d that we were all as safe as if we were on board the
ship, to which I answered nothing; but, like Jack's parrot, I did some
powerful thinking. Every little wave that came along swept clean over
our heads, sometimes coming so suddenly as to cut a breath in half. If
the wind should increase--but no--I wouldn't face the possibility of
such a disagreeable thing. I was cool enough now in a double sense, for
although we were in the tropics, we soon got thoroughly chilled.

By the position of the sun it must have been between ten a.m. and noon,
and we, of the crew, had eaten nothing since the previous day at supper,
when, as usual, the meal was very light. Therefore, I suppose we felt
the chill sooner than the better-nourished mate and harpooner, who
looked rather scornfully at our blue faces and chattering teeth.

In spite of all assurances to the contrary, I have not the least doubt
in my own mind that a very little longer would have relieved us of ALL
our burdens finally. Because the heave of the sea had so loosened the
shattered planks upon which we stood that they were on the verge of
falling all asunder. Had they done so we must have drowned, for we
were cramped and stiff with cold and our constrained position. However,
unknown to us, a bright look-out upon our movements had been kept
from the crow's-nest the whole time. We should have been relieved long
before, but that the whale killed by the second mate was being secured,
and another boat, the fourth mate's, being picked up, having a hole in
her bilge you could put you head through. With all these hindrances,
especially securing the whale, we were fortunate to be rescued as
soon as we were, since it is well known that whales are of much higher
commercial value than men.

However, help came at last, and we were hauled alongside. Long exposure
had weakened us to such an extent that it was necessary to hoist us on
board, especially the mate, whose "sudden stop," when he returned to
us after his little aerial excursion, had shaken his sturdy frame
considerably, a state of body which the subsequent soaking had by
no means improved. In my innocence I imagined that we should be
commiserated for our misfortunes by Captain Slocum, and certainly be
relieved from further duties until we were a little recovered from
the rough treatment we had just undergone. But I never made a greater
mistake. The skipper cursed us all (except the mate, whose sole fault
the accident undoubtedl