pre- 
 sented itself. Scorning bomb-lances, he used only 
 the long primitive spear, and with fiendish howls he 
 ordered the second mate to keep aloof in readiness 
 to aid in case of accident. The whale, evidently an 
 old hand at the game, tried every ruse known to 
 whales, but in vain, for, rolling over towards the 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 149 
 
 oncoming boat, and sinking his body in the middle 
 in order to get a grip of the boat with his gaping 
 jaws, he felt suddenly the diamond-shaped head of 
 a lance gliding through the thick muscles of his 
 throat downward to his mighty heart. Six feet from 
 that searching point the captain leaned his shoulder 
 upon the lance-butt, lending all his great strength to 
 the thrust. The boat passed to the other side of the 
 body. ' Pull ahead all ! ' yelled the skipper, and out 
 drew the steel, distorted to the likeness of a conven- 
 tional lightning flash. ' Pull all ! ' again yelled the 
 skipper, and in response the boat shot away from the 
 vast writhing body, so fatally pierced that in three 
 minutes, with a few gigantic convulsions, it lay still, 
 dead. 
 
 Again the voice of the skipper arose no note of 
 triumph in it, no suggestion of rest for his crew. 
 c Hull in thet line, lively naow. Hyar yew/ to the 
 after oarsman, ' histe thet wheft ' (small blue signal 
 flag) ' 'n' wave fur th' secon' mate t' come up/ So 
 they hauled up alongside of the whale and cut the 
 line from the harpoon, by which time Mr. Winslow, 
 who had kept close to the fight all the time, was also 
 alongside. c Naow,' shouted the skipper to him, ' git 
 thet fluke-rope passed 's if ye knew haow, an' be 
 ready with yer eend to pass aboard when I come. 
 Pull two, starn three, so, all together,' and away shot 
 the boat towards the ship, which was coming down 
 towards them at a fine rate. So fast, indeed, did the 
 two craft draw together, that barely ten minutes 
 had elapsed from the time the skipper's boat left the 
 whale until he was again on board and, hoisting his 
 boat, was issuing his orders as if he were an engineer 
 
150 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 handling the cranks, levers, and throttle-valves of his 
 engines. Now he was in his element now he felt 
 the primal delight of power to rule his fellows and 
 bend to his moulding will. The whale was not large 
 as regards bulk, but full of fatness so full, indeed, 
 that the utmost care must needs be exercised lest the 
 hoisting gear should tear out of the almost rotten 
 blubber. The operations were conducted in peerless 
 fashion, the skipper being apparently the mind of all 
 hands his late disablement appeared to have given 
 him an impetus that none of his previous experiences 
 had supplied. So great, indeed, was he that muttering 
 passed from man to man after this fashion : * Oh, but 
 he's a horse, ain't he ? ' * Don't he do it ? ' ' What a 
 man he is ! ' &c. 
 
 The work of securing the spoil was carried on 
 with such vigour, such exquisite skill, and due 
 apportionment of labour, that before the day was 
 closed all the worst of the duty was done, and the 
 skipper strode proudly the scanty limits of his quarter- 
 deck with the mien of a man who could not possibly 
 learn from any a better way of doing his work. And, 
 as I have already noted, he had also earned the 
 intense admiration of all hands, although each one of 
 those men was aching from head to heel with the 
 extraordinary strain put upon him. 
 
 And Priscilla ? Well, she had not suffered. She 
 had learnt to wait in patience the outcome of all 
 things not to be distressed by strange noises as of 
 strife, or no less strange interludes of silence, when it 
 seemed as if everyone but herself was dead. Even 
 when upon the deep quiet (as of the grave) which 
 enwrapped her there impinged a great noise, she did 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 151 
 
 not shrink or shudder : she just looked up and was 
 comforted. That she should have been thus becalmed, 
 as it were, in the midst of tempests, that to her wilful, 
 wayward heart should have come so bountiful a 
 measure of the Divine patience, will naturally seem 
 incredible to many quite as great a miracle as the 
 raising of the widow's son. But, thank God ! there 
 are also many of us who know that such miracles are 
 daily wrought by the direct interposition of God. 
 Sometimes man is honoured by being the instrument 
 in such cases, but more often they are the outcome 
 of an answer given by the trembling, tired soul out 
 into the darkness whence comes the comforting, still 
 small voice. 
 
 When at last the skipper came down he wore all 
 the self-conferred honours of a successful tyrant. He 
 had vindicated his position as the one man who could 
 do things without making mistakes, who could be 
 depended upon to come upon the scene when disaster 
 seemed imminent, and, taking the helm of affairs, 
 conduct them triumphantly to victory. And the 
 knowledge was almost too much for him. He strode 
 into his state-room and flung his orders at Priscilla 
 much as if she had been a negro slave with little 
 distinction between her and the steward. And she, 
 with calmest demeanour, obeyed him to the foot of the 
 letter. She gave him no cause of complaint, and to 
 his intense surprise he found himself looking furtively 
 at her and wondering how it was she did not cry or 
 protest or do something, anything except act like one 
 whom nothing could make unhappy or disobedient. At 
 last he could no longer endure the spur of his curiosity, 
 and he said, in strangely subdued tones (the steward 
 
152 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 having gone on deck), ' Wut's th' matter with ye, 
 Pris ? Ain't feelin' sick, air ye ? Yer lookin' kinder 
 curis, y' know.' She turned her calm face to him and 
 said, ' No, Ramon ; I'm feeling very well, thank you. 
 Is there anything more I can do for you ? ' He did 
 not answer. For his keen Latin wits had come up 
 against something that was quite outside of his ex- 
 perience. Something of the baffled rage of the early 
 persecutors possessed him as he realised that his 
 wife had passed into a region from which he was 
 quite shut out. So he hurled a savage curse, a farrago 
 of Portuguese blasphemy, at her, which sounded like 
 the rattling of manacles, and passed on deck again. 
 
 Remember, if you would blame Priscilla for not 
 trying to win this bad man, that she knew him, knew 
 that any language she might use would be utterly 
 unintelligible to him, knew that his long and success- 
 ful career of cruelty had hardened in him all the 
 baser attributes, and she felt it would be hopeless to 
 try. She felt, too, that she would only be bringing 
 more suffering down upon herself, and was not at all 
 confident as to the limit of her endurance. She was 
 wrong, of course : she had not a sufficiently ample 
 idea of the power of God to save. But we dare not 
 blame her : many of us in her position would have 
 gone mad. And she did pray for him, but without 
 the faintest belief that her prayer would be answered. 
 She felt, as Mr. Moody once expressed it, as if when 
 she prayed for that man the heavens above her were 
 as brass, that prayers on his behalf could not ascend. 
 
 So the Grampus sped onward towards Brava 
 under the most favourable conditions possible. The 
 work of securing the spoil of the whale was carried 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 153 
 
 through in marvellous fashion ; the wind held true to 
 the north, even sometimes a point to the westward of 
 north, and freshened enough to give the old ship a 
 speed, rap-full, of five knots an hour. Whether it 
 was any anticipation of meeting old acquaintances (a 
 man like that never has friends) or not, the skipper, 
 too, was certainly less severe than usual in his treat- 
 ment of his men. He even condescended to inquire 
 occasionally after the health of his mate, who was 
 doing wonderfully well in the pure air and utter lack 
 of all medicine, aided by his splendid constitution. 
 So well, indeed, did the old ship progress, that by the 
 time she had been restored to her ordinary condition 
 of spotless cleanliness, the beautiful outlines of the 
 islands were sighted, and all hands, with quickened 
 pulse-beats, began to look forward to a little change 
 in the ordered monotony of their lives. But great 
 was their disappointment when they found that, 
 instead of going as closely in as was safe, the Captain 
 anchored his ship in thirty fathoms of water far out 
 to sea. And without the loss of an hour he ordered 
 his boat to be manned (by Portuguese only), and, 
 dressed like a bridegroom, mounted the rail pre- 
 paratory to descending. The second mate stood 
 near ; the mate listened from the corner aft, where he 
 sat helpless, with painful earnestness for any word 
 the skipper might drop of his intentions. 
 
 'See here, Mr. Winslow,' drawled the skipper, 
 1 ye'll keep the men at work, watch on watch, same 's 
 at sea. Yew'll keep a bright look-out for me comin' 
 back, as I shall be 'fore long, anyway. An' if any- 
 thin' happens 'at ye want me sudden, set the ensign 
 at the peak.' And without another word he was 
 
154 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 gone, and his boat's crew, with the splendid stroke of 
 the trained American whaleman, was making the 
 pretty craft fly towards the shore, its captain standing 
 erect in the stern, handling his steer-oar, like a figure 
 of stone. The second mate watched him out of 
 definition range, then, descending from the rail with 
 a sigh, he sought the mate, saying, ' Well, Mr. Court, 
 whut ye think of him ? Ain't he a daisy ? I really 
 dunno haow it es, but th' wuss he is th' more I admire 
 at him, until his back's turned, 'n' then I want t' kill 
 him. An',' dropping his voice, * d' jever before in a 
 'Merican ship see a lady treated like this one ? I 
 have stood, I k'n stand, a good deal frum him, but if 
 ever he raises his hand t' thet poor broken-hearted 
 woman when I'm erroun' I'm goin' t' kill him right in 
 his tracks naow, yew hear me ! ' ' Oh, shet yer 
 head ! ' fretfully replied the mate. * I know all abaout 
 thet ; wut's th' use er chawin' it over ? What I wunt 
 t' know is, wut sort of a gang of dagoes is he goin' t' 
 bring with him. All his own relations, I suppose, 'n' 
 thar'll be the usual amount er spy in' an' lyin' an' 
 devilishness generally. If only I had this leg 'n' arm 
 o' mine usable ! I ben thinkin' over a good many 
 things sense I ben a-laying here, I tell ye, but I got 
 one idea solid, 'n' that is thet, live er die, I'm a-goin' 
 t' stand up t' him an' whoever he brings aboard here, 
 an' hev' my rights as mate. You, too, I know, 
 Winslow ; but only as man to man ; no hatchin' 
 anything' or conspirin'. We'll leave that to them. 
 But I do wish we could help the poor woman.' 
 
 'Thank you, friends,' said Priscilla, who had 
 glided on deck and overheard the last portion of the 
 mate's remarks. ' It's very good of you to think 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 155 
 
 about me, but I shall be grateful if you will behave 
 as if I were not on board. I cannot, must not, be 
 a source of trouble, and, moreover, the Captain is my 
 husband. Now don't, please don't, think of helping 
 me, as you call it, any more. I've got help of the 
 best kind always available. I didn't know I had 
 until a short time ago. I'd forgotten God, as it seems 
 to me God is forgotten at sea. But when I was 
 ready to go mad with what I thought was my 
 undeserved trouble, He came to my rescue, and now 
 I feel I can bear anything. And, anyhow, what is 
 my trouble compared with yours ? Ah, Mr, Court, 
 I have felt so much for you in your awful pain, and 
 not to be able to help you at all. Are you in pain 
 now?' ' Oh, no, ma'am, thank you kindly,' murmured 
 the mate ; * that's all over and done with. Anyhow, 
 it was never quite as bad as you might think. Sounds 
 a good deal worse than it is. I'm hurt more at havin' 
 to lie here doin' nothin' than by any pain I've got.' 
 ' Well, I'm glad to hear you say so. Now I must go 
 down. I feel that I'm doing wrong sitting up here 
 talking to you, as I should certainly not be doing if 
 my husband were here/ And she departed below, 
 leaving the two mates, with a totally new set of 
 sensations, staring at each other dumbly. 
 
 Unfortunately, mischief had been done. One of 
 the Portuguese sailors had been ostensibly occupied 
 in renewing the seizings on the mizen shrouds, but 
 for the last ten minutes he had devoted all his 
 faculties to listening. Vainly ; he did not know 
 enough of the language to take in the conversation, 
 but he knew that the Captain's wife had been talking 
 for a long time to the two mates. And he deter- 
 
156 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 mined that the knowledge should not be wasted. 
 The two officers, so deeply interested were they, did 
 not notice this man, and when presently the second 
 mate almost guiltily resumed his oversight of the 
 men and their work he did not even see Lazzaro 
 furtively glancing at him from the mizen rigging. 
 No more was said by either of the mates or Mrs. Da 
 Silva on the subject, and the work of the ship went 
 on throughout the day with something of its old 
 machine-like regularity. Night fell, and still no sign 
 of the skipper. With deepening distrust and anxiety 
 the officer saw the watches set, attending to every 
 detail of his duties with the utmost fidelity, and 
 reporting at eight o'clock all his doings to the mate. 
 Mr. Court sent a respectful message to Priscilla on 
 hearing this, acquainting her with the condition of 
 affairs and assuring her that she had no cause for 
 alarm. She would receive instant attention to her 
 lightest wish, and probably the Captain would be 
 aboard before morning. And so, quietly enough to 
 all outward seeming, but with much anxiety among 
 the afterguard, the night passed away. 
 
 Ashore the Captain was having what sailors 
 term a mighty good time. Congenial spirits awaited 
 him of both sexes, long known to him, and, flinging 
 aside all the restraints he felt he had been bound by 
 during the last year, he plunged into the wildest 
 excesses. He was one of those men to whom such 
 an outburst, even at very long intervals, seems a 
 necessity of life one that when the opportunity for 
 obtaining it arrives can by no effort of will be refrained 
 from, although it is hard to suppose that such an 
 effort is ever made or attempted. And yet he could 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 157 
 
 be, as far as abstention from vulgar vice was con- 
 cerned, a very eremite for a year at a time, otherwise 
 he would never have reached his present position ; for 
 the American shipowner or, indeed, employer of any 
 kind is entirely intolerant of drunkenness or de- 
 bauchery among his servants, and will have none of it 
 if by any means he can prevent it. Now, however, his 
 boat's crew disposed of allowed to run a little riot 
 of their own among their cronies, and merely ordered 
 to turn up in the morning at eight o'clock, bringing 
 six recruits with them, he abandoned himself to the 
 fierce delights of the Latin seaman when let loose. 
 
 But in spite of the long night's excesses there was 
 little alteration in his appearance or manner when he 
 met his men in the morning, noting with high approval 
 that they had succeeded in obtaining the new hands 
 he wanted : six huge piratical-looking ruffians, three of 
 whom were of that peculiar type of Portuguese which 
 can only be found in the islands of the North-West 
 Atlantic men, that is, with the high-bred facial char- 
 acteristics of the Portuguese allied to. a perfect black- 
 ness of skin. Some of these men are of great size, and 
 almost all of them know something about sperm- 
 whaling, since all of these islands were for hundreds 
 of years most prolific haunts of the cachalot. There- 
 fore they have always been welcomed as recruits for 
 whaleships, their undoubted courage and great 
 powers of endurance adding to their desirability. But 
 to Captain Da Silva they represented more than these 
 advantages. They were his own countrymen, and 
 might be relied upon to abet him in any scheme of 
 devilry he might devise, in which he would certainly 
 lack the support of his American officers. And a 
 
i 5 8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 dim idea of vengeance upon those officers was 
 certainly taking shape within his mind, which, once 
 definitely arranged, he would spare no pains to carry 
 out nor allow any peevish scruples to prevent him 
 doing so. 
 
 With a few quiet words to the newcomers about 
 pay, position, &c., also the time of meeting to make 
 the engagement a very simple matter in those ships 
 he gave them some money, and went his way to 
 purchase three new whale-boats. In this he was also 
 fortunate, for a local bay whaling company had just 
 dissolved partnership, and all their gear was on sale. 
 He succeeded in purchasing from the representative 
 of the late company four boats and a large quantity of 
 gear for less than half their ordinary value, which 
 pleased him so much that he determined to stay 
 another night ashore and continue his enjoyment. 
 But first he made arrangements for his new purchases 
 to be taken off to the ship. The only message he 
 condescended to send was that the boat should return 
 for him the next day at 10 A.M. And not an ounce 
 of fresh meat or fruit or vegetables went off. These 
 articles were cheap enough in all conscience, but 
 Captain Da Silva never pampered his crew, especially 
 thus early in a long voyage, and, besides, there was 
 punishment to be carried out. And no form of punish- 
 ment on board ship as applied to a whole crew is more 
 effective than to be anchored near a fruitful shore after 
 months of bad salt food and be denied a taste of the 
 delicious things they can almost see growing. Under 
 ordinary conditions such a deprivation would be 
 next to impossible, as there are always people along 
 shore anxious to earn a little by catering for the needs 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 159 
 
 of a ship's company, except in the most savage lands. 
 And if there be no money on board, barter can 
 always be resorted to : quite a quantity of sweet 
 potatoes, oranges, or bananas can be obtained for 
 a shirt. The Captain, however, had arranged all 
 that ; according to his wishes not a boat had been 
 near his ship. And, besides, she was a long way 
 out. 
 
 When the officers saw the gear and boats, and 
 received the message, they looked at each other 
 significantly, but said no word. Mr. Court, now able 
 to hobble about, took charge of operations, and in 
 quite a short time the newly acquired boats had been 
 placed in position, had each received a coat of white 
 paint, that being the colour of the Grampus's boats, 
 their gear fitted to them, and everything made ready 
 for their lowering to a whale. They came alongside 
 at midday, and by nightfall were ready for use. 
 During all this activity Priscilla had been quite for- 
 gotten. The officers felt doubtful how she would 
 receive any information about her husband which, in 
 answer to questions, they might have felt tempted to 
 supply, so they did not mention the matter. Only 
 the genial darkey steward, in the perfectly respectful 
 yet familiar manner common to negro servants in 
 America, chatted away to his mistress, and kept her 
 from being too lonely or dwelling too much upon 
 the unknown reasons which had induced her husband 
 to leave her on board the ship for two days without 
 giving her any information at all of his doings. Had 
 she known it, she might have felt surprised that he 
 had never so much as given her a thought. But she 
 would hardly have been grieved at anything he did 
 
160 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 now to her, having fortified her mind against the worst 
 that could befall. 
 
 Punctually at the time appointed the boat arrived 
 at the place ordered by the Captain, who almost 
 immediately appeared, and gave orders for the 
 transhipment to the boat of a number of cases. Alto- 
 gether they made a heavy cargo for such a frail boat ; 
 but whalers are most expert at this business, and 
 effect transportation by means of these boats that 
 seems impossible to any ordinary sailormen. This 
 done they shoved off, Captain Da Silva standing 
 erect in the stern, his eyes fixed upon his ship, and 
 noting detail after detail as they became visible. A 
 frown, never entirely absent from his handsome face, 
 deepened upon it as he failed to see any cause for 
 complaint. She looked beautifully trim ; not a rope 
 yarn out of its place, the weather-beaten patches on 
 her side carefully touched up, the boats all bright 
 with new paint, the three mastheads manned, and, 
 as he came alongside, the mate at the gangway to 
 receive him, and the crew all standing by the boat's 
 falls ready to hoist her up the moment he should step 
 on board. 
 
 As he put his foot on the rail, Mr. Court said, 
 1 Good morning, sir.' But instead of replying, the 
 Captain said, ' Whyn't ye git under weigh ? ' And 
 without pausing for an answer shouted : ' Man th' 
 windlass.' The cry was re-echoed all over the ship, 
 and almost immediately nothing could be heard for 
 the clatter of the pawls as the big windlass barrel 
 revolved at top speed. ' Down frum aloft there an' 
 loose sail, courses, taups'les, an' t'gallantsails,' again 
 shouted the Captain. ' Lively naow ; think yer goin' 
 
THE CAPTAIN GOES ASHORE 161 
 
 t' sit up thar an' sleep while th' ship's gittin' under 
 weigh ? ' Oh, he was a hustler, was Captain Da Silva. 
 In ten minutes from the time he came on board the 
 boat's cargo was discharged, she was hoisted, the 
 Grampus was under weigh, and pointing south for the 
 resumption of the long and weary voyage. Then, 
 and not till then, did the skipper condescend to say 
 anything to his chief officer. He called him, and 
 with a coldly sarcastic curl of his lip as he saw him 
 hobbling aft on improvised crutches, he said, 'Any- 
 thin' t' report ? ' 'No, sir,' replied Mr. Court, ' 'cept 
 thet I've returned t' duty.' * No need t' report thet^ 
 anyhaow,' growled the skipper ; * I k'n use my eyes. 
 But yew don't look pretty, 'n thet's a fact. Mout 's 
 well hide yerself a bit longer, moutn't ye ? Hain't 
 gut tired doin' nawthin', I'm sure.' * See here, Cap- 
 tain Da Silva,' hissed the mate, ' you've gut th' whip 
 hand now, I'll own, but if ever I git on equal terms 
 with ye, all this '11 hev t' be settled fur.' 'Go, lie 
 daown, dog,' muttered the Captain. * I'll attend t' you 
 an' all th' rest right along 'n' git all th' sleep I need 
 too.' And the Grampus began to rise and fall gently 
 to the incoming swell as the Captain went below. 
 
 M 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AMONG RIGHT WHALES 
 
 WE left our hero Rube suffering in body but triumphant 
 in soul, and also in perfect ignorance of the astounding 
 change his behaviour was bringing about in all hands. I 
 have always maintained that a Christian ship presents 
 as near an approach to what most of us agree Heaven 
 must be like as we can make on this side of the gate 
 thereof. For look at the position ! The grosser 
 forms of temptation are entirely absent, yet there is 
 none of the selfish side of monasticism present. Men 
 talk and laugh and work with their fellows amid the 
 most glorious of all earthly surroundings the pure, 
 wide, bright ocean. There is no monotony, since every 
 day brings diversified duties, and in hours of rest not 
 needed for sleep there is an ever-changing panorama 
 of glory present to the newly awakened eyes, drawing 
 ever-deepening thankfulness from the regenerated 
 heart. The thousand-and-one miseries and pettinesses 
 that distract men ashore are absent. From the little 
 world evil has departed almost the knowledge of it, 
 since there is no daily paper recording the never- 
 ending succession of crimes. 
 
 Yes, it is an ideal state of existence, a sort of 
 Happy Valley in the midst of the ocean, whence the 
 trail of the serpent has been removed, and where the 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 163 
 
 community bask, unshadowed by sin, in the sunshine 
 of God. Of course, it will be cynically remarked that 
 this is a picture of perfection, unattainable, impossible. 
 Well, it is nearly, but not quite. I have experienced 
 something very near it, and I beg to submit that it 
 was so idyllic that it could not be made a subject for 
 cynical sarcasm, even by the editor of the Freethinker, 
 if he only saw it in operation. It might be called 
 right fruit of wrong belief; but I do not love para- 
 doxes. I prefer to believe that men do not gather 
 grapes of thorns or figs of thistles. 
 
 But I am doing an injustice to Reuben and his 
 shipmates by interpolating my own meditations in 
 their story. When the work of realising the spoil of 
 their first whale had been finished, all hands felt that 
 they had now served their apprenticeship were now 
 fully equipped for their work on board, whatever 
 it might be. And in their watches below the men 
 found a wondrous fund of conversational matter in 
 the happenings of the past few days. But whenever 
 they approached the subject of Rube's rescue of 
 MacManus there was a perceptible lowering of the 
 voice, an air of solemnity upon everybody, for they all 
 felt that here was a man who, given opportunity, 
 would have dived into hell itself if by so doing he 
 might haply rescue a comrade. And that a comrade 
 by no means specially dear to him, but just one of 
 the many. The incident brought them a truer insight 
 into the character of Christ than millions of sermons 
 could have done. And in saying this I in no wise 
 undervalue sermons. * It hath pleased God through 
 the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
 believe.' But the living example of faith's outcome, 
 
164 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 a far-off and feeble imitation of Christ, carries us be- 
 yond the reach of argument, makes the most sceptical 
 silent. Against it the waves of criticism beat in vain. 
 Logic, with all its perverseness ; the scornful finger- 
 pointing at the unfaithful professors ; the cavilling of 
 the sticklers for formulated creeds all, all are 
 silenced or stopped ; and the splendour of Christ 
 manifest in the flesh again, though it be but in the 
 flesh of one of His humblest servants, overwhelms us. 
 But it must be confessed that Captain Hampden, 
 even in the midst of his new-found peace of soul, had 
 occasional fits of despondency when he realised how 
 little progress the ship was making towards a prosper- 
 ous voyage. Over six months had now elapsed and 
 only one sperm-whale had been seen. Hope buoyed 
 him, of course, but it was often deferred, and, conse- 
 quently, though he maintained a cheery demeanour 
 towards his officers his heart was becoming very sick. 
 Going below into his lonely little cabin he would 
 stand as if in deep thought, gazing into vacancy and 
 wondering in some indefinite way how it was that he 
 was so unfortunate this voyage. For he had the reputa- 
 tion of being a ' lucky ' skipper who never stayed out 
 all his legal time, and on several occasions so great 
 had been his success that he had found no need to 
 go out of the Atlantic Ocean. Twice, indeed, he had 
 spent gloriously successful seasons on ' Coffin's 
 Ground,' just a little south and west of the English 
 Channel, finding there sperm-whale, so numerous and 
 fat that he was inclined to wonder why it should ever 
 be necessary to go farther afield. I could not help 
 thinking of him last year, when, on my way to the 
 Mediterranean in one of the crack P. and O. liners, 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 165 
 
 I heard the veteran captain tell a lady at dinner that 
 there were hardly any whales now they had been al- 
 most exterminated. I ventured to question his dictum, 
 and we had rather an interesting discussion. But next 
 morning he and I met on deck a little after daybreak, 
 to find the ship gliding along at her usual seventeen 
 knots through the midst of a school of sperm-whales of 
 the largest size, extending to the horizon on both 
 sides, and taking us an hour to get away from them. 
 Nothing of that kind, however, came in the way 
 of the Xiphias. Day after day passed, lengthening 
 into weeks, during which from the lofty eminence of 
 the crow's-nest nothing could be seen but sea and 
 sky, an occasional barnacle-encrusted piece of drift- 
 timber, a school of dolphin or bonito, a few porpoises, 
 flying fish innumerable, and now and then a fin-back 
 whale. But with the exception of the skipper nobody 
 seemed to worry or find the life monotonous. Work 
 went on with clock-like regularity, but outside of the 
 work the men's lives appeared to be full of interest. 
 Interminable yarns, often inconsequential, were ex- 
 changed, and hardly a detail of their lives remained 
 unrevealed to each other. Reuben's return to active 
 service was hailed with such delight that he did not 
 appear to understand what it meant. He could not 
 realise that the service he had rendered to his ship- 
 mate so readily could have taken such heroic propor- 
 tions in the eyes of the crew. If he could have known, 
 that great deed was, after all, but an incident : it was 
 the lovely life, the splendid man in him which ap- 
 pealed to all hands, as, indeed, it will ever do where 
 men are gathered together. Many complaints of lack 
 of appreciation are heard from men of all classes, but 
 
1 66 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the truth appears to be that with few exceptions men 
 and women are marvellously generous in their appre- 
 ciation of one another's good deeds. There is, of course, 
 a bogus hero-worship, an undiscriminating appreciation 
 of work that only makes for evil, and consequently 
 had far better be left undone, but it is only a virtue 
 carried to excess. Let men or women do ever so 
 little good work to-day, and, if it becomes known, 
 their reward is almost certain to transcend their merits 
 by far. 
 
 So Reuben, unconsciously as the sun shines or the 
 birds sing, was made the means of sweetening the 
 crew of the Xiphias, and keeping them sweet, and 
 at the same time, as a consequence, was teaching them 
 teaching them how to teach themselves from the 
 great book open around them lessons that would be 
 the delight of their whole remaining lives. Meanwhile 
 the Captain grew more and more irritable, moody, 
 despondent. He still prayed, but listlessly, as if won- 
 dering what good it could do. And all this mental 
 agony of his was just due to the lack of commonsense 
 appreciation of the benefits conferred by the Gospel 
 of Christ. What should we say of a parent, who, 
 while ever ready to confer upon his children the best 
 of advice, the best educational advantages possible, 
 and who gave them promises of glorious prospects in 
 the future, should yet keep them without the common 
 necessaries of life, food and clothing yes, not only keep 
 them without, but hinder them from obtaining those 
 things for themselves ? Yet this is the idea which so 
 many, the vast majority of orthodox Christians, have 
 of the dear Father God. But the educational process, 
 if of any value, is slow, and Captain Hampden was 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 167 
 
 learning, unwillingly it is true, but still he was learning. 
 At times, though, the content which seemed to possess 
 all hands but himself was very trying to him. He 
 naturally felt that his crew should in some measure 
 share his anxiety over the non-success of the voyage 
 so far, and resentment at their apparently callous 
 conduct often made him miserable. Their behaviour 
 was irreproachable. There was no slackness shown 
 in any duty, and he knew that as far as the look-out 
 was concerned not a fish could leap by day within 
 a radius of four or five miles without being instantly 
 noted by one or more of the six pairs of keen eyes at 
 the mastheads. 
 
 But it was not until the old Xiphias had rolled 
 her way eastward as far as Gough Island that payable 
 whales were sighted again. Then when within about 
 ten miles of that huge isolated crag rising solitary, 
 awful, out of the vast waste of the Southern Ocean, 
 a dubious cry of * Bio o o w ' was heard from the 
 fore crow's-nest It told plainly that the utterer was 
 not at all sure whether what he was reporting was 
 worth while troubling after. So many false alarms 
 had been raised, rorquals, finbacks, grampuses had so 
 often filled them with delusive hopes, that only the 
 unmistakable bushy spout of a sperm-whale was 
 looked for. Since, however, no chance, slight though 
 it might be, was neglected, the warning was given, 
 and was presently being repeated by all the other 
 watchers. Captain Hampden rather listlessly 
 mounted the rigging, his binoculars slung to his neck, 
 and reaching the mainyard, focussed them upon the, 
 as yet, far-off whales. One glance was enough. In 
 a tremendous voice he roared his orders to come 
 
1 68 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 down from aloft, prepare to leave the ship, alter the 
 course, &c. He had discovered that a school of 
 1 right ' whales was in sight : a species of cetacean, 
 almost identical with the great Greenland whale, and 
 because of the high value of the baleen, or whalebone 
 found in the mouth, worth almost as much in those 
 days as the sperm-whale in spite of the poor quality 
 of ' right ' whale oil perhaps, when all the circum- 
 stances were taken into consideration, more, for even 
 the Southern right whale, although certainly more 
 elegant in figure and swifter in movement than his 
 Northern congener, is a meek and gentle creature, in 
 the chase of which an accident is almost unknown. 
 
 There were about twenty individuals in the school, 
 of average size that is to say, each looking as if he 
 or she might yield eighty or ninety barrels of oil 
 and seven or eight hundredweight of bone. I mix 
 up the genders, for, curiously enough, while the 
 sperm-whale cow never attains to much more than 
 one-fourth of the size of the adult cachalot, the 
 mysticetus, or right whale has little or no disparity 
 between the size of the sexes ; what difference does 
 occur is usually in favour of the female. With great 
 glee the skipper ordered all five boats away, leaving 
 the ship in charge of the four petty officers and two 
 men only ; and having told each boat-header to do 
 his level best to get fast to a whale for himself, and 
 not interfere with any other boat's quarry, also to 
 make the best possible time down to where the 
 whales awaited them all unconscious of their 
 proximity, the chase began. Oars and sails were both 
 used with such good effect that although the breeze 
 was not strong the boats fairly flew over the darkened 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 169 
 
 surface of the sea. It was in the mid-morning about 
 10 A.M. and the sky was, as usual in those latitudes, 
 on the edge of the roaring forties, overcast with a 
 thick veil of grey clouds which shut out the sun as 
 effectually as night. And when the sun goes the 
 sea's aspect is cold and cheerless even on the Line. 
 Also, there rolled up from the west mighty knolls of 
 water, the heaving of old ocean's breast, which when 
 they caught a boat, hurled her forwards as if she 
 were flying, sometimes accurately balanced upon 
 a gliding summit as if by the ringers of a juggling 
 genie. Viewed from an independent standpoint, 
 the enterprise of these seafarers would have looked 
 like some forlorn hope whereof the prize was leave to 
 live a little longer and the penalty death. But the 
 men in those boats had no such thought. Their 
 teeth clenched, their nostrils expanded, their eyes 
 ablaze with excitement, they plied their oars, scorning 
 fatigue, overcoming the ache in their bones by sheer 
 will-power, and without a word or sign of encourage- 
 ment save those which proceeded from their own 
 fierce desire to do better than the fellows in the next 
 boat. It was emulation unpaid, unfostered, raised to 
 its highest power, and achieving far more than any 
 hope of reward could have done. 
 
 With a wild yell of delight, the mate's boat 
 dashed into the centre of the school, and his har- 
 pooner's weapon flew into the body of the nearest 
 monster like a lightning flash. The other boats, 
 spreading themselves fan-wise, came on the scene 
 almost immediately, and then all the wild delight of 
 the chase, all the romantic interest of the scene was 
 for a season in abeyance. It was too sordid. The 
 
i yo A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 clean sea became a slaughter-house ; the soul-sicken- 
 ing smell of blood permeated the air. The exuding 
 oil from the wounds made the sea quite smooth, 
 although, of course, the swell rolled high as ever. 
 The bewildered victims, unable to fight or flee, rolled 
 helplessly upon the surface, exposing their vitals to 
 the deadly thrust of the long lances, and only by an 
 occasional flap of their mighty tails did they show 
 any sign of resentment or desire to escape. Happily 
 it was soon over. Within half an hour from the time 
 of attack and without the expenditure of one hundred 
 fathoms of line, five whales lay dead upon the solemn 
 sea. No boat was injured, no damage of any kind 
 had been done. And round about the victims and 
 their slayers quietly circled the still-living monsters 
 as if by some horrible fascination held to the spot. 
 The skipper gave orders that none of these apparently 
 mourning ones should be molested not, be it noted, 
 because of any tenderness for them, but because the 
 average sailor, and especially the whaler, is averse to 
 taking life wantonly. Where profit is concerned 
 blood flows like water slay, slay, slay, insatiable 
 apparently of slaughter ; but kill for killing's sake as 
 some gentlemen do in a pheasant battue no : the 
 rude whalemen leave such practices to their betters. 
 
 The deadly work had been so well and swiftly 
 done that, as the mate said figuratively, 'a good- 
 sized handkerchief would have covered 'em all.' 
 Making allowance for pardonable exaggeration, the 
 whole of the five certainly lay within half a square 
 mile, and, therefore, two boats were judged sufficient 
 to attend to the needful tail-boring, &c., while the 
 other three cut adrift and sped back to the fast 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 171 
 
 approaching ship, all their crews in a state of wild 
 delight at so successful an encounter, and feeling 
 quite fresh, for really they had hardly got their second 
 wind. Indeed, it was a busy day for them, although 
 rendered much easier than it would otherwise have 
 been by the exceptionally favourable circumstances. 
 Still, even then the work of getting alongside and 
 securing by the passing of fluke-chains five gigantic 
 bodies like those was bound to be a heavy one in any 
 case. However, it was successfully accomplished by 
 eight bells, noon, and with a satisfied sigh of relief 
 every man made his way below to as good a dinner 
 as the circumstances would admit of. 
 
 A full hour was allowed the resting men for food 
 and smoke, and then at the first cry of ' Turn to ! ' 
 they all scurried on deck as if eager to get to work 
 again. But a surprise awaited them. Instead of the 
 tedious and terribly hard work which they had seen 
 before of cutting off and splitting lengthways the 
 head of the sperm-whale, now the clatter of the pawls 
 was unceasing. Once the upper jaw of the right 
 whale, with its valuable fringe of baleen, is lifted out, 
 the rest of the work of * flenching,' or skinning the 
 blubber off the body of the whale, is just a pleasant 
 piece of recreation. And here let me say that, what- 
 ever may be the practice in bay-whaling when the 
 big body is stranded, it is utterly ridiculous to 
 suppose, as so many readers of fiction do suppose, 
 that men with spikes in their boots get down upon 
 the whale's back and hew slabs of blubber off his 
 body, which they fling on deck. Such a feat would 
 be utterly impossible, besides being most wasteful of 
 time as well as spoil. For the ship and the whale 
 
1 72 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 roll and tumble about to such an extent that standing 
 upon that rolling mass alongside is inconceivable. 
 No : the great ' cutting-tackles ' come into play, and 
 once having a wide riband of blubber started off the 
 whale's neck the blubber is unwound as it were by 
 continual hoisting, cutting at the still attached side, 
 and the rolling round of the body. 
 
 The men all toiled as if fatigue were a word of no 
 import, nor was a word spoken or needed to spur 
 them on to greater efforts. They toiled until the 
 deck, as well as the blubber-room, was packed from 
 end to end with the mountainous masses of blubber 
 and upper jaws with their wealth of bone. And as 
 the last despoiled carcass was cut adrift the men 
 raised a great shout of joy. It had been such a 
 mighty task, so well and profitably performed, that 
 their exultation was legitimate, and even praise- 
 worthy. But the Captain, feeling the reaction 
 from his great exertions, in a sense of almost over- 
 powering lassitude, slowly dragged himself up on to 
 the little deck aft to have a look round before going 
 below for a meal and a short rest. And he saw a 
 sight that drove the blood back to his heart, and left 
 his extremities cold and numb. In the fury of 
 labour no one had noticed the drift of the ship, nor 
 indeed, the worsening of the weather. True, the 
 sails had all, except the close-reefed main topsail and 
 fore topmast staysail, been furled before beginning, 
 so that the weather mattered little, but the grim, 
 towering mass of the island was close abeam to lee- 
 ward. Like some vast cloud it loomed above them, 
 while to windward, through the fast-gathering 
 gloom of evening, came thundering on the rising, 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 173 
 
 gleaming seas of the great Southern Ocean, precur- 
 sors of the gale that would presently be here nay, 
 was already making its presence felt and heard. 
 
 For a few moments Captain Hampden stood and 
 gazed irresolute. What could he do? With his 
 deck so hampered by those vast greasy masses that 
 movement fore and aft was well-nigh impossible, 
 with night almost here, and crew worn out with 
 the severe labour they had so cheerfully performed all 
 day, what could he resolve upon ? Like an inspira- 
 tion came the thought, 'Man's extremity is God's 
 opportunity,' and baring his head he said, ' O God, 
 save us, don't let us perish like this. Let us escape, 
 please, Father, from this awful danger.' In a moment 
 his relaxing muscles stiffened, he stood erect, and 
 with a voice that reached every corner of the ship he 
 shouted, ' Lay aloft and loose taups'les an't'gallants'les. 
 Drop everything, men, and get sail on her.' There 
 was a momentary hush as the crew took in his words, 
 and then cheerful cries of response came back to him 
 as the weary fellows realised that they were being 
 called upon for a supreme effort. Slipping, clutching, 
 fighting their way over the greasy masses, they 
 scrambled aloft, and soon the white gleams above 
 told of the loosened canvas, while the waiters below 
 tailed on to the halyards and sheets, and in all kinds 
 of apparently impossible attitudes among the slimy 
 obstructions dragged the reluctant sails up again. By 
 the time all possible sail was made there was another 
 and a deeper note mingling with the voice of the 
 storm the deep roar of the great Atlantic rollers 
 beating up against those aged barriers of rock. But to 
 their amazement the crew felt the vessel's motion ease. 
 
174 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 She had been rolling heavily, labouring under the 
 immense upper weight as if bewildered by it and hardly 
 knowing what to do. And now she hardly moved at 
 all, while overside the whole sea seemed smoothed 
 down and ablaze with phosphorescent light. Even 
 the veteran officers were puzzled, until the Captain 
 suddenly bethought him of the gigantic seaweed that 
 in fronds of hundreds of feet in length, and the thick- 
 ness of a man's body, grows upward to the surface 
 in those waters all around the bases of the island 
 mountains. But was there any protection there? 
 True, the sea had become smooth, but the ship's way 
 had also deadened so that she no longer forged ahead, 
 while it was impossible to ascertain in any way whether 
 or not she was drifting broadside on over the heads 
 of the kelp towards the stern precipices to leeward. 
 The night was now so dark that in spite of the 
 proximity of the mountain to leeward it was im- 
 possible to distinguish betwen one side and the other. 
 Only the ear could tell by that deep moan of the sea 
 against the rock bases. 
 
 Nothing could be done now but wait patiently to 
 see what was the will of God concerning them. 
 It was most obvious that if the kelp let them through, 
 the ship must be battered to pieces against those 
 precipices, where the sea was at least twenty fathoms 
 deep alongside the rocks. Anchoring was out of the 
 question seamanship, in fact, was entirely discounted. 
 And so, feeling all this, Captain Hampden, again 
 raising his voice, summoned all hands aft. 'Boys/ 
 he said, when they had gathered around him, ' this 
 looks like our last night of life. Now we'll pray that 
 God will let us live, but specially we'll pray that if He 
 
AMONG RIGHT WHALES 175 
 
 doesn't see fit to grant us any more life we may die 
 clean an' wholesome. An' whether we live or die 
 we've done our best, and that's a great comfort' 
 So holding on in all sorts of attitudes, those hardly 
 bestead men prayed with the skipper, full of faith 
 that whatever the outcome of the night might be, it 
 would be all right. They finished and were dismissed 
 to their quarters, while the gale howled ever louder, 
 and the awful shadow to leeward deepened. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 
 
 HOUR after hour wore on, while many of the men, in 
 spite of their fears, slept soundly. Rube, indeed, 
 seemed unable to realise that there was any danger 
 at all. Having joined in the general prayer for 
 deliverance he appeared to regard the matter as quite 
 settled, and as not requiring any more care on his or 
 anyone else's part except the Father's. Most of the 
 men, over-borne with weariness both of body and 
 brain, slept fitfully in many uncouth attitudes, some 
 half reclining upon banks of grease-exuding blubber 
 gently heaving with the motion of the ship, others 
 twisted into comfortable corners, apparently im- 
 pervious to cold, or wet, or fear. But the Captain, 
 more at peace with his surroundings than he could 
 understand, and dimly, subconsciously wondering 
 why, sat on the little deck aft listening to the angry 
 roar of the baffled sea far outside the engirdling 
 groves of kelp. The sullen boom of the rollers 
 against that unseen mass to leeward, the hissing, 
 swishing sound of the great leaves restlessly sliding 
 over each other and against the ship, and the ever- 
 deepening roar of the gale overhead made up a con- 
 cert truly terrifying in its effect upon the heart. 
 And yet Captain Hampden felt little terror. Know- 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 177 
 
 ing his utter helplessness, he was driven to as utter a 
 dependence upon a kindly Power which he knew was 
 not merely capable of saving his ship and all hands, 
 but was always benevolently disposed towards man, 
 and never more so than in his hour of deepest 
 distress. 
 
 So he sat calmly and wished for the day. 
 Several times he made the beginning of a move, 
 feeling that action of some kind, even though only in 
 the direction of clearing the decks, would be better 
 for all than quietly enduring this season of suspense. 
 But each time he realised how hopeless such an 
 attempt would be in the present condition of the 
 deck and the state of all hands. Therefore, he 
 waited with wonderful patience until the cook's head 
 appeared at his side above the break of the house, 
 and a deferential voice said, ' Wun't yo hab drop ob 
 hot coffee, sah ? I got it yah, all ready, sah.' ' Yes, 
 cook, think I will. Jest wut I ben needin' fur a long 
 time 'n' didn't know it.' And as he took the cup 
 from the delighted black man he thought how good 
 a thing was service done whole-heartedly, and how 
 well and willingly it was rendered by such men as 
 these. A smile may rise at the thought of any ship- 
 master considering his cook like this, but it would 
 be the smile of ignorance. For if a cup of cold 
 water given in the Master's name shall in no wise 
 lose its reward, there is little doubt that a cup of 
 coffee on a bitter night, prepared with much diffi- 
 culty, by a man who, although only doing his duty, 
 is doing that duty with all his might, will in like 
 manner gain him a reward. I remember when I was 
 lamp-trimmer on board the Wentworth, running 
 
 N 
 
178 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 between Sydney and Melbourne, I used to be called 
 at daybreak to duty. After taking in the lamps, my 
 first thought was to make a cup of coffee it being 
 some time before the cooks were at work. And it 
 was my practice, though in no sense my duty, to 
 take a cup and a piece of toast up to Mr. Wallace, 
 the chief officer, on the bridge, whom I used to 
 picture as burdened with the care of the ship up 
 there in the bleak night. He was a brusque, almost 
 coarse, sailor, but I know he was grateful. A word 
 of thanks from him set my heart dancing (I was 
 barely fifteen years of age), but my chief reward was 
 in the knowledge of having done a kindness. And 
 this is the spirit that moves the world to-day. 
 Everyone should take courage, whatever their creed, 
 in the thought that the Christ ideal, which is un- 
 selfishness raised to its highest power, is becoming 
 universal, and that the many exceptions have no 
 contradictory force at all. 
 
