e miles away, and plainly discernible in the now
clear atmosphere, was the mate's boat lying alongside the big bull,
which had just been killed, and at about the same distance were the
boats of the captain and second and third mates, all "fast" to whales,
and racing swiftly to windward toward the horizon.

The fourth mate at once came down from aloft and held a hurried
consultation with the cooper--an old and experienced whaler. It was
evident to them that the three boats had only just succeeded in getting
"fast," and that, as darkness was so near, the officers in them would
have great difficulty in killing the whales to which they were "fast,"
as the sea was still very lumpy from the violence of the squall. None
of the boats were provided with bomb-guns, the use of which would have
killed the whales in a very short time; and the wind having again died
away it was impossible for the ship to work up to them. Nothing, it was
evident, could be done to assist the three boats, but it was decided to
send the one remaining on board the barque to help the mate to tow his
whale to the ship before the hordes of sharks, which would be attracted
to the carcass by the smell of blood, began to devour it.

The carpenter was at once set to work to make her temporarily
water-tight. By this time the sun had set, and only the position of
the mate's boat was made known to the ship by a light displayed by Mr.
Brant.

Standing on the port side of the poop, Martin Newman, the fourth mate,
was gazing anxiously out into the darkness, hoping to see the other
three boats show lights to denote that they had succeeded in killing
their fish, and were waiting for a breeze to spring up to enable the
barque to sail towards them. Although Newman was the youngest officer
on board, he was an experienced one, and the fact that his boat had not
been fit to lower with the other four had filled him with sullen rage;
for he was of an intensely jealous nature, and would rather have seen
the boats return unsuccessful from the chase than that he alone should
have missed his chance of killing a fish.

Presently the younger of the two Rodmans, who was his (Newman's) own
boatsteerer, ventured, in the fulness of his anxiety for his shipmates,
to step up to the officer and speak:

"Do you think, sir, that the captain and Mr. Ford and Mr. Manning have
had to cut their lines?"

The officer made no reply; and could the young boatsteerer have seen the
dark, forbidd