ts,
waiting for the signal. I found, to my surprise, that, although I was
conscious of a much more rapid heart-beat than usual, I was not half so
scared as I expected to be--that the excitement was rather pleasant
than otherwise. There were a few traces of funk about some of the others
still; but as for Abner, he was fairly transformed; I hardly knew the
man. He was one of Goliath's boat's crew, and the big darkey was quite
proud of him. His eyes sparkled, and he chuckled and smiled constantly,
as one who is conscious of having done a grand stroke of business, not
only for himself, but for all hands. "Lower away boats!" came pealing
down from the skipper's lofty perch, succeeded instantly by the rattle
of the patent blocks as the falls flew through them, while the four
beautiful craft took the water with an almost simultaneous splash.
The ship-keepers had trimmed the yards to the wind and hauled up the
courses, so that simply putting the helm down deadened our way, and
allowed the boats to run clear without danger of fouling one another. To
shove off and hoist sail was the work of a few moments, and with a fine
working breeze away we went. As before, our boat, being the chief's,
had the post of honour; but there was now only one whale, and I rather
wondered why we had all left the ship. According to expectations, down
he went when we were within a couple of miles of him, but quietly and
with great dignity, elevating his tail perpendicularly in the air, and
sinking slowly from our view. Again I found Mr. Count talkative.

"Thet whale 'll stay down fifty minutes, I guess," said he, "fer he's
every gill ov a hundred en twenty bar'l; and don't yew fergit it." "Do
the big whales give much more trouble than the little ones?" I asked,
seeing him thus chatty. "Wall, it's jest ez it happens, boy--just ez
it happens. I've seen a fifty-bar'l bull make the purtiest fight I ever
hearn tell ov--a fight thet lasted twenty hours, stove three boats, 'n
killed two men. Then, again, I've seen a hundred 'n fifty bar'l whale
lay 'n take his grooel 'thout hardly wunkin 'n eyelid--never moved ten
fathom from fust iron till fin eout. So yew may say, boy, that they're
like peepul--got thair iudividooal pekyewlyarities, an' thars no
countin' on 'em for sartin nary time." I was in great hopes of getting
some useful information while his mood lasted; but it was over, and
silence reigned. Nor did I dare to ask any more questions; he looked so
stern