 By the time Captain Hampden had finished his 
 coffee he found that there was a perceptible lighten- 
 ing of the gloom around, although the wind had 
 increased so much that it was evident, unless some- 
 thing was speedily done to ease the strain upon 
 them, the masts would certainly go. So, rising stiffly 
 to his feet, the skipper sought the mate, finding him 
 ready, standing near the compass, and apparently 
 endeavouring to get a bearing of the land, which was 
 becoming more visible, and, if possible, more horribly 
 threatening in appearance as it did so. ' Good 
 morning, sir/ said Mr. Pease, as soon as he saw the 
 skipper ; ' pipin' up, ain't she, sir ? ' ' Yaas ; guess 
 she is, an' ef we want to carry any of our sticks eout 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 179 
 
 o' this, we'll hev t' git thet canvas off her as quick 's it 
 kin be did. I don't think it matters much, anyway, 
 whether she hez canvas on her or not she can't 
 make much, if any, headway through this weed, an' 
 it looks 's if th' Lord wunt let her go ashore. Go 
 ahead, Mr. Pease, git th' rags off her, 'n' by thet time, 
 please God, it'll be daylight good.' 
 
 So the mate obediently roared out his message to 
 the crew, who responded with a phenomenal cheerful- 
 ness, clambering over those slimy, greasy masses on 
 deck as if they cared nothing at all for the difficulty 
 of their passage. In half an hour they had shortened 
 her down to the three close-reefed topsails, and 
 besides had cleared up the gear so that no ropes 
 should be in the way of the whale-matter lying about. 
 And having done this they stood by, waiting, oh, 
 so anxiously, the whole of that ship's company ; with 
 just one exception Rube. He it was who wore 
 always a beaming smile, and sidled up to first one 
 and then the other with some cheering word. Just as 
 a doctor who is always hoping for the best, while 
 taking precaution against the worst, is the most likely 
 to pull his patient through, so this Divine teaching of 
 cheerfulness in the presence of dangerous and de- 
 pressing circumstances does really seem to win the 
 battle before it is fought. In any case, if the warrior 
 does fall he falls with his face to the foe, and with the 
 high satisfaction thrilling his soul that he has behaved 
 in that last dread hour as became a man. 
 
 To this little waiting crowd came suddenly the 
 blessing of light. As if some mighty angel's hand had 
 grasped the swart veil of cloud closing them darkly 
 in, and had rent it in sunder from horizon to zenith, the 
 
 N2 
 
iSo A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 whole western quadrant of the sky was suddenly lighted 
 up by the brilliant beams of the newly risen sun. So 
 splendid was this enlightening that for a few moments 
 all hands stood awe-stricken, watching the rapidly 
 glancing sabres of glorious flashing colour thrusting 
 the encompassing gloom through and through. Then 
 as if by one impulse all turned to leeward to see how 
 near was the fateful rock. As if it had just leapt out 
 of the gloom, Gough Island was revealed, within a 
 mile (which looks at sea less than a hundred yards 
 does ashore), and every heart for a moment stood 
 still. But after that tribute to human weakness hope 
 instantly reasserted her lovely self. Had they not 
 been kept from perishing all through the blackness of 
 that terrible night? Was it not certain that they 
 were now no nearer the land than when they last saw it 
 clearly, in spite of the stress of the gale upon the ship's 
 broadside ? Undoubtedly it was ; and more some 
 of them began to take mental bearings and compare 
 them with the position they could remember the 
 previous evening, rinding that at any rate if they were 
 not gaining ground they were certainly not losing. 
 
 Suddenly the Captain shouted to the mate, ' Mr. 
 Pease, turn the hands to on the tryin' out. We kain't 
 do nothin' with the ship as she is, an' we mout so 
 well 'muse ourselves doin' somethin' useful.' This 
 pronouncement was hailed with the utmost delight 
 by all hands, and like a swarm of ants they were soon 
 busy cutting, slicing, mincing, boiling, and getting 
 out the bone so busy, indeed, as well as interested in 
 their work, that they scarcely ever paused to look at 
 the great precipices to leeward of them. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Captain had very carefully taken 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE iSt 
 
 his cross bearings, and had no sooner completed the 
 simple operation than he felt certain that his vessel was 
 drifting south in almost imperceptible fashion. Hope 
 revived, and he joined his workers with a heart greatly 
 lightened. There by his tremendous exertions and 
 cheery voice he encouraged all hands to attend to 
 present duties, and thus exclude forebodings for the 
 future. And two hours later when he again took his 
 bearings his hopeful supposition became a definite 
 certainty : she had drifted through that hindering 
 kelp, in apparent defiance of the fateful pressure of 
 the gale striving to thrust her on shore, quite two 
 miles nearer safety. Now he felt impelled to shout 
 the glad news to his splendid men who had so nobly 
 responded to the call made upon them. So raising 
 his voice to its fullest compass he roared : ' She's 
 gettin' eout ov it, boys. Praise God we'll be all right 
 yet. There isn't any shipwreck coming off this time. 
 She's gettin' raound th' corner ov th' island in great 
 shape. So peg away, men while yew're workin' she's 
 a-dreeftin', an' as soon 's ever she gits clear we'll give 
 her every rag she'll drag, an' git away fr'm this 
 uncomf ble neighbourhood.' 
 
 A wild cheer answered him, and all hands 
 immediately redoubled their efforts to clear that 
 grease-encumbered deck. Perhaps the gentle reader 
 may feel a little nausea at the idea of a whole crew of 
 men wallowing about in a deck full of dripping for 
 really it is no exaggeration to call it by that homely 
 name but I dare make no apology for being as literal 
 and realistic as possible in this matter, since by such 
 methods alone is it possible to make the land-living 
 reader understand what manner of men these were 
 
i8 2 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 who wrested such gigantic spoil from the depths of 
 the mighty ocean, and under what circumstances 
 they lived. Here you have men involved in toil of 
 the most strenuous kind under conditions which to 
 the majority of mankind would preclude any action 
 whatever except for self-preservation. And in addi- 
 tion thereto destruction to all waits grimly by the 
 vessel's side, unveiling all its possibilities of horror 
 and inviting man's heart to quail, his muscles to grow 
 flaccid, his mind to become unhinged. And in spite 
 of all you find this lonely group of seafarers steadfastly 
 setting their strength to the accomplishment of their 
 unpoetic task in the highest frame of heroism, which 
 is to do what lies before you with a single eye, not 
 looking for the commendation of your fellow men, 
 but because of the inherent joy involved in just doing 
 one's duty. 
 
 So hour by hour slipped by, the mincing-machine 
 clattered incessantly, the flame from the twin chimneys 
 of the try-works soared palely into the keen air, and 
 was swept off at right angles to leeward by the wind 
 as if it were some angelic sword stabbing at the grim 
 mass to eastward of them. And the effect of their 
 labours was manifest in that a clear gangway along 
 the deck was now made right fore and aft. Into the 
 midst of the toil came the clear, cheerful voice of the 
 skipper calling, ' Dinner, men, an' befo' y' go remember 
 she's gittin' cl'ar 's fast' s ever th' weed'll allow her. 
 She's made quite four miles of southin' sence eight 
 bells thet's a mile an hour. An' ef she keeps thet 
 goin' through the afternoon as she has this fore- 
 noon we'll be cl'ar o' th' whole thing by sun- 
 down.' ' Hooray ! bully fer th' skipper/ shouted 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 183 
 
 the crew, and seizing such rags, wads of oakum, 
 and the like, as they could get hold of they 
 sauntered forward, wiping down as they went. They 
 were saturated from head to heel with oil, they looked 
 like a gang of piratical scarecrows, but 1 make bold 
 to say that they were as heroic a crowd as ever came 
 out of the most hardly contested battle. And on 
 reaching the dim chamber, reeking with a foul com- 
 bination of evil smells, they squatted around on the 
 greasy deck and received each man in his little tin 
 dish a portion of salt pork, a few spoonfuls of haricot 
 beans, and a little loaf. Everyone doffed his cap, 
 everyone felt thankful for this portion of coarsest 
 food, and Reuben only focussed the general sense of 
 the company when he said, holding one hand out 
 before him, * Lovin' God, we're alive t' eat, an' work, 
 an' thank Thee. We do, an' ask You t' make us 
 thankful men, keep us good men, not ashamed of 
 one another or of Thee. For Christ's sake. Amen.' 
 The ' Amen ' was so heartily echoed that Rube looked 
 around startled. He could hardly believe his ears. 
 With all his beautiful, childlike faith in God, he had, 
 like most of us, but little faith in man, and when he 
 found how mightily God was working in the crowd 
 around him he was, as most of us would be, moved 
 to profoundest wonder. Like most of us, he had not 
 believed ' according to your faith be it unto you,' or 
 that when man's faith fails, God, who cannot be 
 disheartened, steps in and does in His own way His 
 own work at His own appointed time. 
 
 Little was said during the meal all were too 
 ravenous with hunger for that ; but when the last 
 scrap of food had been eaten up, and the utensils 
 
1 84 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 cleared away by the cook of the mess, pipes were 
 stuffed with greasy tobacco and lighted, and although 
 each pipe emitted a peculiar frizzling sound as of 
 frying, and the odour of the oily weed would certainly 
 have driven an ordinary smoker frantic, each man's 
 face wore a perfectly satisfied expression, and a 
 desultory conversation began. ' Don thatt wass a 
 narr' squeak, hey/ muttered a square-built little 
 Italian, who lay coiled up by the pawl-bitt. ' I 
 thinkin' I promesso giva candela thosa sainta, onlee 
 I earn faget thees name thata time.' ' Mean yew 
 cuddent 'member, I 'spose,' grumbled a Down Easter 
 by his side. * Si, grazie,' eagerly responded the 
 Italian. ' Don't can memb'. Nev' mine. Savea one 
 dolla. 'Sides, how I know ef thatt Sancta goin' elpa 
 me bord una barca eretico lika thees ? ' ' Look here,' 
 Antone/ said a deep voice out of the gloom across 
 the fo'c'sle, * You better pay fur thet candle, annyhow. 
 Give it as a thank-offrin' 'at yew wuz aboard a 
 heretic ship. I guess 'fore th' machinery of your crowd 
 c'd a-got in working order we sh'd all a-ben gone 
 up. Wut d' ye say, boys ? ' A hoarse murmur of 
 approval ran round, while poor Antone grew hot as 
 if feeling that it was incumbent upon him to defend 
 his faith. But suddenly realising that as he had 
 never understood what his faith was except doing 
 just what he was told (when it was easy) by the 
 priest, he fell back upon common-sense, and replied, 
 ' Well, corse I don' know anyt'ing about 'cept I'm 
 eatina dinner, smokina pipe. Ef I say Dio Grazie 
 thatt goin' be alia righta, no Rube, eh, whatt ? ' The 
 deep, cheerful voice of Reuben immediately chimed in, 
 'Of course, Antone, if you reelly are thankful to God. 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 185 
 
 But if He's spared your life, you ought to remember 
 it an' see if you can't do somethin' with it for Him. 
 An' when you come to think of it it ain't much to 
 ask that you shall be clean in mind, an' tongue, that 
 you shall be kind and helpful, an' true, an' that you 
 shall remember not now and then, but always, the 
 gentle, loving Jesu Christo, your every-day and all- 
 day Friend.' The impressionable little Italian's face 
 was all awork as this little talk fell from Rube's lips. 
 It went, in spite of his disability in language, right 
 home to his hot southern heart, and the bright drops of 
 sensibility's precious dew glistened on his russet beard. 
 But Mr. Pease's stentorian voice was heard 
 shouting, ' Turn-to ! ' and on the instant pipes were 
 laid aside, belts were tightened, caps pressed down 
 upon tanned brows, and a rush upwards was made 
 from those foetid quarters into the bright, invigorating 
 air, which really seizes upon a man newly emerged 
 from the foulness below like a pleasant vertigo, 
 making him wonder whatever can be the matter with 
 him. The first thing each man did upon reaching 
 the deck was to give a swift glance to leeward. And 
 as each did so a very real sense of gratitude flooded 
 his heart. For it no longer needed the skipper's 
 cheery assurance that all was well to satisfy the most 
 ignorant of them that they were now, humanly 
 speaking, out of danger. True, they were not yet 
 past the fringe of kelp, their vessel was as yet quite 
 unmanageable, and the gale blew with undiminished 
 vigour. But still it was evident that the steady 
 stress of that invisible force beneath them would not 
 allow them to be driven any farther shoreward, and, 
 quite satisfied, they turned to their work with as 
 
186 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 much lack of concern for the safety of the ship as if 
 no land had been in sight. 
 
 Seeing that all was proceeding so cheerily, Cap- 
 tain Hampden called the mate, and said, * Mr. Pease, 
 I ain't quite J s young 's I wuz, 'n' after last night I 
 begin t' feel the flesh pullin' a bit. So if you'll jest 
 give an eye t' her, I'll go 'n' hev an hour's caulk. 
 Maybe I'll need it to-night, though I hope all will be 
 in good shape 'fore dark. 'N' J s soon 's ever yer git 
 th' decks cl'ar o' blubber, set yer watches blubber 
 watches, o' course. Le's give this grand lot er 
 fellows all th' rest we kin.' ' Aye, aye, sir,' cheerily 
 answered the mate ; * ef I hadn't 'a felt it J d be per- 
 soomin' I'd V asked yew to go 'n' hev a spell long 
 ago. We kain't afford t' hev yew crackin' up, y' know, 
 sir. An' yew c'n be quite sure 'at everythin' '11 go 
 like clockwork. I don't believe they 's a spouter afloat 
 to-day 's got such a bully crowd J s we hev, an' I'm 
 sure yew think the same, Cap'n.' ' I dew jest thet,' 
 sleepily murmured the old man as he swung off to- 
 wards the companion and disappeared. 
 
 Thoroughly wearied as he was, and with a great 
 weight lifted from his mind, the good old man sank 
 at once, as soon as he lay down, into a deep sleep. 
 But although it was in reality fully two hours since 
 he lay down, when he suddenly realised that he was 
 wide awake he seemed certain that he had but just 
 dozed off. It is a curious sensation, but fairly 
 common among seamen, this of suddenly passing 
 from the depths of sleep to uttermost clearness of 
 thought and readiness for action. For a moment he 
 waited, listening intently for some recurring sound, 
 explaining why he should thus have awakened, as he 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 187 
 
 thought, so soon. But except for the creaking of the 
 old ship's timbers and the deep murmur of the gale 
 there was no sound noticeable, and these lullabies 
 would certainly have kept him sleeping. However, 
 the feeling that something had happened which 
 needed his attention forced itself upon him, and 
 rising stiffly from the hard cushions of the transom 
 locker, he snatched his cap and climbed on deck. 
 One swift glance forward showed him how strenuously 
 his men had been toiling while he slept, for the deck 
 was clear to the try-works, and the latter were smoking 
 furiously, while the attendant gnomes came and went, 
 tirelessly carrying on their great task. He looked 
 overside and saw that the weed was perceptibly less 
 in quantity ; he looked at the land and surely it 
 could not be and yet his hawk-like vision could 
 not play him false. He grabbed his glasses and 
 focussed them on what he saw a rag of fluttering 
 white among the sombre rocks, immediately satis- 
 fying himself that someone needing help was there. 
 Instantly all the powers of his mind were busy 
 devising means for the assistance of any unfortunate 
 stranded in so wild a spot. Again and again he 
 surveyed that tiny flutter of white ; again and again 
 he took an undecided step forward as if to give an 
 order, until at last he said aloud, * Wall, God he'pin' 
 us, we ort to do something, though how is more than 
 I can see. All hands on deck ! ' he roared, and in two 
 minutes the mate was by his side, his big eyes staring 
 full of inquiry at his commander. ' Wut is it, sir ? ' 
 he gasped. ' It's a wrecked crew, I reckon, Mr. Pease. 
 D' ye see yonder flicker of white in that cleft between 
 those two big rocks no, a bit to starboard, so ? ' 
 
i88 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 ' Yes, sir, I see it,' said the mate ; ' d' ye make it out to 
 be a signal, sir ? ' 'I do, jest that, Pease, an' but 
 here kerns the boys. Naow, then, m'lads, thar's life 
 to be saved. Lower away starboard quarter-boat, 
 'n' yew, Mr. Peck (it's yewr boat anyhow) make the 
 best way yew kin to whar yew see yon white flicker 
 among th' rocks. Yew'll hev to warp yewr way 
 along through the kelp as best yew can, and when 
 yew git cluss to it, be keerful be jest as keerful as 
 yew know how ; fur we kain't spare either yew er 
 yewr boat's crew. Thar'll be an all-fired heavy 
 swell on the beach (if they is any beach) fur all it 
 looks'so smooth frum here. Thish yer kelp stops the 
 sea rollin' in, but it kain't stop th' swell, y' know. 
 Now, give way, and God go with yew t' save.' 
 
 At the word the boat left the ship, the crew plying 
 their oars with great difficulty, because jof the en- 
 cumbering weed. So they soon shipped oars, and 
 took their paddles every whaleboat having five of 
 these primitive but exceedingly useful propellers 
 stowed in their beckets under the thwarts and with 
 much laborious effort urged their boat shoreward. 
 As they neared the black, forbidding cliffs the officer's 
 heart sank, for he saw how apparently inaccessible 
 they were, and how the gigantic southern swell, with 
 never a foamy break, rose and fell against those 
 awful precipices. The long streamers of kelp like 
 multitudinous serpents writhed around the bared rock 
 bases, then disappeared as the whole mighty body of 
 water lifted, lifted, lifted until it seemed as if it must 
 submerge the mountain tops. And still that tiny 
 white rag fluttered forth its agonising message : 
 * Come and save us.' 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 189 
 
 Be it noted that while Mr. Peck was fully alive to 
 the tremendous danger awaiting him and his brave 
 fellows, the possibility of his not being able to fulfil 
 his errand of mercy never occurred to him. He was 
 one of those wonderful fellows who never calculate 
 beforehand the chances of defeat. And these are the 
 men who do great deeds, although it be accounted 
 criminal in war to neglect the keeping open of a line 
 of retreat. So by every encouraging word he could 
 speak he urged the toiling crew to greater effort, until 
 the kelp became so thick that paddling was no longer 
 possible, and they had perforce to haul the boat along 
 by grasping the long strands of black vegetation that 
 rose and fell rhythmically around them. Nearer and 
 nearer they drew, near enough to distinguish a forlorn 
 little company of people clambering precariously over 
 the rocks and making (as yet) unintelligible signs to 
 them. Nearer and nearer yet, until it became evident 
 that the refugees were waving them towards a gigantic 
 escarpment which rose fully five hundred feet almost 
 perpendicularly from the sea, and at one angle seemed 
 to present an edge just like a jagged sabre. They 
 altered their course in obedience to these frantic 
 signallings, and presently found themselves fighting 
 for life against the heave and hurl of the swell, which 
 suddenly seemed to have found force that was lacking 
 before when they were farther from the land. The 
 ropes of kelp slithered through their bleeding hands, 
 great fronds arose mysteriously from the blackness 
 and swept across the boat, scourging them as with 
 giant whips ; they cowered and groaned, and begged 
 for mercy in undertones, but toiled on. And then, 
 when all their efforts appeared to have failed because 
 
1 90 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the poor human machines could no longer respond to 
 the merciless call made upon them, came a blessed 
 lull, the boat swept round the sabre-edge of the cliff, 
 and there, free from kelp, was a tiny crevasse with 
 deep blue water just gently rising and falling, and a 
 ledge of clean rock running all round it. Upon this 
 ledge was clustered a strange company, savage and 
 weird-looking, long elf-locks bleached by wind and 
 storm, garments of every imaginable material and 
 shape. Ten of this company were crouching at the 
 edge nearest the boat with uplifted hands and stream- 
 ing eyes. 
 
 But when the boat came near enough for them to 
 leap in there was a pause. Even in here the outer 
 swell made itself felt, and without careful handling a 
 calamity was imminent at the last moment. There- 
 fore Mr. Peck shouted to the little group to watch 
 when the swell came gently, as it did after every 
 three rolls, when he would let the boat almost graze 
 the rocks, and four, no more, at a time, must jump 
 into the middle of the boat. Then it was seen that 
 the refugees were encouraging three smaller figures, 
 patting them, pointing to the boat, making signs as 
 they talked, until one voice rang out sharply from the 
 shore : * Dear boys, these three are women do try 
 and catch them, they've suffered so much.' Ah ! had 
 any stimulus been wanted this would have supplied 
 it, for it is the glory of the Anglo-Saxon race, and 
 especially of the American branch of the old tree- 
 its reverence for woman, whether mother, wife, or 
 sister. The boat rose gently shoreward, the officer 
 shouted, ' Now,' and three shrinking figures half 
 jumped, half fell, into the outstretched arms of the 
 
A DOUBLE DELIVERANCE 191 
 
 boatmen. ' Safe, thank God ! ' shouted the former 
 speaker from the shore. The rest was easy. The 
 remaining seven took careful bearings and leaped at 
 the right moments until the whole ten were snugly 
 bestowed, and it was time to turn the boat's head 
 seaward again. 
 
 But now she was overloaded. If it had been 
 a heavy task coming in with her light before the 
 swell, what would it now be going out deeply laden 
 not six inches of freeboard amidships against that 
 awful surge? For one moment Peck's heart failed 
 him as he weighed the possibilities. Then and this 
 was a miraculous thing, seeing that never before had 
 he entertained such an idea he lifted his cap and said, 
 or rather shouted, for the roar of the swell was almost 
 deafening : * Boys, le's ask God t' he'p us out of this 
 hole. Keep her steady with the paddles. " O God, 
 we're all in Your han's. We're tryin' t' save life, we're 
 doin' our best, we b'lieve we kairit go under without 
 You lets us. Naow save our lives so 's we k'n praise 
 You all the days ov our life." Naow let her have it, 
 boys. Paddle fur yer lives, an' as soon J s we strike 
 the kelp, gather it in an' haul fur all yer wuth. 
 Passengers, lie still in th' bottom o' th' boat.' 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 A REIGN OF TERROR 
 
 FAR more frequently than any shore-living people 
 can imagine, there occur times on board ship when it 
 seems as if the whole condition of things must be 
 overwhelmed in one red holocaust. No ship, what- 
 ever her position or character may be, is quite exempt 
 from such crises as these. For at sea all hands are 
 compelled to feel that they have been driven back 
 upon primitive conditions, and the one paramount 
 question demanding answer is : ' How much longer 
 can I bear this?' No such problem ever confronts 
 shore people, for the most obvious reason : there is 
 always a way of escape at sea there is none. And, 
 if the true inwardness of all the awful sea tragedies 
 that have ever been known were inquired into, it 
 would be found that nearly all of them originated in 
 a condition of things such as I have been sketching. 
 A brutal, unscrupulous villain (we have had them in 
 the British Navy) at the head of affairs, a vilely 
 truckling gang of officers ready at a nod to carry out 
 that villain's behests, and before the mast a mob 
 of men driven frantic by ill-treatment yet lacking 
 initiative, the one ignition spark which only a genius 
 can supply. A case in point is afforded by the 
 tragedy of the Bounty. Concerning that terrible 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 193 
 
 mutiny reams have been written wherein the horrid 
 crimes of the sailors are continually held up to 
 execration, but how seldom is passing mention given 
 to the true cause of the whole awful business the 
 treatment of the men by the commander, who seemed 
 to have felt it his duty to make his men realise before 
 death what sort of a place the infernal regions must 
 be. Only the lack of initiative has prevented the 
 tale of sea tragedies from being a hundredfold as 
 many, not the desert of those in charge, who seem 
 to have exhausted the ingenuity of fiends in their 
 behaviour towards their hapless crews. 
 
 Still/ it must be confessed, and gladly, too, that 
 few indeed are the captains or officers who set out 
 with the deliberate intention of goading their crews 
 to the point of madness just apparently in order to 
 exhibit their power of command, their ability to 
 control even the most frantic crowd of men. Few 
 men are as wicked as that. But Captain Da Silva 
 certainly was, and his visit to Brava was made with 
 deliberate intent to procure certain auxiliaries upon 
 whom he could rely for aid in the vile purpose he had 
 set before himself viz., that of trampling under foot 
 triumphantly men of the hated Anglo-Saxon race, 
 with all their nonchalant assumption of moral and 
 mental superiority. Therefore it was that no sooner 
 had sail been made and filled away for the southward 
 than his plan of campaign began. The recruits all 
 of whom, be it noted, had been to sea before were 
 carefully apportioned by him throughout the two 
 watches. They alone were allowed to steer the ship, 
 and with each of them while at the wheel the skipper 
 would converse in their own language, while the 
 
 O 
 
i 9 4 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 American officers could not help but listen uncom- 
 prehendingly, with black rage in their hearts, yet 
 in utter impotence. For what could they do ? If the 
 skipper was powerful before, sufficiently so to enforce 
 his will, he was omnipotent now. And these six 
 black Portuguese felt it in their bones. They did 
 not refuse to carry out any order given them by the 
 officers, but they behaved in a singularly offensive 
 manner as who should say, * We do this not to obey 
 you, but because we are your master's cronies, and it 
 isn't yet time in his opinion that we should show you 
 how we regard you.' 
 
 If this state of things was hard of endurance for 
 the officers, it was trebly so for the men. In the 
 foc's'le the Dagoes were now about even in numbers 
 with the Americans and other white men, but in 
 physique the former were far superior. And all con- 
 versation ceased in that sad place. No man dared to 
 complain, even under his breath, for everyone felt 
 that the foc's'le was a sort of Dionysius' Ear, where 
 every word uttered immediately resounded in the 
 private apartments of the skipper. All the worst of 
 the work was reserved for the white men, every soft 
 job was kept for the blacks, and no man durst say a 
 word, for all knew as well as could be that sitting in 
 the midst of this web of devilishness was the skipper 
 pulling the cords and gloating over his revenge. 
 
 Finest weather, bluest of skies, and an almost 
 utter absence of squalls attended the Grampus as she 
 crossed the Line. And through it all, watch and 
 watch, the sorely tried white portion of the crew 
 were kept at work scrubbing and polishing until 
 even the flagship of our Mediterranean Squadron 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 195 
 
 would not, so far as cleanliness went, have surpassed 
 her. And it was with a perfect pang of delight 
 that all hands heard the long-drawn cry of 'Blow' 
 from the mastheads when off Fernando Noronha. 
 Well knowing what bone-wrenching toil it would 
 bring, they yet welcomed the prospect of whaling 
 almost gleefully anything for a change in the deadly 
 monotony of their daily life. Poor fellows ! 
 
 They had a grand day's sport, about which I can 
 say very little since it was all so orthodox and free 
 from extraordinary incident. The whales were 
 medium-sized cows that is to say, ranging from 
 twenty-five to forty barrels each and as the big bull 
 leader of the school went off to windward at top 
 speed when the battle began, there was but little 
 fighting : it was just a butchery. The poor, silly 
 creatures crowded round each other quite helplessly, 
 and submitted to be done to death almost as com- 
 placently as does the great right whale of the Arctic 
 regions. Of course, Captain Da Silva took part in 
 the slaughter. Else it had been but a wasted day 
 for him. For he had, in common with some of the 
 old Romans, an insatiable blood-thirst that could not 
 be gratified as he craved owing to the hampering 
 laws of civilisation, and he was therefore driven to 
 quench it by conflict with the mighty whale, utterly 
 heedless, to all appearance, of any probability of 
 danger to himself. His absence from the ship 
 tempted Priscilla on deck. 
 
 She has been neglected of late in this chronicle 
 for several reasons. First, any allusion to her must 
 of necessity be tame, since she had voluntarily taken 
 upon herself the rdle of a patient martyr, from whom 
 
 02 
 
196 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 no taunt or even ill-usage could wring a complaint. 
 Secondly, any information about her is scarcely pos- 
 sible since she was more like an automaton than 
 aught else moving, indeed, waking, sleeping, and 
 eating (very little), but speaking hardly ever, and 
 apparently determined to efface herself as much as 
 possible from the life of the ship. She was an in- 
 soluble puzzle to her husband. At first he was brutal 
 in the extreme, even to the length of striking her, 
 but to this treatment she opposed a stolidity of 
 demeanour which alarmed him. Then he became 
 gentler, spoke to her civilly, almost kindly, with the 
 same result. Superstitious terrors took possession of 
 him, for he began to wonder whether, indeed, she 
 had not died, only her body retaining sufficient 
 volition to keep about among them. He noticed 
 that she never spoke one word to anyone but him, 
 and gave way to the opinion that some change he 
 knew not what had taken place, and unless he wished 
 to be haunted (of which, like the majority of Latins, 
 he had an awful dread) he had better let her alone. 
 So, unconsciously, she had been led to do just the 
 right thing in order to secure what tiny modicum of 
 comfort still remained possible of attainment in her 
 present position. And, as for suffering well, the 
 edge of that was dulled to such an extent that she 
 often surveyed herself as it were from an impartial 
 mental standpoint, and wondered mildly whether she 
 was indeed the discontented, prideful Priscilla Fish 
 of olden days or not. I do not like, especially in a 
 work of this kind, to insist continually upon the 
 sacred ability to detach oneself from the things of 
 sense that God gives His dear ones, yet how other- 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 197 
 
 wise, I ask myself, can the literalness, the common- 
 sense application of real Christianity be brought 
 home to people who have been trained from infancy 
 to believe that religion is an excrescence, as it were 
 something of external growth which can be applied 
 like a poultice by a skilled professional at hand at 
 seasons when needed ? how otherwise explain that 
 Christ does dwell in the hospitable heart, and there 
 produces a toleration of (not an indifference to) the 
 world's vicissitudes, so that ' in the world, but not of 
 it ' becomes a fact of experience, not a pretty theory ? 
 Priscilla had been taught this by the Teacher 
 Himself; the Comforter had come with His consola- 
 tions to this poor soul, and there amid all that made 
 for misery she was as nearly happy as the flesh will 
 allow. Occasionally, in almost an ecstasy of joy, 
 she sat communing with God, forgetting all else, 
 unconscious for the time of any other environment 
 than that of the Holy of Holies. Herein I can see 
 lie twin dangers in the expression of this fact, I 
 mean : the one that this must be an argument for 
 the conventual life, the other that such matters are 
 entirely unreal the outcome of mystical meditation, 
 and as unsubstantial and inapplicable to the ordinary 
 details of life as is the hermetic philosophy of the 
 ancients. Well, it takes all sorts of people to make 
 a world, and if there were no unbelievers in God's 
 immanent companionship and no misunderstandings 
 of His dealings with His children, His Kingdom would 
 be come, and we should no longer need to pray for 
 it. I can only reiterate with all simplicity and 
 directness that in such wise (as I have feebly tried 
 to describe Priscilla's case) God does associate with 
 
198 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 men and women. That the words, * Lo, I am with 
 you alway, even unto the end of the world/ are 
 literally, not figuratively, true ; and that millions of 
 His children, given the opportunity, will gladly 
 testify to the same. How else, do you think, do men 
 and women live on through long lives, seeing what 
 they do see of their fellow humans, knowing what 
 they must know of the Powers of Darkness visible, 
 and still preserve intact their childlike faith in Jesus 
 and His love ? Only because it is literally, absolutely 
 true that ' He that dwelleth in the secret place of the 
 Most High shall abide under the shadow of the 
 Almighty.' 
 
 But in spite of her joy in the Lord, it must be 
 admitted that Priscilla occasionally felt an almost 
 overwhelming longing to breathe the free, fresh air 
 of Heaven. For that had of late been a luxury 
 denied her. She had been practically forbidden to 
 go on deck, to appear at table. Her husband had 
 developed along with his belief in her uncanny 
 powers a horrible jealousy of her so much so that he 
 would not allow her to be seen by any of the crew or 
 officers. And although he had not actually in so 
 many words forbidden her to come on deck, yet so 
 many obstacles had been placed in her way, even to 
 locking her in her berth, that at last she had dumbly 
 acquiesced in this condition of things, and submitted 
 to breathe the fetid air of the little cabin, which, as 
 everyone who has ever been on board of even a trad- 
 ing vessel knows, is foul and vitiated beyond descrip- 
 tion. It is no paradox to say that there is more air 
 and less ventilation at sea than anywhere on earth. 
 Therefore it was no wonder that, learning from the 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 199 
 
 faithful darkey steward of her husband's absence at 
 the whaling, she crept timidly on deck and sat on 
 the transom, looking out over the wide brightness of 
 the sea with feelings of almost intolerable complexity. 
 She had learned, in the same perfect way, to take the 
 keenest delight in the beauties of creation ; scenes 
 that so many of us pass over unheedingly were to her 
 almost poignant in their revelations of the Father's 
 benevolent and beautiful designs, and in proportion 
 as she was debarred from enjoying them so she prized 
 them. Perfectly natural. How many an old sailor 
 has gone grumbling through his long seafaring career 
 apparently all unheeding the glories so lavishly 
 spread before his sullen gaze, and then when retired 
 to some dull, inland village in his old age, perhaps 
 blind and deaf, he has feasted on the treasures of 
 memory, and again in fancy watched his gallant 
 vessel leaping blithely from sea to sea, or breasting 
 steadily as if with unconquerable resolution and force 
 the relentless thrust of the storm-wind and its accom- 
 panying sea. 
 
 So Priscilla sat aft, soaking her soul in beauty and 
 utterly oblivious of her surroundings, until even her 
 inexperienced eye detected a returning boat one 
 that neared the ship at a great rate, the oars rising 
 and falling as if steam driven, and with a feather of 
 spray at her bow, showing at what a high rate of 
 speed she was approaching. Priscilla slipped quickly 
 below, her heart full of thankfulness that she had 
 been enabled to get a glimpse of the sea and sky, 
 and also that she had succeeded in retreating before 
 the advent of her husband. Truly she had but little 
 margin of time, for he, standing erect in his boat's 
 
200 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 stern, had been watching the ship with vulture eyes, 
 and before she had been ten minutes below he was 
 on board, his awful voice ringing fore and aft like that 
 of some destroying angel. 
 
 Seven cow whales had been killed, and the secur- 
 ing of them alongside meant a truly herculean task, 
 which was prolonged until nearly midnight, by which 
 time the vessel looked as if she was the centre of 
 an island of flame. Surrounded by these great 
 carcasses against which the sea broke in lambent light, 
 the rendezvous for tens of thousands of sharks, whose 
 swift coming and going through the phosphorus- 
 charged waves made them glow like the moon, the 
 scene was one of almost awful beauty. But none 
 there took any notice of it. The crew, half dead 
 with fatigue, stumbled about obeying mechanically 
 the orders given, but hardly able to keep awake, 
 much less pull or lift as they were ordered. At last 
 the mate approached the skipper, saying : ' Cap'n Da 
 Silva, hadn't I better order the men to rest awhile ? 
 I'm afraid we'll be losing some of 'em overboard if I 
 don't, they're all so dead beat, sir.' Looking around 
 to see if any of the men were within hearing, the 
 skipper took a step towards the mate, and with a 
 perfectly devilish glare in his eyes, said : ' Yew lazy 
 American pig, yew dirty helpless dog, I'll teach yew 
 t' interfere with my business. I'd jes' soon kill ye 
 as look at ye, fr all th' good y' are. But I'll do 
 worse 'n that. I'll make yew wish yew was dead, 
 hunderds of times 'fore I'm done with ye.' Up flew 
 the mate's fist as he made a spring towards his 
 skipper, but as he sprang he was confronted by the 
 muzzles of two revolvers in the skipper's hands. He 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 201 
 
 stopped with a groan the thought of his dear ones at 
 home in Fairhaven was too much for him ; and as he 
 fell back he heard a chuckle overhead, and there was 
 a Portuguese harpooner on the top of the house with 
 another revolver pointed at him. 'Wall/ drawled 
 the skipper, ' y' see I'm heeled. I'm layin' fur ye 
 every time. Ef y' git t' windward of me yew've only 
 one more t' git ahead of, an' thet's Satin himself. 
 I tell ye, I'm goin' t' make this ship hell f r all of ye, 
 but yew an' th' secon' mate specially. But if y* 
 wa'n't such curs, yew'd take y'r chances. I don't 
 mind dyin' a little bit, 'n' ef yew liked to try it on at 
 a little risk why y' mout git my gun an' shoot me.' 
 
 For decency's sake it becomes necessary to draw 
 a veil over the proceedings of the next few weeks. 
 No one likes to record the degradation of his fellow- 
 men or dwell upon their unmerited miseries. And, 
 indeed, every white man on board the Grampus 
 endured for the rest of the passage such torments and 
 indignities as make the blood boil only to think of 
 endured them helplessly, hopelessly. Meanwhile, 
 every slice of good fortune imaginable seemed to 
 attend upon the miscreant. The passage round the 
 Cape was made in lovely weather, and as soon as 
 ever they hauled up for the Mozambique Channel 
 they fell in with a school of whales extending to the 
 horizon. It was at daybreak, too, so for the whole 
 of that terrible day they toiled at slaying under the 
 furious sun. No idea apparently was entertained by 
 the skipper of the enormous amount of labour being 
 accumulated. When night fell there were over 
 twenty carcasses encumbering the sea, the ship was 
 unable to move for the weight already attached to 
 
202 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 her, and, had she been able, the wind had fallen to 
 an almost per-fect calm. But not until every man, 
 including his own personal bodyguard, had suc- 
 cumbed to sheer weariness did the skipper ' let up,' 
 and say that a * spell-ho ' of an hour or two might 
 be enjoyed. In strict justice it must be said that he 
 had taken no rest in fact, it appeared as if he had 
 laboured harder than any other man on board. But 
 what of that ? What would become of us all if we 
 were compelled to keep up to the physical standard of 
 the most sinewy and strenuous among us ? Certainly 
 a great thinning out of the population would immedi- 
 ately ensue. 
 
 Therefore, at 8 P.M. a halt was reluctantly called, 
 and one by one the boats returned, their crews barely 
 able to drag themselves on deck, and utterly incapable 
 of hoisting the boats when they had done so. Of 
 the difficulty of getting alongside, thrusting their frail 
 boats in between the massy bodies attached to the 
 ship and tumbling gigantically about upon the sullen 
 swell, I dare not speak : it needs a chapter to itself. 
 It must be sufficient to say that all hands returned, 
 succeeded in getting on board, fell down where they 
 alighted, and slept like the dead so much like that 
 two happy fellows did not trouble to wake again : 
 they were found stiff and cold in the morning. But 
 as that was merely an incident of the campaign (in 
 war it is thought nothing of) there is no excuse for 
 dwelling upon it let it pass. 
 
 The matter worth recording is that at midnight, 
 the placid moon looking down upon the deck of the 
 Grampus as if it were a stricken field the corpses 
 lying hideously scattered where they fell there was 
 
THE DHOWS CREPT CAUTIOUSLY TOWARDS THE IMMOVABLE SHIP. 
 P. 803. 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 203 
 
 a great outcry. The skipper, ever alert, had seen 
 along the moonbeams' path the oncoming of some 
 suspicious-looking craft. His experience fixed them 
 at once as Arab dhows bent on plunder. Strange 
 how the Arab is a born thief and murderer, as is the 
 Chinese, and neither of them ever feels any compunc- 
 tion for his crimes. 
 
 The dhows crept cautiously towards the immov- 
 able ship, and Captain Da Silva watched them 
 coming, the fierce light of battle in his eye. But 
 he wasted no time. He knew that his ship was 
 surrounded by an almost impregnable defence (at 
 night), and so he devoted his leisure to loading care- 
 fully the half-dozen Sniders possessed by the ship. 
 (Those old Tower Sniders have gone all over the 
 world.) Then he called up his chums, sailors and 
 harpooners, and no small task it was to get life into 
 them. But he succeeded at last, and then posting 
 them all aft with a Snider and a revolver apiece, and 
 much ammunition, he waited gleefully the advent of the 
 sea Bedawy. They came, and were astonished to find 
 that a barrier of something floating, slimy, massive, 
 and impassable interposed between them and their 
 objective. And while they groped darkling, the 
 Sniders sang their awful song, red spear-points of 
 flame clove the darkness, and many an Arab sank 
 down upon the rough-timbered deck of his buggalow 
 coughing out his foul life. Only an hour, and the 
 attack was over. It would never have been begun 
 but that the Arabs forecasted a helpless merchant 
 ship whose crew they could kill easily as sheep, 
 and with as little compunction, and whose hold 
 they should find crammed with choicest merchandise 
 
204 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 only awaiting the advent of the enterprising sons of 
 the East. 
 
 It seems incredible, but such was the fatigue of 
 the crew that when morning dawned the majority of 
 them were quite unaware of the happenings of the 
 night. Perhaps, dimly through their dreams had 
 come the ping of dropping shots, uneasy shudderings 
 might have accompanied the dying yells of the Arabs, 
 but taking everything all round they knew nothing 
 about it. Nor did they greatly care. The dawn but 
 brought them bone- wrenching toil. Who among 
 them would have given thanks for the paternal (?) 
 care manifested for them by the skipper during the 
 dead hours of the night ? For their condition was 
 that so amply and aptly summed up by Moses in his 
 dread warning to the children of Israel : ' In the 
 morning thou shalt say, Would God it were evening, 
 and in the evening thou shalt say, Would God it were 
 morning.' 
 
 Long before daylight they were aroused and 
 started upon the tremendous task, too broken to 
 give more than a passing regretful thought to the 
 two favoured ones whose trials were over. This will, 
 I know, strike many as an utterly uncalled-for 
 exaggeration of horror, an incident that could only 
 have occurred during mediaeval times. I beg to say, 
 however, that in the American whaleships mediaeval 
 disregard of life persisted as nowhere else among 
 civilised peoples down to well within the latter half 
 of the nineteenth century. Heroic figures the com- 
 manders were, brave beyond praise were the officers, 
 but with that wonderful quality was, alas, too gener- 
 ally mingled an utter callousness to suffering an 
 
A REIGN OF TERROR 205 
 
 utter disregard of the elementary rights of their 
 fellow men which to a humaner age will hardly bear 
 detailed description. And, of course, this was an 
 exceptionally bad case. The cruelty of the Latin 
 is inherent generally speaking, he takes a greedy 
 pleasure in the suffering of others ; while the cruelty 
 of the Teutonic races is incidental an abnormality 
 calling forth the fiercest reprobation from those of 
 the same race to whom it becomes known. 
 
 For the next ten days the Grampus was a horrid 
 shambles. She reeked in every part with blood and 
 grease, and the blazing sun, pouring down upon her 
 with never a cloud to temper his fierceness throughout 
 the long and weary days, made her foul with a fcetor 
 beyond description. Captain Da Silva and his Por- 
 tuguese seemed to flourish and wax stronger among 
 the awful vileness of stench and filth, even as do the 
 Arabs of African coast-towns. But the American 
 portion of the crew fell ill one by one. Although 
 haggard and woe-worn, they stuck to their work 
 until they fell at their posts. In this calamity Pris- 
 cilla was involved. Indeed, it would have been a 
 miracle had she escaped. The confinement alone in 
 that terrible climate was sufficient to make anyone 
 seriously ill, especially when the miserable food and 
 lack of exercise were added, without the fearful foul- 
 ness of that ten days. 
 
 The sickness of his crew gave the skipper no 
 concern. He thought grimly of the splendid recruits 
 he would by and by obtain, supposing all the cursed 
 Americans were dead. But the illness of his wife 
 gave him pause. In some inexplicable way, he well, 
 I cannot say loved or had a tenderness for her I 
 
206 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 would not desecrate the holy word love by associating 
 it with such a monster of evil as he was, but he did 
 not desire to be without her. And so, cursing his 
 ill-luck, he bore up under all sail for the Cosmoledo 
 group of islands intending to spend there, amid the 
 pure fresh breezes of the South- East Trade, and free 
 from the miasmatic vapours of a great port, a 
 sufficient time to rest his invalids, and by judicious 
 distribution of quinine, fresh cocoanut, and fresh food 
 to bring them round again. Strangely enough, this 
 complication in the midst of his success, the dread 
 presence on board of fever, and the illness of half 
 his crew gave this extraordinary man no anxiety. He 
 seemed to stand aloof from all merely human emo- 
 tions except the viler ones, and as for fear he appa- 
 rently knew not the meaning of the word. And his 
 auxiliaries were the same. For them it was a time of 
 rejoicing. They were the undoubted rulers of the 
 vessel, and their superiority to the much-vaunted 
 white man was overwhelmingly manifest. 
 
