The Adventures of Billy Topsail

  CHAPTER XX

  _The Mate of the Fin-Back Whale Rises for the Last Time, With a Blood-Red Sunset Beyond, and Billy Topsail Says, "Too bad!"_

  HALF a mile ahead the whales rose. The _Viking_ crept near withoutgiving alarm, and waited for them to dive and rise again. The warningswish and _hon-g-k_ sounded next from off the port bow. There was ashout from the crew. The school lay close in, headed away; they weresplashing and blissfully _hon-g-king_--and the _Viking_ not fifty yardsdistant. She was upon them from behind before they had well drawnbreath. Steam was shut off. The captain's eye was at the butt of thegun, and his hand was on the trigger. The boat crept nearer--so nearthat Billy Topsail could have leaped from the bow to the back of theyoung whale; and she was fast losing way.

  But it was not the young whale that the captain wanted. He held hisfire. Down went the young one. Down went the bull whale. But had hearched his back? The old female wallowed a moment longer and divedwith arched back. She barely escaped the _Viking's_ bows and mighthave been mortally harpooned with ease. But it was not the female thatthe captain wanted. It was the big male. There was not a whale insight. Still the captain kept his eye at the butt of the gun and hishand on the trigger.

  A moment later--the steamer was slipping along very slowly--the waterahead was disturbed. The back of the bull whale appeared. A stream ofwater shot into the air and broke like a fountain. The _Viking_ keptpace--gained; momentarily creeping nearer, until the range was but tenyards. Then the whale, as though taking alarm, arched his back; and----

  Bang!

  The puff of smoke drifted away. Billy Topsail caught sight of theharpoon, sunk to the hilt in the whale's side. Then the waters closedover the wounded beast.

  "Ha!" cried the captain, jumping from the platform, and strutting aboutwith his thumbs in the armholes of his waistcoat. "Did you see me? Ha!It is over!"

  A cheer broke from the crew. The men ran forward to their stations atthe winch.

  "Ha!" the captain repeated with intense satisfaction, his ruddy facewreathed in smiles. "Did you see me? Ha-a-a-a! It is a dead w'ale."

  "IT IS A DEAD W'ALE!"]

  The harpoon line was paying out slowly, controlled by a big steamwinch--a gigantic fishing reel. The engines were stopped; but the_Viking_ was going forward at a lively rate as the catch plunged downand on. Minute after minute slipped away--five minutes; then the ropeslackened somewhat, and, a moment later, the big whale came to thesurface and spouted streams of blood--streams as red as the streak ofsunset light in the gray sky beyond him. He floundered there in agony,blowing and _hon-g-king_ and beating the sea with his tail: turning thewater crimson with his blood.

  It took him a long, long time to die, frightfully torn by the bombthough he was. He dived and rose and coughed; and at last he sankslowly down, down, and still down; drawing out a hundred and fortyfathom of line: straight down to the bottom of the sea in that place.From time to time the captain touched the rope with his fingers;and when the tremour of life had passed from it he gave the signalto haul away. Half an hour later the carcass of the monster wasinflated with gas, lying belly up at the surface of the water, andlashed by the tail to the port bow of the steamer.

  Off the starboard quarter--far away where the dusk had gathered--themate of the dead whale rose, _hon-g-ked_, dived and was seen no more.

  "Too bad!" muttered Billy Topsail.