t was not long before it was played out with the same
velocity.

At the end of five minutes it was necessary to join on the third line,
which ran off under the water.

The jubarte did not stop. The harpoon had evidently not penetrated into
any vital part of the body. They could even observe, by the increased
obliquity of the line, that the animal, instead of returning to the
surface, was sinking into lower depths.

"The devil!" cried Captain Hull, "but that rascal will use up our five
lines!"

"And lead us to a good distance from the 'Pilgrim,'" replied the
boatswain.

"Nevertheless, she must return to the surface to breathe," replied
Captain Hull. "She is not a fish, and she must have the provision of
air like a common individual."

"She has held her breath to run better," said one of the sailors,
laughing.

In fact, the line was unrolling all the time with equal rapidity.

To the third line, it was soon necessary to join the fourth, and that
was not done without making the sailors somewhat anxious touching their
future part of the prize.

"The devil! the devil!" murmured Captain Hull. "I have never seen
anything like that! Devilish jubarte!"

Finally the fifth line had to be let out, and it was already half
unrolled when it seemed to slacken.

"Good! good!" cried Captain Hull. "The line is less stiff. The jubarte
is getting tired."

At that moment, the "Pilgrim" was more than five miles to the leeward
of the whale-boat. Captain Hull, hoisting a flag at the end of a
boat-hook, gave the signal to come nearer.

And almost at once, he could see that Dick Sand, aided by Tom and his
companions, commenced to brace the yards in such a manner as to trim
them close to the wind.

But the breeze was feeble and irregular. It only came in short puffs.
Most certainly, the "Pilgrim" would have some trouble in joining the
whale-boat, if indeed she could reach it. Meanwhile, as they had
foreseen, the jubarte had returned to the surface of the water to
breathe, with the harpoon fixed in her side all the time. She then
remained almost motionless, seeming to wait for her young whale, which
this furious course must have left behind.

Captain Hull made use of the oars so as to join her again, and soon he
was only a short distance from her.

Two oars were laid down and two sailors armed themselves, as the
captain had done, with long lances, intended to strike the enemy.

Howik worked skilfully then, and held himself r