 Two more poor fellows succumbed to their 
 burden before reaching port. One of them was the 
 third mate. Their passing excited no comment, nor 
 did their informal burial (they were just dumped 
 like so much lumber) more than punctuate the day's 
 work. Then the vessel arrived, and was piloted in 
 between the reefs with consummate skill by the 
 skipper. Down went her anchor, and in the peaceful 
 waters of a coral-locked lagoon the Grampus lay 
 secure. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 SALVAGE OPERATIONS 
 
 THOROUGH in all his undertakings, Captain Da Silva 
 wasted no time after the vessel was well moored in 
 carrying out the purpose for which he had visited 
 this outlandish group of islands. Boats were at once 
 lowered and loaded with all the requisite material for 
 erecting tents ashore. Then while one party was 
 sent to establish a temporary sanatorium on a high 
 part of the largest island, a place where the sweet 
 unceasing breeze should blow through the open doors 
 of the tents, another party was detailed to catch fish, 
 tortoises (for here are to be found still some of those 
 most interesting survivals of a long-departed day, 
 the gigantic tortoise), and to collect unripe cocoanuts, 
 one of the most healthful of all foods as well as one of 
 the pleasantest of drinks. The preparations were 
 rapidly completed when Captain Da Silva was 
 around no one wasted time the sick were transferred 
 to the shore, and in business-like fashion attended 
 to, as far as a change of diet and such primitive 
 medicines as were available could be brought to bear 
 upon them. Priscilla, much to the skipper's concern, 
 apparently took no interest in the proceedings at all. 
 He was really alarmed to see how automatically she 
 behaved and how attenuated was her once bonny 
 
208 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 form. He did not want to lose her would rather 
 have lost all hands though he could not tell why. 
 And therefore, having done all he could think of for 
 her, and consequently much more for the other 
 sufferers than he would otherwise have thought of 
 doing, he turned from sheer need of occupation to the 
 ship again ; and his energy was such that all his innate 
 power of command was needed to maintain discipline 
 among his own countrymen. The Portuguese, like 
 the Italian, can and does work for amazingly long 
 periods at high pressure, always providing that the 
 incentive is sufficiently powerful. But always these 
 two races would rather loaf than work would rather 
 lie round in the sun and let the world wag as it will 
 than put their shoulders to any wheel whatever. 
 And they always make the severest task-masters, 
 slave-drivers. There must be a deep delight for a 
 truly lazy man in the power of compelling his fellows 
 to stretch their sinews under his eye. Must be, 
 because one sees so much of it in journeying around 
 the world the measureless content evidenced in the 
 boss who lolls and shouts curses and commands at 
 the toilers below him, with a very real satisfaction in 
 the knowledge that any one of them would gladly 
 trample his face into the mud they work in if only 
 the chance came. 
 
 Captain Da Silva, then, having arranged for his 
 invalids satisfactorily, and left the negro steward and 
 one of his cronies to guard his wife in her lonely 
 tent, returned on board and entered upon a furious 
 campaign of scrubbing and disinfecting. His country- 
 men, who were practically the whole working gang, 
 seconded his efforts splendidly, albeit with deep 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 209 
 
 resentment, at first against him, but by his clever 
 manipulation, afterwards against all the whites on 
 board. ' Why should these fellows be lyin' up ashore 
 while better men were doin' the work ? ' This with 
 but little variation was the burden of the Portuguese 
 song, and by a skilfully dropped word at well-chosen 
 intervals Captain Da Silva fanned the incipient flames 
 and made every Dago understand that the Grampus 
 was a Dago ship from henceforth, and that, although 
 the American flag flew overhead, her American crew 
 were of no importance whatever. In spite of this 
 satisfaction, however, the Dagoes were very sore at 
 being worked so hard, and it needed all the great 
 influence of the skipper's master mind to prevent an 
 outbreak. He kept them at work so steadily, too, that 
 they got little or no chance to brood over their 
 wrongs. The water in the casks below was started 
 and run off, fresh, sweet water being brought on board 
 to re-fill ; and the newly emptied casks were all fresh 
 scoured and fired within before replenishing. An 
 enormous supply of wood was obtained, mostly drift- 
 timber, for upon this little group of neglected islands 
 the whorl of many currents centres, bringing flotsam 
 from immense distances. And when nothing else 
 was a-doing, the sick needed attention, and got it too, 
 although of a horribly rough and grudging kind. 
 
 At last the discontent ran so high that it may 
 reasonably be doubted whether even Captain Da 
 Silva could have much longer held it in check, but 
 then with his usual extraordinary good fortune there 
 came a diversion that effectually settled all grumbling 
 and put all hands in high feather. A huge four- 
 masted iron ship, grossly under-manned as usual, 
 
 P 
 
210 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 came blundering up through the Mozambique 
 Channel, bound for Diego Garcia with coal. The 
 parsimony of her owners had provided her with but 
 one chronometer, and her skipper was not only a 
 poor man who couldn't afford one of his own, but he 
 was withal so poorly educated that he couldn't have 
 worked a lunar observation to save his life. Thus it 
 came to pass that one night during a heavy thunder- 
 storm, when the whole heavens were apparently 
 draped with black velvet, he found his vessel bump- 
 ing upon the reefs, not heavily, for there was but little 
 wind or swell, but sufficiently forceful" to make him 
 feel that his command was doomed. And ships like 
 the Warrior Queen are only manned for the finest of 
 fine weather when trouble of any kind comes they 
 must needs trust to luck. Out of eighteen men in 
 the forecastle, four were sailors, and they were old, 
 the rest were just unskilled labourers, loafers, not 
 worth their salt, whose one aim was to do as little as 
 possible, and take the maximum time over it. There 
 were eight apprentices, nice lads, each of whom had 
 paid sixty guineas premium for the privilege of doing 
 men's work, and were expected to learn how in- 
 tuitively, for no one ever showed them anything no, 
 not even how to live decently in their den of the half- 
 deck. These boys were really the backbone of the 
 ship, for being all decently brought up young fellows 
 they had not yet learned the vicious root-idea which 
 is sapping the heart out of our workers viz., that a 
 man's duty to himself is to study how best he can get 
 money without working for it, and that his highest 
 aim in life should be to give as little as possible in 
 labour for the wages he receives. 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 211 
 
 In consequence of this wretched condition of 
 things on board there was something very like a 
 collapse of all the energies (not many at the best of 
 times) of the crew. According to the novelists 
 who write of the sea from the abyss of utter ignorance 
 of sea conditions, the crew should now have raided 
 the ' spirit-room ' (there isn't such a place in the great 
 majority of merchant ships), and fearful scenes of 
 bloodshed and anarchy would have ensued. As a 
 matter of fact, the whole situation was peculiarly 
 sordid and commonplace. There lay the great 
 cumbrous tank upon the reef, canted to one side in a 
 shamefaced manner as if acknowledging how much 
 she owed to the sea for any gainliness of outline she 
 ever possessed. Listlessly the crew slouched about 
 the sloping decks, obeying such calls as were made 
 upon them in a half or quarter hearted fashion and 
 casting wistful eyes upon the sandy shore. They 
 were a motley gang, and there was no prospect of 
 immediate danger to life, only to property and that, 
 they knew, didn't matter a row of pins to anybody : 
 they had obtained sufficient smattering of insurance 
 problems to tell them that. 
 
 So that I think, apart from the disheartened con- 
 dition of skipper and officers, it will be seen that the 
 Warrior Queen was in evil case. How evil may be 
 imagined from the fact that not one of her company 
 had seen, far off on the other side of the little group, 
 a trio of upright trees with branches crossing them at 
 right angles with extraordinary regularity. When 
 seamen neglect the obvious duty of looking around 
 for another ship things are bad indeed. It was so 
 in this case, and the first intimation that Captain 
 
 P 2 
 
212 WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Smith had of there being any help at hand was the 
 arrival alongside of a white double-ended boat with 
 five swarthy-looking men at the oars and a tall 
 devilishly handsome man erect in the stern. This 
 boat rounded to under the Warrior Queen's stern in 
 grand style, and before the dreaming fellows on 
 board had realised that a visitor was coming Captain 
 Da Silva had swung himself on board by the mizen 
 chains, and with light elastic step had gained the side 
 of Captain Smith on his broad quarter-deck. ' Good 
 morning, sir,' said the new-comer. ' G' mornin',' sulkily 
 replied the merchantman, for even in his dire distress 
 he had the quaint old notion that he must show him- 
 self unapproachable in order to maintain his dignity. 
 Dignity, forsooth! It's worth a great deal when a 
 man has to make a hog of himself to keep it in 
 evidence. ' Got a bit er trouble here, Cap'n ? ' said 
 Da Silva. 'Yaas,' drawled Captain Smith; ' I'm 
 afraid she isn't worth more 'n old iron price, if that. 
 It's a bad job. Compasses wrong, y' know.' ' Oh 
 don't say that,' interjected the Portuguese ; * I've got 
 a bully crowd o' boys here all spoilin' fer a job. 
 They'd ask nothin' better than t' git y' afloat ag'in.' 
 'You have an' where, may I ask?' said Captain 
 Smith haughtily. (You see, his dignity needed con- 
 serving.) Captain Da Silva waved his hand airily to 
 where the Grampus lay just discernible as a three- 
 masted ship far off to the southward. ' Thet's my 
 ship,' said he, ' 'n' ef yer like t' come t' terms with me> 
 I've a-got a gang aboard thar thet 'd snake yew eout 
 of Purgatory itself. It's only a matter of terms.' 
 * Come down below, Cap'n,' said the now thoroughly 
 aroused Mr. Smith. ( I want t' talk to you.' And 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 213 
 
 as they descended the polished teak companion, he laid 
 his hand familiarly upon the swarthy visitor's shoulder, 
 saying in a confidential tone : * I 'spose yew're a 
 wrecker of some kind, ain't you ? ' c Me ! oh, no, 
 Captain. I'm jest a low-down whaling skipper, 
 but I got a crew of boys a-spilin' fur somethin' t' do, 
 and ef yew'll only say th' word, an' give me jes' a 
 leetle bill on yewr owners, I'll bet we'll snake yewr 
 ship eout o' this in short order.' By this time they 
 had reached the cosy saloon of the big ship, and 
 Captain Smith had summoned the steward to bring 
 the whisky and cigars. Solemnly they drank to each 
 other, and then Captain Smith broached his latent 
 idea. His ship had run ashore through no fault of 
 his. Couldn't he arrange for his new-found friend 
 to take on a contract to get her off on the * no cure, 
 no pay ' principle ? Indeed he couldn't. In Captain 
 Da Silva he had met a man as much his superior in 
 business ability as he was in seamanship, and that 
 scheme did not work for a moment. Well, then, 
 couldn't he arrange for a liberal payment to the 
 salvors with an equally liberal percentage to himself? 
 ' for,' said he, ' my pay is only twelve pounds (sixty 
 dollars) a month here.' The Portuguese shook his 
 head decisively, as befitted a man who held the reins 
 of the team. 
 
 ' Naow looky here, Cap'n Smith,' drawled he, ' I'll 
 tell you what I'll do. My best endeavours t' git 
 yewr ship offn thishyer reef yew givin' me a bill 
 on yewr owners fur 2,500 dollars t' begin with, and 
 a note t' th' effect that if I git her off the pay's double. 
 As fur pussentidges, I don't know anything about 
 'em an' don't want. Ef yew mean that I'm to share 
 
2i 4 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 any of my earnin's with yew well, yew're 'way off, 
 'n' thet's all there is to it. Ther' isn't anythin' o' that 
 kind abaout me, young man, be sure o' thet.' And 
 the two men sat and looked hard at each other. Not 
 for long. The odds were too great, and with a heavy 
 sigh Captain Smith went to his state-room producing 
 paper and pen, and wrote out the agreement and the 
 bill on his owners. This instrument, having been 
 duly witnessed by the mate and steward, was carefully 
 read and signed by Captain Da Silva, who then 
 pocketed it, and springing to his feet declared himself 
 ready to begin the carrying out of his contract. The 
 merchant skipper, not at all used to such energetic 
 proceedings, was taken ' flat aback,' as the sea saying 
 has it, but said nothing, and Captain Da Silva 
 departed with big leaps up the cuddy stairs. As 
 soon as he reached the deck he shouted in a voice of 
 thunder : ' My boat ready ? Grampus boat's crew 
 away ! ' Then without waiting for an answer he 
 rushed to the gangway, and finding his men all in 
 their places (they had not dared to come on deck) he 
 flung himself over the side, and in one minute was on 
 his way back to his ship, standing erect in the stern 
 and urging the toiling rowers with many figures of 
 profane speech to do better than their very best. 
 
 It was a long pull back to the Grampus, but not 
 one of the rowers got a spell until she was reached. 
 Well was it for them that their training had been so 
 severe and thorough. And on reaching the side all 
 hands were summoned to prepare the ship for the 
 most arduous task she had yet undertaken. Sundry 
 orders were given with reference to mooring-chains, 
 hawsers, kedges, &c., and while the crew fled about 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 215 
 
 their tasks of filling those orders, the Captain dived 
 below and knitted his brow over a calculation of the 
 tides. He found (and it is noteworthy that he was 
 able to detach his mind from all else while he worked 
 out this important matter) that the ' springs ' were due 
 the following day at noon. This important matter 
 settled, he replaced his books and sprang up the com- 
 panion to the deck as if his life depended upon the 
 ensuing minutes being husbanded with the most 
 jealous care. 
 
 A few short, volcanic orders, and the windlass was 
 manned, the cable came clattering in, and as soon as 
 the anchor was ready to be broken out the sails were 
 set, and the Grampus, obedient to the master mind, 
 turned gently to the wind, while the few remaining 
 links of cable were hove in, and she passed out of the 
 tortuous reef channel seaward. The skipper stood by 
 the helmsman, conning his vessel as if he had been 
 acquainted with the navigation of those intricate 
 channels all his life. It was only the usual whaler's 
 style, but to the ordinary seaman it was nothing 
 short of wonderful. The clumsy-looking old ship 
 sidled out to sea as if she knew what was required of 
 her, and presently the waiting men on board the 
 Warrior Queen were astonished to see a short, thick- 
 set, full-rigged ship come around the nearest point 
 and suddenly bring to with a kedge about two miles 
 away, waiting apparently for the word of command 
 to do something totally unexpected. But there was 
 no time wasted. Two boats were lowered from 
 the new-comer, each double-banked, and under the 
 pressure of foaming oars they ranged alongside the 
 big helpless hulk, their crews leaped on board 
 
2i6 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 headed by the Captain, who immediately demanded 
 that all hands should be called and placed under 
 his orders. There was a moment or so of hesitation 
 on the part of the English ship's officers, but 
 while they paused the new comers had the hatches off 
 and had rigged a couple of single whips over each. 
 Then as the original crew realised what was a-doing, 
 they buckled to manfully, and soon the coal was 
 flying overboard in an almost continuous stream. 
 Something of Captain Da Silva's superhuman energy 
 communicated itself to the crew of the Warrior Queen, 
 for before many minutes had elapsed they were 
 toiling as fiercely as any of the whaler's men, and 
 without in the least understanding why they should 
 thus do violence to their long-cherished leisureliness. 
 
 Through the thick haze of coal dust might have 
 been seen Captain Da Silva and a chosen little body 
 of men fiercely engaged in unbending the cables from 
 the great anchors, getting up hawsers from below, 
 and overhauling the long-neglected boat gear. The 
 big wire rope, intended for towing purposes and there- 
 fore leading forward, was unwound and passed aft on the 
 starboard side, while on the port side a length of cable 
 was shackled on to the stoutest of the ship's hawsers, 
 and ranged in readiness to be taken off when needed. 
 Then Captain Da Silva, getting into his boat, care- 
 fully sounded the reef to see whether the Warrior Queen 
 had, as so often happens, found her way alone along 
 some special channel. He knew that many wrecks on 
 coral reefs have done just that, and afterwards, owing 
 to superficial observation of the surroundings, it has 
 been taken for granted that some awful convulsion of 
 nature in the shape of an earthquake wave or some- 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 217 
 
 thing of the sort must be held responsible for the 
 vessel's reaching so apparently inaccessible a spot. 
 After an absence of only an hour he returned, having 
 found the channel by which the ship had entered, and 
 buoyed it with sundry lengths of lead-line and ' black- 
 fish ' pokes, or bladders of the small cetacean known 
 to whalers by that trivial name. Just a few minutes 
 on board to see that the jettison of the coal was 
 proceeding with as much vigour as possible under 
 the circumstances, and then off again on board the 
 Grampus. He caused her to be worked right into the 
 channel he had found, but stern first and as easily as 
 a barge is taken up a winding canal. Finally, when 
 near enough for his liking, he had two hawsers 
 attached to his bow anchors, and the latter dropped 
 in the channel. These were veered away to their 
 utmost length, which brought the stern of the Grampus 
 near enough to the stern of the Warrior Queen to 
 allow of the wire hawser and cable-bridled hawser 
 being secured to the former. When all these prepara- 
 tions were complete he gave orders that all hands 
 should rest so as to be capable of a supreme effort 
 next day at noon, it now being about 10 P.M., and 
 some five hundred tons of coal having been jettisoned. 
 After a good meal all round, the worn-out men 
 went to their bunks all except Captain Da Silva, 
 who, calling upon his particular boat's crew, started 
 at midnight for the long and perilous pull back to 
 the islet where the sick were encamped. Threading 
 the dangers of that terrible group of reef-rocks and 
 sandbanks apparently was mere amusement to him, 
 although at times it must have seemed to a novice 
 as if nothing could save the frail craft from being 
 
2i8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 overwhelmed by the breaking of one of those vast 
 swells over the jagged surface of a fringing reef, 
 through one of whose openings they were passing. 
 But this extraordinary man seemed to bear a 
 charmed life, and, without shipping a drop of water 
 even, the boat arrived at the camp in three hours 
 from the time of leaving the Warrior Queen. Noise- 
 lessly she grounded on the smooth sand, light as a 
 fawn the skipper sprang out, and in a few minutes 
 had peered in at both tents and seen that all was 
 silent as the grave, at which peaceful termination to 
 his investigations he was apparently much annoyed. 
 Returning to the boat, he caused an impromptu 
 shelter to be rigged up by turning her over and 
 spreading the sail over the upraised gunwale, and, 
 creeping in under with his satellites, all were soon 
 sound asleep ; not, however, before a huge black 
 bottle had been impartially passed round. 
 
 At daylight the skipper awoke and went to visit 
 his sick, finding, to his great satisfaction, that several 
 of them were sufficiently recovered to be brought on 
 board they could do something, if it was only hold- 
 ing on the hawsers abaft the windlass. To Priscilla 
 he said nothing he stood looking at her doubtfully 
 for a few minutes, while she endured his gaze as if 
 unconscious of it. Then he turned on his heel and 
 departed, and in a few minutes the trembling 
 steward reported to her that ' de Cappen, he make'n 
 dem boat's crew pull fur sixty sure, ma'm ; dat boat 
 jes' a-flyinV 
 
 He was back at the scene of salvage operations 
 by ten o'clock, and found, as he had expected, that 
 all hands were loafing about, waiting for him to come 
 
SALVAGE OPERATIONS 219 
 
 and tell them what to do. But he said nothing 
 about that, only gave orders for all square sail to be 
 loosed on both vessels and set with as little delay as 
 possible. For there was the usual sea breeze setting 
 in, at no great rate it is true, but with every promise 
 of being much stronger by noon. And it blew right 
 fair for the channel, along which, if in any direction 
 at all, the Warrior Queen must go. Nearer and 
 nearer drew the critical moment, the tide rising 
 rapidly. All hands were ordered to their stations, 
 the Warrior Queen's crew being, with the exception 
 of just sufficient to trim her yards in case of necessity, 
 all on board the Grampus at the windlass. The 
 breeze freshened as the tide rose, and a few minutes 
 before noon Captain Da Silva gave orders for all his 
 reinforced crew to heave away at the windlass for 
 dear life. The powerful leverage of that great spread 
 of canvas on both ships, aided by the strain on the 
 hawsers applied at just the right time, gradually 
 made itself manifest. The vast bulk of the Warrior 
 Queen slowly rolled, shuddered, slipped, and with a 
 long grinding groan she moved. Frantic yells arose 
 from the windlass-men on board of the Grampus. 
 They felt the weight yielding, and forgetting the 
 danger of breaking the old-fashioned machine they 
 were trying so hardly, redoubled their efforts. 
 
 Slowly, majestically, the big ship glided seaward, 
 steered by the mate in response to the desperate 
 signals made from the whaler, where the skipper 
 was now in an almost insane state of excitement lest 
 some fool should, at the last minute, spoil all his 
 work. But no ; gently the whaler increased her 
 speed, followed clumsily by her tow, until, at 1.30 
 
220 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the rescued merchantman was able to turn and 
 pursue her way alone. Before she did so, how- 
 ever, Captain Da Silva, having anchored his ship, 
 hastened on board the saved vessel, and, shaking 
 hands warmly with Captain Smith, bade him ' so 
 long,' saying to himself as he did so : ' I guess yew 
 want somebody to dry-nurse yew mighty bad. 
 Don't matter to me, though. Five thousand dollars 
 ain't half a bad day's pay, an' I guess I'll snake it in 
 soon 's ever I git t' port. He ain't a bit t' be 'pended 
 'pon, thet man.' 
 
 And, leaving the big ship to pursue her journey, 
 the energetic rascal returned on board his own vessel, 
 got under weigh and hastened back to his former 
 anchorage, fully determined to get the rest of his 
 ailing men on board, fit or not, and leave next day 
 for sea. He reached the camp at sunset, anchored, 
 and went ashore, finding that his wife was well on 
 the way to complete recovery, and the rest of the 
 poor fellows doing very well. So without any further 
 delay, he caused the camp to be broken up, the 
 invalids brought on board, and everything got in 
 readiness for departure the following day. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HUMANITY REWARDED 
 
 DOUBTLESS many of the superior persons, who, like 
 Matthew Arnold, their high priest, have led sheltered 
 lives, will, also like him, curl the lip of scorn at any 
 sorely pressed human creature in his extremity of 
 need lifting his heart in prayer to God for help. 
 Let them do so, if it please them, while they may. 
 For many thousands know most gratefully that 
 prayer is indeed a perfect communication between 
 man and his Maker, and is answered so fully and 
 so frequently as to put all coldly logical or brilliantly 
 poetical objectors entirely out of court. Who, indeed, 
 would accept the evidence of a blind man as to the 
 value of a certain picture, or of a deaf man upon 
 the merits of an oratorio ? Therefore, pace Matthew 
 Arnold and his ' Self Help/ let me gratefully return 
 to the comforted little company in that sorely bestead 
 whale-boat. In the midst of that wilderness of kelp, 
 with the awful hand of the gale pressing them back 
 from the goal they so sorely desired, they yet felt a 
 security, a peace such as can only accrue to those who, 
 in a like position, know that underneath them are the 
 Everlasting Arms. 
 
 Almost literally inch by inch they fought their 
 way seaward. Much as they valued the smooth 
 
222 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 which the kelp brought them, its hindering environ- 
 ment was terribly wearisome to the humanly limited 
 strength. But doggedly they toiled on, often only 
 half consciously, as squalls of sleet slashed savagely 
 across their cowering faces and every fresh blast of 
 wind beat at them as if it were the spirit of some 
 malicious demon determined upon their destruction. 
 Suddenly they emerged from the slimy smoothness of 
 the kelp into the free dash of the great waves. 
 And as they did so Mr. Peck, with a great voice, 
 shouted, ' Now, boys, for y'r lives ; out oars an' pull 
 jest a leetle bit ; perhaps we can histe a rag of sail 
 and keep her away a bit presently. That's it lift her, 
 lift her ; oh, too good, boys, too good, one, two, three ; 
 better 'n' better. I see the ship ! She ain't no 
 distance off. Stick t' it, me hearties, give 'r all you 
 got thet's y'r style.' In such wise did the fine fellow 
 encourage his men, who were taking the last ounce 
 out of themselves in their desperate fight with the 
 forces of nature. And the passengers cowering in 
 the bottom of the boat heard and saw not, endured 
 dimly, dumbly ; until just as it seemed impossible 
 that the overborne sailors could hold out any longer 
 came the glorious cry of ' Boat ahoy ! ' A yell of 
 thankful reply, and the great bulk of the ship 
 materialised out of the darkness. A minute or two 
 of breathless suspense as the boat swung off the wind, 
 and then a blessed sense of security and calm as she 
 surged up under the lee of the grand old tub, where 
 all hands, by the light of the flaring try-works, were 
 awaiting them. Life from the dead, fellow creatures 
 welcomed back from out the gaping jaws of the grave 
 how glorious a sensation to true men ! And when 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 223 
 
 the whisper ran round that some of the saved ones 
 were women there were chokings and dim eyes among 
 these rough-looking but tender-hearted fellows, 
 although comments were mostly limited to the 
 commonplace expression, ' Poor things, poor things.' 
 
 Safely on board, and the boat hoisted into her 
 place, Captain Hampden whispered an order to his 
 mate to keep all the southing he could so as to get 
 well clear of that awful pile of rock, still much too near 
 for comfort. Then with a courtly old-world grace he 
 led the way to his cabin, and begged his strangely 
 shipped passengers to make themselves at home. 
 The three quaint little figures revealed themselves as 
 ladies young, but haggard with anxiety and priva- 
 tion. Alone in the world, too. For the story of the 
 lost ship from which they had escaped was just this, 
 so bald and simple, yet so full of pathos to the imagi- 
 native mind. She was a huge four- master, with splen- 
 did passenger accommodation, bound for Australia, 
 and specially recommended as affording a grand 
 opportunity for a perfect sea trip for consumptives. 
 So thirty poor wrecks of humanity, but possessing 
 money enough to buy a chance of life, availed them- 
 selves of the opportunity, for, after all, the fare was 
 much lower than in a fast steamer, and the attend- 
 ance likely to be much better. But the crew ! What 
 agony the Captain endured as he found that sailing- 
 ships were in such bad odour that men could not be 
 obtained that if he would get to sea at all he must 
 needs ship men who hardly knew a cringle from a 
 scupper-hole. However, this is one of the penalties 
 a man must pay to-day when working his way up in 
 a sailing-ship prior to taking charge in steam. And 
 
224 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 Captain Weston paid it. Running the easting down, 
 he found his handful of wastrels not merely incom- 
 petent, but afraid a poor group of fellows whom no 
 threats or bribes could make do their duty, while he 
 had upon his heart the helpless passengers. So he 
 ran her, recklessly as it appeared, really because he 
 could do nothing else, and strained his heartstrings 
 nightly as he looked up through the blackness at 
 those great sails, and wondered what would happen 
 should they blow away, for to take them in he knew 
 was impossible. 
 
 Is it fair to put such a strain upon one man as 
 this ? I do not think so, yet most captains of our 
 big sailing-ships must shoulder such a burden to-day, 
 and for, at most, .200 a year. No wonder the 
 Mercantile Marine is unpopular. Captain Weston 
 endured his load almost helplessly in view of the 
 season and the quality of his crew; and when, while 
 snatching a few moments' sleep in his chart-room, he 
 felt his ship go over, over, over, until on her beam 
 ends, and knew that she had broached-to in the 
 height of one of the southern gales, he gave a sigh 
 almost of relief as knowing the worst. Out of the 
 half-dozen boats he carried one succeeded in getting 
 away with three ladies on board, whose charges, a 
 consumptive father, uncle, and sweetheart, were 
 practically killed by the shock. There were also two 
 male passengers, the mate, and four seamen. And 
 these were all the survivors of that awful mid-sea 
 catastrophe, when a great ship, through bad steering, 
 was thrown on her beam ends and, her decks burst- 
 ing, sank like a broken cup in the midst of that 
 lonely ocean. 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 225 
 
 For two days the surviving boat and her miserable 
 freight managed to keep ahead of the hungry, follow- 
 ing sea, until, in the blackness of the third night, 
 when hope was well-nigh dead, she entered the kelp 
 fringing Gough Island, and after a series of hair- 
 breadth escapes the whole party succeeded in landing 
 upon its frowning shores. There, for nearly three 
 months, they had maintained life in semi-savage 
 fashion, wondering whether they were doomed to 
 spend the rest of their days there, when help came 
 in the shape of the hardly beset Xiphias, and they 
 were once more restored to a little world of living 
 people. 
 
 With a sigh Captain Hampden bore up for Cape 
 Town. It was much out of his way, and, besides, he 
 was so far to the southward that it would be difficult 
 to make the port, especially in such a sluggish old 
 craft. But the idea of carrying those poor ladies on 
 to the Mauritius, which was the only place that lay 
 anywhere near his track whence they could be 
 shipped home, was not to be thought of for one 
 moment. And having decided upon what to do, he 
 did it with all his heart, allowing no one to see what 
 a struggle it had cost him. All sail was made, there- 
 fore, and the course set for Cape Town, the rescued 
 mate and his four shipmates taking a vigorous part 
 in the handling of the ship, so that the Xiphias' crew 
 could finish their heavy task of securing the oil from 
 their previous catch. 
 
 She was a mighty busy ship, as well as a happy 
 one, for there was so much to do with the two and 
 a half tons of baleen secured, after the oil was all 
 stored below, that no one had any time of leisure. 
 
 Q 
 
226 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 This peculiar substance ' whalebone,' as we have 
 agreed to call it is really of the nature of dried 
 gristle or soft horn, and when it is green t.e. t newly 
 taken from the whale it needs constant care and 
 labour in scraping, drying in the sun, and other trade 
 treatment. Without this it soon becomes valueless, 
 and, since it is so high-priced when properly cured, 
 it is obviously the most important duty on a whale- 
 ship to attend to it. But this duty tries the patience 
 of all hands most sorely. In the present case, how- 
 ever, there were compensations. For, in the first 
 place, Captain Hampden was not the man to keep 
 his crew at other work all day and scraping, &c., 
 whalebone all night ; and, secondly, a cheery whisper 
 ran round the ship that he (the old man) intended 
 landing the stuff at Cape Town for transhipment to 
 market. 
 
 And then, to the great joy of the crew and the 
 unbounded chagrin of the passengers, the ship ran 
 one morning at daybreak into the midst of a vast 
 school of sperm-whales, extending from one horizon 
 to the other. Their numbers no man could calculate, 
 any more than what stupendous stores of food must 
 be necessary to feed such an army of monsters. 
 Captain Hampden's heart glowed with thankfulness 
 that he had been by humanity turned thus far out of 
 his intended course, and, in obedience to his newly 
 born instinct, went away into a corner by himself 
 and lifted up his heart, not merely in gratitude to 
 God, but for wisdom, after all these years of ex- 
 perience, to do just the right thing in the manipula- 
 tion of this great store so lavishly spread before him. 
 It only took a minute or two (how simply and 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 227 
 
 quickly can we prefer our petitions and praises to 
 the King of kings), and he was back again among 
 his men, the guiding, ruling spirit of all. As if his 
 plan of campaign had been laid out a week ahead, 
 he apportioned to each officer his place in the coming 
 struggle, took advantage of the presence of the pas- 
 senger mate and four seamen to give them the 
 handling of the vessel, and then gaily took the field 
 himself with five boats, skipper leading. 
 
 It was an ideal day, the great sun just rising from 
 the smooth ocean bed into an absolutely clear sky 
 clear from clouds, that is, but splashed with all the 
 splendid colours of a tropical dawn, the glassy un- 
 dulating sea-surface broken in all directions by the 
 lolling masses of the sea monsters, each lazily ex- 
 haling his or her bushy tuft of vapour. Occasionally 
 the heavenly silence was broken by a playful rush of 
 a dozen or so of these colossal forms in some given 
 direction, making the placid sea foam and curdle 
 around their massive bodies as if it had suddenly 
 met some newly risen rocks. Or a few sedate bulls 
 would gravely invert themselves, and as if by a con- 
 certed movement slowly beat upon the sea with their 
 great flukes, the gigantic strokes reverberating along 
 the silent surface like the echoes ot a distant can- 
 nonade. 
 
 Yes, they were a happy, placid company, recking 
 not of evil, least of all apparently of the presence of 
 those five small white things that, a hundred fathoms 
 or so apart, were coming gliding among them, each 
 with cruel points protruding from its front and glit- 
 tering fiercely in the rays of the mounting sun. And 
 before any attempt at flight could be made by one 
 
 Q2 
 
228 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 member of that great company, the five boats were 
 among them, each boat had singled out the largest 
 victim near (for so had run the Captain's orders)* 
 and the slaughter had begun. Now while it is un- 
 doubtedly true that the sperm-whale is brave and 
 will under ordinary circumstances fight for his life 
 with a fury and sagacity not to be excelled by those 
 of any mammal afloat or ashore, it is also quite true 
 that occasionally, especially in large companies like 
 the present one, sperm-whales will become panic- 
 stricken, and, making not the slightest attempt either 
 to fight or flee, will suffer themselves to be slain like 
 a flock of silly sheep when the wolf leaps into the 
 fold among them. The present was one of those 
 occasions. Harpoons flew and lances flashed, the 
 boats rode easily, hardly moving in any direction 
 amid closely packed squads of utterly demoralised 
 whales, and the sea speedily became foul with blood 
 and oil. It needed all the skipper's power of com- 
 mand to call his men off, frantic as they were with 
 the lust of killing, which overtakes the gentlest and 
 most amiable of mankind once the first shudder of 
 compunction has been overcome. But Captain 
 Hampden's cool judgment realised that already 
 only one hour from lowering sufficient work had 
 been provided to last all hands, work as they would, 
 until the odour of their spoil would become utterly 
 intolerable, which is the principal drawback in 
 sperm-whaling to taking full advantage of such an 
 opportunity as the present one. 
 
 Reluctantly the boats drew each to her prey, 
 unwillingly the officers ceased plying their lances 
 among the aimlessly wandering monsters, and there 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 229 
 
 amid lanes of coming and going whales they laboured 
 to attach their tow-lines to dead whale flukes, while 
 the Captain, returning on board, took charge of his 
 ship again, and aided by a gentle southerly breeze 
 that had just sprung up, manoeuvred her around in 
 order to secure the spoil. It was a wonderful sight 
 when all the great carcasses had been secured along- 
 side to see the assembled hundreds maybe thousands 
 of survivors surrounding the ship as if held there 
 by some dread fascination they were unable to resist. 
 Usually the sight or scent or presence of blood is 
 sufficient to send them fleeing at the top of their 
 speed to the four airts ; but now was one of the ex- 
 ceptions, and in the clear sleeky water around the 
 ship their vast bodies rolled and turned without 
 apparent objective, until one of the passengers was 
 fain to ask the skipper whether he did not think they 
 were meditating an attack in force upon her. Cap- 
 tain Hampden laughed loud and long, for he had 
 several times been privileged to witness a similar 
 scene, and he knew that no more danger was to be 
 apprehended from the presence of all those whales 
 than there was from the coming of the thousands of 
 sharks that in all the fury of their ravenous hunger 
 were already tearing at the mighty carcasses secured 
 to the ship. 
 
 Again was that ship's company involved in the 
 most tremendous toil, but better fitted than before 
 by experience, and unhindered by the awful prospect 
 of imminent death by their vessel being dashed 
 ashore. Moreover, the weather was beautifully fine 
 as well as mild, the barometer stood steadily high, 
 the sea was as smooth as it ever is in 35 S., and 
 
230 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 there were seven willing additional hands. All the 
 more willing because the skipper assured them that 
 as soon as ever the cutting-in was accomplished he 
 would make sail again for Cape Town, and that this 
 splendid accession to his profits for the voyage would 
 only hinder their progress for at most a couple of 
 days. A ship's company all in the highest spirits, 
 working as if their very lives depended upon the 
 amount they did, with never a harsh word spoken ; 
 every man, seaman or officer, bubbling over with 
 cheerfulness and good temper, and seven splendid 
 auxiliaries joining their forces as if the whole affair 
 was a gigantic piece of fun. It was too. For as the 
 capture of the whales had been the easiest on record 
 for sperm-whales, the whole seven taken having been 
 slain in less than one hour, so the weather was as 
 perfect as the most exacting desire could make it. 
 The little southerly breeze that had been so valuable 
 in the getting of the spoil alongside had died com- 
 pletely away, and the only movement of the vessel, 
 hardly noticeable, was due to an almost imperceptible 
 westerly swell. As Mr. Pease said, * Anybody 'd 
 think we wuz ridin' snug in some harbour.' 
 
 As the weather was so propitious, every effort was 
 directed at first to getting the whales beheaded, and 
 the strange spectacle was to be witnessed of men 
 hacking away at those great masses below them 
 from little stages slung all round the ship, wherever 
 a whale's head could be got at comprehensively. 
 And all this to such good purpose that by sunset, 
 although the men were not over-fatigued, the whole 
 of the seven heads were off and floating astern at the 
 ends of stout ropes, and one whale had been skinned 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 231 
 
 and his blubber carefully stowed below. A perfect 
 illumination of the ship by means of cressets was 
 devised, each of which, slung where it could be of the 
 most service, was kept supplied with whale ' scrap/ 
 or the blubber from preceding whales, from which as 
 much oil had been boiled as possible. This is the 
 only fuel used for boiling the oil, and as it blazes 
 almost like a Lucigen light it makes a splendid 
 illuminant as well. Besides, the glorious moon, a 
 huge disc of blazing silver, made the night bright, 
 enough to read quite small print so bright, indeed, 
 that although there was not a trace of cloud or mist, 
 the pretty stars were hardly visible. So as soon as 
 the well-earned supper was eaten a system was 
 devised whereby ten men and two officers at a time 
 should have two hours' sleep, there being then quite 
 sufficient to handle the windlass and rip off the 
 blubber. 
 
 Then the great night's work began. The rattling 
 of the windlass pawls was incessant ; there seemed 
 to be no pause in the steady ascent of the great 
 black-and-white blankets, and the shouting of orders, 
 the cheerful gabble, and the roaring of the fires made 
 a most pleasant tumult. In the midst of it all, after 
 midnight, a voice was heard across the sea shouting, 
 ' Ship ahoy ! Want any assistance ? ' Mr. Pease, 
 in charge at the time, roared back, * No ; why ? ' 
 'Thought ye was on fire. I'll send a boat on boaid.' 
 And sure enough from a trim frigate, which had 
 stolen up by the aid of the light upper airs, came a 
 boat, full of sorely puzzled men, who had never 
 witnessed a scene like it in their lives, and, having 
 witnessed it, would never be likely to forget it. It 
 
232 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 was only by the most careful piloting and obedience 
 to the instructions shouted at them from the deck of 
 the whaler that the boat was able to pick her way 
 among those floating masses ; but, that difficulty suc- 
 cessfully overcome, the officer in charge leaped on to 
 the rail and stood gazing with wide-eyed wonder upon 
 the deck. For, do what they would, the hardly pressed 
 toilers had been unable to stow more than the 
 blubber from two whales in the blubber-room, so that 
 the blankets of three others were encumbering the 
 deck and making it, to anybody but a whaleman, 
 almost impassable. 
 
 The visitor clambered aft and introduced himself 
 to Captain Hampden, newly awakened, as a lieutenant 
 of H.M.S. Griffon, and apologised for intrusion, saying 
 that he, with all the rest of his ship's company, could 
 not help but believe that they were coming in the 
 nick of time to the assistance of a vessel on fire. But 
 he added, while he was glad to find that not the case, 
 he was delighted to have had the opportunity of 
 gazing upon such a scene, which his wildest dreams 
 of sea-happenings had never before pictured. Then 
 the skipper gave him the news of the rescue, and 
 asked if it would be agreeable to have the passengers 
 transferred. This, however, they themselves demurred 
 to, feeling no doubt that such an opportunity as now 
 presented itself for gaining experience was not to be 
 lightly given up ; and, besides, they found that there 
 would be no saving of time, as the warship was bound 
 to Ascension. So, after a hearty shake hands all 
 round, the gallant officer swung himself over the rail 
 and departed, primed with material for yarns for 
 years to come 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 233 
 
 That night passed with almost the rapidity of a 
 sound sleep, but its hours had been so well utilised 
 that when the lovely morning broke and gilded the 
 haggard faces of the toilers, all the carcasses had 
 been disposed of and the great heads were ranged 
 alongside ready for dissection. Now these whales, 
 though large, were by no means of the largest, and 
 therefore it occurred to the skipper to test his lifting- 
 gear to the utmost. So he had the 'junk* or snout 
 point of the first cut off, hoisted on deck, and secured ; 
 then, hooking both tackles on to the remainder of the 
 head, all hands buckled on to the windlass, and, 
 although the old vessel listed dangerously, succeeded 
 in bringing the great mass on deck. Now for activity. 
 A long rip fore and aft the case ; ten willing hands 
 dipping their buckets at once into the reservoir of 
 spermaceti. Plenty more behind passing it away 
 into the tanks. Wonderful ! In twenty minutes it 
 is empty, and at a word from the skipper as the ship 
 rolls to starboard, two or three swift spade blows 
 release the empty head and it slides massively into 
 the sea. Hurrah ! Now for another. Will these 
 men never tire ? Apparently not. But the skipper's 
 brow is knotted with care. Receptacles for the bland 
 spermaceti, semi-liquid as it is, are beginning to fail. 
 ' Cooper, what shall we do ? Tanks are all full. 
 Kain't ye git us some pipes ? ' ' Gimme three hands, 
 sir, 'n' I'll git y' all yew want' ' Bully fur you, cooper. 
 Jim, Rube, Manuel, go with the cooper and help him.' 
 And in half-an-hour two 336-gallon pipes are ready 
 to receive the rest of the spermaceti : the difficulty is 
 met. 
 
 Four P.M. sees the Xiphias so utterly blocked 
 
234 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 from knight-heads to cabin skylight with blubber 
 that the passenger seamen look solemnly at one 
 another and wonder what will be the end of it all. 
 They do not know how recently this crowd have 
 disposed of an almost similar difficulty, with an awful 
 shore grinning up at them from close a-lee. A faint 
 westerly breeze springs up, the passengers are asked 
 if they will make sail, and as they gladly assent, away 
 goes the grand old tub under every stitch, smoking 
 like two or three steamers rolled into one, and leaving 
 behind her a wide wake of smoothness from exuding 
 oil for she is fast becoming more like an oil-saturated 
 sponge than a ship. But nothing daunts her crew. 
 They are happy. Visions of a glorious ending of 
 their voyage, of farms bought, and a position among 
 their stay-at-home neighbours proudly pre-eminent, 
 fill their minds and make them call up the last ounce 
 of energy to cut a horse-piece or turn the mincer- 
 handle when they have felt for the last half-hour that 
 it was impossible to put in another stroke. 
 
