prang from
the ship's side and made towards the nearest whale, with the white foam
curling at their bow.

Several more whales appeared in sight spouting in all directions, and
the men were wild with excitement.

"That's it! Go it lads!" shouted Mr Millons, as the waist-boat began
to creep ahead. "Lay it on! give way! What d'ye say, boys; shall we
beat 'em?"

Captain Dunning stood in the stern-sheets of the starboard boat, almost
dancing with excitement as he heard these words of encouragement.

"Give way, boys!" he cried. "They can't do it! That whale's ours--so
it is. Only bend your backs! A steady pull! Pull like steam-tugs!
That's it! Bend the oars! Double 'em up! Smash 'em in bits, _do_!"

Without quite going the length of the captain's last piece of advice,
the men did their work nobly. They bent their strong backs with a will,
and strained their sinewy arms to the utmost. Glynn, in particular, to
whom the work was new, and therefore peculiarly exciting and
interesting, almost tore the rowlocks out of the boat in his efforts to
urge it on, and had the oar not been made of the toughest ash, there is
no doubt that he would have obeyed the captain's orders literally and
have smashed it in bits.

On they flew like racehorses. Now one boat gained an inch on the
others, then it lost ground again as the crew of another put forth
additional energy, and the three danced over the glassy sea as if the
inanimate planks had been suddenly endued with life, and inspired with
the spirit that stirred the men.

A large sperm-whale lay about a quarter of a mile ahead, rolling lazily
in the trough of the sea. Towards this the starboard boat now pulled
with incredible speed, leaving the other two gradually astern. A number
of whales rose in various directions. They had got into the midst of a
shoal, or school of them, as the whale-men term it; and as several of
these were nearer the other boats than the first whale was, they
diverged towards them.

"There go flukes," cried Rokens, as the whale raised its huge tail in
the air and "sounded"--in other words, dived. For a few minutes the men
lay on their oars, uncertain in what direction the whale would come up
again; but their doubts were speedily removed by its rising within a few
yards of the boat.

"Now, Rokens," cried the captain; "now for it; give him the iron. Give
way, lads; spring, boys. Softly now, softly."

In another instant the boat's bow was o