 These visions come to all but Rube. For of him 
 it may truly be said that he lives in the present. 
 The past has no memories for him, the future no 
 anticipation. To all the cheery chatter of his ship- 
 mates anent their plans for the future he turns a 
 disinterested ear. When they say, ' Wut you goin' 
 t' do, Rube ole man, w'en yew gits home ? ' he replies 
 solemnly, ' Only God knows. I ain't got no plans. 
 I want Him to 'range things fur me, then I know 
 they'll be all right. Anyhow, I know I kain't be any 
 happier than I am 'mong yew dear fellers I never 
 thought 't would be possible t' be so happy 's I am 
 naow. But, dear chaps, ef I wuz yew I wouldn't go 
 
HUMANITY REWARDED 235 
 
 buildin' too many castles. Y' see at fust, yew know, 
 they're only castles in th' air, but ef yew go on buildin' 
 an' buildin', bimeby they gets t' be so real t' yew thet 
 w'en yew finds 'at yew kain't build 'em indeed, th' 
 disappointment is awful.' So he talked, and, good- 
 naturedly, they bantered him. And meanwhile the 
 great work was being well done ; so well done that 
 two days before they entered Table Bay, and passing 
 close under Robben Island, anchored well clear of 
 the mail steamers' track into the harbour, the last 
 trace of foulness was removed from the old ship she 
 looked clean as a ship should look. She did not 
 smell sweet, but that, alas ! could not be helped. In 
 those warm climates it is only possible to avoid bad 
 smells in a whaler that has no luck, and the Xiphias 
 certainly had redeemed her apparent bad luck at last ; 
 for she had only been out seven months, and now 
 she had on board 800 barrels of sperm oil and 550 
 right-whale oil, besides two and a half tons of baleen, 
 so that her catch at the market price of that day may 
 be invoiced thus : 
 
 800 barrels of sperm oil = 80 tons, at ^100 = 
 
 $500 per ton 8,000 = $40,000 
 
 5 50 barrels of black oil = 55 tons, at 20 = 
 
 $100 per ton 1,100 = $5,500 
 
 2^ tons, bone at 1,500 = 
 
 $7,500 per ton 3,75<> = $17,75 
 
 12,850 = $63,250 
 
 An ideal trip so far, and yielding even to the poor 
 holder of the 25<Dth lay, a comfortable sum of 51 Ss. 
 = ^256*50, of course subject to deduction for slops, 
 tobacco, advance, &c. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A GREAT BLOW 
 
 MANY and terrible are the temptations which await 
 the striving Christian, whatever his or her spiritual 
 age may be. It is a moot point whether they (the 
 temptations) are felt more severely by the babe in 
 Christ in the first fervour of the new life, or by the 
 mature Christian who is insensibly led to feel that he 
 or she has attained unto a firm standing in the Faith. 
 But one thing is, or should be, beyond controversy, 
 and that is that no fiercer temptations assail any man 
 than those which await the newly converted sailor, 
 who has begun, in the solitude of the ocean and its 
 sweet freedom from the allurements of shore vices, 
 the upward way. He has been born, and has grown 
 up to a certain Christian stature in a state of peaceful 
 freedom from the evils of shore life, and has almost 
 come to regard them as belonging to a previous state 
 of existence to which he can never return. Then, when 
 he is suddenly plunged headlong into them again he 
 is in great, very great, danger of a relapse that may 
 give him an agonising season of remorse. But I 
 must not carry this digression too far. I only wish, 
 in beginning this chapter, to point out how dire were 
 the perils awaiting the crew of the Xiphias^ many of 
 whom were only, in the imitative way common to the 
 
A GREAT BLOW 237 
 
 majority of human beings, behaving as they saw the 
 general sense of their little community would have 
 them behave, and not at all from any conviction as to 
 the necessity of such behaviour to their peace or from 
 any inward urging whatever. 
 
 It is, however, safe to say that such considerations 
 troubled no one on board the ship at all. Every 
 man was in an overflowing state of happiness at 
 again anchoring in a civilised port after the long 
 and weary cruise and the many hardships and 
 dangers encountered. Every man, too, with the 
 exception of Rube, was half-intoxicated with a quite 
 lawful pride in his achievements during the past two 
 months. All remembered how helplessly, ignorantly, 
 and painfully they had begun the voyage, traced 
 easily the educational way they had come, mentally 
 visualised vividly each heroic detail, and gradually 
 lost sight of the great central fact of it all, the 
 Fatherly care of God. Therefore, when, the next 
 day after arrival, the rescued passengers returned on 
 board with urgent requests to the Captain that 
 he would allow them the privilege of entertaining the 
 crew ashore as a slight return for benefits received, 
 all who could be spared on that day, except Rube, 
 joyfully availed themselves of the permission readily 
 given and went ashore. 
 
 They were royally welcomed at one of the 
 principal hotels by the rescued ones, some of whom 
 had wired home and received in reply advices 
 enabling them to draw upon the local banks for 
 all moneys needed. They were entertained far too 
 well, for two-thirds of them returned on board drunk 
 and quarrelsome, and for the first time that voyage 
 
238 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the foc's'le was the scene of a riotous conflict, in 
 the midst of which Rube moved like a strong 
 apostle of peace, able, as well as eager, to enforce 
 quietude upon the most unruly, even though it 
 involved a considerable amount of what some weak- 
 minded people might call brutality. The lesson 
 taught by this episode was not without its valuable 
 effect upon those who had remained on board. With 
 a self-sacrifice entirely laudable, they refused to go 
 ashore at all. This may not, probably will not, be 
 assessed by my readers at its proper value ; but, oh, if 
 landsfolk could only realise the intense longing for 
 a run ashore which seizes upon sailors after being 
 cooped up on board ship for seven or eight months, it 
 would be understood. Truly, Reuben and the skipper 
 had done their best to give the ship-keeping crew 
 such amusement as was possible, and the best shore 
 food, fresh beef, mutton, and vegetables that could be 
 procured had been provided. 
 
 Table Bay swarms, or did swarm, with a splendid 
 species of crustacean known as ' craw-fish/ many 
 of which grow to a huge size, weighing several 
 pounds, and have a flavour in no way inferior to 
 that of a lobster. There was great sport in 
 catching these in impromptu nets made of rope- 
 yarn meshed upon hoops and baited with bones, 
 and even greater satisfaction in knowing that they 
 would live for months in tanks of salt water frequently 
 renewed. Then there was ordinary fishing, or, 
 perhaps, I should say extraordinary fishing, of the 
 schnapper, the cod, and other fish which swarm 
 around the southern extremity of Africa almost 
 unmolested. And sailors love fishing, though scarcely 
 
A GREAT BLOW 239 
 
 any class of men living within reach of fishable waters 
 get less of it. 
 
 So quite pleasantly the time passed away the 
 four days during which Captain Hampden found 
 it possible to sell his baleen and tranship it, and 
 to expend a liberal sum in fresh food, vegetables, and 
 live-stock. On the fifth morning, at daybreak, the 
 cry of ' Man the windlass ! ' rang along the deck of the 
 XiphiaS) and all hands responded. But, unhappily, 
 most of those who had been ashore did so very 
 unwillingly. The memory of their spree was secretly 
 most alluring ; they had tasted illicit delights again, 
 and were lamenting the deprivation of them. Thus 
 they were sullen, unwilling, and miserable. Vainly 
 did Rube exert all his simple arts to rouse them out 
 of themselves, to cheer them. They would not be 
 cheered ; they hugged their misery and almost infected 
 several of their shipmates. 
 
 But the work was going on, all unconsciously 
 the best cure was being applied, and by nightfall, 
 with their fine old ship heading northward for 
 the Mozambique Channel before a fine following 
 breeze, they had gone much farther than they 
 were aware of on the road to repentance and 
 recovery. By repentance I do not mean that spurious 
 sentiment which is really sorrow for one's inability to 
 go and repeat former sins or excesses, disgust and 
 annoyance at being compelled to reap what one has 
 sown, but a comprehensive change of mind with 
 reference to one's former behaviour, a distrust of one's 
 own powers of resistance to the drawings of evil, and 
 a determination to trust for deliverance from them 
 to Almighty God. A simple definition, perhaps, but 
 
240 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 one that I know is far too often neglected or wilfully 
 misunderstood. 
 
 Day succeeded day in perfect loveliness of 
 weather and peace on board. The routine of the 
 ship had fallen easily back into its accustomed 
 grooves, and opportunity had been taken to renew 
 all the wastage that had been made in the general 
 equipment of the ship and boats by reason of the 
 recent heavy demands made upon it. But no whales 
 were seen. Eager eyes scanned the wide sea for 
 every moment of the daylight, but nothing was seen 
 of any value. Still, the previous sense of irritation 
 and almost hopelessness was not there, could hardly 
 be, since so great an accession of profit had been 
 made during the last two months ; a haul that, as 
 Captain Hampden gratefully admitted, might not 
 have been made on some voyages during the first two 
 years. But as day succeeded day and week followed 
 week, there came upon all hands a querulous desire 
 to question the wisdom which had brought the ship 
 into a part of the ocean where everything desirable 
 was found except the one central object of the 
 voyage : profit. As watch followed watch under 
 those lovely skies, the watchers became listless, care- 
 less, their attitude at the mastheads showed how 
 weary they had become of the fruitless gaze across 
 the wide sea-plain. And the wise skipper, who, as a 
 skipper should, carefully noted all the symptoms of 
 discontent, gradually tightened the somewhat relaxed 
 disciplinary fibres, and had many things done which, 
 under the pressure of whaling, might quite safely 
 have remained undone. The recently obtained cargo 
 was overhauled and re-stowed, the reeking hold was 
 
A GREAT BLOW 241 
 
 thoroughly cleansed, and although nothing was ever 
 undertaken which could not be dropped at one 
 minute's notice, had whales appeared, an enormous 
 amount of valuable work was accomplished, and that, 
 too, without any friction whatever. In addition to 
 the work of the ship, the Captain unofficially en- 
 couraged the men to undertake in their leisure 
 moments the making of * scrimshaw/ the name given 
 to objets-cCart (?), fabricated of ivory and bone, and 
 calling out all the latent mechanical genius possessed 
 by the men. 
 
 To this end, foreseeing an easy, quiet time, he had 
 caused several jaw-pans of the sperm-whale to be set 
 aside and towed astern in order that they might 
 bleach to a dazzling whiteness. All the teeth had 
 been saved and pickled in barrels of strong brine, and 
 a considerable number of the shorter blades or 
 laminae of baleen had been retained when the bulk 
 of it was transhipped at Cape Town. Word was 
 passed forward that any man who felt inclined might 
 have for the asking such of these materials as he 
 chose in order to try his hand at curio-making ; and 
 the carpenter, although, like most good workmen, he 
 would not lend his tools, never refused to saw off a 
 length of jawbone for a walking-stick, or cut up into 
 rough pieces the bleached bone, for any man who 
 asked him. Nor did he make any favour of showing 
 a man how to make his own tools out of old knives, 
 files, rasps, or even sail-needles. This amiability had 
 great results, for before long practically all hands 
 were engaged upon this fascinating hobby, and, 
 emulating one another, were turning out some really 
 beautiful pieces of work in carved ivory, bone, and 
 
 R 
 
242 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 baleen. Some of the sticks were quite works of art. 
 A length of, say, three feet by one inch square, sawn 
 from a jaw-pan after it had been subjected to a long 
 tow astern, would be tightly lashed down to a spar 
 in the sun so that it would dry perfectly straight. 
 Then, by the aid of a ' cutter ' or rasp, softened in 
 the fire and filed into deep ridges with cutting edges, 
 it would be worked down into a rough roundness of 
 outline. By the aid of other equally primitive tools 
 the stick would then be gradually fashioned into the 
 semblance of a rope, with * worming/ or a much 
 smaller rope twisted into its lays a form of art 
 which is highly interesting, as having been practised 
 by sailors from very remote days. Three years ago, 
 when staying at Repton School, I was shown over 
 the ruins of the ancient abbey there, and in the 
 recently unearthed crypt, dating back to Anglo- 
 Saxon times I was told, there were four monolithic 
 pillars of stone supporting the roof, each of which 
 was carved into the same semblance of a rope with 
 ' worming ' in its lays. Also at a great country 
 house where I stayed last year, whose noble and 
 hospitable owner made a hobby of collecting books 
 on ancient art, I saw some superb illustrations in 
 colour of ancient croziers, upon which were carved in 
 ivory or worked in precious metals the universally 
 used ' Turk's-head ' of the sailor, which has not 
 altered one jot of its details down to the present day 
 through all those hundreds of years. 
 
 But to return to our stick-maker. At one end of 
 the stick about eight or ten inches would be cut 
 away until only a slender square rod of about three- 
 eighths of an inch thickness remained ; upon this 
 
A GREAT BLOW 243 
 
 would be threaded medallions of ivory, baleen, silver 
 (quarter-dollars), ebony, and coco-tree wood. An 
 albatross head or some similarly well-known object 
 would be patiently carved and secured on top, and 
 the whole stick was then polished, first with fine 
 sand, then with powdered pumice-stone, and finished 
 with chalk and oil. And really, when completed, 
 many of these pieces of work would have made no 
 bad show in an industrial exhibition, especially if the 
 primitive tools could have been shown with them. 
 Besides this fascinating pursuit, there were several 
 others tacitly encouraged by the skipper, such as 
 model-making, gymnastics, swimming (on calm days), 
 and, of course, fishing. And thus gradually what 
 had threatened to become a painful set-back to all of 
 them turned out to be a veritable blessing, a halcyon 
 time which many remembered all their lives after 
 with the most tender regret. 
 
 But still they were not earning anything, and 
 after their experience on the other side of the Cape 
 they be^an to feel as if their fortunes were already 
 made. They did not realise the vastness of the 
 ocean and the tiny little circle, after all, that their 
 outlook gave them from the mastheads. And in 
 spite of the noble bounty offered by the skipper of 
 twenty-five dollars to whoever should ' raise ' a sperm- 
 whale, it was very hard, to hang up there for 
 two hours in that blazing sun and keep one's attention 
 fixed upon one's business. At last, however (eleven 
 weeks having passed since they left Cape Town), it 
 happened to be Rube's masthead at daybreak that 
 is to say, shortly after 5 A.M. With his usual 
 pleasant alacrity he swallowed his coffee and sprang 
 
 R2 
 
244 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 into the fore-rigging at the cry from aft, ' Man mast- 
 heads ! ' As he went MacManus said jestingly, 
 1 Reubin, darlin', ef yez do be raisin* sperm-whales 
 Oi'll share th' bounty wid yez.' 'Yew shall that/ 
 replied Rube gaily, ' an' everybody else as well ef I 
 know myself.' As he went springingly aloft his eye 
 dwelt lovingly upon the marvellous colouring of the 
 sea, the ever-changing sequence of shades reflected 
 from the glory above ; and his heart filled with loving 
 worship, for there is no education in appreciative 
 observation of God's wonderful works like an intimate 
 acquaintance with Him. When he reached the 
 topgallant-yard he saw the great glowing arc of the 
 sun's upper limb just shedding a long line of blazing 
 gold along the horizon, as if it could not contain all 
 its store of glory, but must needs let some run freely 
 on every hand. And as Rube climbed into his perch 
 the awful majesty of the whole orb swung clear of 
 the sea, and ocean and sky blazed ineffably, blindingly 
 upon Rube's sight, making him for a moment veil his 
 face in his hands and murmur a few disjointed words 
 of praise. 
 
 Never in all his experience had he seen so glorious 
 a sunrise. He could not help feeling an intense 
 desire for more ability to appreciate its marvels, for 
 more power to praise, more capacity for gratitude. 
 And then as his eyes swept the horizon round, re- 
 membering his duty, he saw immediately beneath the 
 sun's disc a curious peak, black, but edged with 
 flame, which gave him the impression of its being 
 some gigantic mountain top upon which the sun had 
 been resting, and now was rising after it in readiness 
 to receive it if it should fall. So strong was the 
 
A GREAT BLOW 245 
 
 impression that it made him shudder in spite of him- 
 self and turn away. As he did so, broad on the port 
 beam about five miles away rose the well-known figure 
 of a sperm-whale exhaling a great volume of vapour 
 diagonally from his spiracle and sending before his 
 blunt head a perfect cascade of diamond spray. One 
 moment's pause, and from Rube's deep chest burst 
 the startling whalers' call, at which the previously half- 
 awakened decks below burst suddenly into seeming life. 
 Not one minute was lost, for the crew were in the 
 highest state of efficiency and eagerness. Only two 
 boats were lowered, for the whale had no fellow ; he 
 was apparently one of those morose old bulls that 
 had been ejected from his overlordship of the school 
 he had led so long and was doomed to wander lonely 
 till the end. One drawback there was to the chase ; 
 it was almost a flat calm, and at such a time approach 
 to a lone sperm-whale is exceedingly difficult. His 
 senses (whatever they are, they are not like ours) are 
 so acute that unless there be a little sea on, some- 
 thing that by its natural sounds may render the splash 
 of an oar or the rattle of a rowlock inaudible, the 
 whale will almost certainly be alarmed and make 
 good his escape. But as they were paddling with the 
 utmost caution in his direction, a puff of wind 
 darkened the water and at the same time sent a cold 
 shiver through all hands. The mate recovered from 
 his surprise first, and his hoarse whisper ran through 
 the crew's ears : ' In paddles, step mast, quietly now.' 
 He was obeyed in swiftness and silence, and the 
 second mate, following the example, had his sail up 
 almost as soon. Then, as the graceful boats glided 
 noiselessly across the just rising ripples, all hands had 
 
246 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 leisure to look about them, and to their intense un- 
 easiness they saw that the whole aspect of the heavens 
 was changed. The colour of the blessed sun itself 
 had faded from glowing gold to a stale, sickly, 
 greenish hue, and the morning cheerfulness of the 
 sky was replaced by a dreary, leaden blue, to which 
 the sea had responded by turning almost black. 
 And it was so cold. The sun seemed at once to have 
 been shorn of his beams and his power of distributing 
 warmth. He still shone, it is true, but as if through 
 a veil of some deadly mist depriving him of all his 
 beneficent influences. Yet there was no vapour what- 
 ever visible. 
 
 The mate, however, alone of the little company, 
 seemed entirely unconscious of any change in the 
 weather. With his eyes fixed upon the supine 
 monster ahead he steered the boat as if he were part 
 of it, as if, indeed, he were enduing it with some of his 
 own personality. Occasionally, it is true, he cast 
 furtive glances at the second mate's boat, but that 
 was only to see whether he was keeping as far ahead 
 of that officer as etiquette demanded. And as the 
 breeze freshened the lively craft began leaping game- 
 somely over the infant waves, nearing the whale at a 
 great rate. At last ! The harpooner, a lean American 
 from Nantucket, rose stealthily to his feet, balancing 
 the clumsy-looking weapon as if it were a feather 
 in his right hand, and methodically arranging the 
 coils of stray line on the little forward deck or * box ' 
 of the boat. She made one last spring forward ; then, 
 with a great swooping curve, graceful as that of an 
 albatross, she glided alongside the whale, and two 
 harpoons flew from Walter's sinewy fingers into the 
 
A GREAT BLOW 247 
 
 whale's body. She passed into a little offing of safety 
 as the sail was brailed in, but the whale wasted no 
 time or strength in fruitless struggle to free himself of 
 the irons. He apparently gathered all his powers 
 together and fled to windward through the rapidly 
 rising waves, heeding not the weight behind him 
 more than as if it had not existed. He went so fast, 
 indeed, and so dead end on to the sea that the accom- 
 plishment of the boat's clearance was a task of un- 
 common difficulty, taking nearly thrice the usual time. 
 And when it was finished neither the companion 
 boat nor the ship was to be seen. More, the black 
 pinnacle of cloud noted by Rube at sunrise had now 
 overspread fully one half of the heavens. The other 
 half had a menacing shade, not of cloud, but the 
 shadow of the great eastern mass, and yet behind the 
 gloom there was the suggestion of an unearthly glow. 
 No one could say why or how the ship had dis- 
 appeared, but not a sign of her was visible. A 
 strange fear fell upon all, even Rube, who'by virtue of 
 his great strength had the midship thwart (the heaviest 
 oar) in the mate's boat. Instinctively the mate came 
 aft and got out the compass ; but, except to tell 
 in which direction the whale was going, which they 
 already knew was something near east, its indications 
 were of little value they had no bearing of the ship. 
 And the whale went steadily on into the gathering 
 darkness. 
 
 Meanwhile, on board the ship signals of recall 
 were being frantically made in the hope that the fast 
 boat might see them. Mr. Peck did see, and in less 
 than half an hour was safe alongside again, his boat 
 hoisted, and his men putting all their energies into 
 
248 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the preparations to meet the coming cyclone. The 
 ship was now between the Seychelles and the Saya 
 de Malha Bank, having been gradually working north 
 and east from the Mozambique Channel upon finding 
 that usually prolific hunting ground so barren of 
 result. And consequently she was now in one of 
 the very worst places in the whole ocean for meeting 
 with those awful circular storms which are variously 
 known as hurricanes, cyclones, or typhoons, according 
 as they are experienced in the Atlantic Ocean, the 
 Indian Ocean, or the China Sea, but which are all 
 the same kind of terrible natu: al convulsion, beneficent 
 in their after-effects undoubtedly, but while they last 
 filling most men with the conviction that the end of 
 all things is at hand. Still, so staunch and sea- 
 worthy was the Xiphias, in common with most of 
 her sisters built by those old-fashioned, methodical 
 descendants of the old Puritans in New England, 
 that the near approach of such a cataclysm would 
 have given Captain Hampden very little additional 
 uneasiness but for the fact of his mate's boat being 
 away, lost to sight, and of his own inability to follow 
 it up when once the meteor burst, which it was now 
 evidently upon the point of doing. Nothing, how- 
 ever, could be left undone that ought to be done for 
 the safety of those remaining on board, and no time 
 wasted in vain regrets ; so for two or three hours all 
 hands were kept at full pressure putting extra lashings 
 upon everything movable double gaskets, * marling ' 
 down the sails, hoisting the boats as high as 
 they would go to the davit-heads, and there secur- 
 ing them with all the skill available. Also a quantity 
 of food was hastily cooked (the Xiphias, like most of 
 
A GREAT BLOW 249 
 
 those old ships, carried little canned provisions) and 
 stored where it could be got at without opening 
 hatches or depending upon a lighted fire. Every- 
 thing, in fact, was done that skill and forethought 
 could suggest or urge to, and then the men were 
 called aft. All hands stood facing the gallant old 
 skipper as with head bare he steadied himself against 
 the skylight. 
 
 c Men/ said he, ' we've kem up agenst big trouble, 
 for a boat's crew of our shipmates air a-missin', an' 
 only God He knows whether we sh'l ever see 'em agen. 
 I feel a'most heart-broken at lettin' 'em go ; but, 
 men, I'd no idea 'at thishyer hurrican' fur hurrican ' 
 it's a-goin' t' be, there's no possible doubt o' that wuz 
 a-comin' on so sudden. An', besides, yew all know 
 how eager all han's wuz t' git some whale after eour 
 long spell athout seein' one. Thar's no denyin' the 
 fact, eour shipmates air in terrible danger. We're in 
 danger, too, fur these hurrican's is enough t' make the 
 bravest man 'at ever lived feel quaky t' his very soul. 
 But we've a grand ship under eour feet, an' we've 
 a-done all thet man k'n do to make her ready fur the 
 great fight thet's a-comin'. Naow we've a-got an- 
 other duty t' perform. In thet boat beside Mr. Pease, 
 as good an officer 's ever trod a deck 'r hove a lance, 
 an' Walter his harpooner, also one ov th' very best, 
 and MacManus, Joey, and Manuel, all good, sterlin' 
 men as all th' crew is, thar's Rube Eddy. Thet man's 
 taught us all lessons we needed worse than any of us 
 knew. By his example he's shamed us into bein' 
 better men, an' every one of us is happier then we 
 could 'a' ben if we hadn't known him. Already I feel 
 at the thought of losin' him 's if I don't care t' live 
 
250 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 myself, an' I know thet all of you 'r feelin' with me 
 how great a blessin' he's ben t' us aboard this ship. 
 So I ask you all t' kneel down like men an' pray each 
 in your own fashion fur Rube an' his fellows in th' 
 boat ; thet in this fearful time, God, who kin do 
 anything, may be with 'em t' save, and thet He may 
 see fit t' bring us all together again. An' if not, to 
 make us all what Rube Eddy often prayed we might 
 be good men, ready t' live 'r die as it should please 
 God, but whichever it is, to keep unbroken the image 
 of God in us. Let's pray.' 
 
 All hands fell on their knees, and there, in the 
 gathering darkness, these wanderers from many lands, 
 uncouth, ignorant, careless seafarers, each in his own 
 way silently pleaded with an unmistakably present 
 God for the safety of the boat's crew, and all added, 
 * especially Rube.' Occasionally an ejaculation which 
 could not be suppressed burst forth, but for the space 
 of about a quarter of an hour, except for the voice of 
 the wind like the growing wailings of a tortured spirit, 
 and the continual mutter of the thunder, there was no 
 other sound. Then, as if at a given signal, the skipper 
 lifted up his voice in the sublime old Apostles' Prayer, 
 the Amens were fervently murmured, and with per- 
 ceptibly strengthened hearts the crew dispersed to their 
 several duties or resting places, and thick darkness 
 clothed them as with a garment, shutting out all the 
 view of sea and sky. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 THE CYCLONE 
 
 ALTHOUGH all hands had dispersed and half of them 
 were free to seek their berths, they could none of 
 them go below. A great awe, not to say fear, was 
 upon them, for none of them save the skipper and 
 some of the officers had ever witnessed the upheaval 
 of the sea and down-pressing of the heavens 
 which were now imminent, and the coming thereof 
 exercised a fearful fascination upon them. They 
 huddled in groups, only whispering an occasional 
 word, and waited for they knew not what. Yet all 
 had a feeling that it must be the Trump of Doom. 
 As yet the wind had not attained any great force, 
 but the motion of the ship was exceedingly uneasy, for 
 the ocean is so responsive to the power of the wind 
 that long before a gale which is somewhere raging has 
 reached a ship, she will often be most violently tossed 
 by big waves coming sweeping towards her, and this 
 without any barometrical warning that can be noticed. 
 Nay, it sometimes happens that after several hours of 
 anxious waiting for the expected gale, with almost 
 every stitch in the ship close furled, the restless sea 
 will again quiet down, the filminess will disappear 
 from the sky, and serene weather will once more 
 prevail : the gale has either blown itself out or has 
 
252 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 by a very well understood meteorological event been 
 diverted from its original course into a totally new 
 one. 
 
 None of these things, however, was known to or 
 noticed by the crew of the Xiphias. They felt the 
 pall above descending lower and lower until they 
 could imagine its inky folds resting upon the mast- 
 heads ; they heard the wailing and moaning of the 
 wind, rising to an occasional wild shriek, as if im- 
 patient to begin the elemental strife ; they experienced 
 the peculiar sensation inseparable from the environ- 
 ment of an atmosphere surcharged with electricity ; 
 and they were obliged to hold on to keep themselves 
 from being thrown off their feet by the unnatural, 
 unexpected lurches of the puzzled ship. But it is fair 
 to them to say that through all their apprehensions 
 for the next few hours they felt most for their half- 
 dozen shipmates in that frail boat, far away in the 
 awful darkness, doomed to face the fiercest conflict of 
 wind and wave known to seafarers, all unsheltered 
 even by a little deck. Then came a new terror. The 
 accumulation of electric fluid all around them, having 
 become greater than the atmosphere could hold, 
 commenced to discharge itself in blinding streaks of 
 vari-coloured flame, which quiveringly ran about the 
 blackness overhead and almost seemed to light up 
 the black heaps of water rising and falling without 
 order all around them. Every yard-arm, masthead, 
 davit-head in fact, every point, even to their own 
 heads gleamed palely with latent electricity, and 
 strange sensations as of pricking roughened all the 
 surfaces of their bodies. Some became numbed with 
 fear, others wished they could be so. 
 
THE CYCLONE 253 
 
 And then it was almost a relief with a roar as 
 of ten thousand lions mad with hunger, the full hurri- 
 cane burst upon them. Where it struck them none 
 knew, or what the ship did when she felt it ; for 
 whether she was beneath the sea or above no one 
 could tell. The awful blast ripped off the surface of 
 the sea, and spread it through the air so that sight, 
 speech, almost breath became impossible. But they 
 all noticed that, although the ship beneath their feet 
 seemed as if she was being hurled through space, she 
 was now quite steady ; the drunken uncertain motion 
 she had previously been suffering from had altogether 
 ceased, for under that pressure of wind no sea could 
 lift its head. I said there was almost a sense of relief, 
 and this is really true, for now it did not appear 
 possible that matters could become worse. Men's 
 minds refused to entertain the possibility of any 
 increase in the force of the wind, and all felt dimly 
 that any change now must be for the better that the 
 hurricane was doing its worst. 
 
 The skipper, aft by the useless wheel, with the 
 two mates near him, endured like the rest. Having 
 done all that was humanly possible, and commended 
 himself and his charge to his Father, he had now but 
 to set his teeth, bend his head, and bear in patience, 
 awaiting without a tremor the manifestation of God's 
 will concerning him. There was a certain indefinite 
 satisfaction in having his two mates near him the 
 same feeling that the other members of the crew had 
 in being huddled together like sheep on the edge of 
 a cliff when the gale howls furiously landward and 
 sweeps the downs like the breath of a destroying 
 angel. In fact, neither Captain Hampden nor his 
 
254 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 officers took the trouble to think now. They just let 
 their mental powers lie dormant, having used them at 
 the right time to the best advantage, and being 
 quite ready to exercise them again when any good 
 could thereby be done. 
 
 And now, what of those brave men so perilously 
 cut off from their ship, left to themselves in the midst 
 of such potentialities of destruction that camping out 
 unsheltered and unarmed in the heart of an Indian 
 jungle would have been safety itself by comparison ? 
 For a time, while the whale kept his unswerving and 
 unfaltering rush into the blackness ahead, Mr. Pease's 
 energies and thought seemed solely concentrated 
 upon the means of compassing the death of his 
 gigantic steed any ideas concerning his own danger 
 or that of his crew did not seem to find admission to 
 his mind. After satisfying himself that the whale 
 was holding a straight course he called upon all hands 
 to put forth a supreme effort to get up near enough 
 to the monster, and make some feasible attempt at 
 fatally wounding him. And they, seizing the tow-line 
 and straining every sinew to the work, found that 
 they could actually gain upon him a little, although 
 the sprays coming over the bows threatened every 
 now and then to swamp them. But gradually they 
 found their task becoming easier, and although the 
 thickening gloom chilled their hearts they encouraged 
 one another with shouts of * There she feels it,' * Hand 
 over hand, hearties/ ' Walk her up to him ! ' * He's our 
 whale/ &c. And suddenly the mate yelled at the ut- 
 most strain of his lungs, ' Lay off lay her off, Walter ; 
 lay off, fur God's sake ! ' Nobly Walter responded ; the 
 light craft sprang off sideways under the pressure of 
 
THE CYCLONE 255 
 
 the great steer oar and Walter's straining muscles, 
 and the whale's huge flukes, brandished high in air, 
 came down with a crash like thunder, and smote the 
 water just a yard or two abaft the after oar. But 
 that blow cost the whale his life. For the boat shot 
 up alongside of him, and in towards his side withal, 
 and at the same moment Mr. Pease, taking deliberate 
 aim, sent a bomb-lance point blank into the great 
 body. Almost before the muffled report from within 
 told that the destructive weapon had exploded, a 
 hand-lance had followed it, and slid up to its pole 
 within the vast black mass. 
 
 Either of those terrible wounds had been sufficient 
 to kill, and the two combined had the effect of bring- 
 ing the whale to a sudden stop, when, with a long 
 expiration, like the escaping steam from a water- 
 loaded syren, he gasped out his life and was still, save 
 for the easy motion communicated to his huge carcass 
 by the waves. So sudden was his death that the 
 usual tremendous convulsion which takes place when 
 these leviathans die was totally absent. As soon as 
 it was evident that he was dead, Mr. Pease, rising to 
 the height of his responsibilities, and realising how 
 short a time was left during which anything might be 
 done, caused two more harpoons to be driven into 
 the whale's side near the first two, but bridled to the 
 main line. Then allowing about fifty fathoms drift he 
 cut the tow-line, and veering away to the tail suc- 
 ceeded with very great difficulty in getting a hole 
 cut through its thickest part, and the end of the tow- 
 line rove through it. That accomplished, the boat 
 was hauled back again to a position midway between 
 the whale's tail and its head, the lines made well fast, 
 
256 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 and the men told to make themselves as comfortable 
 as circumstances permitted by crouching low in the 
 bottom of the boat, and arranging the sail so as to 
 keep off just a little of the spindrift that was already 
 beginning to fill the air. 
 
 It was now quite dark, although but little after 
 noon ; the sea was in that curiously undecided state 
 before-mentioned, and the mate knew very well that 
 at any moment the full power of the hurricane might 
 burst upon them. Yet, strange as it may seem to 
 landsmen or even ordinary sailors, he had by no 
 means lost hope, neither had Walter. Both of them 
 knew from long experience, and not theoretically, how 
 splendid a breakwater is made by a dead whale. 
 Both of them had time and time again owed their 
 lives to the shelter afforded by one in the midst of 
 such stupendous seas as are encountered in the 
 Southern Ocean, where unhindered the lone sea sweeps 
 round the globe, and consequently both felt that even 
 in the present apparently hopeless circumstances 
 they might yet be found living when the hurricane 
 had passed and left the ocean bestrewn with the 
 wreckage of many a score of noble ships. I think it 
 is not generally known on land how magical (there is 
 really no other word to describe it) is the power 
 exercised by oil upon the sea. A little oil spilt upon 
 the water during the prevalence of the roughest 
 gale makes a tiny oasis of smoothness, around which 
 the most gigantic waves rear their furious crests in 
 vain in the endeavour to encroach upon it. ' Oil upon 
 the troubled waters ' has long been a paraphrase for 
 the gentle work of the peacemaker, but it is much 
 more than that it is a scientific expression of fact ; 
 
THE CYCLONE 257 
 
 and since shipmasters (being, as I am never weary 
 of pointing out, the most conservative of men) have 
 taken to using oil, as it should be used, for the purpose 
 of stilling the angry waves, the number of shipping 
 disasters that have been averted is past all counting. 
 It is safe to say that if, wherever any breakwater, 
 pier, or similar structure is exposed to the fury of 
 stormy seas, a large perforated pipe were to be laid 
 on the sea-bed a few yards seaward of the foundations 
 and surrounding them, through which in time of storm 
 oil might be pumped at high pressure, we should 
 never have any of those costly works destroyed by 
 the impact of the waves at all ; for they (the struc- 
 tures) would be surrounded by a ring fence of 
 smoothness beyond which, no matter how fierce their 
 anger, the great waves could never pass. 
 
 Now, a whale is a natural reservoir of oil, and, 
 whether alive or dead, he always has around him an 
 area of calm induced by the exudations from his 
 skin. Therefore, when we read of ' whales taking 
 refuge in sheltered bays from the fury of gales/ we 
 may be held blameless for curling the lip of derision, 
 and wondering what manner of fools they are who 
 perpetrate such twaddle for the deluding of their 
 readers. Also a whale when it is dead does by some 
 mysterious volition point its head, not in the wind's 
 eye, or directly to the quarter from whence the wind 
 comes, but about eight points, or forty-five degrees, 
 therefrom, and, stranger still, does invariably drift 
 towards the wind, and not, like a ship, away from it. 
 Various explanations have been proffered to account 
 for this really wonderful movement of the whale's 
 great carcass after death, but none of them, I think, 
 
 S 
 
258 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 is feasible save this : that the whale's tail, being a 
 huge limber piece of gristle of exquisite propulsive 
 shape, is so actuated by the wash of the waves past 
 the great body that its motions, like those of an oar 
 turned in a groove at the stern of a boat, are sufficient 
 to keep the body to which it is attached working to 
 windward. Not, be it noted, against a current, which 
 moves the whole mass of water, but against the wind 
 through the water and incidentally against the sea, 
 which is quite a different matter. 
 
 Perhaps an apology is necessary for so long a 
 digression, when the fate of Mr. Pease and his brave 
 men is trembling in the balance, but there are so 
 many utterly impossible and unexplainable things 
 to be read in stories now, written to account for the 
 escape of the hero, that I have felt compelled to take 
 up a little more space than usual in which to explain 
 the entire reasonableness and possibility of escape 
 from their dire peril which actuated and hardened 
 Mr. Pease and his crew. A whisper had run from 
 end to end of the boat full of hope, and Rube in the 
 middle had accepted it with heartfelt joy, not for his 
 own sake (for this extraordinary man never thought 
 about himself at all), but for the sake of his shipmates. 
 And then all settled down to wait and watch. High 
 over them, with a most terrific noise, a blaze of 
 unearthly light, and a peculiarly chilling sensation, 
 burst the hurricane. Really, terrible though it was, 
 they were immensely surprised that it was not worse. 
 They did not, could not realise how that great bank 
 of flesh, already floating much higher than ever it did 
 with life in it, was protecting them, not merely from 
 the impact of the sea, but from the swamping effect 
 
THE CYCLONE 259 
 
 of the spindrift, the sea face carried airwards by the 
 wind. As this came flying along it met the body of 
 the whale, and shot upwards, just passing over the 
 frail cockleshell riding in the little smooth to leeward. 
 All heaven's artillery opened out, the roar of the 
 wind, the rumble of the thunder, the hiss of the 
 lightning ; but cowering low down in their tiny craft 
 rocking easily in the quiet water under the lee of the 
 whale, those six men lived. And as the hours wore 
 on they forgot to be afraid ; nay, they even slept, or 
 hazily speculated upon what they should do when, 
 the storm having passed, they might, and probably 
 would, find themselves alone on that wide, wide sea, 
 foodless and waterless. And so the hours succeeded 
 each other, day insensibly passed into night, leathery 
 tongues vainly roamed round parched mouths seeking 
 moisture and finding none, and still hope lived. 
 
 How long they had thus patiently borne the burden 
 of a peril of which no landsman can have aught but 
 the feeblest adumbration of an idea, none of them 
 knew, for none of them had a watch, and even had there 
 been one there was no light. The darkness was of 
 that Egyptian character that one experiences in a 
 coal mine, and the blazing rivers of lightning which 
 occasionally coursed over their heads only added to 
 their blindness. But presently, as at some celestial 
 word of command, the elemental tumult ceased, the 
 wind fell to a dead calm, and a strange motion, totally 
 unlike the steady heave and roll of the former hours, 
 took its place. Overhead the cloud-pall thinned and 
 a star or two appeared. Their eyes, grown accus- 
 tomed to the velvety blackness, saw that they were 
 the centre of a charmed circle, all around which, at 
 
 s 2 
 
260 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 so short a distance that they seemed to be at the 
 bottom of a whirlpool, enormous masses of water 
 rose and fell in disorderly heaps. It was an appalling 
 sight, and the mate, with thoughtful wisdom, dis- 
 tracted their attention from it by advising them to 
 take advantage of the temporary lull to get a 
 drink and eat a biscuit. Each whaleboat carries a 
 wooden vessel like a large bucket, holding about four 
 gallons of fresh water. It is headed up like a cask, 
 but has a wooden spigot attached by a short lanyard, 
 and this, withdrawn, suffers the water to escape in a 
 thin stream into a piggin which is held beneath it. 
 There is also a long narrow keg kept under the little 
 deck over the stern of the boat, also headed up tightly 
 but easy to open by those who know how, in which 
 are a number of biscuits, a lantern, and some candles 
 and matches. This was now produced, and a biscuit 
 each handed round, which, with a drink of water, 
 had a wonderful effect in raising everybody's spirits. 
 
 Mr. Pease then said, ' M' lads, I don' s'pose 'at 
 ever in the history of seafarin' a boat's crew has bin 
 known t' hang out a hurrican in the open sea same 's 
 we've done, fur which we've gut t' thank ole Johnny 
 Squarehead here as th' means sent by Almighty God 
 fur our safety. B'lieve me, boys, we're through th' 
 wust of it. We sh'll hev almost as much wind as 
 before, but not fur near as long, an' yew know how 
 safe a harbour the whale gives us. I needn't ask ye 
 t' thank God : I know yew've all done that, 'specially 
 Rube thar. Say, Rube, sonny, haow're ye hittin' it, 
 eh ? ' ' Glorious, Mr. Pease, glorious. I wuz jest 
 thinkin' as ye spoke, "though I walk through the 
 Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, 
 
THE CYCLONE 261 
 
 Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." ' { Bully 
 fer yew, Rube/ said Mr. Pease. ' They wuz a time 
 when I sh'd have miscalled yew 'r anybody else 'at 
 talked like that fur a darned hypocrite ; but, thank 
 God, I know better now. I've a-learnt how good 
 a man a Christian kin be.' 
 
 He had hardly uttered the last words than with 
 an awful howling sound the wind burst out upon 
 them from the opposite direction, bringing with it 
 such a cloud of spray that for a few minutes they 
 fought gaspingly for breath, and groped blindly to 
 bale the boat. They hardly knew while those few 
 fateful minutes lasted whether they were sinking 
 or not, but their faithful defender, in death returning 
 good for evil, gradually took up his relative position 
 to the wind as before, and although they could not 
 see they could feel that they were again on the 
 sheltered side of the great carcass. And, besides, 
 it seemed to them as if it afforded more protection 
 than it had done before. They could not think the 
 wind had lessened indeed, they believed it to blow 
 harder than ever but certainly their boat rode easier ; 
 and with a relief not to be expressed in words they 
 saw that light was coming. Only one thing gave 
 them additional uneasiness : the increasing glare 
 beneath them. The lightning had almost entirely 
 ceased, but, as if to compensate for that cessation 
 of the unearthly fires above, the waters beneath them 
 fairly glowed with green illumination in broad bands, 
 which came and went incessantly. They all knew 
 that this meant the gathering of the ravening deep- 
 sea hosts, attracted thereto by the mighty banquet, 
 and entirely oblivious of the war of the winds above. 
 
262 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 How, throughout those hours of terror, had it 
 fared with the crew of the Xiphias remaining on 
 board that staunch old ship? Peacefully enough 
 until the passing of the storm-centre. Then indeed 
 they were in evil case. For they had no charmed 
 circle, beyond which the waves could not pass, to pro- 
 tect them. It was an omission only too frequently 
 made, and almost unpardonable in these ships. Had 
 they but hung canvas bags of oil from both bows and 
 both quarters, through which the calming liquid 
 might have drained, they would have been spared 
 much of the labour, danger, and anxiety. But no- 
 thing of the kind had been arranged for, and con- 
 sequently when that fearful vortex sea broke upon 
 them, not only did their vessel's decks fill with water 
 in masses weighing hundreds of tons, and smashing 
 everything that was smashable, but the working of 
 the ship opened her seams so much that, in spite 
 of the risk of being exposed in the waist, it was 
 absolutely necessary for all hands to muster at the 
 pumps. There, secured by ropes around their bodies, 
 and occasionally entirely overwhelmed by the tower- 
 ing masses of water breaking on board, they toiled 
 unmurmuringly. Again and again they were hurled 
 like a scattered bundle of chips in all directions ; 
 the ropes with which they were secured threatened to 
 cut them in halves, making deep discoloured grooves 
 in their flesh, and floating wreckage beat and bruised 
 them savagely in its dashing to and fro. But they 
 still stuck to their posts unflinchingly, officers and 
 men together putting forth all their powers, and 
 hoping, ever hoping, even when all hope seemed dead. 
 
 For the Xiphias was, to all outward seeming, a 
 
THE CYCLONE 263 
 
 wreck. Her bulwarks were gone fore and aft ; the 
 massive brick erection of the try-works had been 
 swept so cleanly away that no trace of it remained ; 
 three of the fine boats were gone, and only the ring- 
 bolts with which they had been hoisted still dangled 
 at the davit-heads. Several sails, in spite of the care 
 exercised in their securing, had wriggled adrift, and 
 the tigerish wind had snatched them from the yards 
 as dry leaves are stripped from the trees in autumn. 
 But it is in times like these that the Divine in man 
 shines out, and Captain Hampden stood erect, not 
 counting his burden of years, nor his present load of 
 care for his crew, nor the heartache for the brave 
 fellows long ago, he thought, gone to their well- 
 earned rest in the silence of the sea. His eyes shone 
 bright, his heart beat temperately, his voice rang 
 steady, and when, the short calm gone, the hurricane 
 burst again upon them from its opposite segment, all 
 hands felt his noble influence, and braced themselves 
 to endure to the end. 
 
 Forty miles away Mr. Pease and his brave little 
 crew still lived. Once settled into their old position 
 to leeward of the dead whale they felt, such was the 
 effect upon their minds of their recent experience, 
 almost safe from the tempest above and the assault 
 of the sea. They noticed, indeed, that the latter 
 gradually became more furious, as if, enraged beyond 
 measure by its previous restraint, it was now deter- 
 mined to make up for loss of opportunity, and destroy 
 everything in its path alien to its domain. But even 
 that carried some comfort, for while feeling well pro- 
 tected to leeward of the whale they cared little for 
 waves however high : the very fact of those waves 
 
264 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 rearing their heads so savagely told them that the 
 force of the hurricane must be waning ; and, besides, 
 the thinning of the cloud-pall above, the absence of the 
 lightning, and an indescribable elevation of spirits, all 
 had their part in the growth of hope. Only, there re- 
 mained the increasing menace beneath. Occasion- 
 ally a slight tap, smartly given, under the boat sent a 
 shudder through them as it reminded them how 
 slight was the barrier which intervened between them 
 and the hungry jaws of that host of sharks. Men, 
 however, who had ridden out such a day and night 
 of terror were hardly likely now to become panic- 
 stricken : they had come to regard themselves as 
 under the special protection of God. So, terrible 
 as their position undoubtedly was, it had not the 
 same effect upon them as it would have had if it had 
 come upon them suddenly. 
 
 The hurricane passed away, going as usual 
 through its various fining phases as better weather 
 came. By noon the sky was clear, the sea deeply 
 azure, the sun sending down new vigour into that 
 hardly used group of men. A great exaltation of 
 spirit possessed them all, for it is noticeable how, 
 whenever the hurricane, cyclone, or typhoon has passed, 
 everything in nature seems bound to rejoice, not 
 because it has been allowed to live, but because of 
 the cleansing, sweetening, freshening up of the world. 
 
 The sharks swarmed in incredible numbers, the 
 birds came in myriads, the dead mass to windward 
 began to emit a charnel-house fcetor, but all the men 
 were cheerful, and munched their half-biscuit deter- 
 minedly, as if to show that they meant to live up to 
 the hopefulness engendered by their atmospheric 
 
THE CYCLONE 265 
 
 environment. Only the mate, in moments when not 
 engaged in cheering up his crew, looked grave. He 
 felt the responsibility for those trustful souls. And 
 he could not help feeling how remote was the 
 possibility of their ship (or, indeed, any ship) picking 
 them up. He knew, too, how short a time would 
 elapse before they would be compelled to abandon 
 their shelter how few the hours before it would be- 
 come so foul that not a human being could live near 
 it. But he said nothing of this. Instead, he main- 
 tained his part, with that strange mixture of gravity 
 and cheerfulness puckering his brow. He often 
 caught Rube's earnest eyes fixed upon him as if in 
 deep questioning, but he evaded them. * Time 
 enough,' he thought, ' for the revelation that must 
 surely come.' 
 
 The night passed in perfect peace. The burning 
 stars mirrored themselves in the glassy bosom of the 
 deep, the new moon peeped shyly forth, a glittering 
 silver sickle with a clearly seen though dull disc fill- 
 ing up the round. Gently as an infant on its mother's 
 breast the boat rose and fell to the softly undulating 
 swell. All except Mr. Pease seemed asleep, but con- 
 tinually sleepers half-raised themselves with indistinct 
 expressions of disgust as the foulness of the air half 
 awakened them. 'To-morrow/ thought the mate, 
 ' we must cut adrift : t flesh and blood can stand this no 
 longer.' So with the dawn (and what a lovely dawn 
 it was ! like the first in its brightness), the lines 
 were cut, and with a few strokes of the oars the boat 
 was propelled beyond that area of stench, the whale 
 having now swollen to the semblance of a ship bottom 
 up or some huge oblong bladder floating high upon the 
 
266 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 sea surface. When all hands had eate n the few 
 crumbs of food remaining, and had moistened their 
 aching throats with a little swallow of water, Mr. 
 Pease said, * Boys, we've been through a lot, but 
 perhaps we've got th' worst ahead. Never mind. 
 We're all men here, we know that, an' whatever 
 happens we'll remain men. We'll die if we must die, 
 or live if we're let live, like men made in the image 
 of God.' 
 
 And the six of them solemnly said, * Amen.' 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 A STRANGE RESCUE 
 
 RELUCTANTLY, but of necessity, we return to the 
 Grampus getting under weigh from her snug anchorage 
 among the Cosmoledo reefs, and as smart as cleanli- 
 ness and a complete equipment can make her, 
 emerging once more upon her proper domain, the 
 sea. Her ruler sat in awful state upon the top of 
 the little house aft, Priscilla by his side in a deck 
 chair made for her by the carpenter. She gazed 
 with listless eyes upon the wonderful panorama 
 spread out before her, not daring to appear interested 
 lest her terrible husband should see in that some 
 excuse for ordering her below again. Full well she 
 knew that it was only because he feared that she 
 would have another serious attack of illness that 
 he allowed her this sweet privilege of breathing the 
 fresh air of heaven ; a privilege she had enjoyed all 
 her stay ashore, and the deprivation of which while 
 on board had certainly led up to her illness. But in 
 pursuance of her resolve to endure unto the uttermost, 
 she would have died rather than ask any consideration 
 at his hands, while taking with calm thankfulness 
 such crumbs as he chose to fling her contemptuously. 
 The late invalids, still pale from their recent close 
 struggle with death, were doing their best to ' keep 
 
268 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 their ends up ' with the Portuguese portion of the 
 crew, who trained fine, hard as nails, and with that 
 elevating sense of superiority which counts for so 
 much in human conflict were, while working har- 
 moniously side by side with the white men, con- 
 tinually letting the latter see in what estimation they 
 were held. And no sooner was the ship clear of the 
 reefs, and watches set, than the white men were 
 confronted with another degradation. All sailors 
 know that there are certain berths in the worst of 
 forecastles, which are considered better than any 
 others for who can explain what sea-reasons. These 
 berths are usually occupied by the best men in the 
 ship obviously, and especially on a whaling voyage. 
 Now, when the watch that was released went below, 
 its members, who were of the now despised race, 
 were confronted with a state of things which had 
 never before occurred to them. They were ordered to 
 shift and give up their bunks to better men. For a few 
 moments it looked as if there would be a great fight. 
 All the fighting blood of the Anglo-Saxon surged 
 up, but the odds were far too heavy : no anger could 
 blind men to that, nor any courage persuade them to 
 hurl themselves headlong upon the knives and pistols 
 borne by the black Dagoes and ostentatiously dis- 
 played by them. Therefore the white men accepted 
 the inevitable and shifted, amid the chuckling jeers 
 of their triumphant watchmates, and another step in 
 Captain Da Silva's carefully calculated revenge had 
 been attained. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought from the way in which 
 I have insisted upon this sad tyranny of black over 
 white that I have a serious bias against the black 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 269 
 
 man. That is not true. I love him generally as a 
 man, and because I do I am not blind to his limita- 
 tions, and I say emphatically that he is not so 
 constituted that it is safe to trust him with the rule 
 over white men. He may retaliate with the opposite 
 proposition, which I do not care to defend for one 
 moment. By all means let Black rule Black, but do 
 not ever let Black rule White, or you will see Hayti 
 reproduced wherever the shameful law is put in 
 operation, and what it means let my friend Hesketh 
 Pritchard tell you. Moreover, these rulers of the 
 Grampus were not negroes. I should no more wish 
 to be ruled by negroes than by a laughing bevy of 
 children out of the nursery, ready at any moment to 
 become cruel apes tearing in pieces their toys. But 
 I might be able to keep my masters amused, should 
 such be my sad fate, and so escape disintegration. 
 If, however, my negro masters had been bred in and 
 in with Portuguese or Spaniards, I ought to seek 
 death at once. When to the cold cruelty of the Latin 
 is added the irresponsibility of the negro, the blend 
 should never be allowed to exercise its power over 
 men of Teutonic breed. Wherever it has done so, 
 the records of such rule are not for general reading 
 lest readers go mad with horror. 
 
 Aft the conditions were altered also. In every 
 whaleship there is a space (on the port side generally) 
 abaft the main hatch, and of course below deck, where 
 the harpooners and petty officers are berthed. The 
 first, second, and third mates have their berths 
 allotted to them in the main cabin, offshoots from it 
 of a grim and fearful stuffiness, but possessing a 
 peculiar desirability because of their contiguity to 
 
2 70 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the dwelling-place of the lord of all. Now Captain 
 Da Silva calmly intimated to his officers that he 
 contemplated considerable changes in the housing 
 accommodation aft. He told them that he had 
 ordered the carpenter to knock up three extra berths 
 in the ' half-deck/ as the harpooners' berth is called, 
 and as soon as that was done, why, they (the officers) 
 would have to clear out, as he needed all the space 
 aft for his own accommodation. The insult was 
 gross, palpable. Indeed, it was hardly veiled, 
 especially remembering the expression of face and 
 the tone of voice accompanying it. But Mr. Court 
 and his brother officer did not forget what they 
 owed to themselves. They were under no mis- 
 apprehension as to why this line of conduct was 
 being pursued by the skipper, and although both 
 of them felt that the time might arrive when further 
 endurance would be impossible, even at the cost 
 of death for rebellion, that time was not yet. So 
 apparently not noticing the triumphant glitter in 
 the skipper's eyes, or the exultant ring in his voice, 
 they acquiesced, serenely to all outward seeming, 
 but with hearts on fire, and by so doing riveted 
 another link in the heavy chains they were wearing. 
 When does it become a sacred duty to rebel ? Who 
 shall say ? But one thing seems clear : that there 
 does come a time when, for the sake of others, it 
 is imperative that one man (or it may be woman) 
 stand up and face the tyrant. He may, probably 
 will, die, but how can man die better ? And no such 
 death is in vain. However, this high strain may 
 seem unsuited to the present sordid recital only a 
 little ship's company being tyrannised over by one 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 271 
 
 devil, and enduring doggedly all that he chooses to 
 load them with. 
 
 Once clear of the islands the ship's course was 
 made N.E., and under easy sail the Grampus bore 
 away across the smiling Indian Ocean. All went 
 well. Apparently it could not do otherwise where 
 Captain Da Silva was. He never seemed to make a 
 mistake. And when he suddenly came on deck one 
 beautiful afternoon and interrupted the busy tide of 
 work that never slacked off night or day by calling all 
 hands to make all possible sail, and altered the ship's 
 course to due east, no one wondered. They obeyed 
 briskly enough to a casual observer, but in the heart 
 of every white man what weariness of life ! For two 
 whole days the Grampus fled to the east as fast as her 
 braced-up condition would allow, the look-outs never 
 once relaxing their careful watch around. No one 
 discussed the movement the time for that had gone. 
 Every white man in the foc's'le knew that should he 
 speak one word capable of being construed into 
 something the skipper might be interested in, it 
 would, before many minutes had elapsed, be repeated 
 with such fantastic additions as the carrier of it was 
 capable of making, into the Captain's greedy ear, with 
 results the most unpleasant to the orginal utterer 
 of the remark. 
 
 As suddenly as the course had been altered and 
 all sails set so was another change made. Everything 
 was furled but the fore and main lower topsails, the 
 ship was brought to the wind on the starboard tack, 
 and lay lazily wallowing in the gentle swell coming 
 up from the south-east. And then, to the surprise of 
 no one on board (for by this time all hands, including 
 
272 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 his own particular friends, if friends they could be 
 called, believed him to be in league with the devil), 
 there appeared as if from the bosom of the deep an 
 enormous multitude of small whales. Like sperm- 
 whales arrested in their growth, and only about twice 
 the size of ' black-fish.' That is to say, each of them 
 would not be more than three to five tons in weight. 
 It was early morning when they were sighted, and 
 immediately the whole ship was the scene of most 
 violent activity. All sorts of alterations were made, 
 notably the passing out of the boats of the big line- 
 tubs, and only leaving the small hundred-fathom ones 
 behind. Extra harpoons, too, were placed in each 
 boat, and before they left the ship all hands were 
 called aft and thus harangued by the skipper : ' Looky 
 here/ said he, 'these ain't sperm-whales, an' I doan' 
 want no foolin' with 'em. Get fast t' one or two, an 1 
 then as th' others come roun' lance 'em, an' leave 'em. 
 T' the fust man 'at kills over ten, I'll give fifty dollars 
 in gold. Naow mind, I'm tellin' ye. Don't waste 
 line 'n' irons on these fish : ef y' du thar'll be big 
 trouble with me 'fore the day 's over.' There was no 
 response but a sort of guttural murmur, succeeded by 
 the quick splashes as the boats took the water and 
 sped away under the utmost pressure of the oars to 
 where the sea was all a foam by reason of the gambol- 
 lings of that great and joyous company of * kogia.' 
 
 Just as the skipper had forecasted, no sooner had 
 a boat got fast to one of these quaint, short-headed 
 creatures than she became the centre of a curious 
 crowd of his unfortunate fellows, apparently bent 
 upon sharing his fate, and for that purpose thrusting 
 one another aside in their efforts to get as near as 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 273 
 
 possible to the boat. Every man was armed with a 
 lance, and directed to use it with all his might upon 
 the whale nearest him. What an awful scene of 
 slaying ensued, to be sure ! The sea became literally 
 encumbered with dead. The men who had felt that 
 life was not worth living took new hold upon life in 
 their fierce desire of killing, and forgot for the time 
 all their woes. It seemed as if this great slaughter 
 must be prolonged indefinitely, but suddenly, like a 
 trumpet blast, the voice of the skipper rang out : ' 'Vast 
 killin'! All but th' mate and second mate's boats, 
 pull for th' ship 's quick 's th' devil J ll let ye. Hurry, 
 naow.' And they did hurry. The ship, having been 
 kept close at hand, required no great amount of 
 manipulation to bring her into the midst of the stricken 
 field, and presently the amazing sight was to be seen 
 of the great carcasses one after another, as she (the 
 ship) came alongside them, rising into the air, a chain 
 sling having been whipped round their tails and a tackle 
 hooked to it by means of which the whole body was 
 hoisted on deck. By five in the afternoon thirty of 
 those huge masses encumbered the deck of the Grampus, 
 and she presented an even more gruesome sight than 
 she did when her decks were full of the spoils of the 
 last great catch of sperm-whales. 
 
 Now the skipper was in his element. No anxiety 
 about the overside business, everything on deck and 
 snug, although the ship did tumble about most 
 dangerously from the great top weight. All hands 
 were armed with spades, and driven like slaves to 
 use them. But N.B. : no two white men were allowed 
 to work together, lest they might, in desperation, 
 consider the time opportune for making a dash for 
 
 T 
 
274 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 freedom. No ; Captain Da Silva saw to that. He 
 had such a head for detail ! All that night and all 
 the next day, without a minute for rest, except just 
 sufficient to swallow the indispensable food, the fuel 
 to keep these human engines performing their allotted 
 motions, the men laboured in silence for the most 
 part, save when the stern commands of the skipper 
 broke the stillness. Doggedly, desperately all hands 
 toiled on, every plunge of a great carcass denuded of 
 spoil over the starboard covering-board punctuating, 
 as it were, the progress being made. And if the 
 decks had been foul before when the last great 
 catch of sperm-whales was made, it was trebly so 
 now. Then, there was little besides the all-prevailing 
 grease, except an occasional block of flesh still left 
 adhering to the blubber : now, all the nameless foul- 
 nesses inseparable from cutting up such huge bodies 
 in tropical heat on deck were present in full volume, 
 
 and But this is not a subject to be pursued. 
 
 Wonderful to relate, the health of the recent invalids 
 held out against this tremendous strain upon it, and 
 as soon as the last carcass plunged overboard blubber 
 watches were set, and it looked as though relief had 
 come. But not yet. Some attempt must be made 
 to remove a portion at least of the accumulated filth 
 from the deck, and so for nearly half of their first 
 watch below the almost fainting men toiled with 
 water-buckets and brooms to that end. And as they 
 did so they noticed, in half-dazed, unappreciative 
 fashion, how frequently the skipper mounted his little 
 deck aft and gazed earnestly at the lee quadrant of 
 the horizon. This happened so often that at last 
 long dormant curiosity was aroused also, and they 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 275 
 
 looked earnestly in that direction too. ' Thank God,' 
 all thought, * it isn't whales he's looking at.' No, it 
 was not : it was an awful-looking Himalaya of blackest 
 cloud, violet edged, that reared its mighty head per- 
 sistently in that quarter, but did not seem to rise any 
 higher than half-way to the zenith. No one on board 
 knew with what consummate skill and attention, in 
 spite of the many matters claiming his oversight, this 
 wonderful man was manoeuvring his ship out of the 
 path of what he knew to be a devastating cyclone. 
 He needed no sympathy, no help in his calculations ; 
 in fact, he took a secret but colossal pride in stand- 
 ing alone. And reckoning to a nicety, but with a 
 dangerously narrow margin, he kept his crew going 
 to clear away their last great catch, at the same time 
 making all preparations to meet what he knew would 
 soon be there the frightful swell raised by the 
 hurricane and extending for thousands of miles on 
 either side of its track. 
 
 When it came all was ready for it. Double 
 lashings on everything, the tiers of casks below all 
 carefully chocked and tom'd off to beams above, 
 preventer backstays on masts, &c. And as the great 
 green hills of water reaching from horizon to horizon 
 came sweeping onward, tossing the noble ship from 
 summit to valley and back again as if she were just 
 a ball in the hands of gleeful children, the crew cast 
 wistful glances at their saturnine tyrant, wondering, 
 1 How did he know this was coming ? What kinder 
 man is he, anyhow?' Well, had the answer been 
 forthcoming it would have been just this : That 
 Captain Da Silva was one of those men of native 
 genius who first of all absorb knowledge as a sponge 
 
 T2 
 
276 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 does water, whose capacity for courage is as great as 
 their capacity for mercy or consideration is small, 
 whose frames are more like automata constructed of 
 steel wire and rubber than sinews and flesh, and who, 
 given the opportunity, could juggle the globe in their 
 hands as a conjurer does his properties, and would 
 do so, but for the wisdom of God, who has ordained 
 that such men shall never go too far. If this sounds 
 like fantastic eulogy as applied to the obscure master 
 of a whaleship, I do not feel at all inclined to argue 
 the point : it is for each one to study out for him or 
 herself and see whether the theory be reasonable 
 or no. 
 
 The decks were quite clear, three-fourths of the 
 blubber had been boiled out and the resultant oil run 
 below, when a very strange thing happened. The 
 weather was beautifully fine, the air serene, and a 
 little breeze wafted the Grampus at a gentle rate 
 over the sunlit sea. Captain Da Silva, fully contented 
 with himself, was lolling in his wife's chair abaft the 
 wheel smoking a peculiarly rank, oily, and foul-smelling 
 cigar, one of a large quantity which, just suiting his 
 taste, he had bought at Brava. I think it may safely 
 be said that he was just then in the full enjoyment of 
 dolce far niente, that peculiarly delightful frame of 
 mind and body conjoined of which ' sweet doing no- 
 thing' seems so poor a description when into the midst 
 of it came Priscilla. Lest it should be thought that 
 I have neglected her of late, I feel bound to say that 
 she had been leading a sort of comatose existence, in 
 this busy little cosmos but not of it, alive but hardly 
 conscious of her surroundings. What could I have 
 said of her but that she awoke, ate a little, lived alone 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 277 
 
 through the day, and slept again ? If perfect life be, 
 as Herbert Spencer says, perfect correspondence with 
 a perfect environment, then was Priscilla only just 
 dwelling on the fringes of life, and might truly be 
 said to be nine-tenths dead. Her placid demeanour 
 and speechless endurance of all things as they came 
 had become so regular an experience with her 
 husband that it was with something very like alarm 
 that he saw her standing before him on deck and 
 heard her sweet, low voice saying distinctly, ' May I 
 speak to you, Ramon ? ' With a gasp of surprise he 
 rose to his feet and, stepping to the wheel, said to 
 the shrinking helmsman : * Git t' 'ell forrard outa this,' 
 and the man was gone. Then, turning his lowering 
 eye upon Priscilla, yet not without a certain notice- 
 able twitching of his facial muscles, he muttered, 
 ' Wall, what is it naow ? Spit it eout.' She 
 answered timidly, but as if she must speak : ' Ramon, 
 please forgive me, but I know there's a boat with 
 some dying men in it over there.' And she pointed 
 to the north. * It's a whale-boat, and there's six 
 men, all alive, but going fast. Will you try and save 
 them ? ' He burst into a very storm of curses upon 
 her for daring to interfere with the working of his 
 ship and for her unmentionable folly in supposing 
 that he, of all men in the world, would be likely to 
 take any notice of such a baby-tale as that. But 
 even as he raved and hissed his foul language at his 
 wife, she could see that in his fierce eyes there was a 
 latent look of awe that he was only trying by noise 
 and bluster to persuade himself that he was asserting 
 his power in the surest way. Priscilla appeared to 
 be entirely deaf to his awful words. And when, 
 
278 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 breathless, he paused, she resumed quietly, * You 
 will find the boat before evening if you alter the 
 course now, but I am afraid some of the men are 
 already dying.' And with that she turned and went 
 away, leaving her husband like a man just about to 
 have an epileptic fit. However, he managed to 
 restrain himself, and presently his voice was heard 
 roaring for the man whom he had sent from the 
 wheel. Having given up the wheel, he took a few 
 short, undecided turns about the quarter-deck, and 
 then, like one acting upon some entirely irresistible 
 impulse, he growled to the helmsman, ' Keep her away! ' 
 * Keep her away, sir,' replied the man, immediately 
 putting the helm up. As she swung off the wind 
 the skipper shouted, ' Square the mainyard ! ' and 
 as the watch flew to the braces and trimmed sail 
 he steadied the course at north, which brought the 
 wind a little on the starboard quarter and made the 
 speed about four knots. 
 
 This being done he went below as if, disgusted 
 beyond measure at having to do such a thing, he 
 must needs use more opprobrious language to his 
 wife for thus in some mysterious way imposing her 
 will upon his. But when he saw her sitting in their 
 little cabin looking with preternaturally bright eyes 
 into vacancy as if she were seeing something with 
 other than mortal vision, he could say nothing to her 
 at all, but with a muttered curse upon himself for 
 this unheard-of folly he fled on deck, not daring to 
 look behind him. As if he must do something, he 
 slung his binoculars about his neck and mounted to 
 the fore crow's-nest, from which the occupant had to 
 depart suddenly upon the skipper's appearance. He 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 279 
 
 searched the horizon with most jealous care, but 
 nothing could be seen, nothing but sea and sky and 
 an occasional bird. So after half an hour up there 
 he descended again and solaced his excited feelings 
 by harrying the men, who, as usual, were kept at 
 work upon perfectly needless jobs as if their very 
 lives depended upon getting the work done in record 
 time. And so congenial did he find this occupation 
 that he had almost forgotten why, contrary to his 
 own plans, he was running his ship almost dead 
 before the wind up the middle-of the Indian Ocean in- 
 stead of getting away across to the Straits of Sunda 
 as he had intended, when ' What's that ? ' shouted 
 the mate. ' Somethin' right ahead, sir ; looks like 
 dead whale 'r a boat 'r a big log.' Ah ! Trembling 
 in every limb, Captain Da Silva snatched his glasses 
 and sprang aloft. Panting with his speed he reached 
 the crow's-nest. He did not need to ask where the 
 object was. It stood up with remarkable distinct- 
 ness against that wide, clear blue, a little ungainly 
 black patch. He focussed his glasses upon it and 
 stared through the double tubes so earnestly that his 
 eyeballs burnt in their sockets. A cold shudder, in 
 that tropical day, possessed him, ran through him, 
 and made the hair of his flesh stand up. It was a 
 boat and nothing else. What manner of woman 
 could his wife be, and was it safe for him to treat her 
 as he had been doing ? Superstitious fears seized 
 upon him, for ever it will be found that gross cruelty 
 and superstition go hand in hand, and at that 
 moment he registered a mental vow that in future 
 there should be a great change in his treatment of 
 Priscilla. Indeed, he blamed himself bitterly for 
 
2So A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 having allowed himself to behave to her as he had 
 done. But he took refuge in the mental coward's 
 lying plea by muttering, ' How was I to know ? ' 
 
 Go down from aloft he dared not. Slow, 
 exasperatingly slow, as his ship's progress was, he felt 
 that he must remain at his lofty perch until the last 
 moment, when he would go himself and see what 
 this strange business meant. It was a weary busi- 
 ness, for under such circumstances a ship's progress 
 seems to be so deliberate, one's impatience is so 
 futile and yet so impossible to avoid showing, that it 
 tries men more than any words can say. It was 
 nearly sunset when at last the waif was near enough 
 for a boat to be lowered for the purpose of bringing 
 her alongside. Long before that time arrived Captain 
 Da Silva had devoured every detail of her had seen 
 that to all appearance the six men in her were dead, 
 that she was a whaleboat, but, of course, could not 
 read her name, since it was not the practice for 
 whaleboats to carry the name of their ship painted 
 on them, as is done in the merchant service. The 
 same haughty disregard of any other person's 
 curiosity is usually shown in the Navy, where 
 scarcely any of the smaller boats give the ship's 
 name you can read it on the men's caps if you want 
 to know it. 
 
 Leaping into the boat he had ordered to be 
 lowered, the skipper gave the order to ' give way ' 
 in such a tone that the men fairly lifted the boat 
 through the water. None of them dared to steal a 
 glance at him ; if they had they would have marvelled. 
 He was in a piteous state of nervous excitement. 
 He felt as if his wife's eyes were penetrating through 
 
A STRANGE RESCUE 281 
 
 the massive sides of the ship, that she was cognisant 
 of his very thoughts ; and the idea made great beads 
 of cold sweat stand out upon his swarthy skin. He 
 fought with his fears as a man fights with death, now 
 devising strange punishments for Priscilla for having 
 thus obtained a strange power of frightening him, and 
 now vowing to himself that he would devote the rest 
 of his time with her to making amends for his pre- 
 vious treatment of her. Not that he was conscious 
 of having done anything he should not do men of 
 that class seldom are but because she did not seem 
 to be happy under the discipline which he felt was 
 his prerogative to mete out to all under his command. 
 And then they reached the boat. 
 
 Are those bundles of rags and bones men ? By 
 
 night the dews and by day the pitiless sun have 
 
 alternately soaked and scorched them. They have 
 
 endured such agonies as men do not care to think of. 
 
 The boat herself is so bleached with sun and dew 
 
 and wind that it seems wonderful she still holds 
 
 together. And there is a faint smell as of death. 
 
 Round to windward, quick. Look closely. Is there 
 
 any life at all ? Yes, there is a slight movement. A 
 
 bight of tow-line is flung on board and secured to the 
 
 bow thwart, a curt order is given, and the waif is 
 
 being towed to the ship. Arriving alongside, she is 
 
 hoisted level with the rail so that the hapless ones may 
 
 be lifted out, as they are, so gently, so tenderly, by 
 
 those rude, much-persecuted men, while the skipper 
 
 looks on loweringly. One is dead. He is a little 
 
 Italian apparently so reduced by his sufferings that 
 
 he looks more like an Egyptian mummy uncased than 
 
 anything else. But in all the rest there is some spark 
 
282 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 of life, notably in one big-framed alas, every bone 
 is awfully visible, and his eyes are away in the back 
 of his head somewhere at the bottom of two long 
 tunnels fair-haired man, whose broken lips part and 
 whose blackened tongue tries pitifully to frame a 
 word. 
 
 The skipper goes away and leaves willing, eager 
 hands to attend mercifully upon these castaways. 
 He has said no word forbidding anything to be 
 done, and so the group around the bodies give such 
 aid as they know how, while the rest of the crew 
 trim yards again for Anjer. And by the time she is 
 settled upon her old course and the Captain has 
 carelessly strolled forward again, he is humbly 
 informed that five of the men he has rescued are not 
 only still alive, but likely to go on living. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE MEETING 
 
 Now, owing to the way in which Priscilla kept her 
 cabin when not absolutely driven on deck by the 
 foulness of the air below, she was, strange as it must 
 appear, quite ignorant of what was going on above 
 her. Had the steward not been exceedingly busy 
 upon some domestic task, he would, poor little man, 
 have gladly carried her the news. But so it was, the 
 boat's crew had been rescued, the boat hoisted in- 
 board, and things had all resumed their normal course 
 without her being any the wiser. And yet somehow 
 she felt a lightening of the heart. She felt sure, 
 in spite of the coarse and brutal way in which her 
 husband had received her vision, that he had done, or 
 would do, what she had asked him she had no 
 anxiety upon that head at all. But then she was 
 never anxious now. She had cultivated unintention- 
 ally the serene detachment of mind of those Indian 
 devotees who, by dint of long meditation and abstin- 
 ence from all but the barest necessities in the way of 
 food and sleep, have attained unto a condition of 
 mind that is favourable to the detachment of body 
 from soul without the catastrophe of death. Of its 
 psychology I know nothing, but I do feel that, given 
 sufficient will power, the human brain may be capable 
 
284 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 of some wonderful power of sending thought waves 
 out into the unseen. It does not matter, anyhow, 
 since I only wish to record the trance condition in 
 which Priscilla seemed now to spend most of her 
 time. 
 
 But in some mysterious way she was subcon- 
 sciously easier in her mind, and that although she 
 knew absolutely nothing about what was going on. 
 Also her husband seemed, for some reason or another, 
 to be anxious that she should not know. Perhaps he 
 was ashamed, or whatever kindred feeling to shame 
 he might be capable of, to let her know that he had, 
 after all, obeyed her words and found that she had 
 been absolutely correct. Truth to tell, he was im- 
 mensely impressed, and something very like fear of 
 his wife was slowly getting the mastery over him. 
 Thus days went by as the Grampus drew steadily 
 towards the great East Indian Archipelago, and the 
 rescued ones grew steadily well by dint of careful 
 letting alone and the help of their previous clean lives. 
 Then there came a day when Captain Da Silva took 
 it upon him to have the apparent head man of the 
 boat's crew he had saved brought aft to him, and 
 the following colloquy ensued. (It must be borne in 
 mind that the rescued men's voices had only just 
 returned to them.) 
 
 The Captain : ' Wall, wut ship d' ye b'long to ? ' 
 The Officer: * Xiphias, sir, of New Bedford.' A 
 grunt from the skipper and a short interval of silence. 
 Then the skipper spoke again, after carefully rolling 
 his cigar between his lips, as if to extract the last 
 grain of nicotine out of it. ' J N' wut wuz ye doin' t* 
 git lost ? Sounds funny, grown men like you air 
 
THE MEETING 285 
 
 gittin' lost' The scorn and contempt and utter 
 brutality of his manner passed all description. ' Wall, 
 sir,' replied the mate faintly, ' the circumstances wuz 
 peculiar. We left the ship in chase of a whale just 
 before a hurricane kem on, an' I hung on t' the whale 
 mebbe a bit too long, so 't we got outer sight o' the 
 ship. 'N' then we'd all we knew t' keep in shelter ov 
 th' carcass till thet awful weather wuz over. 'N' by 
 thet time th' whale wuz so blown up we couldn't 
 stand his stink any longer, an' we cut away from him 
 an' put fur th' Seychelles as near as I could judge. 
 But there wuz only th' lantern keg of bread an' th' 
 ushal water, an' thet's all we've a-had fur twelve days. 
 If th' boys hadn't been th' very best we sh'd all a-ben 
 mad long ago.' Another spell of silence, broken at 
 last by the skipper saying : ' S'pose you don' reckon 
 on ever seeing yewr ship agen, hey ? Le's see, old 
 man Hampden got her, er had her, I think. Ef so, 
 they ain't 'nough of her left by this time t' repair a 
 whaleboat with. He was a soft-hearted old greenie, 
 anyhow, kinder pious, I seem to remember, 'n' didn't 
 know his nose fr'm the jibboom end.' ' Excuse me, 
 sir,' said the mate suddenly, with some energy, ' thet 
 kain't be eour Capt'n Hampden. I ben fishin' fur 
 two-an'-twenty year, and he wuz the smartest skipper 
 at anything a skipper ought to do 'at ever I gammed/ 
 1 Oh, shet yer big mouth, yew wouldn't know a smart 
 man w'en yew see him. It's the same man right 
 enough. I knew him very well, an' wouldn't ha' 
 carried him fur ballast in my ship. But I ain't got 
 no time t' be yarnin' with yew, ner inclination either 
 if yer come to thet. I'm jest figgerin' eout wut t' dew 
 with ye. I want a few han's, an' although yew ain't 
 
286 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 th' kind I'd have if I c'd choose, y'r better than none, I 
 s'pose, an' so I'll ship th' five of yew 'n' give ye th' 
 25oth lay, same 's th' rest of th' men 'r gettin'.' * But, 
 Captain,' replied the now thoroughly alarmed man, 
 ' I wuz mate of the Xiphias I ben mate fur th' las' 
 ten years, 'n' yew kain't mean t' take such a slice of 
 my life as to ship me here fur a three years' cruise on 
 a seaman's lay. In th' name ov common humanity, 
 sir, yew kain't mean it.' And the big drops of sweat 
 started out of the poor fellow's face. ' Kain't I ! ' 
 sneered the skipper. ' Jest yew say yew don' know, 
 and yew'll be more 'n half right. I k'n an' dew mean 
 just that thing. Yew'll take my offer, yew an' the 
 rest ov th' great babies 'at come with ye, 'r if ye don't 
 yew'll wish yew'd been left to rot in thet boat. 'N' 
 mine yew, not a word outa yewr heads, 'r ye'll fine 
 me t' deal with, 'n I'll try an' teach ye wut a smart 
 cap'n is.' 
 
 Poor Mr. Pease ! No braver man ever stepped* 
 but he was weak and trembling from exhaustion. A 
 strong desire to live had returned to him, and, more- 
 over, he was overborne by the fierceness of the terrible 
 man with whom he was confronted, and he dimly 
 remembered some of the terrible stories current about 
 him of the dark deeds done by him in the secret 
 places of the sea, and up till now with impunity, 
 because of his phenomenal success as a whale-fisher. 
 When will people in business learn that it is a crime 
 against man and God to condone, yes, connive at 
 abominable wickedness in those they have set over 
 their employees, because, forsooth, they are ' smart 
 men ' ? When will people learn to brand a man as a 
 demon, whatever his place in society or the Church 
 
THE MEETING 287 
 
 or in business, who, in his villainous methods of get- 
 ting rich, brings woe and death unto thousands of 
 homes? When will ministers of the Gospel dare 
 to say to such men bringing their vilely acquired 
 wealth and pouring it into the coffers of the Church, 
 * Thy money perish with thee ! ' 
 
 So with this terror upon him, Mr. Pease signed 
 the articles, and his crew followed suit, becoming by 
 that act the slaves of the skipper for the next three 
 years unless some heaven-sent happening should 
 release them. And immediately, though they were 
 yet so exhausted, they were set to such work as they 
 could do making sinnet, scraping, and mat-weaving. 
 Well was it for them that no whales were sighted, or 
 assuredly they would have been called upon to take 
 their places in the various boats, under which severe 
 treatment they would probably have died. 
 
 It may perhaps be thought strange that as yet no 
 allusion has been made to the strange fact of Reuben 
 and Priscilla being on board the same ship at last. 
 But really, as far as these two principal actors in our 
 story are concerned, it did not seem possible that 
 anything should come of it, the circumstances being 
 so peculiar. As repeatedly observed, Priscilla came 
 on deck but little, for she could not bear the jealous 
 watchfulness with which her husband followed her 
 every movement. And in the fo'c'sle, or, indeed, out 
 of it, such was the terror under which all hands 
 lived, not merely of the skipper, but of his Por- 
 tuguese allies, that any conversation concerning the 
 skipper was tacitly banned. No word ever passed 
 between the white men about him or his affairs- 
 The Portuguese may have discussed him freely, but 
 
288 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 as it was in their own tongue, no one but themselves 
 was any the wiser. Thus it came to pass that Reuben 
 was on board the ship a month before he so much as 
 knew that the Captain had his wife with him, which 
 is all the more noteworthy from the fact that in small 
 vessels like the Grampus it is the rule that the 
 Captain cannot sneeze in the solitude of his state- 
 room without it being known and commented upon 
 all over the ship in an hour. Poor fellows, they have 
 so little to talk about. But whalers generally needed 
 to be exempt from this law. Their discipline was 
 much too strict for it to run even in the best of them, 
 while in the Grampus^ as we have seen, it was in the 
 highest degree dangerous to mention the Captain's 
 name at all. 
 
 The ship had passed through the Straits of Sunda 
 into the Java Sea, and was one night, under the skil- 
 ful pilotage of the skipper, working her darkling way 
 westward along the south coast of Borneo. There 
 was but little wind, except occasionally when a pass- 
 ing squall gave a heavier puff than usual, causing the 
 staunch and well-balanced ship to heel like a yacht. 
 Terrific peals of thunder and blazing flashes of light- 
 ning followed one another in quick succession, for the 
 heat of the day was being healthfully dispersed over 
 the sea from the land, although in a somewhat terrify- 
 ing manner. Rube was at the wheel, his great figure 
 erect and head slightly turned aside to listen for the 
 skipper's slightest word, while keeping one eye fixed 
 upon the faithful little face of the compass suspended 
 inside the skylight. Suddenly there was an awful 
 crash of thunder as if a Himalayan Range were 
 tumbling to pieces, a short breathless hush, and with 
 
THE MEETING 289 
 
 a hiss as of escaping steam, sky and sea were flooded 
 with violet flame. As Rube raised his arm instinc- 
 tively to shield his face he saw by that brief blaze a 
 woman facing him within a few feet. For that vivid 
 instant the two faces were revealed, then utter black- 
 ness succeeded. Through Priscilla rushed a spasm 
 of fear. Who was this huge boarded stranger, and 
 whence had he come? More, why did the sight 
 of him put her poor deadened mind into such a 
 ferment as the optic nerves experience when after 
 long darkness the eyes are suddenly exposed to the 
 glare of day ? As she groped her way below these 
 things flitted across her brain, but never for one 
 moment did she imagine why or how, and soon, very 
 soon, she resumed her listless introspective attitude 
 again. She had only crept up with some message to 
 her husband of trivial import, and soon the whole 
 incident receded to the background of her mind. 
 
 As for Reuben, for one moment he thought he 
 had been struck by lightning, and with the stroke had 
 come a vision of an angel, a sorrowful angel outlined 
 in living light. But the shock, great though it was, 
 did not suffice to unlock that closed door of memory, 
 only to let a few broken gleams of illumination 
 through, tantalising, almost maddening in their in- 
 completeness. He soon recovered, and when relieved 
 from the wheel at eight bells, sought one of the 
 American portion of the old crew and whispered, 
 ' Is they a woman aboard this ship ? ' ' Hush, for 
 Heaven's sake. If the skipper gits to know you've 
 asked such a question, or I've answered it, he'll trice 
 us up an' flog us, sure 's death. An' ye kain't breathe 
 here without somebody listening. Yes.' ' Thanks,' 
 
 U 
 
290 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 replied Rube ; and straightway going to his bunk he 
 lifted up his heart in fervent though silent prayer for 
 the owner of that sweet pale face. In doing this 
 he but obeyed an irresistible impulse, since he knew 
 not at all of Priscilla's suffering, and, indeed, even 
 before the accident which shut him off from the past, 
 had always thought of her as being full of happiness 
 with her husband. Now, however, knowing no more 
 of who Priscilla was than of a person he had never 
 seen or heard of, he was full of a mysterious com- 
 passion for her, and felt that he would gladly have 
 laid down his life to serve her. 
 
 The crew of the Grampus never ate any idle 
 bread, but now they were indeed having a time 
 of travail. For Captain Da Silva was making a 
 passage to the Japan grounds, being mightily wroth 
 because of the ill-success which had attended him 
 lately. The wonderful good fortune enjoyed by him 
 previously had been relegated to the limbo of for- 
 gotten things. He felt no joy in it now, looked upon 
 it as only a bare reward for his phenomenal ability 
 and smartness, of which no man was more fully 
 conscious than himself. So he harassed his crew by 
 night and by day, making, trimming, furling, sail ; 
 so that no breath of wind should be wasted, and 
 when, as occasionally happened, a dead calm befell, 
 getting all the boats out and setting their crews to 
 tow the vessel along with their oars. It was a fearful 
 ordeal in that climate, and some of the crew were 
 only kept at it by sheer dread of the skipper. They 
 feared him more than sunstroke or death by sheer 
 exhaustion. It was this state of things which brought 
 about a collision between him and Reuben. The 
 
THE MEETING 291 
 
 latter stalwart recruit being always so willing and 
 apparently eager to work, had hitherto escaped even 
 the usual opprobrious epithets with which most of the 
 crew, except the Portuguese, were favoured. But 
 because no occasion of fault could be found in him 
 he was jealously watched by the skipper's cronies, and, 
 as it was bound to do sooner or later, the longed-for 
 opportunity came. The boats had just returned to 
 the ship, after a four hours' tow in the afternoon sun, 
 because a little breeze had sprung up and relieved 
 them. The boat in which Reuben pulled midship 
 oar had just come alongside, and Mr. Pease, who had 
 been pulling tub-oar (next to Rube) had fainted, 
 overcome by heat and exhaustion. Unfortunately, 
 just then the skipper looked over the side, and taking 
 in the position of things with one glance of his 
 flashing eyes, shouted with an awful Portuguese oath, 
 ' Start that lazy Yankee brute there, Pedro ! Hit 
 him, hit him with anything ! ' Pedro, not at all 
 unwillingly, seized a bight of the towline, and was 
 just about to deal the unconscious man a tremendous 
 blow, when Rube, calmly turning round, seized the 
 descending arm, and with his other hand quietly 
 wrenched the rope from the harpooner's ringers. 
 The maddened Portuguese snatched his knife from 
 his belt at the moment of his release, and with his 
 skipper's yell of * Kill him, kill him ! ' piercing his 
 ears, made one frantic stab at Rube. But as calmly 
 as he had caught the rope-wielding wrist, so now he 
 caught the murderous one, and with a quick twist 
 made Pedro drop his knife into the sea. A yell 
 of pain escaped the Portuguese as his wrist cracked, 
 and Rube, releasing him, said quietly, ' Sorry t' hurt 
 
 U2 
 
292 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 ye, shipmate, but ye mustn't kill, y' know.' By this 
 time the skipper had recovered from the speechless- 
 ness of rage into which he had been thrown by 
 Rube's action, and shouted, c On deck with ye, on 
 deck ! ' All obeyed but the man who had fainted : 
 he was beyond obedience. As Rube stepped over 
 the rail the skipper met him with a blow of a heavy 
 bludgeon of oak that might have felled an ox. 
 Right across the head and face it came, and the 
 splendid fellow dropped senseless and bleeding at his 
 master's feet. Stooping, the latter dragged the un- 
 conscious body to the middle of the deck, and sang 
 out, 'Up waist boat.' But the white men stood 
 irresolute for one moment as if inclined to resent the 
 vileness of this last assault. That moment was fatal. 
 For without a sign made every Portuguese in the 
 ship had ranged himself by the skipper, and in their 
 hands gleamed revolver barrels. Howling out the 
 order again, the unled whites seized the falls and ran 
 the boat up on to her cranes. One of the Portuguese 
 asked if the man was to be lifted out of the boat, but 
 the skipper turned upon him with an oath so fierce 
 that he shrank back, regretting that he had spoken. 
 
 No one dared suggest aid to Rube, and so, with 
 the knowledge that again he had fully asserted his 
 superiority over the white man, Captain Da Silva went 
 quite happy to his supper. And sitting there with 
 his wife, he could not forbear saying exultantly : 
 ' Nice crowd o' hogs these countrymen o' yours are. 
 I d' 'no' wut I wuz fool 'nough t' take any of 'em aboard 
 here for at all. Some of 'em kem aboard through 
 yew, anyhow one 'specially I remember just now. 
 I'm goin' t' give myself th' pleasure of floggin' him 
 
THE MEETING 293 
 
 tomorrow, if he ain't dead, and yew shall be a witness 
 to see it's all done legally, y' know.' And he winked 
 hideously at her. She, poor thing, sat as usual silent 
 and white, hardly realising the horror of the whole thing. 
 And her misery of mind and body was only slightly 
 increased when, as a sort of praise-meeting to what- 
 ever devil they felt protected by, the skipper invited 
 the Portuguese harpooners below to a drinking bout, 
 first locking Priscilla into her room. The baffled 
 Pedro was there with his arm in a sling, looking a 
 veritable fiend. * Never mind/ said the skipper in 
 Portuguese, ' yew shall have the flogging of that big 
 Yankee beast if he lives. What do you think of that ? ' 
 Pedro muttered some inarticulate profanity and took 
 another drink. He did not mind much what was 
 done as long as he 'got even,' as he termed it. And 
 now it is time to draw a veil over that bestial scene, 
 worthy of the worst days of the pirates, and especially 
 those Portuguese pirates who sailed the China Seas 
 commanding gangs composed of all the scum of the 
 Far East and outdoing them all in cruelty. 
 
 On deck a stealthy figure had crept forward to 
 where Rube lay, with a mat to put under his head and 
 a little water to moisten his parched lips. It was the 
 poor darky steward, who had been shut out of the 
 cabin while the drinking was going on, and who thus, 
 for pity's sake, risked undergoing the same treatment. 
 Not that it would have been much novelty, for there 
 was scarcely an inch of the poor wretch's body which 
 had not its scar. And at last men get used to such 
 treatment (some men, that is) and take it as a matter 
 of course. It is pleasant to record that this poor 
 Samaritan was enabled to carry out his beneficent 
 
294 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 little ministration unseen, save by Mr. Court, who still 
 kept his watch, although in a dogged sullen way that 
 was intensely painful to see, but which, strange to say, 
 did not seem to detract from his efficiency. But, as he 
 said to himself very often in the solitudes wherein 
 his soul roamed during the night watches, was there 
 ever an officer so treated ? He did not know, from 
 his favourable position heretofore in American ships, 
 that many hundred British mercantile officers have 
 had to endure treatment even worse than his, because 
 they have been, as well as kept at arm's length by the 
 skipper and made to feel that they were of less 
 account than anybody on board, openly and con- 
 stantly reviled before all the crew, and then expected 
 to maintain discipline. Happily, with the morning 
 came, instead of the shameful exhibition purposed 
 by the skipper, a diversion welcomed by all hands, 
 except Rube, who, but for his stertorous breathing, 
 appeared to be dead. It was the raising of a ' pod ' of 
 cow whales at daylight, with a brisk breeze and every- 
 thing in favour of a splendid day's hunting. Rube 
 was dragged aft out of the way. Pedro, whose wrist 
 was so badly strained that he could not lift a harpoon 
 with it, grumblingly took up his station aloft for signal- 
 ling purposes, and in ten minutes from the time of 
 sighting the whales five boats were away, the skipper 
 leading as usual. This, however, was to be an excep- 
 tion to the usual celerity of capture shown by the 
 Grampus's crew. In the first place, the whales were going 
 so fast that it seemed for a long while as if the chase 
 must be fruitless; and then, when at last the boats did 
 rush in among them, their movements were so marvel- 
 lously agile that the danger was very great. The 
 
THE LOOSE WHALE ROSE SPECTRALLY BETWEEN, ON HER BACK, WITH HER 
 
 JAWS AGAPE. 
 P. 295. 
 
THE MEETING 295 
 
 skipper as usual seemed ubiquitous, compelling the 
 admiration of all by the way he manipulated his boat. 
 He had already killed his whale when he saw that 
 Mr. Court was exceedingly hampered by the move- 
 ments of a loose cow, which behaved as if she under- 
 stood exactly how best to frustrate all the deadly 
 intentions of the enemy of her companion. Without 
 a moment's hesitation the skipper cut loose from his 
 whale, shouted to his men, and tore off to help the mate, 
 leaping like a flying fish from one boat to the other 
 as they flew swiftly in opposite directions. Snatching 
 the lance from the hand of the amazed officer, he had 
 just dealt a tremendous blow at the fast whale with 
 it, when, as the boat lay off, the loose whale rose spec- 
 trally between, on her back, with her jaws agape. 
 Swiftly turning, those great jaws closed, catching the 
 skipper's arm, with which he was poising his newly 
 straightened lance again, and dragging him headlong 
 out of the boat. Paralysed with horror, the mate 
 stood for a moment, then stooped and caught the 
 skipper as he came bounding to the surface almost at 
 the spot where he went overboard. But in doing so 
 Mr. Court overbalanced himself, and he and the 
 skipper, interlocked in each other's arms, went down 
 again. The harpooner, a wonderfully smart black 
 Portuguese, immediately cut the line, allowing the 
 whale to run, and after a minute or two's manoeuvring, 
 succeeded in bringing the mate and skipper to the 
 surface and into the boat, the latter almost dead. 
 
 The best haste possible was made to the ship, 
 and the skipper was carefully lifted on board, laid on 
 the deck aft, and his clothes cut off as the only way 
 of uncovering his wounded arm and side. All the 
 
296 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 time the examination took place he was unconscious, 
 so the mate was able to dress the extensive lacera- 
 tions, set two broken ribs and the mangled arm, and 
 make him fairly comfortable before he came to. 
 Then with very great care he was lowered through 
 the cabin skylight and laid upon the settee in his 
 berth. Here he was left to the care of his wife, 
 while the mate returned to his arduous duties on 
 deck. It is pleasant to record that his first care was 
 to see some adequate attention given to the case of 
 Rube, who was moaning and tossing ceaselessly in 
 the throes of brain fever. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 
 
 WE left the Xiphias in evil case as far as appearance 
 went, but with her brave crew still undaunted by the 
 long series of misfortunes which had now, as they 
 thought, almost reached the culminating point in the 
 loss of their vessel and all of their lives. Perhaps a 
 bitter pang did stab some of their hearts as they 
 realised that if the hurricane now raging should 
 succeed in its efforts to destroy them all, their fate 
 would never be known. That adds a new terror to 
 death, for man loves to think that his going hence is 
 no mystery, and that its incidents will be remem- 
 bered to his credit by someone, if only for a little 
 time. But gradually hope grew stronger (they had 
 never quite lost it) that they might be saved, for the 
 weather was, as always in the following segment of a 
 cyclone, growing perceptibly better, although the 
 force of the wind showed as yet no sign of lessening. 
 Unfortunately, herein lay their present danger ; for 
 the Xiphias was leaking so badly, she had evidently 
 been strained to such an extent, that the^ sea, now 
 rising and tossing her about like a ball, bade fair to 
 complete her destruction after all. Therefore, en- 
 couraged by the skipper and Mr. Peck, who had now 
 of course assumed the position of chief officer, they 
 
298 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 all toiled unremittingly at the pumps, even though 
 the face of the carpenter as he sounded the well every 
 hour never lightened. 
 
 The struggle for life had been so fierce that when 
 at last the awful meteor had passed quite away, the 
 sea had resumed its placid calm, and all nature 
 seemed through that tremendous convulsion to have 
 renewed its vigorous youth, the poor tired old ship 
 was hardly able to rise to the long, long swell that 
 still came rolling majestically towards her, extending 
 from one horizon to the other. She just slowly 
 wallowed like a top that is ' going to sleep ' and will 
 presently lie dead. So alarming was the outlook 
 that Captain Hampden and a few of the more weary 
 of the men commenced to provision the boats in 
 readiness to leave the ship in case she foundered. 
 One thing puzzled the fine old skipper, though, and 
 that was how, with nearly twelve feet of water in her, 
 the Xiphias floated at all. And then suddenly, 
 calling himself a fool, he remembered all that oil 
 below tightly bunged in stout casks, which in their 
 turn were well stowed and secured from floating 
 adrift by ' toms ' from the beams above them. Due 
 to his own forethought, and yet he had forgotten 
 could not realise why his ship had not, long ere this, 
 ' turned turtle ' and sunk. 
 
 Having realised it, he called all hands aft and 
 explained the circumstances to them ; told them that 
 they were only about three hundred miles south of 
 Mahe", in the Seychelles, which was the nearest port 
 where they could hope to find their needs supplied 
 and whence they could send news home that would 
 arrive there within reasonable time. Finally, he 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 299 
 
 concluded his speech by saying : ' Men, God hasn't 
 forgotten us. We shall live, I feel sure. And I don't 
 believe He's forgotten our poor shipmates either. 
 I feel almost certain that they are still alive, and 
 that in His own good time we shall see them 
 again. Carpenter, sound that well again.' The 
 order was obeyed amidst breathless attention, and 
 the cheer that went up when Chips announced, 
 1 Eleven-three, sir, just what it was an hour ago,' 
 could not have been improved upon by the healthiest 
 and most vigorous crew. Now every man went on 
 with his work soberly and in good heart, as if per- 
 suaded of his perfect security, and the ship crawled 
 daily nearer port, while, although regular pumping 
 continued, there was none of the energy of despair in 
 the work because it certainly was not needed. But 
 at the mastheads every eye while daylight lasted 
 roamed around the great blank circle unceasingly as 
 untiringly, hoping against hope to see, not whales, 
 but some sign of the lost ones. In the foc's'le the 
 fellows could talk of nothing else but Rube ; and 
 MacManus, who had been one of those left on board, 
 refused to be comforted. In fact, with the emphasis 
 of his warm-hearted, illogical race, he went so far as 
 to say that if Rube was lost he wouldn't survive him, 
 and that if even his own father confessor dared to 
 suggest to him that Rube was a heretic instead of a 
 blessed saint and martyr he would peril all his 
 chances of eternal salvation by committing a fierce, 
 premeditated assault upon the unworthy man. 
 
 All the patience possessed by this crew of good 
 fellows was needed by them now. For while their 
 hope was strong again, it was sickeningly deferred 
 
300 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 day after day by the lightness of the airs and the 
 sluggishness of the vessel. Besides, as often happens 
 in such cases, the leak, having unaccountably ceased 
 to gain upon them, now began to increase again, 
 although very slowly. There is something appalling 
 in being on board ship under such conditions. 
 Knowing the possibilities, one cannot help expecting 
 that presently the opening through which the hungry 
 water is forcing itself may widen out so extensively 
 as to make the sinking of the ship a matter of 
 minutes. This feeling of dreadful anticipation is, I 
 am bound to say, not nearly so much warranted on 
 board a wooden ship as it is in an iron or steel 
 vessel, where the springing of a leak may mean the 
 starting of one rivet in a row, which, resenting the 
 extra strain put upon them, promptly give up their 
 hold, and the great plate, gaping, admits the sea so 
 fast that the hull sinks like a bottle with the bottom 
 knocked out. 
 
 However, all hands stuck manfully by their task, 
 and on the twelfth day from the ceasing of the hurri- 
 cane they were rewarded by hearing from the mast- 
 head the joyful shout of * Land-ho ! ' It was early 
 morning, but so slow was the pace at which their 
 vessel crawled towards this haven of refuge that it 
 was nightfall before they anchored in the beautiful 
 little bay of Mahe. And as the anchor rattled joyfully 
 down, its clangour reverberating among the hills, all 
 hands felt deeply grateful, and then very sad, as they 
 thought of the brave fellows who had not been per- 
 mitted to reach port with them. Then the sails were 
 quickly furled and the decks cleared up, and a spell at 
 the pumps was decided upon by the skipper before 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 301 
 
 allowing everybody to have a long night's rest. So 
 after a good meal and smoke, the pumps were manned 
 by three gangs, who relieved one another at ten 
 minutes' intervals until nine o'clock, by which time 
 the water in the hold had been so much reduced that, 
 after consultation with the carpenter, the skipper 
 decided that except for an anchor watch of one 
 seaman and a harpooner, all hands might go below 
 and remain until eight bells (eight o'clock) the follow- 
 ing morning. 
 
 When aroused, not only did they find a splendid 
 assortment of fruit alongside, but the anchor watch 
 had been busy fishing, and the appetising odour of 
 fresh fish being cooked greeted their nostrils as they 
 came on deck. It was a happy breakfast party held 
 forward that morning. Sweet potatoes, fried fish, 
 coffee, and soft bread, with oranges and bananas to 
 follow, made up a meal which, after their late terrible 
 experiences, seemed to them the richest banquet 
 imaginable. As soon as breakfast was over, their 
 heavy task began. First of all, they got under weigh, 
 and worked the vessel in as near the shore as possible. 
 Then, having moored her head and stern, they com- 
 menced operations by discharging her cargo, lowering 
 the casks of oil into the water and towing them 
 to the beach, where they were laboriously rolled 
 up above high-water mark. Then, some lighters 
 being hired, all the provisions, movable furniture, 
 clothing, &c., were also discharged, the sails were 
 unbent and sent ashore also, while the upper yards 
 were sent down and floated alongside. A great raft 
 was made ready to work upon, and then the vessel 
 was hauled in as closely as she would go in her now 
 
3 02 
 
 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 empty condition to the beach, the cutting falls secured 
 to the fore and main lower mastheads, and the two 
 bower anchors laid out shoreward. This heavy toil 
 occupied four days. Then came Sunday, when, com- 
 fortably housed in tents of their own rigging ashore, 
 the weary crew enjoyed a long luxurious day's rest, 
 helped by a very homely service of thanksgiving 
 conducted by the skipper. 
 
 On Monday the great work of repairing the ship's 
 bottom began by attaching the cutting falls to the 
 bower anchors, leading the hauling parts ashore, and 
 heaving the ship down upon her side until her keel 
 was exposed. It was then found that the leak was 
 in the garboard-strake, or the next plank to the keel, 
 and manfully did the carpenter, the cooper, and as 
 many of the crew as could handle a tool, attack the 
 work of repair. Four days from sunrise to sunset were 
 spent in this labour, then, satisfied that all was right 
 on the starboard side, the skipper ordered the vessel 
 to be turned round and the other side hove out for the 
 same treatment. 
 
 It is very wonderful to consider in how few words 
 in a sentence, for instance, like the preceding 
 one can be described an enormous amount of 
 work. A whole chapter might easily be devoted to 
 the elucidation of the various processes necessary for 
 the performance of this work spoken of so baldly, but 
 I am afraid it would be far from interesting. Suffi- 
 cient, perhaps, to say that these duties, involving so 
 much painful labour, and for so long a time, are now 
 performed in dry docks or on patent slips with a 
 celerity and ease that, considering the bulk and 
 weight of modern ships, would be nothing short of 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 303 
 
 miraculous to a casual observer unversed in engineer- 
 ing feats. 
 
 Fortunately the men were all contented with as 
 well as interested in their work. They had grown 
 to love the ship as they had the captain and officers, 
 and so each duty, however hard or unpleasant, was 
 gaily performed, and apparently without half the 
 labour expended on similar tasks by discontented 
 men. At the expiration of a month from the time 
 of entering Mahe the ship was again ready for sea. 
 ' Tight as a bottle,' said the proud carpenter, who 
 had worked like any three men, and, besides, had 
 managed to teach much of his art to sailors (farmers 
 most of them a year ago), so that they were able 
 to assist him, not merely in sawing, hauling, or chop- 
 ping, but in much more important detail work. No 
 man had given any trouble. Loafing natives or beach- 
 comers of doubtful nationality, skulking around for 
 an opportunity to do mischief by purveying a 
 peculiarly vile brand of fire-water, were sternly warned 
 off the premises of the sailors told to keep outside 
 a certain area set apart as the special grounds of the 
 men of the Xiphias. 
 
 When the work was all done, the cargo reshipped, 
 and the Xiphias quite ready for sea, Captain Hampden 
 called all hands aft, and said : ' Men, I'm dredful 
 proud of ye. Ye've take the last ounce out of your- 
 selves, you've never given me a minute's uneasiness, 
 and I don't know how to thank ye enough. But I 
 got it in my head that as we are all ready to sail 
 to-morrow if need be, maybe yew'd some of yew 
 like a little run loose with some money of your own, 
 and if so I feel that yew're all so worthy of trust that 
 
304 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 I ought to give yew the opportunity, and I will 
 if yew want it. Ef not, I'll gladly go with yew to 
 a regular picnic down to one of these beautiful 
 outlying beaches. We'll take all our own provisions, 
 we'll cook them ourselves, every man shall amuse 
 himself just as he likes, fishing, rambling, swimming, 
 or what not, and we shall come aboard tired out with 
 real enjoyment, but happy and not a cent poorer 
 in pocket or health. Now, all those in favour of 
 my scheme step forward those that want to go 
 by themselves and spend their own money remain 
 behind.' 
 
 All hands stepped forward but two harpooners. 
 The prospect of such a ' Sunday School outing,' as 
 one of them termed it, did not appeal to them they 
 were men, not babies. So they went both of them 
 together in search of what they considered to be 
 enjoyment, while Captain Hampden and all hands, 
 except the mate (Mr. Peck), the carpenter, and 
 steward, left the ship on their excursion, and spent 
 a day of unalloyed pleasure, happy as a lot of children 
 let loose from school. And if any old sailor turns 
 up his nose at this I would like to ask him, as an 
 honest fellow, to tell me how much enjoyment he 
 ever got prowling about the purlieus of a great 
 seaport from one dirty public-house to another, always 
 meeting the same kind of furtive-eyed loafer and 
 blatant female, and always pounced upon by these 
 harpies with shouts of welcome, changing into derisive 
 curses as soon as they found he had no more money 
 to spend on them or to give them ? I have no doubt 
 but that his answer would be that it was all sickening 
 and exasperating in the last degree, but as long as 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 305 
 
 he knew of no other way in which to spend his 
 money and leisure, it was not his fault that he behaved 
 as an utter idiot. 
 
 But enough of this. The two malcontents returned 
 in the morning sadly, having had their enjoyment 
 and looking fearfully the worse for it. No one said 
 anything to them about their experiences, and they 
 did not volunteer any information, but it was at least 
 a fortnight before they had regained their healthy 
 appearance, and a much longer time before they had 
 lost a certain hanging of the head. This last was 
 novel, and would not have been the case, but that 
 they had been practically alone in their folly. And, 
 perhaps, there was just a little of the Pharisee's 
 attitude in their shipmates, who, having chosen to 
 keep out of harm's way, were inclined to be in- 
 ordinately proud of their virtue. It is this which 
 makes so many Christians offensive, makes them 
 shunned by those who are really penitent. They 
 do not understand the Divine pity nor the Divine 
 humility, much less endeavour to practise them, and 
 so repel those whom they are professing to try and 
 attract. 
 
 At noon that day the Xiphias sailed short-handed 
 by the loss of those six fine men (for recruits were 
 not to be obtained in Mane"), but well equipped again 
 for the voyage. She now carried seven boats five 
 in the davits and two on the skids aft, and all repairs 
 had been substantially carried out. As soon as she 
 was clear of the land and heading across east for the 
 archipelago, Captain Hampden called all hands aft, 
 and in their presence complimented the carpenter for 
 his noble efforts and his great skill. The Captain 
 
 X 
 
306 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 said that what he had done was truly above all 
 reward, but as a mark of his appreciation he had 
 much pleasure in handing Chips an order on the 
 owners for #250 = $o. Chips turned brick red, 
 fidgeted, shuffled, and finally said, ' Thankee, sir. 1 
 More than that he could not say he was one of those 
 doers who cannot talk. But the men cheered him to 
 the echo, and another kindly link in the chain which 
 bound all hands was forged. 
 
 That evening Captain Hampden communicated 
 to his officers his plans. He intended making a 
 passage with all possible speed to the Bonins, hoping 
 there to pick up half-a-dozen good men, and then go 
 on the Japan ground for a season it being then at 
 the height of its fame. But, he said, he was not with- 
 out hope that on the way thither they might meet 
 with some whales, and be fortunate enough to obtain 
 such an addition to their stock as would repay them 
 for their recent losses. All the officers were in the 
 best possible spirits. They felt that, depleted as the 
 crew was, if only favoured with opportunity they 
 would all give the best possible account of themselves, 
 and each reiterated his firm belief that this would yet 
 be a most successful voyage. Then they separated 
 for the night. 
 
 At daylight in the morning the gladsome cry 
 was again heard from the crow's-nest notifying the 
 nearness of sperm-whales. And for the next week 
 they had a real, old-fashioned busy time. They 
 killed four fine large bulls, one of which was 
 apparently very sick, and, besides, so fat that each 
 lance-thrust was almost like piercing a bladder of 
 lard. So peculiar was his lethargy that, in the absence 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 307 
 
 of any apparent reason for it in the shape of recent 
 encounters with whalers, the Captain decided upon 
 an unusual examination of the body, which, favoured 
 by wonderfully fine weather and a smooth sea, Mr. 
 Peck was able to accomplish successfully. The 
 search revealed an enormous mass of ambergris, 
 packed tightly in the lower bowel, and weighing over 
 two hundredweight. This alone at the lowest possible 
 quotation of $5 an ounce represented nearly $18,000, 
 or about 3,500, more than the value of the whole 
 four whales put together, although in those days 
 sperm oil and spermaceti were easily worth $500 
 per tun to the ship. 
 
 All hands rejoiced exceedingly, feeling that the 
 monetary loss of their late disaster was well wiped 
 out, and anticipating again a most prosperous voyage. 
 Heartened and encouraged thus, they worked so 
 splendidly that by the time they reached the Sunda 
 Straits the vessel was in her normal state of clean- 
 liness and fitness for further adventure. But none 
 came along. They just glided quietly through the 
 straits, buying up with great delight the stores of 
 fruit and vegetables brought by the islanders, who 
 could hardly believe their good fortune. For most 
 of the sailing ships that loiter through there do not 
 yield the canoe-men much profit the trade is mostly 
 barter, an old shirt for a punnet of sweet potatoes, a 
 pair of shoes for a section bunch of bananas, &c. 
 And the demand for monkeys, parrots, musk-deer,&c., 
 has greatly fallen off even in homeward bound ships. 
 The Xiphias' crew, however, took all the fresh food 
 that came along, and got it a bargain, because they 
 paid for it in silver dollars or five-franc pieces, money 
 
 X 9 
 
3 o8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 current all over the islands of the Indian Ocean from 
 Madagascar to Singapore. 
 
 All the way along from Anjer to Luzon they 
 coasted peacefully, keeping wide-eyed watch for possible 
 thieves it would be using too big a word to call 
 them pirates who, even to this day, are ever ready 
 to pounce upon a helpless craft and rifle her, inciden- 
 tally killing her crew. Our splendid sea-patrol, ever 
 engaged in keeping the peace all round the world, is 
 specially busy in Eastern waters protecting the world's 
 commerce from these polyglot marauders, and on the 
 East Coast of Africa in suppressing slavery. Yet for 
 this truly beneficent work one never hears a word of 
 praise. All our sins, or even our supposed sins, are 
 remembered not merely, I regret to say, on the 
 Continent of Europe, where we expect it to be so, 
 but in the United States of America, and all our 
 good deeds are studiously ignored, or, worse still, 
 distorted into deep-dyed hypocritical designs upon 
 some innocent people's independence. But I often 
 wonder what would become of Eastern commerce if 
 the British Fleet in those seas were to be suddenly 
 withdrawn. 
 
 One more piece of good fortune awaited the 
 Xiphias and her good crew before getting clear of 
 those mazy waters. It was just after they had cleared 
 the Molucca Passage, and were hauling up north for 
 the Bonins. About half an hour before sunset the 
 fore crow's-nest reported something, he didn't know 
 what, but it was making a tremendous commotion in 
 the water away ahead about four or five miles. The 
 vessel being under full sail, and with a moderate 
 breeze, nothing more could be done but keep her as 
 
FAREWELL TO THE XIPHIAS 309 
 
 she was going, except that Captain Hampden mounted 
 up to the fore-topgallant yard with his glasses and 
 succeeded in noting a black object in the sea. No 
 more disturbance was visible. The sun went down, 
 the quick tropical twilight faded into night, and still 
 the skipper kept his eyes fixed upon the spot. Then 
 to his great joy the moon rose in that clear 
 atmosphere shedding a flood of light along the sea. 
 Suddenly the skipper's voice rang out of the darkness 
 above : * Lower away y'r boat, Mr. Peck, an' keep 
 her jest ez we're goin'. I think yew'll find somethin' 
 worth havin' jest ahead there. The res' of th' hands 
 shorten sail an' heave ship to.' 'Aye, aye, sir,' 
 responded the cheery voice of the mate. And in 
 about three minutes the vessel was lying-to, the 
 rattle of boat's falls was heard, and the faint glimmer 
 of a lantern was seen as Mr. Peck sped away along 
 the lane of silver sheen spread by the moon on 
 the surface of the quiet waters. He was no sooner 
 gone than the skipper reached the deck, and im- 
 mediately kept the ship away again after the boat. 
 In half an hour all hands were straining to get along- 
 side the biggest whale any of them had ever seen, 
 slain apparently by one of his fellows, since his jaw 
 and part of his throat were completely torn away. 
 Thus, without any effort on their part, beyond realising 
 the spoil, they had gained a prize worth about #6,000 ; 
 a sort of crumb flung to them out of the boundless 
 wealth of the sea. 
 
 And now, much to my sorrow, we must part 
 company with Captain Hampden and his crew. The 
 further matters treated of in this history do not 
 concern him : he did not even hear of them till two 
 
3 io A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 years later. It would be a pleasant task to tell of 
 how he reached the Bonins in peace, and found there 
 the recruits he needed, also an indefinite rumour, 
 which gave him many anxious hours, of some men 
 having been there in the Grampus, who said they had 
 been lost from his ship. For his own peace of mind 
 he was bound to put it down to one of those loosely 
 invented tales that ship-frequenters in foreign ports 
 concoct in order to get on fairly intimate speaking 
 terms with shipmen ; terms which, skilfully manipu- 
 lated, should result in profit to the tale-tellers. Also 
 of how, through the usual thrilling series of adven- 
 tures which always fell to the lot of a whaleship in 
 those days out for a three-years' cruise to the utter- 
 most parts of the sea, Captain Hampden and his men 
 passed unscathed bodily and exceedingly prosperous 
 financially, since the Xiphias returned, having been 
 absent three years to the week, with almost the 
 largest cargo ever brought from the depths of the sea 
 to New Bedford, or, indeed, any other port in New 
 England. 
 
 But that must not be. Our business now is with 
 the Grampus, and to her, however unwillingly, we 
 must return, bidding the Xiphias a long farewell. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 CHECK TO THE KING, AND A NEW MOVE 
 
 As on a previous and never-to-be-forgotten occasion, 
 in the midst of the multifarious activities prevailing 
 on the deck of the Grampus there was a sense of 
 profound peace. And now there was also a feeling 
 of fierce delight that their tyrant was tasting in his 
 own body some of the pains he had so joyously 
 inflicted upon others. All the white men's faces 
 wore a pleasant expression, not at all mitigated by 
 the presence of the Portuguese jealously noting the 
 satisfaction and fully aware of its cause. And, human 
 nature being what it is, there is no doubt whatever 
 that had Captain Da Silva died, his Portuguese 
 henchmen would have been compelled to eat the 
 humblest of humble-pie, or commit themselves to a 
 fearful mutiny with all its consequences. 
 
 Mr. Court moved majestically among the toilers 
 with the air of a man from whom an awful incubus 
 has been removed, and to whom has come a veritable 
 inspiration. He did not shout ; all his orders were 
 issued quietly, but how wise and far-seeing were all his 
 arrangements ! And, first of all, he told off Mr. Pease 
 to watch Rube, who was fighting with all the splendid 
 reserve of force in his clean, healthy body against 
 the encroaching Angel of Death. Mr. Court's 
 
312 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 reasons for this were two-fold. First, he needed 
 badly to show his detestation of the malice which 
 had placed this fine officer in the position of a seaman, 
 and next he had noticed that in Rube's delirium 
 one name continually fell from his lips like a peal of 
 dactyls, * Priscilla, Priscilla, Priscilla.' And Mr. Court 
 knew that Priscilla was the name of his skipper's wife. 
 Therefore, although he fully believed poor Rube's 
 chanting of that name to be a mere coincidence, he 
 knew how essential it was that the skipper should not 
 hear of it. For he was sure that in that case Rube's 
 days would be few and evil, supposing the skipper to 
 live. So calling Mr. Pease to him, after being exceed- 
 ingly careful to see that none of the Dagoes was 
 within earshot, he explained the matter to him care- 
 fully, winding up by saying that at least until the 
 devil was unchained again, he (Mr. Court) would see 
 that a brother officer was, as far as possible, saved 
 from the degradation deliberately prepared for him. 
 
 All this, of course, was seen, noted, and com- 
 mented upon by the Portuguese, secure in the 
 general utter ignorance of their language by the 
 white men, and consequently not needing to get 
 away in private for consultation. But all they could 
 do under present circumstances was to 'bide their 
 time, doing their duty meanwhile as before, for they 
 knew quite enough of their skipper to be sure that no 
 amount of favouritism would be held to excuse slack- 
 ness of work when money-making was to the fore. 
 And as the Americans worked now with a hearty 
 good will because of the absence of the skipper, it 
 was truly marvellous to see how the tremendous task 
 of cutting-in and trying-out was tackled. A spirit of 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 313 
 
 emulation was abroad, manifesting itself in extra- 
 ordinary ways. For instance, a lean American from 
 Connecticut, who had somehow learned to swim 
 splendidly, was down on the back of a whale for the 
 purpose of hooking a mighty iron hook into what is 
 called the ' rising,' or eye-piece. He sprang there at 
 the word, alighting in the foul pool of grease and blood 
 and salt water at the same moment as a gigantic 
 Portuguese, but just as they both reached out for the 
 hook a big swell came along, the ship gave a heave, 
 and a vast volume of water swept over the carcass, 
 washing both the men into the sea alongside, which 
 as usual was alive with sharks. They disappeared 
 for a moment among the shovel heads and dorsal fins 
 crowding round ; then, springing to the surface, Nat, 
 the American, snatched at a strip of blubber, and by 
 sheer agility flung himself back to his former position, 
 grabbing at the dangling hook as he reached it, and 
 yelling in a half-strangled voice, * Heave away ! ' 
 Then, with a contemptuous look at the Dago strug- 
 gling to climb back, he seized the already rising 
 parts of the tackle and swung himself on deck. The 
 Dago's friends had flung him a rope, and he mounted 
 easily enough by its aid, but their remarks to him, 
 aided by the satisfied chuckles of the white men, 
 seemed to depress him very much. He was about 
 to slouch off to the foc's'le to change, when Mr. Court's 
 voice rang out clearly : 
 
 ' Whar you goin' ? ' 
 
 ' Changea me close,' was the sullen answer. 
 
 ' You git right on with the work,' said Mr. Court, 
 and, taken by surprise, the man obeyed. He and his 
 countrymen felt that it was only another item in the 
 
314 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 account to be paid off presently when their champion 
 returned to his command. 
 
 Below, however, that champion was in evil case. 
 In his previous mishap, although his bruises were 
 many and severe, there had been no bones broken, 
 but now his injuries were of so extensive a character 
 that he could hardly find energy enough to curse his 
 wife and the steward, his only attendants. In fact, 
 the conditions of things were entirely altered. Mr. 
 Court, in full vigour, was in charge, and came in to 
 report to him twice a day in the most formal manner 
 how matters were progressing on deck. The mate 
 never asked him how he was, never attempted any 
 conversation, and, after the report had been made, 
 only answered questions, and that in the curtest 
 manner possible. At certain intervals, being respon- 
 sible for his commander's welfare, he made careful 
 examination of the injuries, and saw that they were 
 doing as well as possible under the circumstances. 
 Also he gave the steward secret orders that all the 
 ventilation possible should be secured in the cabin for 
 the Captain's wife's sake, who throughout this trying 
 time, as before, scarcely ever left her husband's side. 
 
 On deck Rube progressed most favourably. His 
 splendid constitution won in the great fight, and 
 when at last he opened his eyes sanely on his devoted 
 nurse, that much-tried man made up his mind at once 
 that Rube would live. No matter that he was worn 
 to a shadow, that he looked even worse than when 
 rescued from the boat, he had evidently got a grip on 
 life which he had no idea of relinquishing just yet. 
 He wanted to live, and, as all doctors know, that is 
 the great factor in the problem of recovery from any 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 315 
 
 illness. But Mr. Pease was mightily puzzled as Rube 
 grew stronger to find him so constantly referring to 
 the early incidents occurring during the cruise of the 
 Xiphias. He seemed to have no knowledge whatever 
 of the stirring events which had happened since. 
 Also Mr. Pease noticed that his eyes had an anxious 
 careworn look in them as of a man who feels that 
 the threads of his life are all entangled, and that he 
 has no ability to clear them. He had, besides, a habit 
 of muttering to himself and of mentioning names all 
 unfamiliar to Mr. Pease, as if by some freak of 
 memory a certain portion of his life, utterly forgotten 
 until now, had just been recalled, while another 
 portion, much more recent in its incidence upon his 
 brain, had become completely obliterated. There 
 was as well an utter absence of that cheery, wide-eyed 
 outlook which he used to wear, the true expression 
 of the Biblical injunction to take no thought for the 
 morrow. Moreover, he was so anxious to get well. 
 He did not know where he was, except that he was 
 at sea and ill, and his helplessness worried him much. 
 It took all Mr. Pease's power of persuasion to convince 
 him that by worrying he was retarding his own 
 recovery, and that, as matters were, it really did not 
 matter a pin whether he was fit again in a week or a 
 month. But it was a difficult job to explain things 
 to a man who knew absolutely nothing about the 
 necessary details, who remembered nothing at all of 
 the happenings of the last eleven months. At last 
 Mr. Pease sought an audience of the mate, taking 
 care that there should be a white man at the wheel, 
 and that all the rest of the hands should be busy 
 forward. 
 
3i6 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 To him Mr. Pease told all that he knew about 
 Rube, of his joining the ship, of his terrible accident 
 and recovery therefrom, how since then he had 
 always behaved more like an angel than a man, and 
 how every man on board had grown from deriding 
 him to loving him in fact, the story which the 
 reader knows. During the recital Mr. Court glanced 
 from time to time most curiously at Mr. Pease, as if 
 wondering whether the latter were crazed or not. 
 Nor could this be wondered at, remembering the life 
 Mr. Court had been leading in the Grampus. What 
 wonder that he had come to disbelieve in the existence 
 of a God at all ? having always been indifferent in his 
 acceptance of the existence of a Supreme Being as a 
 matter of course, and since he had been mate of the 
 Grampus having grown certain that whether there 
 was a God or not there must be a devil, and that this 
 devil was apparently permitted to have everything his 
 own way for the present. Now he was interested in 
 spite of himself at the idea of one greenie having been 
 permitted to alter the character of everybody on 
 board his ship. Also he told Mr. Pease how Rube's 
 present condition was entirely due to his interference 
 on behalf of his former officer. At this news, now 
 first made known to him, Mr. Pease bowed his head, 
 saying : 
 
 'Wall, I alwuz thought he wuz a sure-'nough 
 angel, but 1 never calculated on him so nearly coming 
 to his death for me. Anyway, my life's his frum this 
 eout, ef he wants it there's no question 'bout that.' 
 
 Now, whether it was the intensity of devotion 
 manifested towards Rube thenceforward by Mr. Pease, 
 or his own innate vigour asserting itself, is no doubt 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 317 
 
 a moot point, but certainly from that day Rube's 
 recovery was exceedingly rapid. But he was puzzled 
 beyond expression at his former mate's dog-like 
 affection for him, also at the want of deference shown 
 to Mr. Pease by all hands. And as it was entirely 
 useless trying to remember anything about recent 
 events or to understand what he was told about them, 
 he resigned himself to the mystery. Long before the 
 skipper was able to move sufficiently to come on deck 
 he had resumed his place among the crew, and was 
 doing his work, but with a hesitation, awkwardness, 
 and want of spring that made Mr. Pease tremble for 
 his welfare when once the skipper had again taken 
 command of the ship. 
 
 With that consummate ability for navigating 
 difficult seas that seems inherent in American whaling 
 officers, Mr. Court had, despite his limitation of 
 access to the means of navigation, due to the 
 Captain's behaviour, brought the Grampus through 
 the intricacies of those waters south of Celebes, and 
 had steered her safely past the western end of New 
 Guinea out to the southward of the Pelew Islands 
 before Captain Da Silva came on deck. I have 
 purposely avoided all mention of his behaviour while 
 thus laid helpless a second time, for the subject is 
 such a painful one that it is difficult to do more than 
 hint at it. A wounded tiger would certainly have 
 been far more docile, and have repaid his nurses with 
 much more gratitude than this man, from whom 
 every one of the Divine qualities of our nature 
 seemed to have been withheld. Doubtless this vile 
 temper did much to delay his recovery, but that he 
 could not see ; and hard as his language was to bear, 
 
3 i8 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 the mate felt that it was infinitely better to listen to 
 it occasionally below than to have his presence on 
 deck again. And as the news of his approaching 
 recovery crept about the ship, every white man, 
 except Rube, kept repeating to himself most fer- 
 vently, * Oh, if he would only die ! ' ' he/ of course, 
 being the common enemy. As for Priscilla, the long 
 confinement and constant strain of nursing this 
 terrible man had worn her to a shadow. He did not 
 abuse her so much now, but she had to listen con- 
 stantly to his abuse of others, listen to his furious 
 conversations with his Portuguese harpooners, who 
 were daily summoned below to his bedside to report 
 to him their observations of how the Yankee 
 unmentionables were handling the ship. But this 
 latter affected her as little as the former, which she 
 could understand. The abominable phrases in her 
 own language fell upon utterly unheeding ears, and 
 left no more impression than did the imprecations 
 in an unknown tongue. What she was suffering 
 from was purely physical, as it had been before 
 reaching the Cosmoledos. 
 
 At last one lovely morning, with the ship's head 
 pointed towards the Bonins under his instructions, 
 the skipper gave orders that Pedro and Manuel 
 should attend him and assist him on deck. He 
 needed help. He was worn to a shadow, his face 
 was like a hatchet for sharpness of outline, and many 
 threads of white appeared in his hair and whiskers. 
 But from out the caverns whither his eyes had 
 retreated gleamed the same infernal fires : the in- 
 domitable will had not been subdued in the slightest 
 degree. Upon reaching the deck, he cast a com- 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 319 
 
 prehensive glance around the vessel. She was like a 
 new pin for cleanliness, not a rope yarn was awry, 
 and most of the watch were busy scraping the spare 
 spars, always a favourite device with him when 
 nothing else could be found for them to do. 
 
 From forward came the clink, clink of iron where 
 the remainder of the men were beating iron-rust off 
 the anchors and cables. Everything was going, in 
 fact, as goes a good watch after it has been wound 
 by the master's hand. There was absolutely nothing 
 to find fault with, yet the mate surely knew that 
 fault would be found. So he stood near, offering no 
 salutation nor expecting any, but awaiting the con- 
 temptuous burning words he knew would soon be 
 flung at him. Suddenly the skipper said, without 
 looking at the mate : 
 
 ' Wall, seems yew've mistook th' ship fur a 
 pleasure boat. Wut in thunder yew ben doin' all 
 the way up hyar from Borneo ? ' 
 
 ' Doin' wut hed t' be done, 'n' doin' it well too,' 
 growled Mr. Court. ' Wat d'ye expect I'd be doin', 
 ef I mout be askin' ? ' 
 
 1 Ha, thefs wut ye ben doin', is it gittin' things 
 ripe fur a mut'ny a'gin' me. All right. I'm layin' 
 fur ye. Y' mout hev made sure while I ben lyin' 
 thar he'pless ef yew hed th' grit ov a purp, but yew 
 
 haint, yew ' There is no need to suggest the 
 
 remainder of the vile sentence. But Mr. Court had 
 found time not only to recover his self-control and 
 respect, but to gauge the capacity of Captain Da 
 Silva's supporters to overcome the white portion of 
 the crew. Moreover he had, with commendable fore- 
 thought, drawn the stings of the harpooners and as 
 
320 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 many of the foremost Portuguese hands as he could 
 convict of possessing them that is, he had taken 
 away their revolvers and ammunition, and by perfect 
 equality of treatment had re-established a proper 
 order of things in the foc's'le. All of these things 
 Captain Da Silva, with his almost superhuman grasp 
 of matters only faintly shadowed forth to his senses, 
 had already seen except the disarming of his gang. 
 He was not likely to mistake the import of the 
 change in Mr. Court's tone and bearing towards him. 
 It was a heavy blow, but he was wily as a snake, and 
 immediately changing his tone slightly, he resumed : 
 
 'Thar, I s'pose it's no use makin' more trouble 
 than thar's any need fur. P'r'aps I'm a bit frazzled 
 eout with lyin' below like a gutted herrin'. Any- 
 haow, I guess I'll be all right time we git on the 
 Jappan groun 1 , an' then we'll hev some fun. Hyar ! 
 Manuel, Pedro, come an' git me b'low 'gen. I ain't 
 feelin' good a bit.' 
 
 As the two scowling dark men passed him and 
 placed each an arm carefully behind the skipper's 
 back to assist him down into the cuddy, Mr. Court 
 viewed them with clear eyes, saying nothing, but 
 pondering a great deal. He was not in the least 
 deceived by the change in his skipper's tone. He 
 knew full well that no stone would be left unturned 
 to do him a mischief, and he determined to treble his 
 vigilance and that of his compatriot officers in order 
 to guard against any sudden surprise, and, satisfied 
 that he was doing all that in him lay both for duty 
 and self-preservation, he turned away and resumed 
 his daily business of supervision. 
 
 What he did not, could not, know was that by his 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 321 
 
 resolute bearing and brave words he had saved one 
 of his countrymen from being put to the torture. It 
 had been the skipper's determination when he came 
 on deck to see his cruel intention towards Rube 
 carried out, and, as we know, he was not easily turned 
 away from his purpose. Ever since he had regained 
 consciousness the idea of wreaking his will upon 
 Rube first as being one of the rescued boat's crew 
 he had been, as it were, driven to save ; and, secondly, 
 as the successful opponent of that will had been 
 fermenting in his busy brain, and at the earliest 
 possible opportunity he had appeared on deck for the 
 purpose of putting it into practice. But for the first 
 time that voyage he had found himself successfully 
 thwarted by one of the hated Americans, and he 
 needed all his marvellous powers of self-control and 
 dissimulation not to indulge in some frantic outburst 
 that would certainly have resulted in his being dis- 
 abled from doing any more harm that cruise. His 
 cup of humiliation was not yet full either. As they 
 went slowly down the companion-way, Manuel 
 whispered to him in Portuguese : 
 
 ' Do you know that the mate has taken away our 
 weapons ? ' 
 
 ' What ! ' he hissed, and wrenching himself free 
 from Pedro on the other side, he struck at Manuel 
 with all his might, and missed him, falling down four 
 stairs upon his injured side, and lying there foaming 
 with pain and fury. Manuel, his face green with 
 rage, turned upon his heel and remounted the cabin 
 stairs. What black thoughts filled his heart we 
 cannot tell, but certainly the cost of that injudicious 
 outburst to Captain Da Silva was an exceedingly 
 
 Y 
 
322 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 heavy one. He reckoned too much upon the perfect 
 subjugation of his countrymen to his will, forgetting 
 the obvious fact that if you give your subordinates 
 too much power over you they are apt to use it 
 at inconvenient times, to the complete upheaval and 
 reversal of some of your most cherished plans. 
 
 Pedro, alarmed at the Captain's condition, for the 
 latter was quite beside himself with agony, called 
 in that subdued voice common to sailors when they 
 are in the cabin, * Madem, senhora, Missis, Capena very 
 too mucha bad ; pleasea come ! ' But there was no 
 answer. Nor could be, for Priscilla, completely worn 
 out, was lying in a dead faint upon the settee in their 
 little state-room. The mate was away forward con- 
 ducting the work, the steward was busy washing 
 clothes on deck, and poor Pedro, looking upon his 
 skipper's horribly distorted face, listening to the 
 gnashing of his teeth and watching the writhings of 
 his body, forgot everything but the need for instant 
 aid, and shouted, ' On deck, dere, somebody, anybody, 
 cornea down here quick ! ' At that moment Rube 
 was on his way to relieve the wheel, being now fully 
 recovered as far as physical strength went. With 
 one glance at the sphinx-like face of the helmsman, 
 Rube sprang down the companion, finding the skipper 
 in convulsions, and Pedro at his wits' end to know 
 what to do. Together they raised the twisting body 
 and carried it into the state-room, where the first 
 object which met Rube's eyes was the apparently 
 lifeless form of his loved and lost Priscilla. 
 
 For a moment all things reeled with him, and 
 then, quietly laying the skipper on the deck, and 
 controlling himself by a Titanic effort, he said, 
 
THE APPARENTLY LIFELESS FORM OF HIS LOVED AND LOST FRISCILLA. 
 I'. 32*. 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 323 
 
 c Pedro, some water quick ! ' Even as he did so 
 and Pedro started off, Priscilla gave a deep, deep 
 sigh, opened her eyes, and seeing a strange man 
 before her, made an effort to rise, while a faint tinge 
 of pink came into her face. But with a mingled pang 
 of regret and thankfulness Rube saw that there was 
 no recognition in the look he was just one of the 
 crew to her, and nothing more. And then, to his 
 intense relief, came hurrying the steward and the 
 mate, called frantically by Pedro. Rube stole away, 
 leaving the new-comers to render such aid as was 
 possible, and wearily crept to the wheel, taking 
 absolutely no heed of the bitter words with which he 
 was greeted by the waiting helmsman. 
 
 A trick at the wheel by a good steersman is a 
 splendid place for meditation. For while the 
 mechanical section of the brain is busy with the 
 primal duty of keeping the particular point of the 
 course given as near the 'lubber's point/ or line 
 drawn on the inner rim of the compass-bowl, corre- 
 sponding to the midship line of the ship, as 
 circumstances will allow, the lobes devoted to thought 
 may be fully occupied with the most recondite 
 speculations. May be, but are not often, for your 
 ordinary sailor is a most unimaginative human 
 animal. Reuben, however, for the first half-hour of 
 the present * trick ' found the meditative side of his 
 brain one seething whirlpool surging around its 
 vortex. * Priscilla is aboard this ship.' True, she 
 had not recognised him, and that was, so far, a gain ; 
 but how could he control himself? His speech, his 
 looks ? Moreover, she was unhappy. How much so 
 he did not, could not, know, for the reasons that have 
 
 Y2 
 
324 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 before been fully given ; but that wan face, those thin 
 hands, those deeply shadowed eyes, what a tale of 
 misery they had to tell to a loving heart like Rube's ! 
 Yet even had he not been powerless to do anything, 
 loyalty, honour, truth demanded that he should be 
 silent, cost what it might, unless he saw danger to 
 that dear life. Then the problem of her being here 
 at all suddenly came back with awful force. And 
 utterly confounded, he lifted his heart again to God, 
 not blithely or hopefully, but in a sort of mechanical 
 way, or instinctively, if it be better put so. Instantly 
 a great peace fell upon him. A merciful veil stole 
 down between him and his mental troubles, and the 
 utter blankness of want of thought enwrapped his 
 mind. 
 
 In the cabin the mate and the steward had 
 laboured manfully at their task, although much 
 hampered by the want of knowledge of how this 
 condition of things had been brought about. Pris- 
 cilla had fully recovered consciousness, but was still 
 too weak to help. Still she was no hindrance. She 
 was just watching, and claiming no attention. Mr. 
 Court found several of his bandages displaced, much 
 of the laceration re-opened, and altogether the patient 
 in a bad way. With native skill and judgment he 
 did his best to make his tyrant comfortable, and 
 then having instructed the steward to devote his 
 whole time to the Captain and his wife, returned on 
 deck and sent for the two Portuguese. 
 
 * Now,' said Mr. Court sternly, when they ap- 
 peared, ' I got to know wut yew two ben a-doin' t' 
 th' Captain Yew wuzn't thar, Manuel, when I kem 
 an' Pedro wuz. Wut d' ye go 'way fur ? ' Volubly 
 
CHECK TO THE KING 325 
 
 Pedro began, but the mate in a roar bade him ' shet 
 erp,' and turning to Manuel, said quietly, * Heave 
 ahead. 1 
 
 ' Well, sah/ said Manuel savagely, * we's a-he'pin' 
 ole man daown companyon, an' ole man le's go my 
 arm an' hits me. Then he fall daown steps. I don 1 
 care if he break his neck, so I don' go daown 'n' look. 
 I kem on deck. Dat's all, sah.' And this lucid 
 explanation he followed up with asseverations un- 
 printable indeed, untranslatable. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 
 
 IN spite of the gravity of his position, a smile broke 
 over Mr. Court's rugged face as he realised the 
 situation. All unversed in any Machiavellian arts of 
 diplomacy, he had unwittingly, by straightforward 
 conduct, driven a wedge into the base of the vile 
 edifice so laboriously reared by his commander. For 
 it was impossible for him to help seeing how deep 
 was Manuel's resentment at the treatment meted out 
 to him by the Captain, although the reason for the 
 outburst was entirely hidden from the mate. He 
 was seriously troubled in his mind, though, about 
 Priscilla. How to proceed in order to save her from 
 another painful illness he did not know. For he felt 
 that, though he could and would dare a good deal 
 now to keep the ship from becoming a den of wild 
 beasts as far as the crew was concerned, interference 
 between the skipper and his wife was quite another 
 matter. 
 
 Yet, could he see her die ? For that sad event 
 seemed to him entirely probable within the next 
 few days. She looked so frail, almost transparent, 
 wax-like, in her perfect colourlessness of skin from 
 her long seclusion, and, which alarmed him most, 
 there was a vacant, far-away look in her eyes 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 327 
 
 that was most uncanny to him. He discussed the 
 situation at great length with the second mate, who 
 was fast recovering from the morbid condition of 
 mind into which he had been thrown by the continued 
 success of the skipper. But discuss as they might 
 there seemed no solution of this difficult problem 
 indeed, as they vividly remembered, the chief diffi- 
 culty was Priscilla herself, who, loyal to the core, 
 would not, whatever her sufferings, do or say any- 
 thing which might in her estimation weaken her 
 husband's authority. 
 
 So, with a heavy sigh, the two good fellows 
 would close their conference and part, the one to 
 his dreamless bunk, the other to his four hours' 
 tramp up and down the small area of the Grampus's 
 quarter-deck, revolving, almost maddeningly, all sorts 
 of schemes for a further amelioration of the present 
 conditions. 
 
 I fear that many ship officers, whether of merchant 
 ships, whaleships, or men-of-war, deliberately culti- 
 vate a kind of stultification of the mental faculties 
 while on watch. The mechanical side of the brain 
 previously spoken of will go on doing its part 
 no matter how dense have become the thinking 
 processes. But that any intelligent man should set 
 himself to become a Peter Bell, who ' whistled 
 as he went for want of thought,' is akin to the 
 idea of a man who should hermetically seal up 
 his nostrils so that he should not smell, or render 
 himself colour-blind so that pictures should not 
 appeal to him, or cultivate stone-deafness in order 
 not to enjoy harmony. It is true that to a highly 
 sensitive, overstrung organisation such an ordeal as 
 
328 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 a cruise in a whaler must be a terrible one. For 
 there are no inducements to ' get there.' 
 
 ' Day after day, day after day, 
 
 We stuck, nor breath nor motion ; 
 As idle as a painted ship 
 Upon a painted ocean.' 
 
 This condition of things, so wonderfully portrayed 
 by Coleridge, is well-nigh intolerable to a merchant- 
 man, whose employment probably depends upon the 
 smartness of his passage : to the whaler it matters 
 no more than it does to the steamship, for exactly 
 the opposite reason. The one doesn't care because 
 his engines are doing the work and his ship's swift 
 passage through the stagnant air makes a pleasant 
 breeze ; the other doesn't care because he isn't going 
 anywhere, and consequently the longer he loiters 
 where he is the more chances there are of his seeing 
 what he wishes to see whales. 
 
 In the foc's'le there was a marked improvement 
 in the mental and moral atmosphere. Released 
 from the awful nightmare of the skipper's presence, 
 and quite conscious of the fact that the officers were 
 in sympathy with them, the white men grew cheerful 
 and spoke boldly. Moreover, the disarmament of 
 the Portuguese had a splendid effect. It enabled 
 men, hitherto silent under gross provocation because 
 they wanted to live a little longer, to lift up their 
 heads and speak with the enemy in the gate. This 
 feeling of freedom culminated one day in a huge 
 Portuguese ordering a smart little Yankee from Edgar 
 town to * git away wiv that face while I sit-a down 
 comfble.' The invited party, being at the time sitting 
 on a stool he had made himself, felt naturally 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 329 
 
 aggrieved, and with a considerable amount of spirit 
 retorted in terms that need not be clearly set down, 
 at the same time retaining his seat. The Portuguese 
 stared stupidly for a breathing space or two, then 
 seizing the little Yankee, flung him in a clucking 
 heap across the foc's'le. But Rube was sitting next 
 to Hiram, and immediately rose, seized the wrists of 
 the black man, and forcing him backwards on to the 
 deck, sat on his chest, saying : ' Looky here, my 
 friend, we've done with this fun. They's goin' to be 
 no more of it onless yew're prepared to take on the 
 job of killing every white man aboard. I doan't 
 kyar much which way 'tis, but this hez t' be stopped 
 anyhow.' As soon as he had finished speaking every 
 white man sprang to his feet cheering lustily. The 
 Portuguese looked at each other, Reuben's understudy 
 was allowed to rise, looking foolish and nothing 
 happened. There was a sense of relief all round, for 
 all felt that the power of the tyrant was broken. And 
 in half an hour all the watch was as chummy as 
 possible, even the bruised Hiram feeling quite satis- 
 fied at least he expressed himself so to be. 
 
 Naturally there was a perceptible falling-off in the 
 smartness with which the ship was worked. That 
 was inevitable. In a small unlimited monarchy, 
 such as a ship must be, you cannot have divided rule 
 without a certain loss of power. Mr. Court fought 
 against this tendency with all his might, but do what 
 he would he could not quite overcome it. Still, the 
 only visible effect of the ferment that was going on 
 below was that no whales were sighted, and that of 
 course might be due to natural causes. Four times 
 every day Mr. Court went below and attended on 
 
330 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 his skipper, always looking stealthily at Mrs. Da 
 Silva as he did so, whenever he could look un- 
 observed, and endeavouring to note any change that 
 should make it imperative for him to interfere 
 actively on her behalf. There was none, however. 
 She seemed to exist and do her duty to her husband 
 automatically, but to grow no worse even in the close 
 confinement of that tiny cabin. But anything more 
 absolutely hopeless than her whole pose was surely 
 never seen. 
 
 There was a great change in the skipper, though. 
 Since his mad outburst of rage at Manuel and its 
 result he had to all outward seeming been a different 
 man. His injuries, so rudely handled, resented 
 fiercely their treatment, and for long he had lain in 
 high fever, alternating with periods of utter exhaus- 
 tion. Only his splendid physique and iron constitu- 
 tion, aiding the careful nursing he received, pulled 
 him through. And as he slowly progressed towards 
 convalescence, he looked strangely at Priscilla, not 
 gratefully, but with some such expression as the West 
 African savage regards his 'ju-ju,' believing it all 
 powerful to harm or help him as the case might 
 present itself to the reasoning powers of the dreadful 
 thing. A resolution slowly shaped itself in his brain 
 that come what would he must be very careful of this 
 white, frail woman, who seemed to have passed 
 completely beyond the reach of all the emotions. 
 And he determined to get better in order to carry out 
 this resolve, although had he been capable of enter- 
 taining the feeling it would surely have forced its 
 way into his dark heart that the best way in which 
 he could treat his wife would be to die, and set her 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 331 
 
 free from the hourly horror of his companionship, 
 which for obvious reasons has not been insisted upon 
 definitely here. 
 
 So he mended rapidly so rapidly, in fact, that one 
 week after he had come to the conclusion above 
 noted he was seated on the top of the little deck aft 
 with Priscilla by his side, both luxuriously inhaling 
 the sweet air as the homely old ship wallowed along 
 northward. It was a heavenly afternoon. The sky 
 had the appearance of a great green field the first 
 tender, unsullied green of spring, upon which lay 
 billowy masses of fleecy cloud, motionless as masses 
 of whitest wool and arranged in regular rows converg- 
 ing to a point in the south-east An unaccountable 
 longing for the peace of those heavenly solitudes, a 
 desire to leave behind her the weighing down of her 
 earthy part possessed Priscilla's soul, and quite un- 
 noted by her the heavy tears rose to her eyes, coursed 
 down her thin cheeks and dropped upon the deck. 
 He, stealthily watching as usual while he was awake, 
 became alarmed, because he had not seen a tear for 
 so long. ' Wut ails ye, Pris ? ' he inquired anxiously. 
 
 * Ain't sick, air ye ? C'n I order y } anythin' c'n I 
 do anythin' ? ' 
 
 Immediately the gracious fountain ceased to flow, 
 and, turning, she looked steadily at him, saying, 
 
 * No, thank you, Ramon ; I want nothing.' 
 
 'Wall, wut ye cryin' fur, then?' he demanded 
 irritably. 
 
 ' I don't know, Ramon, and, what is more, I 
 didn't know that I was crying until you spoke/ 
 
 Then, to her great relief for her dread was a long 
 and acrid cross-examination by her husband upon 
 
332 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 any subject whatever the skipper half rose from his 
 chair and hissed out, ' Whar's the watch ? Wut ye 
 all doin' ? Look thar ! ' Involuntarily Priscilla 
 looked where he pointed, and was filled with admira- 
 tion and wonder. A mighty sperm whale had risen 
 from unknown depths and roamings within a cable's 
 length of the ship and lay there, clearly visible in the 
 beautifully transparent blue of the sea, almost motion- 
 less. All his majestic outlines defined themselves to 
 the eye, the great down-hanging shaft of the jaw, the 
 huge rotundity of the belly, and the vast fans of the 
 flukes that, apparently motionless, were in reality 
 quivering with receptivity like the diaphragm of a 
 telephone. She had never before seen a whale at close 
 quarters, never had an opportunity of admiring this, 
 the mightiest of all God's creations in the plenitude 
 of his powers and in his own proper element, and the 
 sight filled her with awe. 
 
 The reason of the whale's nearness to the ship, 
 not merely without alarm for that can readily be 
 understood, since whales, like other animals, long 
 unmolested become perfectly tame but without 
 having been previously seen, is not to be very clearly 
 stated. When such an occurrence does take place 
 on board a whaleship there is usually much un- 
 pleasantness, because the captain is bound to believe 
 that it proves that the watchers aloft are neglecting 
 their duty, or they would have reported the proximity 
 of the whale before. The supposition is only reason- 
 able because really from the masthead of a ship on 
 a fine day, such as this was, the whole vast circle 
 spread out beneath one looks so small, and objects 
 upon it are so clearly defined, that it seems impossible 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 333 
 
 for four pairs of eyes to miss the spout of a whale. 
 And as the distance from that height to the visible 
 horizon is not less than fifteen miles, within which in 
 such weather a sperm-whale's spout should be clearly 
 discernible, the whale should have risen twice within 
 the visible range to spout. His utmost speed when 
 going for all he is worth is only about fourteen miles 
 an hour, his usual cruising speed when underneath 
 only about three or four. He can stay down an hour, 
 but rarely exceeds forty-five minutes, and he does 
 not care, unless driven by necessity, to travel fast 
 under water. When he does come to the surface, 
 too, after a stay beneath of that length, he must stay 
 up until he has finished a certain number of inspira- 
 tions and expirations or ' spoutings out ' fifty, sixty, 
 or seventy, as the case may be. And no matter how 
 hardly he may be pressed by enemies, this always 
 holds good. Yet I have seen a sperm whale rise in 
 ghost-like fashion almost alongside the ship during 
 a stark calm on a day when sea and sky were one 
 flawless expanse of blue, blending into each other at 
 the horizon so perfectly that no one could tell exactly 
 where sea ended and sky began. All hands were 
 most eager to ' raise whale/ for the bounty offered 
 was five pounds equal to twenty-five dollars and 
 we had fine men at the mastheads. Yet our first 
 intimation of his appearance was given by himself 
 spouting almost alongside. As silently as shadows 
 we prepared to go after him, but as the boats were 
 about to be lowered he disappeared, nor did we ever 
 catch a glimpse of him again, although all hands 
 clustered aloft straining their eyes in every direction. 
 He vanished so unaccountably that there was an 
 
334 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 uneasy feeling on board that what we had all seen 
 was no whale at all, but a sportive spook sent to 
 befool us by some sarcastic sea-demon. There is no 
 doubt that both coming and going were exceptions 
 to all the ordinary laws governing the actions of the 
 whale-folk. 
 
 All this explanatory matter, taking so long to set 
 down, was as familiar as breathing to Captain Da 
 Silva, yet his only emotion upon * raising ' the whale 
 so closely alongside was black, murderous rage. He 
 dared not shout for fear of scaring or * galleying ' the 
 whale. But his enforced quiet made his hissed-out 
 orders sound all the more furious. The men flew to 
 their stations silently. The boats were lowered by 
 inches at a time, and with the utmost deliberation, 
 lest the rattle of the patent sheaves should alarm the 
 as yet unconscious monster. Only two boats went 
 the mate's and the second mate's and the skipper sat 
 on his high perch and watched them depart with 
 bitter muttered comments upon all they did. Every 
 movement was criticised as if the makers of it were 
 * greenies ' just commencing the great business. And 
 the worst of the matter was that the men in the boats 
 knew this. It made them less confident than they 
 would otherwise have been, and therefore they felt as 
 if they were going into a fight whereof the issue was 
 already half decided against them. 
 
 Still, they paddled steadily towards the foe without 
 him betraying by the slightest sign a knowledge of 
 any danger likely to be threatening him. By common 
 consent the boats parted company as they neared 
 him, and came on at the great head sheering slightly 
 to either side. Suddenly he saw them or felt them 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 335 
 
 no one knows which it is and with one great sweep 
 of his flukes he leapt forward. Too late. Both 
 boats closed in on him like sentient destroyers, and 
 as if at one signal the harpoons flew from either 
 harpooner's nervous hands and sank quivering into 
 the flank of the whale. Instead of turning to fight, 
 as usual, he settled at once, quite quietly, and imme- 
 diately the attackers felt an impetus forward, steady 
 and increasing. Away he went, well below, only 
 momentarily breaking the surface to spout, and 
 getting up speed in such a fashion that in a very few 
 minutes, despite the smoothness of the sea, it was 
 evident that all the boatmen could do was to hold on 
 and wait until their gigantic steed tired. 
 
 On board the skipper watched with eyes aflame, 
 blaming them all impartially for what he was pleased 
 to call their idiotic behaviour, only his expressions 
 were not so mild as that, and cursing his inability, 
 owing to the absence of wind, to follow them up. 
 Priscilla watched too, fascinated, and all unconscious 
 of the danger the brave fellows were in. And then, 
 with a suddenness seen only in tropical latitudes, 
 
 The sun's rim dips ; the stars rush out ; 
 At one stride comes the dark ; 
 
 and the fleeing boats fade from view. Only then 
 does it dawn upon her what awful danger these men 
 are in, and even then, such is the deadness of her 
 mind, she cannot bring herself to realise as she thinks 
 she ought to do the peril of her shipmates. There 
 is a great silence on board. No one can do anything 
 but wait, except the Captain, who can, and does, keep 
 up a muttered succession of evil words in his own 
 
336 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 language. The leaden-footed minutes creep along, 
 the heavy dews fall, a solemn silence, only accentuated 
 by the creak of a spar or the slight rattle of a block, 
 reigns supreme, for the Captain has gone below, and 
 she is up there quite alone. And suddenly relief 
 comes. Into her dry heart there steals the blessed 
 consciousness of God's loving presence, her almost 
 deadened mental perceptions revive on the memory 
 of ' I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,' and 
 immediately she is able to pray. Not for herself 
 that has not yet come but for the safety of those 
 whom she has seen go out into the night. Most 
 fervently she implores the Father that they may be 
 preserved through the perils around them, and that 
 when they return (as she at once feels assured they 
 will) her terrible husband may be merciful to them. 
 As she forms the petitions in her heart there 
 is a great cry from many throats, a rushing, roaring 
 sound, a crash, and the babel of many voices. All 
 hands spring into violent activity, and high over all 
 the other sounds rises the voice of the Captain. 
 Another boat is lowered into the darkness, which is 
 presently illuminated in ghastly fashion by a blue 
 light which is fired and spreads its glare all around 
 the ship. 
 
 We must leave Priscilla for a few minutes suffering 
 all the tortures of uncertainty, and avail ourselves of 
 our privilege of knowing at once all that is happening. 
 Dragged away at such speed in the darkness, and 
 dependent entirely upon the phosphorescent glare in 
 the water for their knowledge of the whale's where- 
 abouts, the two boats' crews were in no enviable case. 
 But the officers did their manful best, whenever a 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 337 
 
 slackening in the whale's speed gave them oppor- 
 tunity to get near him, to hurl lances and fire bombs 
 into his shadowy-looking mass. But all had ap- 
 parently been of little or no avail in staying his 
 forward rush, and as for its direction they knew abso- 
 lutely nothing. In the midst of this confusion there 
 suddenly towered up before them the great bulk of 
 the ship, menacing like the shadow of death. Both 
 officers drew knives and touched the tow lines, yelling 
 at the same moment, ' Lay off lay on ! ' So as the 
 impetus brought them alongside, instead of coming 
 end on at that great speed and being dashed in 
 pieces, one sheered to port and the other to starboard, 
 both intact and safe. They heard the crash, though, 
 in the midst of that strange evolution, and feared the 
 worst. It was not, however, as bad as they feared, 
 although bad enough. The whale, nearing his end, 
 and collecting all his powers to meet it, had suddenly 
 become instinctively aware of the ship confronting 
 him, and, swerving to the left almost cleared her. 
 But his great head struck the rudder such a tre- 
 mendous blow that it was wrenched from the stern- 
 post, without, however, doing that essential portion of 
 the ship any damage. The rudder was simply gone 
 clean, and none of them ever saw it again. 
 
 Then were heard the strange noises made by a 
 whale in its dying agonies close alongside the ship. 
 She rolled and heaved in the swell he made, but he 
 was not near enough to give her another blow. 
 Presently the silence closed in upon them again. It 
 was broken by the skipper, who, excited beyond 
 endurance, yet compelled to inaction, almost 
 screamed, ' 'Longside thar ! See anythin' of th' 
 
 z 
 
338 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 whale ? Hez he stove in th' counter, or wut ? 'R ye 
 all dead ? J n' ef y' ain't, why'nt ye do somethin' or 
 say somethin' 'r make a sign?' Then compliments 
 after his foul fashion. 
 
 Presently up out of the darkness came a voice, 
 Mr. Court's : 
 
 ' All right, sir, we've got hold of him ; just passin* 
 tow-line.' 
 
 There was a growl like that of a wild beast in 
 response, and an order to light up all the suspended 
 cressets. All hands girded up their loins for the long 
 night's work pending, and as the tow-line was passed 
 on board bent their backs to the task of hauling the 
 great whale alongside, thinking meanwhile of the 
 possibility of his having started a butt when he 
 collided with the stern fittings. Priscilla, her heart 
 full of gratitude for answered prayer, went below, lay 
 down, and in a few minutes slept the blessed sleep of 
 a relieved mind. 
 
 All through the night, goaded on by the rasping 
 voice of the skipper, who, perched aloft upon the 
 after platform, suffered terribly from his inability to 
 make himself felt as well as heard, the weary men 
 toiled on. And to such good purpose that when the 
 pageant of morning blazed forth upon the welcoming 
 sky they had actually consummated the cutting- 
 in, and were all ready for the trying-out. The 
 skipper having hobbled below, Mr. Court proceeded 
 to set blubber watches of six hours each, but also 
 gave word to go easy, for he knew, judging by his 
 own feelings, how spent all hands were, and he would 
 not be so foolish as to lay them up. The relieved 
 ones had just cast themselves down as they were 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 339 
 
 and passed into the depths of utterly exhausted 
 nature's refreshment when, as Mr. Court was diving 
 below to his well-earned rest, the skipper reappeared 
 shouting, * Lay aft here, yew lazy hogs, 'n' rig a stage 
 over the stern. I want ter git a jury rudder rigged.' 
 Returning to the deck, Mr. Court said gravely, 
 'Captain, that kind o' thing wunt work no more. 
 YewVe gut t' be reasonable. I wunt let ye play the 
 fool with men's lives any more, and ef yew're goin' t' 
 shoot, shoot quick, 'r ye'll be too late.' And Captain 
 Da Silva saw, to his intense amazement, a revolver- 
 barrel gleaming in the fingers of the officer whom in 
 his blind passion and prejudice he had abused as a 
 coward. 
 
 His sufferings were terrible to witness. His keen 
 intelligence showed him clearly that at present, at 
 any rate, the mate had the key of the situation, and 
 that again he must stoop to dissimulation where he 
 had been used to enforce his will with the utmost dis- 
 regard of what anyone thought or felt. At last, when 
 the first few agonising spasms had passed, he 
 mastered himself by a supreme effort and said 
 huskily, ' All right, Mr. Court. It's yewr call. It'll 
 be mine some day. Meanwhile we'll keep eour trouble 
 indoors.' 
 
 Raising his voice a little for the benefit of 
 the few haggard-looking, anxious men who were 
 clustered about the mainmast awaiting the word to 
 come aft and recommence work, he said, * Oh, all 
 right, Mr. Court ; I guess we'll leave it a bit. Don' 
 look 's if we sh'd hev enny change in th' weather fur 
 a while, anyhow. We'll git on with th' tryin'-out, 'n' 
 leave th' repairs until she's cleaned erp agen. Thet'll 
 
 Z2 
 
340 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 do th' watch below,' he snarled in conclusion. And 
 the worn-out men shuffled away. 
 
 Without another word Mr. Court descended to his 
 bunk, not, to be sure, without many misgivings as to 
 whether, in the absence of any defence to his sleep- 
 ing-place, any door to bar, he should, in the quaint 
 sailor phrase, ' wake up and find himself dead.' But 
 he reasoned, and correctly, that under present con- 
 ditions the skipper would hardly proceed to open 
 murder, for open it must be since four men would be 
 in full view of the crime if it were done while he slept. 
 And with a final, ' Well, I kain't he'p it, anyhaow ; 
 mout so well die this way J s any other, fur all I k'n 
 see,' the mate turned in, put his loaded revolver under 
 his pillow, and in two minutes was fast asleep. 
 
 The Captain, in spite of his weakened body, of his 
 still aching limbs, paced the narrow limits of the 
 cabin like a caged leopard, his mind seething with 
 deadly thoughts about the mate and, in a lesser 
 degree, all the members of his crew. For this was 
 the first voyage of his career as captain that any of 
 his ship's company had been able to oppose his 
 will successfully. Also it was the first voyage of his 
 life that he had suffered so much in his own body, 
 and he was gravely in doubt as to what the change 
 meant. He was inclined to lay all his disasters at 
 the door of his wife ; but of her he was now quite 
 afraid, and, moreover, satisfied that if he were not 
 very careful in his treatment of her worse misfortunes 
 would befall him. These thoughts worried him so 
 much that he had recourse to the bottle, the great 
 store of fiery liquor he had brought on board at 
 Brava having been only slightly encroached upon. 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 341 
 
 And after a few glasses and a couple of cigars he 
 was reassured as to his own importance and power, 
 feeling, indeed, that his recent fears were quite un- 
 warranted. And yet he could not help casting a 
 curiously furtive glance at the pale, mask-like face 
 of his wife. 
 
 The next day, his physical improvement having 
 been well maintained, he took full charge at eight 
 bells in the morning, and all hands fell obediently 
 into line at his word. Work on the blubber proceeded 
 apace, but there was a much more important duty 
 to perform, and that was the rigging of a contrivance 
 by means of which the ship might be steered. Here 
 Captain Da Silva shone as a perfect seaman. He 
 ordered a spar about the size of a medium scaffold- 
 pole to be made into a huge oar, the blade being 
 formed of stout planks bolted together athwart, and 
 the interstices on each side of the spar filled with old 
 chain for weight to keep the machine down. A solid 
 crutch, lined with leather and well greased, was fixed 
 on the taffrail for the upper part of the spar to work 
 in, with plenty of play allowed, but strong lashings to 
 prevent its jumping out of its bed. Also a severe 
 holdfast was made just above the blade of the ' oar,' 
 into which a stout tackle was hooked on either side ; 
 the upper blocks of these tackles were led to out- 
 riggers over each quarter, and the falls passed into 
 the barrel of the steering wheel. And of course 
 recognising that a vast amount of uninteresting but 
 essential detail has been left out that is how Captain 
 Da Silva rigged his jury-rudder. It was so success- 
 ful, too, that three days afterwards he navigated his 
 ship into the difficult harbour of Port Lloyd with it, 
 
342 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 none of the captains of whaling ships anchored there 
 noticing any difference, except that there were one 
 or two remarks about the Grampus's wild steering and 
 a little wonder as to what she was towing astern. 
 
 Before going into the harbour Captain Da Silva 
 called all hands aft and made them a speech. He 
 said : ' Men we're a-goin' in here fur repairs, wood, 
 an' water. Any of ye 'at wants t' run away 'ud 
 better make erp yewr mines before yew go fur the 
 wust floggin' y' ever had w'en yew're brought back. 
 'N' yew will be, fur I'm goin' t' offer one hundred 
 dollars reward fur any deserter brought back to the 
 ship dead er alive. 'N' thar's lots er folks here as 'd 
 kill a man fur one dollar, let alone a hundred. No 
 gammin' allowed. This ship's ben runnin' slack. I'm 
 goin' t' tighten things up a bit, Naow git.' And as 
 all hands slunk away the skipper cast a triumphant 
 glance at the officers as who should say, ' What are 
 you going to do now ? ' There was no answering 
 look. Who could reply to a challenge like that 
 without putting himself irrevocably in the wrong ? 
 
 Now it would be useless to recapitulate the pro- 
 ceedings at Port Lloyd, so tame and commonplace 
 were they. The men were kept at work not merely 
 from daylight till dark, but before daylight till after 
 dark, doing all the thousand-and-one things needed 
 when a whaleship comes into harbour after a long 
 cruise. No boats other than her own were allowed 
 near the ship, so the men got no fresh fruit, while no 
 fresh beef or vegetables were sent on board by the 
 skipper, so that all the fresh food obtained by the 
 hungry men was fish, which, fortunately for them, bit 
 at night and were caught in fairly large numbers. The 
 
THE EDUCATION OF THE SKIPPER 343 
 
 skipper went ashore but very little ; when he did, he 
 now took Priscilla with him, closely muffled up so that 
 no one should see her but himself. He saw none of his 
 fellow-skippers, and cared nothing that he was the 
 talk of the harbour. At the end of four days he 
 ordered the windlass to be manned, and took the 
 Grampus out to sea again, no man but himself know- 
 ing whither he was bound. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 
 
 IT could not possibly have escaped the memory of 
 Mr. Court that he had been told by the skipper that 
 their next cruising-place would be the ' Japan-ground.' 
 Not that he was foolish enough to place any serious 
 reliance upon anything said by Captain Da Silva, 
 only he knew, as every whaling officer did in those 
 days I write of half a century ago that the 
 Japan grounds were the most prolific of all known 
 haunts of the sperm whale. He was just a little 
 startled, then, on getting clear of the Bonins, to find 
 a course set S.W., which looked very much like 
 getting down on to the Line grounds, and in any 
 case could not mean that the Grampus was bound 
 for the carrying out of the previously arranged 
 programme. But he had such an implicit faith in 
 the astounding ability of his skipper, and he felt so 
 sure that even revenge would be made to wait until 
 the money-making was over, that he did not trouble 
 his head much about the rather startling change in 
 the course. He could not know, of course, what 
 Captain Da Silva did, that the common talk of Port 
 Lloyd had been the inexplicable absence of sperm 
 whales from the Japan grounds that season, neither 
 could he tell by what curious chain of reasoning, 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 345 
 
 amounting almost to instinct, the skipper had de- 
 cided upon going south among the islands and 
 gradually working his way down to the Line whaling 
 grounds. 
 
 For two days they steered S.E., and then, as if 
 in justification of the skipper's foresight, they ran 
 into a vast school of whales. Now, without going 
 over previously well-trodden ground, I may remark 
 that it will have been noticed how on board a whale- 
 ship, as in an army, things may be done by officers 
 with impunity in time of war that would certainly 
 cause a mutiny in time of peace. And the skipper's 
 eyes glistened as the boats took the water at the 
 thought of how, during the coming campaign, he 
 would take the last ounce out of his officers and men, 
 making them pay most dearly for any little ' let-up ' 
 they might have enjoyed during his enforced retire- 
 merit. One other step he had taken which I have 
 omitted to mention, the separation of Rube and Mr. 
 Pease, taking the former to pull his own midship 
 oar, and putting the latter under his third mate, a 
 Portuguese very much after his own heart. 
 
 Now for the next three months Reuben led the 
 life of a daily martyr, a galley slave. The ship 
 seemed never to be out of sight of whales, and 
 exercising the greatest possible skill in the manipula- 
 tion of his forces, the skipper managed to keep the 
 war going continually, favoured as the ship was by 
 the finest of weather. But he never in the midst of 
 all his multifarious energies forgot for one hour the 
 exercise of his awful animosity towards Reuben. 
 The other Americans suffered also, but in a much 
 lesser degree. It was Reuben who for any fault 
 
346 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 committed by anyone in the boat was smitten with 
 the heavy oak tiller over head or shoulders or face, 
 Reuben who was selected for every dangerous, filthy, 
 and heavy piece of work ; Reuben, in fact, saved the 
 rest of his white shipmates much pain and trouble 
 by being the lightning conductor, attracting nearly 
 all the skipper's cruelty. And strangely enough, it 
 seemed to make little difference to him. He did not 
 smile so sweetly as he used to do, and his rather worn 
 face wore a puzzled look that was very pathetic. 
 But he never resented any of his ill-treatment, never 
 seemed to notice it, in fact, after the first week or two. 
 What the condition of the ship became during 
 those three strenuous months I do not propose 
 attempting to describe. Only the pen of a Zola 
 could do it justice, and the result would be almost, 
 if not quite, unreadable to any cleanly living person. 
 She was an offence to the clean, wide sea much 
 worse, indeed, than she was in the Mozambique 
 Channel in respect of foulness, but not so bad with 
 regard to health, because of the sweet breeze that 
 steadily blew, and kept clearing off some of the 
 miasma she exhaled. The skipper, however, alarmed 
 for the health of Priscilla, for the reasons before 
 noted, caused a little bower to be built on the top of 
 the tiny deck aft, and did away with the spanker 
 boom so that it (the bower) should not be disturbed. 
 Here Priscilla sat all day long carefully screened 
 from the smell as far as could be, and exposed to the 
 fresh air. And, although she naturally suffered very 
 much, as she always had done, since first she came 
 on board, from lack of exercise, she became better 
 in her general health, and more ready to take a 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 347 
 
 little interest in life than she had been for a long 
 time. Nevertheless, little as her ship surroundings 
 had ever power to impress her, she got very weary 
 of the incessant inflow of greasy masses from over- 
 side, heartily sick of the aroma of slaughter. Also it 
 seemed to her as if, instead of her husband growing 
 more and more satisfied at the way in which he was 
 accumulating wealth without any other ship near to 
 share his good fortune, he became ever more morose 
 and scowling. Nor was she wrong. The check to 
 his cruelty which he had received worried him like a 
 green wound, and all his prosperity was not nearly 
 sufficient to compensate him for the loss of prestige 
 he felt he had endured. If only, without destroying 
 the efficiency of his ship's company, he could have 
 set his foot upon the neck of those pale-faced men 
 of an alien race, who, despite his masterfulness, had 
 succeeded in great measure in setting themselves 
 free from his tyranny, and who now strode before 
 him with erect heads and clear eyes ! The story of 
 Haman is no myth. It is being repeated all around 
 us every day, and I do not know of any more cogent 
 proof of the existence of the devil than this. 
 
 At last the whales seemed to have learned their 
 lesson, and began to fight shy of this lonely ship 
 which had transferred so many of them to her own 
 interior. No longer did they crowd around like a 
 flock of frightened sheep awaiting the butcher and 
 unable to see whither to flee in all that wide expanse 
 of ocean. There came a time when the thoroughly 
 wearied men were able to, not rest, but find an 
 intensely welcome relief from the all-pervading filth 
 in strenuously endeavouring to cleanse it away. And 
 
348 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 although they worked just as hard as ever, they went 
 about their altered occupation with something like 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 Meanwhile the skipper had by frequent secret 
 conferences, by sundry quietly bestowed tots of grog, 
 and such grim pleasantries as he could give utterance 
 to, been endeavouring quite successfully to regain his 
 former status among his countrymen. Mr. Court 
 saw, in common with every other white man on 
 board, the trend of matters, and passed, therefore, 
 many uneasy hours, unable to formulate any plans, 
 since he knew not what was brewing except that it 
 meant mischief for him and his compatriots. But in 
 the absence of any overt act of offence on the part of 
 the skipper he could take no step, he could only 
 whisper Mr. Winslow to keep a bright look-out for 
 whatever devilry might be afloat. What troubled 
 him principally was his utter want of knowledge of 
 the ship's whereabouts. This is always a hardship 
 at sea even under the best conditions, and if sailors 
 were only to allow their minds to dwell upon the fact 
 that they are not allowed by the skipper to know 
 even the approximate position of the ship there 
 would be far more discontent than there is now. 
 I have been in a ship on a passage of nearly seven 
 months between Liverpool and an Indian port, and 
 during the whole of that time not one foremast hand 
 ever knew the ship's position within a thousand miles, 
 so carefully was the secret guarded, And I have 
 been in ships where the skipper refused to allow his 
 mate to know, would not let him take an observation, 
 seeming to take some insane pleasure in knowing that 
 he alone of the ship's company had any idea where 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 349 
 
 upon that vast blank space of sea the tiny dot of a 
 ship was poised. 
 
 Thus it was in the Grampus^ when at the last 
 clearing up certain sail was set, and a definite course 
 to the eastward was steered. Indications of land 
 were many, for they were now in that part of the 
 Pacific where Nature would appear to have her busiest 
 workshops ; where islands rise in a few hours from 
 unknown depths and isolated patches of land are 
 suddenly met with, summits of submerged mountains 
 rivalling the Himalayas in their tremendous altitudes. 
 So, although no more whales were seen, the watchers 
 at the masthead scarcely passed an hour without 
 reporting some new appearance, some discolouration 
 of the bright sea that upon nearer approach resolved 
 itself into a floating island of weed about which 
 played an innumerable company of bright-hued fish 
 making the water foam again with their blithe 
 gambols. Or a derelict cocoa-palm torn from its reef- 
 edge moorings, and long since denuded of its feathery 
 crown, floated by, recognisable only to a whaleman's 
 eye as anything belonging to earth at all from the 
 wealth of parasitic life which had accumulated upon 
 it, making it look more like the head of some vast 
 sea-serpent with a snowy mane than anything else 
 the mind can depict. An occasional canoe, water- 
 logged or bottom-up, floated along, making the 
 watcher wonder where the recent occupant had gone, 
 and what manner of struggle he or she made for life 
 ere the fateful moment came when the sea claimed its 
 toll as of right. 
 
 All through this pleasant time Priscilla kept her 
 vigil during the daylight hours in her breezy house 
 
350 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 aloft, above the working people's heads. There was 
 a sort of placid wonder why the Captain should 
 have so radically altered in his behaviour towards her. 
 Benumbed as her faculties had undoubtedly become, 
 since she had lived up on the after-deck she had begun 
 to regain a certain interest in life which had not been 
 possible to her while confined to the cabin. And she 
 certainly found herself speculating upon the change 
 in her husband. She noticed that he was less brutal 
 in his behaviour to the crew, too, as far as physical 
 ill-treatment went, but, of course, she did not know 
 the cause. There was no easement of the hardships 
 of their lives, nor any relenting in those fierce black 
 eyes when looking upon a subordinate. But when 
 his gaze fell upon her it changed into the puzzled, 
 frightened glance of the savage face to face with the 
 unknown, and dominated by an illogical fear, a state 
 of mind which culminates in a sudden plunge into 
 nameless cruelties. 
 
 She and her husband never held any conversation, 
 their intercourse being limited to monosyllables 
 almost. Discussion was out of the question, since 
 she was docile as a well-trained dog, and besides did 
 not seem to care about anything sufficiently to discuss 
 it. Yet all unknown to her, a change was taking 
 place in her mind. A renewed interest in life was 
 springing up there. It may have been her long 
 contemplation of the ever-wonderful and changeful 
 life of the sea, but I am inclined to think that it was 
 the intensity of that unknown love burning in one 
 loyal breast near her, the outpouring of those fervent 
 supplications for her well-being that Reuben was 
 continually offering communicating something of 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 351 
 
 their own force in some mysterious way, not under- 
 standable as yet, but some day surely to be explained 
 to us. At last, after about a fortnight of this pleasant 
 sailing, she came up to her little haven of refuge 
 to witness a scene of almost fairy-like loveliness. 
 Stretching away to the northward like a cluster of 
 jewels set upon the shining bosom of the sea was 
 a group of islands. Some rose sheer from the waves 
 that rolled creamily against their jet-black bases, just 
 failing to reach the tender festoons of every shade 
 of green that clothed them from high-water mark 
 to summit. Others glittered in dazzling white against 
 the intense blue of the quiet lagoon, shielded from 
 all ruffling by a barrier of living rock encircling 
 them, and crested with a mighty feather of purest 
 white as the great swell surged up against it, and 
 found its onward sweep effectually stayed. Others 
 from serene palm-fringed heights sloped sweetly 
 seaward to inviting beaches of all colours sheltered 
 from any onslaught of waves and apparently inviting 
 the weary seafarer to come and rest himself after all 
 his ocean wanderings. 
 
 Quite close to the ship was a long, formidable 
 barrier of black rocks, outliers of the main group, 
 whose jagged, saw-like teeth snarled threateningly 
 up from the fret and foam of the sea around. But 
 even they were robbed of half their terrors by the 
 beautiful play of light and colour around them, gift 
 of the golden sun which hung in the limpid sky, 
 shedding his fervent fires upon sea and land, and 
 investing the most commonplace objects with supreme 
 beauty. As Priscilla gazed upon the lovely scene 
 she felt the tears steal down her cheeks : the whole 
 
352 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 panorama appealed to her innate sense of loveliness 
 so strongly that the happy tears would come, and 
 her heart was lifted by the adoring creature's joy 
 in the Creator's lovely handiwork. She forgot all 
 else in the glories of the present scene, took no heed 
 of the swift changing of the view as the homely old 
 ship glided past that long, long barrier through the 
 smoothest and brightest of seas. She took no heed 
 of the skilful handling of the ship, all her mind 
 being bent upon the wonders overside. It seemed 
 to her as if now for the first time she understood 
 what voyaging really meant, as if only now was she 
 realising some of the impressions given her long ago 
 in reading records of wonderful voyages. A faint 
 flush mounted into her pale cheeks, her breath came 
 and went quickly through her parted lips, and she 
 was nearer happiness than she had been since the 
 first week out from home. 
 
 Suddenly she became conscious of an apparent 
 increase in the wind, caused by an alteration in the 
 vessel's course, bringing her close-hauled, and like 
 magic the whole scene changed. The ship was now 
 running in between a wide opening in the great barrier 
 before mentioned, where on either side of her the 
 frowning rocks with their white crests of foam stopped 
 abruptly in a sea of deepest blue. Ahead this lovely 
 colour took a dozen different shades from inequality 
 in the depth, and here and there, where a patch of 
 coral neared the surface and the sun's rays touched 
 its summit through the intervening water, there was a 
 blending of hues that would make an artist despair. 
 
 Thus, piloted with the utmost skill by the skipper, 
 the Grampus drew near the main group of islands, 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 353 
 
 sheltered as they were by all this intricate network 
 of reefs from any roughness of water, and, finally, 
 turning sharply to starboard, she came up into the 
 wind behind a low bluff, and by her own impetus 
 forged ahead into a little bay, sheltered from every 
 wind of heaven, bordered by a snow-white beach, 
 which, in its turn, was fringed by tropical growth of 
 trees and shrubs of many kinds, and looking an ideal 
 haven of rest. Midway of the bay's semicircle, and 
 at less than half a mile from the beach, at a hoarse 
 shout from the skipper the anchor rattled down, its 
 crash and roar awakening echoes that long resounded 
 like peals of distant thunder. Then the shouts of 
 the officers succeeded as they gave the necessary 
 orders for furling sails and clearing up the ship 
 generally. And in half-an-hour, when the word 
 * supper ' was given, an intense hush as of the first 
 Sabbath succeeded a calm and peace over sea and 
 land that fell upon Priscilla's heart like the touch of 
 a mother's cool hand upon the hot brow of her ailing 
 child. 
 
 Captain Da Silva's officers, however, were far 
 from enjoying a like serenity of mind. That very 
 peace which was so grateful to an unknowing one 
 was to them like the calm preceding the outburst of 
 a hurricane. They looked anxiously around, pre- 
 cluded from consulting each other by their absurd 
 relations, yet fearing the worst. Then the skipper, 
 going below and summoning his unfortunate steward, 
 had the * trade,' always carried by these ships in that 
 day for the purpose of barter among the islands, 
 brought out and placed in readiness for conveyance 
 on deck. His (the skipper's) plans had long been 
 
 A A 
 
354 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 made, but only his Portuguese accomplices on board 
 knew anything of them. As far back as the visit to 
 Brava he had been preparing for this event, when 
 that load of cases of most potent liquor was brought 
 on board. And now it was not so much the possi- 
 bility of treachery on the part of the natives as the 
 ruin of his plan of pleasure (?) which made him 
 anxiously scan beach and bay for any sign of human 
 life. 
 
 The sun neared the horizon, the busy fishing birds 
 began to fly shoreward to their nests laden with the 
 fruits of their labours, and the fresh sweetness of the 
 coming night began to make itself felt. Then, as if 
 at a given signal, a whole fleet of canoes came rushing 
 round the headland into the bay, the water foaming 
 around them under the strokes of multitudinous paddles. 
 As they neared the ship it was to be seen that each 
 canoe carried a green branch with streamers of white 
 ( tapa ' or native cloth, betokening peace, also that 
 the still green coverts ashore had suddenly burst into 
 life and scores of dusky female forms were hurling 
 themselves into the water, and almost like denizens of 
 the deep sea were rushing towards the ship. A few 
 sharp orders from the skipper, and the Portuguese 
 members of the crew hurried aft to assist him in the 
 handing and distribution of his presents. They had 
 barely got the things on deck when with yells of 
 delight the natives reached the vessel, climbing on 
 board everywhere like an invasion of happy children 
 without one thought save the joyful indulgence of idle 
 infantile curiosity. Priscilla had previously retired, 
 being sternly ordered below by her husband as soon as 
 the natives were seen, and in the little state-room she 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 355 
 
 sat listening with mingled feelings to the hubbub 
 prevailing on deck, not knowing what it meant. 
 
 It was well that she did not, for there was now 
 commencing on board the Grampus one of those 
 orgies which have done so much to hinder the spread 
 of Christianity among these savage isles. There is no 
 danger that I should attempt to particularise ; that, I 
 am sorry to say, has been done ad nauseam, and to 
 what good end I am unable to see. Even the bald 
 official records of such scenes strike a chill of horror 
 into any decent mind, but they also leave a sense of 
 profound gratitude that in spite of all these dire hin- 
 drances to the spread of the Gospel it does spread, it 
 is embraced by these simple children of Nature, so apt 
 to be influenced by the latest impression, especially if 
 that impression be evil. Every careful reader of 
 South Sea Island records must have noticed the fre- 
 quency with which the good work of the missionaries 
 and, let it be said, in all justice, the good work of 
 the honest, sober, truthful, and decent trader has been 
 undone by the infernal exploits of a crew of black- 
 guards coming soon after. Also, it must have been 
 seen how frequently the ill-usage (in the worst sense) 
 of the confiding but undiscriminating natives by 
 some bad ship's crew has led to the awful massacre 
 of the next ship's company calling there, and the 
 subsequent laying waste of the village of these dis- 
 pensers of wild justice. In Stevenson's ' Wrecker ' 
 one of the most appalling facts is stated quite dis- 
 passionately concerning the murder of Bishop Patte- 
 son, and it makes the flesh creep. Here it is : 
 
 1 He was tried for his life in Fiji in Sir Arthur 
 Gordon's time, and if ever he prayed at all, the name 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 of Sir Arthur was certainly not forgotten. He was 
 speared in seven places in New Ireland the same 
 time his mate was killed the famous outrage on 
 board the brig Jolly Roger, but the treacherous savages 
 made little by their wickedness ' (the italics are 
 mine) 'and Bostock, in spite of their teeth, got 
 seventy-five head of volunteer (?) labour on board, of 
 whom not more than a dozen died of injuries. He 
 had a hand besides in the amiable pleasantry which 
 cost the life of Patteson ; and when the sham 
 bishop landed, prayed, and gave his benediction to 
 the natives, Bostock, arrayed in a female chemise out 
 of the trade-room, had stood at his right hand and 
 boomed Amens. This, when he was sure he was 
 among good fellows, was his favourite yarn. " Two 
 hundred head of labour for a hatful of Amens," he 
 used to name the tale ; and its sequel, the death of 
 the real bishop, struck him as a circumstance of 
 extraordinary humour.' 
 
 It was evident to Mr. Court at once what his 
 commander had come into this bay for, and he was 
 in a greater difficulty than ever. The ship was 
 practically in possession of the natives, all up- 
 roariously good humoured, but all, liable to pass 
 at once from riotous pleasantry to mad fury of 
 slaughter. The only comfort he had was that no 
 natives were allowed to invade the cabin. The 
 foc's'le, the half-deck, was overrun by them, and nearly 
 all the crew had been induced to join them in their 
 curious gambols all the more curious that the 
 skipper had liberally distributed his fire-water among 
 them. Reuben, at the first descent of native men and 
 women into the foc's'le, had made his way on deck and 
 
SHE STOOD THERE FRAMED IN THE PORTAL LIKE A GRACEFUL PICTURE, 
 P. 11. 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 357 
 
 into the fore-top, then along the topgallant stay he had 
 climbed to the main-crosstrees, and in similar fashion 
 had reached the mizen-top. Here he determined to 
 camp until morning with some vague idea of watching 
 over the safety of Priscilla, and at the least, descending 
 among the natives if they should prove treacherous (?) 
 and losing his life in her defence. From his lofty 
 perch he looked down upon that ugly scene, and 
 his clean soul revolted at it. But he saw to his 
 intense satisfaction the actors therein gradually sink 
 to slumber, overcome by fatigue, and by mid night the 
 pale moon shone down upon heaps of sleepers in all 
 sorts of varied attitudes, exposing shamefulnesses 
 that the tender dark had hidden. And overwearied 
 at last he slept also. 
 
 The morning brought tumult, a renewal of the 
 orgies of the previous night. All work, discipline, 
 order, seemed to be at an end. The skipper, like a 
 maddened Bacchanal, swayed to and fro between 
 two dusky nymphs, daughters of the paramount 
 chief, and Mr. Court, looking at him with disgust, 
 could take no steps. Once, indeed, finding a huge 
 native endeavouring to force his body down through 
 the insufficient opening of the cabin skylight, the 
 mate almost forgot the stern control he had placed 
 upon himself, and was just about to seize the man 
 fiercely and hurl him away when he was seized from 
 behind, and turning furiously to see who it was he 
 looked into the mild but fearless eyes of Reuben, 
 who said, * For heaven's sake, sir, don't anger them 
 for her sake.' That was all, and Mr. Court's anger 
 died instantly away. 
 
 But none of the devoted few who throughout this 
 
358 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 terrible time retained their manliness and clean living 
 were able to retain much hope that a final and 
 terribly complete disaster could be avoided. And 
 all they could do was to look helplessly on and see 
 it coming, powerless to avert it. For the skipper, in 
 spite of the madness of his orgies, not only kept 
 cunning watch over his end of the ship, and allowed 
 no native, whether male or female, to enter the cabin, 
 but he also kept the sober ones in view also, and by 
 this I do not merely mean those to whom he had 
 handed out drink his own countrymen but those 
 of the white men who had allowed themselves to 
 wallow in debauchery. 
 
 The end came very suddenly, on the fourth night. 
 All the revellers had been carrying on furiously, with 
 but brief intervals of exhaustion, and the number of 
 natives was greatly increased by fresh arrivals from 
 some of the outlying islands. Several serious 
 quarrels had broken out, and been patched up with- 
 out bloodshed, and there was much murmuring 
 among the natives because the supply of liquor 
 seemed to be failing at any rate, the Captain was 
 not so free with it as he had been. More, a belief 
 had steadily gained ground among them that some- 
 thing of great value was secured in that after-part of 
 the ship into which none of them had been permitted 
 to penetrate. Now, whether either of these causes 
 had anything to do with the final catastrophe, or 
 whether it was just an outburst of savagery like the 
 mischief of petulant children, no one will ever know, 
 but the fact remains that about midnight there was a 
 strong smell of fire, and before any of the sleeping 
 roysterers had awakened, tall flames upreared their 
 
THE LOSS OF THE GRAMPUS 359 
 
 terrible shapes from the main-hatch, and a roar as of 
 some vast furnace was heard. Almost in an instant 
 the ship was alive with men running hither and 
 thither as if dazed, others fiercely fighting, others 
 drawing water in buckets, and casting it into the 
 glowing furnace of the main-hatch without the 
 slightest appreciable effect. In the midst of it all 
 four men kept their heads clear Reuben, Mr. Court, 
 Mr. Winslow, and Mr. Pease. As it was very evi- 
 dent at an early stage that the fire, even if attacked 
 by competent hands, was unsubduable, and that, 
 moreover, the natives were bent not only upon 
 destroying the ship but the lives of every European 
 on board, these four devoted all their energies to the 
 means of escape. The Captain was somewhere in 
 the midst of the yelling crowd, fighting fiercely, no 
 doubt, his voice heard occasionally above the tumult, 
 so that no counsel could be taken with him. And to 
 make the confusion still more terrible, blinding 
 columns of smoke began bursting, as it seemed, out 
 of every crevice of the vessel. This decided Reuben 
 that the time had come to act finally, and tearing the 
 cabin door off its hinges by one effort of his strength, 
 he rushed below, and seizing the half-suffocated 
 Priscilla in his arms bore her on deck, and, half- 
 blinded, groped his way to the port quarter boat, and 
 placed her safely in the stern sheets. He had 
 previously ' racked ' the falls that is, fastened two of 
 the parts of each together and had thrown the coils 
 into the boat. Now he took a round turn round the 
 midship thwart with both the falls, and, holding them 
 firmly, went to both ends of the boat consecutively 
 and cut the rackings, the boat falling a foot or so 
 
360 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 each time with an ugly jerk. Then he lowered away 
 handsomely, feeling sure that in the hubbub on deck 
 the rattle of the blocks would never be noticed. She 
 took the water, he unhooked and pushed off, full of 
 anguish of mind as to the fate of his three friends, 
 but not knowing what to do for them without risking 
 the helpless woman for whom he would gladly have 
 suffered any pain or manner of death. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 AND LAST 
 
 IT may well be wondered why in the much-abused 
 name of common-sense the manners on board the 
 Grampus did not, seeing the hopelessness of saving 
 their vessel, make for the boats and leave her. But 
 it must be remembered that, apart from the fact 
 that they were nearly all mixed up in that horrible 
 compost of savagery, there were really only three 
 of them who had any clearness of head remaining. 
 These three, whom I have already named, were busy 
 preparing the starboard quarter boat for leaving when 
 suddenly there burst upon them, like a flood, a mob 
 of natives, and before they had time to draw their 
 weapons they were overpowered, and another dark 
 deed was consummated. As so often has happened 
 in South Sea Island story, the innocent suffered 
 equally with the guilty indeed, more, for one guilty 
 man escaped for a time. Off in the dark Reuben 
 waited, all his nerves raw with anxiety for those who 
 would never come. What to do he did not know, 
 for light and graceful as a whaleboat is when she has 
 her full complement of men on board, she is cumbrous 
 as a barge to be handled by one man at any time 
 without sail ; and when to that one man's task is 
 added the hampering of darkness and ignorance 
 
362 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 of the way he should go, the hill of difficulty becomes 
 well-nigh insurmountable. 
 
 Reuben stood with his feet upon the two cleats, 
 made and fastened for the purpose of raising the 
 steersman's body, one on each side of the stern-sheets, 
 staring with smarting eyes into the smoky, flame- 
 stabbed darkness where the ship lay. Occasionally 
 a great spurt of blood-red fire lit up sea, shore, and 
 sky, and made him tremble for fear of discovery ; 
 then a wild chorus of yells and shrieks chilled his 
 blood as he pictured mentally the scene being enacted 
 on board. Strangely enough, he had quite forgotten 
 his own peril, had forgotten how many were the 
 native canoes, how impossible it would be for him to 
 propel that heavy boat one quarter as fast as those 
 amphibious natives could swim after him if once they 
 realised his departure. Ah ! The boat sagged 
 heavily to one side, and in over the bluff of the bow 
 climbed a dark figure, gasping as if its chest was 
 being rent asunder. Reuben sprang forward, and 
 found it was the skipper. The two men stared at 
 each other for a moment ; then the skipper gurgled 
 out, * Oars, pull for life ; all dead but me.' And as 
 he spoke he seized an oar and began to pull. Reuben 
 said no word, but took another, and with the long, 
 splendid stroke of the whaler they propelled the 
 beautiful craft silently seaward, passing the headland 
 safely and unobserved. A light breeze was blowing, 
 and no sooner were they clear of the head than the 
 skipper said, his native gruflfness asserting itself even 
 in that terrible hour, ' Come, lend a hand 'n' git th' 
 mast up. She'll go twice as fast under sail. Git a 
 move on ye.' It was a heavy task for two men, one 
 
CONCLUSION 363 
 
 of whom was evidently fighting hard against over- 
 powering weakness, but Reuben's great strength 
 again stood him in good stead, and before ten 
 minutes had elapsed the big sail was bellying bravely 
 forward, and the boat, heading out into the night, 
 was gently bowing to the incoming Pacific swell, 
 seeming eager to escape from those awful shores. 
 
 Captain Da Silva took the steer-oar, and with 
 something of his old skill laid the boat on the direct 
 course for the nearest reef-opening, steering by the 
 white curdlings on the reef-tops around, which showed 
 up most conspicuously against the dark of the night. 
 Astern the Grampus^ now one vast flame, filled the 
 sky with a lurid glare, and the smoke of her burning 
 came floating over the heads of the fugitives in a 
 long grey cloud. For a space of about half an hour 
 not a word was spoken by either of the men. Then 
 suddenly the skipper said sharply, ' Who's this ? ' 
 pointing to the motionless figure lying in the stern 
 sheets at his feet as if he had only just seen it. 
 
 ' It's yewr wife, Cap'n,' answered Rube in the 
 most matter-of-fact manner possible. 
 
 1 How 'd she kem here ? ' demanded the skipper 
 again. 
 
 * I brought her, sir/ replied Rube, without the 
 slightest change of voice. 
 
 ' Oh, yew did, eh ? ' said the skipper faintly. And 
 then stooping and letting go his hold of the oar, he 
 laid his hand upon the unconscious woman and said, 
 "R y' all right, Pris ? I'm drefful sorry t' have 
 brung ye t' this ; but I kain't do nothin' Pr y' naow. 
 I'm mighty sick man myself.' And with that word 
 he fell forward in a heap fainting. 
 
364 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 This brought Rube aft on the jump, but it was 
 well for him that Priscilla had been roused from her 
 curious stupor and was able to attend to her husband, 
 as the steering of the boat demanded all one man's 
 attention now. 
 
 They were nearing the reef passage, and the swell 
 meeting them was causing the boat to leap as she 
 surmounted its crests, and demanding a very steady 
 hand at the steer- oar to keep her bow on to it. 
 Besides, the channel was barely five boats' lengths 
 wide, and the foam of the incoming breakers almost 
 obscured it at times. Still Rube steered seaward 
 with a steady hand, and presently with a sigh of 
 relief he saw the gallant craft shoot out from between 
 those walls of white on to the dark, free ocean 
 beyond. Then he was about to try and ship the 
 rudder, which always hangs alongside, when he heard 
 her voice saying : 
 
 1 Would you please look at the Captain ? I think 
 he has fainted, or something, and his clothes are all 
 sticky, as well as wet.' 
 
 Rube answered thickly, ' Certainly, ma'am, only 
 yew must 'scuse me if I divide my 'tention between 
 him and the boat. She wants a good deal of steering 
 just now, an' we kain't afford to linger about here, in 
 case we ain't far enough from that awful place by 
 sun-up.' 
 
 Then Rube stooped down and peered into the 
 skipper's face, feeling all over his body at the same 
 time and noting the sticky feeling of which she spoke. 
 But he knew no more of what it was than she, and as 
 he had no light he could not investigate. And so he 
 gave all his attention to the navigation of the boat 
 
CONCLUSION 365 
 
 away from those dangerous shores while yet the land 
 wind held, knowing full well that it would die away 
 before dawn and the sea breeze come with the sun. 
 Then if he were not well off the land he would run 
 great risk of being caught by the natives, whose blood 
 thirst would by this time be unassuageable. 
 
 Priscilla, only conscious apparently of one fact, 
 that her husband needed her ministrations, was doing 
 her best under those sadly hampered conditions to 
 give them. That she was tossing about on the open 
 sea in a small boat with only her unconscious husband 
 and one sailor to keep her company did not seem to 
 impress her at all. And yet it would be grievous if 
 anyone reading her story should think of her scorn- 
 fully as having degenerated under her terrible trials 
 into something very much resembling an imbecile. 
 Oh, no ; really her present state of mind had been 
 reached through a series of shocks that would have 
 driven a weaker woman to death or madness, but in 
 her case had providentially resulted in a sort of calm 
 acceptance, without any apparent surprise, of what- 
 ever strange experiences should befall her. Mechani- 
 cally she bathed her husband's face with her handker- 
 chief dipped in the water overside, and, warned by 
 his stertorous breathing, she loosed his neckband and 
 managed to raise his head on to her lap. And thus 
 she sat quietly enduring the cramping of her limbs, 
 accepting the sharp pains shooting through her body 
 as inevitable, and making no sound. 
 
 A hush stole over the dark sea as the wind died 
 away, broken only by the heavy occasional flap of 
 the now useless sail. Without a word Reuben 
 shipped the steer-oar and stepped lightly forward. 
 
366 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 In a minute or two he had tightly furled the sail and 
 taken an extra pull at the backstays and stay, after 
 deciding that owing to his being single-handed and 
 not sure of his power to elevate it again he must take 
 the risk of being seen through leaving the mast 
 standing. He did not realise how far the swift boat had 
 glided under the gentle stress of the light land breeze 
 during those past hours of darkness. With almost 
 hungry eagerness he waited for the dawn, noted the 
 first faint blush as of surprise tinting the eastern 
 sky, watched with growing feelings of worship 
 tremulous threads of delicate colour running search- 
 ingly into the sombre concave of the departing 
 night, saw the flood of palest golden light appear, 
 and then springing into its midst ablaze with glory, 
 majesty, and life, the sun. And the land out of sight. 
 His head sank upon his bosom, and he thanked 
 God for deliverance. Yet, having done so, he could 
 not help a sinking at his heart as he looked aft at 
 those two crouching forms one so inexpressibly 
 precious to him, the other a sacred charge because 
 well, because of right and truth and honour. He 
 knew that upon him, under God, depended their lives, 
 although he did not then know how far gone the 
 skipper was. And just one little moan escaped him 
 as he thought how ill-provided they were for a long 
 cruise in those unfrequented seas. Then hope revived 
 again as he felt, because of his ignorance, that he 
 could not sail far in any direction without making 
 land, and land meant food and water, and (but that 
 he did not trouble about) savages, cannibals made, if 
 possible, worse than they were by nature by the utter 
 villainy of white men far more culpable than they. 
 
CONCLUSION 367 
 
 Then, treading softly as a cat, he stepped over the 
 thwarts aft again, and as he did so Priscilla lifted her 
 wan face to his, saying calmly : 
 
 ' Are we safe from pursuit ? ' 
 
 Rube nodded : he could not trust himself to 
 speak. 
 
 'Then, will you see what you can do for Captain 
 Da Silva. I I am afraid he is badly injured.' 
 
 With one glance at the boat fore and aft and a 
 satisfied noting of the little darkness on the water 
 which betokened the coming breeze, Rube obeyed, 
 and stooped to the Captain's side. As soon as he 
 did so he saw to his horror that the stickiness they 
 had both felt during the darkness was blood ; the 
 skipper had been wounded in many places, and his 
 blood, aided by the salt water, had congealed upon 
 him and stopped its own flow, or he would have been 
 dead long before. 
 
 4 Ma'am,' said Rube unsteadily, ' I'll dew my best 
 fur the Cap'n, but, as yew k'n see, that isn't much. 
 He's badly cut, an' I daren't interfere with his hurts 
 'cause at present they've stopped bleedin', and if I 
 tech him an' start 'em agen I mayn't be able to stanch 
 th' flow then. Pity I got nothin' t' give him but a 
 little soak biscuit an' water. P'raps you'll take a 
 little yewrself, ma'am, at the same time t' keep up 
 yewr strength and courage.' 
 
 The ghost of a smile flickered for a second about 
 her white lips, and she said simply, * Thank you. 
 You are very kind. What shall I call you ? ' 
 
 He answered shortly, with a tightening at the 
 heart, * My name's Rube, ma'am at least, that's 
 what I get usually. Call me thet, if ye don't mind/ 
 
368 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 And then he busied himself with the preparation 
 of the simple meal, measuring crumb and drop as if 
 each represented so many minutes of life, and 
 deciding that, as for himself, he could go a much 
 longer time yet before encroaching upon the small 
 stock which must suffice for them all. The breeze 
 freshening, he set the sail again, and, hauling the 
 boat's head as near the wind as she would lie, found 
 that she would make about E.N.E. on the starboard tack 
 by guess, that is, for there was no compass in the 
 boat. And this course he chose, not because he knew 
 whither it would lead them, but because he saw that 
 it was taking them well away from those accursed isles, 
 of whose very name and whereabouts he was ignor- 
 ant. And having got the boat so easily trimmed that 
 by lashing the tiller at a certain angle she would steer 
 herself, coming up and falling off just as if a hand 
 was at the helm, he turned his attention again to the 
 skipper and his wife, rinding that the former had 
 returned to a reasonable appreciation of his sur- 
 roundings and was quietly taking the biscuit pap from 
 Priscilla's fingers. His filmy eyes lighted upon 
 Reuben, and he said in low but clear tones : 
 
 1 Ah ! yew never gut thet floggin' I promised ye. 
 Wall, I doan' know as I'm sorry thet yew missed it. 
 I guess I ben a pretty hard case ever sence I gut a 
 chance t' be, 'n' I don't believe I ever ben sorry fur 
 anything I ever done befo'. I felt mad, but not sorry 
 no, never. 'N' I thought I'd go some day jest like 
 that 'N' now I kain't. Pris ' (turning to his wife 
 with sudden energy), ' I want yew t' fergive me 
 I've done y' a power of harm. I ben an awful brute 
 t' ye. Wut I ben t' th' men don' matter that's wut 
 
CONCLUSION 369 
 
 they're aboard fur but yew ben good t' me, J n' I ben 
 a devil t' yew. Naow I'm a-dyin', 'n' I don' care a 
 plunk fer thet, but I'd like y' t' know I'm sorry fur 
 wut I done t' ye. Ez fur this galoot, I don't know 
 who he is er wut he is, 'n' ef I a-hed my way with 
 him he'd a-hed a pretty tough time, but I do b'lieve 
 he ain't half bad. Kiender soft mebbe fur all he's so 
 big an' hefty, but I think he'll put ye through in 
 
 shape. An' ' But then the voice suddenly melted 
 
 into a few unintelligible sounds, and again the skipper's 
 head sank on to his wife's lap and he was silent in 
 another swoon. Rube looked at him helplessly for a 
 moment, then, reflecting that the best thing for him 
 would be to concentrate his mind upon the only 
 thing he could do viz., the handling of the boat 
 he stepped thoughtfully back to the tiller, and cast 
 his eye first over the boat herself, then all around. 
 She was going sweetly along, unguided, like a crea- 
 ture of intelligence, and as if she needed no human 
 intervention, so, satisfied of this, Rube busied himself 
 in making everything within her as neat and ship- 
 shape as possible. Having done all he could at this, 
 he counted their treasured biscuit, felt the weight of 
 the water supply, and looked inquiringly at Priscilla, 
 holding up the little wooden beaker or piggin with 
 one hand and pointing to the keg with the other. 
 But Priscilla, moistening her parched lips as well as 
 she could, shook her head, giving a meaning glance 
 at the little bucket wherein he had soaked the biscuit 
 of which she and the Captain had been partaking, 
 to show him that there was still some left. 
 
 Just as Rube was wondering what he could do 
 next for her comfort, and his own satisfaction, there 
 
 BB 
 
370 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 was a commotion in the water alongside, and with a 
 series of sharp taps against the sides and bottom of 
 the boat, half-a-dozen large flying-fish fell into her in 
 their hurried rush upwards from the onslaught of a 
 big albacore, which went sweeping past with one of 
 their late comrades thwartwise in his mouth. In a 
 moment Rube had gathered the welcome little wan- 
 derers together and hidden them all out of the sun's 
 rays but one. This he cleaned with the utmost delicacy 
 and filleted, cutting the fillets into dainty narrow strips. 
 With half-a-dozen of them balanced on his knife-blade, 
 he approached Priscilla, who had been watching him 
 languidly, saying, ' Here, ma'am, is suthin' that'll dew 
 yew and the skipper both good. It's cool and moist, 
 an' ef yew shet yew eyes fur a minit yew'll be 
 surprised haow easy yew can take it. Thousan's of 
 people prefer it this way t' cooked. 'N' I'll dry some 
 fur ye then, only it ain't so good fur ye because of its 
 makin' y' thirsty, an' water's none too plentiful.' 
 With utmost docility she roused herself, took the 
 tender looking strips, and put one of them to her 
 husband's cracked lips. His mouth opened mechani- 
 cally and his jaws moved, but he had no power to 
 swallow, and his breath began to come and go 
 laboriously. Putting one hand under his head, she 
 beckoned Rube with the other, whispering, ' Is he 
 dying? Can't you do anything for him?' 
 
 With a fervent petition for aid to do the right 
 thing, for wisdom to see it, Rube stepped to her side 
 and took the Captain's weight off Priscilla's arm upon 
 his own. There was, even to a man with as little 
 experience of death as Rube's, but scanty room to 
 doubt that Captain Da Silva was going to his account. 
 
CONCLUSION 371 
 
 And then, incredible as it may seem to most of us, 
 this simple-minded Christian man, forgetting all else 
 but the pitiable plight of the sufferer before him, 
 actually burst suddenly into earnest prayer that he 
 might be spared if only for a little while spared to 
 repent of the evil done and intended. But as he 
 prayed he was conscious of something, he knew not 
 what, driving into his mind the certainty that his 
 prayer was not to be granted. That Ramon Da 
 Silva had done all the direct ill he was to be allowed 
 to do. Rube's voice ceased, the skipper's eyes opened, 
 glazed and fixed, his lower jaw dropped heavily, and 
 he was dead. Catching Priscilla's eyes fixed earnestly 
 upon his face, Reuben said solemnly, ' He's dead, 
 ma'am, and the rest is with God.' ' May God have 
 mercy upon him now,' she replied. 
 
 Until the evening scarcely another word was 
 spoken by either of them, both busy with their own 
 thoughts. But just before sunset, Rube said question- 
 ingly, 'We kain't do no good, and may do much 
 harm, by keeping the body any longer : d' you mind 
 my offering up a prayer an' committin' it to th' 
 deep ? ' She answered humbly, * Do what you 
 think is right I am willing. God knows I have 
 every confidence in you.' So Rube sank upon his 
 knees on the thwart, and with bowed head com- 
 mended the dead man to the mercy of the Merciful. 
 Then he rose, and with a sudden heave of his great 
 shoulders, lifted the piece of clay ; there was a sullen 
 splash, an eddy, and all that was mortal of Ramon 
 Da Silva had disappeared for ever from human sight. 
 
 With an unutterable sense of relief Reuben turned 
 to the business of living, and bringing forth his little 
 
 B 2 
 
372 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 store of filleted fish and a handful of broken biscuits 
 gently pressed Priscilla to eat. She at once com- 
 menced to try, only stipulating that he should also 
 take something, for she felt sure that, since the 
 catastrophe, at any rate, he had not broken his fast. 
 He gravely acceded to her wish and began to eat, 
 but had only taken two or three mouthfuls when he 
 laid down the morsel he was conveying to his lips, 
 put both hands to his face, and, his huge body shaken 
 as with ague, burst into a tempest of sobs. Priscilla 
 watched him in awe-stricken silence, until she, too, 
 moved beyond bearing by such a passion in this quiet, 
 self-possessed man, began to weep. But as soon as 
 she did, Rube, by a tremendous effort, regained com- 
 mand of himself and began in tenderest fashion to 
 speak such comforting words to her as his close 
 acquaintance with the Source of all comfort had 
 given him possession of. But be it noted, neither his 
 consolation nor Priscilla's distress had any reference 
 to their present desperate condition whatever. That 
 apparently gave them no uneasiness. These tears of 
 Priscilla's were due to reaction, to self-pity perhaps a 
 little, but principally were an evidence of the passing 
 away of an awful bondage. Such tears as a prisoner 
 might shed on first emerging from a loathsome cap- 
 tivity in an underground dungeon into the blessed 
 light of Heaven free. 
 
 There is no need to enlarge upon the cause of 
 Rube's breakdown : if it be not palpable, it would be 
 futile to explain. 
 
 Now he was torn with a raging conflict between 
 his desires and his fears. Would Priscilla, after all, 
 love him ? Dare he make himself known without 
 
CONCLUSION 373 
 
 appearing to take any unmanly advantage of her 
 helplessness, her utter need of some strong arm upon 
 which to lean, whether she loved its owner or not so 
 long as he was kind ? Foolish oh, yes, but quite 
 natural where such faithful love as Rube's reigns in a 
 man's heart, allied with such a distrust of self as he 
 possessed. So he sat speaking to Priscilla such 
 things as he found best to say with this backlash of 
 harassing thoughts occupying one corner of his brain, 
 and causing his eyes to shine with almost audible 
 intensity. And presently lifting her head Priscilla's 
 gaze met his. For a moment she stared spellbound, 
 then gasped, ' Rube, it's you, it's YOU. O God, 
 how good You are to me ! ' And she bent towards 
 him. All his fears were forgotten now, all his deli- 
 cate self-tormenting diffidences vanished like breath- 
 mist from a diamond, and he took her to his broad 
 breast as a mother takes her infant, yearningly, 
 hungrily. 
 
 The boat sailed on steadily into the blankness of 
 the horizon, hunger and thirst, and dreadful outlook 
 all forgotten, and in that happy hour each lived a 
 lifetime of perfect joy, feeling that, come what might, 
 the price to pay would not be grudged by them. 
 Then, with a sigh of perfect content, they released 
 one another, and Rube, feeling as if the strength of 
 ten lay in his great frame, the wisdom of a dozen old 
 sea-captains had accumulated in his brain, set about 
 preparing for the night. He felt ready to wrestle 
 with death itself for her as Jacob did with the angel, 
 and with no more fear. And she followed him with 
 her eyes as he busied himself about the boat and made 
 ready their tiny meal. It was so sweet to feel once 
 
374 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 more the presence of unselfish love ready to do and 
 dare all things for her. If the prospect of that wide 
 sea-plain and their utter loneliness upon it, and the 
 knowledge of their want of food, did for a moment 
 give her a chilly feeling as of the approach of dark- 
 ness, it was only momentary : one glance again at his 
 bright, brave, calm face dispelled it, and brought 
 instead the glow of perfect happiness that is, as 
 nearly perfect as a spirit clothed with flesh can feel. 
 
 They took their evening morsel of food, and 
 uttered their evening prayers sitting hand in hand 
 like little children, and with as little care or fear for 
 the future as babes would have ; they saw the bright 
 sky darken into the violet of the night, while the 
 gentle breeze held steadily and the boat still swept 
 quietly forward to the east. Rube made Priscilla as 
 comfortable as possible, sacrificing the jib's usefulness 
 for the night in order to protect her from the drenching 
 dew, and as she laid her head down upon his coat 
 rolled up for a pillow she gave a happy little sigh, 
 murmured, * Thank you, dear,' put up her face to be 
 kissed as a tired child would out of its cot, and went 
 instantly to sleep. Rube, noting this with intense 
 satisfaction, composed himself upon the little deck 
 aft, where he could look down upon Priscilla's form, 
 cast off the tiller, and, sitting with it under his arm, 
 steered the boat steadily by the wind, still making, 
 as nearly as he could judge by the stars, about a N.E. 
 course. So through the night he sat, and dozed and 
 woke alternately, never finding any alteration in the 
 pose of that recumbent figure beneath him, never 
 needing to do aught but just sit still and commune 
 with his own thoughts. Strangely enough, do what 
 
CONCLUSION 375 
 
 he would he could not feel any apprehension for the 
 future. Again and again he endeavoured to depict 
 Priscilla and himself dying of hunger and thirst under 
 the great solemn eye of heaven. Again and again 
 he recalled his experiences in the Xiphias* boat when 
 all the bitterness of such a death was actually under- 
 gone, and the survivors were literally haled back from 
 the dark entry of the grave. But no answering tremor 
 came. Not even when he thought of his father and 
 mother, those waiting, lonely figures sitting by their 
 cosy but quiet fireside praying for him. Ah that 
 was it. The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous 
 man availeth much, and whether he (and she] were 
 to live or die, the peace which they were enjoying 
 was undoubtedly due to that stream of real prayer 
 ascending continually from the Eddy Homestead for 
 the wanderers on unknown seas. 
 
 Therefore, in the morning, as daylight filled the 
 sky, he faced the waking Priscilla with a countenance 
 scarcely less bright. He drew her a bucket of water 
 from overside, and recommended a sluicing of hands, 
 and face, and neck, telling her that for the next half- 
 hour it would be necessary for him to seat himself 
 upon the bow and look steadfastly ahead in case in 
 that clear dawn-light some vessel should be visible. 
 And when such a toilet as she was able to make was 
 completed, a word from her would bring him aft on 
 the jump supposing his vigil were not over. She 
 smiled gratefully, appreciatively ; and met him 
 presently, when in response to her call he came 
 leaping aft, with a face so bright and rosy in spite 
 of its thinness that an involuntary exclamation of 
 wonder and admiration burst from him. Then they 
 
376 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 sat down to their frugal breakfast of water and biscuit 
 the fish was now too stale to eat, unless they were 
 much more ravenous than at present and for sauce 
 they had reminiscences, all that Rube could remember 
 on both sides of the blank, and all that she would recall 
 of the doings of her dead husband. Then Rube, 
 interesting Priscilla greatly, produced a hook and 
 line which he had found stowed away in the * eyes' of 
 the boat. Carefully mounting a strongly smelling 
 flying fish upon the hook, he trolled it astern, and in 
 a few minutes succeeded in flinging into the boat a 
 beautiful coryphena, or dolphin as the sailor calls 
 it, of over ten pounds in weight. A portion of 
 its flesh was cut off, and preserved for bait, a portion 
 was carefully prepared for the next meal they did 
 not mind raw fish now and the rest cleansed, and cut 
 in strips, was laid in the sun to dry. And then they 
 thanked God, ate another meal, and 'took courage. 
 
 On the fourth morning, although they had caught 
 plenty of fish for in those prolific seas the deep-sea 
 denizens swarm they drank their last drop of water. 
 They had husbanded it carefully, and as at the 
 outset there was but little over a gallon, it had lasted 
 well. But even now they did not feel dismayed. 
 Amid their terrible surroundings they were quite, or 
 nearly quite, happy. That same strange assurance 
 enjoyed by Rube had communicated itself to Priscilla, 
 and together they discussed their meeting with the 
 dear old people, and all the wonderments that people 
 so entirely ignorant of what had been happening 
 since their departure might naturally be supposed to 
 entertain. They caught a skip-jack that day, a kind 
 of vivacious mackerel, weighing about five pounds, 
 
CONCLUSION 377 
 
 and almost gaily munched its juicy flesh, which was 
 so grateful to their already parching mouths. 
 
 Then, at the close of day, as usual it seemed as 
 if they had been thus associated for a lifetime they 
 prayed, kissed each other good-night, and Priscilla 
 went to sleep, while Rube, as usual, sat erect and 
 dozed. He was suddenly awakened by a great glare 
 of light which dazzled him, proceeding from he knew 
 not where. Next moment a clear voice sounded 
 across the blackness following upon the blaze : ' Boat 
 ahoy ! ' * Hallo/ replied the deep tones of Rube. 
 And then he saw the towering form of a ship, her 
 green light glaring down at him as if in judicial 
 inquiry just overhead. In fact, so close that only by 
 putting his tiller hard over and bringing his boat up 
 in the wind he escaped running into her with a crash. 
 A side ladder was lowered, a couple of agile men 
 glided down ropes into the boat, and in less than ten 
 minutes Rube and Priscilla stood upon the deck of 
 H.M.S. A Icestis, surveying ship, to whose splendid look- 
 out they owed their rescue, and whose crew they had 
 provided with a babblement of talk that was already 
 surging throughout the remotest corners of the ship. 
 
 A cabin was immediately found for Priscilla, and 
 the wardroom attendants could not sufficiently show 
 their zeal and readiness to anticipate her every want. 
 Rube, brought before a charming young-looking officer, 
 was interrogated as to the how and why of this 
 miraculous appearance in mid-Pacific in a boat, at 
 night with one woman, but not before he had been 
 offered and had refused a glass of grog and a cigar, and 
 had accepted instead a plate of soup on the condition 
 that some was first given to Priscilla, 
 
378 A WHALEMAN'S WIFE 
 
 So Reuben told his tale to the Captain of the 
 man-o'-war, and whether the sentry at the door had 
 his ear to the keyhole all the while or not I don't 
 know, but certain it is that almost as soon as Reuben 
 retired for the rest of the night to a comfortable 
 berth, having first visited Priscilla's cabin and found 
 her supremely happy, his story was the common 
 property of the ship's company, and he could have 
 had any one of them shed blood, their own or 
 another's, for him. Of that, of course, there was no 
 need, but anyone who knows the British man-o'- 
 warsman, officer or seaman, needs not to be told that 
 on arrival at Honolulu the paymaster of the Akestis 
 handed over to Reuben a sum of money sufficient 
 for all reasonable expenses and fare to Vermont. 
 Among those reasonable expenses was included the 
 cost of a wedding at the English church, to which 
 over one hundred of the Alcestis' crew invited them- 
 selves, and made those proceedings vibrate with their 
 own enthusiasm. I regret to say, though, that after 
 escorting the newly wedded pair on board the mail 
 steamer bound to 'Frisco, and cheering themselves 
 hoarse as she departed, several of those gallant blue- 
 jackets were found so full of spirits, animal and 
 vegetable, that it became necessary for the preserva- 
 tion of the public peace to put them under lock and 
 key, with serious results to themselves. 
 
 Reuben and his adoring wife had no more 
 adventures. They were the heroes of the passengers 
 and crew of the Golden Gate, and they had much ado 
 to dodge the wily reporters in the Queen City of the 
 West. Nor were they able to prevent the appearance 
 of their histories (with such extraordinary verbal 
 
CONCLUSION 379 
 
 embellishments as the said reporters deemed it 
 necessary to add) in the flamboyant local newspapers. 
 But in due time they found themselves travelling 
 together the quiet moss-grown paths between Boston 
 and the home farm, and arriving at the door of the 
 Eddy Homestead to be received as the latest and 
 best gifts of a loving God to the faithful old couple 
 who had never wavered in the long waiting for them, 
 nor doubted that they would come. Also it seems 
 an anti-climax to record their settling down to a 
 happy, useful, and loving life in the old farm of 
 Priscilla's youth, kept in readiness for them by Rube's 
 father against the day of their return. 
 
 It was somewhat of a wrench for them to be com- 
 pelled to make a journey to New Bedford and depose 
 to the circumstances in which the Grampus was 
 lost, and there always remained a sense of something 
 incomplete in Reuben's mind about the early days of 
 his departure from New Bedford, and the intervening 
 months before awaking on board the Grampus. But 
 these ripples made no impression upon the steady 
 flow of their stream of happiness. Brother Will came 
 to see them from Chicago, portly and full of dollar- 
 talk, being almost a millionaire, and departed West 
 again, feeling that there was, after all, something 
 which even dollars could not buy, and that Rube and 
 his sister possessed the chief of those things. 
 
 Here let us leave the much-tried pair, nestling 
 under the wing of the Loving Father, whose watchful 
 care had been over them through all their perils, being 
 serenely carried onwards to a golden sunset. 
 
 Spottiswoode &> Co. Ltd., Printers, New-street Square, London. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 WITH CHRIST AT SEA 
 
 A RELIGIOUS AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. cloth, 6.T. 
 1 There is not a dull page in the whole narrative.' TIMES. 
 
 * Those who are acquainted with Mr. Bullen's work will 
 know that he cannot fail to compel the attention of his readers. 
 He writes with a sincerity and a simplicity which lend a great 
 charm to all he does. ... He has much to say of the condi- 
 tions of the service in which he spent many years, and most of 
 what he tells us is extremely interesting. Moreover, to those 
 who love the sea the book is worth reading for its description 
 of the varied moods, the storm and stress, the calm benignity, 
 the delicate play of the ocean on which this religious life is 
 spent.' DAILY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 ' Mr. Bullen has told the story of his inner life of faith as it 
 grew amid the very real hardships and temptations of his life 
 at sea. And by doing so, we do not doubt that he will have 
 given to many men and boys the best help a fellow-man can 
 give in their own struggle with like circumstance. Had he 
 kept his book back for posthumous publication, he would pro- 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 bably have considerably lessened, as well as postponed, the 
 good it is calculated to do, for the help to be got out of a bio- 
 graphy is very much increased by the contemporaneousness of 
 the experiences it records.' SPECTATOR. 
 
 ' We count this one of the most daring books ever printed 
 a book in which a very powerful writer has risked a great 
 reputation for Christ's sake. It is quite as fascinating as the 
 book that made him, only in another kind of way. For simple 
 verity, for power to make the thing live before readers, few 
 autobiographies have the power of this. We could not put it 
 down until we were through with it, and as we were going 
 through we could not command our tears. The book will do a 
 world of good ; and, we say again, the witness is a very brave 
 one, manfully borne.' METHODIST TIMES. 
 
 'As a human document nothing more interesting of its 
 kind has appeared for many years. . . . No one can doubt on 
 reading this book that Mr. Bullen has lived his religion. 
 There is so little to be gained by professing to be a Christian 
 at sea that a man who does profess to be a Christian probably 
 is a Christian. If his rule is made applicable to the author of 
 this book the present writer records his impression for what it 
 is worth, that Mr. Bullen is one who has lived the Life, and that 
 his account of it is interesting and manly.' DAILY CHRONICLE. 
 
 ' One of the most popular books that he has written. . . . 
 Mr. Bullen, as usual, writes with considerable charm, and will 
 once again elicit the sympathy and admiration of all who 
 peruse his pages.' WESTMINSTER GAZETTE. 
 
 London: HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27 Paternoster Row, E.G. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 THE APOSTLES OF THE SOUTH-EAST 
 
 Second Edition. Crown 8vo. cloth, 6s. 
 
 ' The story is touching and impressive, and fully establishes 
 what we believe to be the real point about which Mr. Bullen is 
 zealous that there are no actually Godless corners anywhere 
 in the world, simply because though men may forget God, God 
 does not forget men, and in some way or other witness is borne 
 to the truth of the spiritual life in the darkest times, and the 
 most seemingly abandoned places.' SPECTATOR. 
 
 'One of the most beautiful religious stories ever written. 
 Mr. Bullen's incomparable knowledge of the details of the 
 sailor's life is displayed as wonderfully as in his earliest books.' 
 
 BRITISH WEEKLY. 
 
 1 An inspiring book, and charmingly written.' 
 
 METHODIST RECORDER. 
 
 ' The whole tone of the book is healthy, inspirational, and 
 hopeful.' METHODIST TIMES. 
 
 ' A story as interesting as any that could be written.' 
 
 DAILY NEWS. 
 
 'A remarkable book, interesting in the extreme to really 
 religious readers as giving a view accurate, the writer protests 
 of a phase of London life very little known and hardly ever 
 realised by middle- or upper-class people.' RECORD. 
 
 ' No one knows better how to make his characters picturesque, 
 and yet actually faithful to nature, than does Mr. Bullen, and 
 these humble Christians of the slums of Rotherhithe are 
 wonderfully life-like. " The Apostles of the South-East " have 
 been drawn from real life, and are sketched with all that vigour 
 and fidelity that are so characteristic of the writer.' ROCK. 
 
 London : HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27 Paternoster Row, E.G. 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 WITH CHRIST IN SAILORTOWN 
 
 With Illustrations. Fcp. 8vo. cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 ' It stands apart from books of a similar kind, not only 
 because of the writer's unique experience of the sailor's life, 
 but because of the high literary gifts which he can bring to his 
 task ; and it will help the public to know more than they do of 
 an excellent work which appeals, above all, to Englishmen.' 
 
 LITERATURE. 
 
 { Never has the pathetic side of sailor life been more 
 vividly presented.' BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE. 
 
 'We congratulate the author without reserve upon the 
 judicious and generous use which he has made of his remark- 
 able ability and popularity.' MANCHESTER GUARDIAN. 
 
 1 Everybody should buy it, read, mark, learn, and inwardly 
 digest it, and do all in his power to forward the amelioration 
 and Christianisation of our merchant seamen, which implies 
 the creation of an adequate Royal Naval Reserve.' QUEEN. 
 
 * It is written with sympathy and vivacity ; and is full of 
 inimitable touches which throw into relief the manly sympathy 
 and moral courage of the writer, as well as the peculiar needs 
 of the poor fellows of whom he writes at once so wisely and so 
 well.' LEEDS MERCURY. 
 
 London : HODDER & STOUGHTON, 27 Paternoster Row, E.G. 
 
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