r a harpoon to throw among 'em.
My ghost'll haunt the man that wrongs my little sweetheart.

"That's not all, my hearty. Somebody's brought bad luck aboard--that's
certain. A voyage begun in bad luck, as this ere voyage has been, never
ends in good luck. But you're young, and so cheer up. Look ahead, and
never let present misfortunes discourage you.

"England honors Scoresby to this day. And Scoresby was successful after
two voyages that ruined his owners. As to them mermaids frightening away
the whales, it's all a superstition. The natives on Queen Charlotte's
island have a superstition that there is an island down north of them,
called No Man's island--for no man, as they say, was ever seen on
it--where there is a subterranean sea peopled by these mermaids; and
that these mermaids have built them a palace, where they hold their
revels and do all sorts of strange things, even to decoying navigators
into it. That story won't do. Don't believe a word of it, Mr.
Toodleburg."

That morning about ten o'clock the lookout aloft called, "Whale, O!" The
glad announcement sent a thrill of joy over every one on board. The crew
turned out with cheerful faces, and every one looked eagerly in the
direction pointed to by the man aloft.

"Where away?" was the quick enquiry from the deck.

"Off the larboard bow--three miles. There he blows!" was the response.

A light breeze was blowing, and the ship was bowling off four knots,
with her port tacks aboard. There was no one on board more elated at the
prospect than the sturdy old captain. Seizing his glass he looked for a
moment in the direction indicated.

"There he is!" he exclaimed, lowering his glass. "Clear away the boats
and bear away for him, my hearties."

The lashings were cast away, the davit-tackle falls overhauled, and a
larboard and starboard boat was launched and manned, and in a few
minutes they were dashing over the waves, the men pulling that steady,
strong, and even stroke which gives such propelling force to the
whaleman's oar. The men on board cheered, and their cheers seemed to
quicken the action of the boatmen. The sturdy old captain watched their
progress through his glass, every few minutes giving expression to his
feelings in words of hope and encouragement.

"An old coaster, that whale is--thirty, yes, nearly forty barrels there.
Got pluck, too, that whale has. Can always tell when a whale's got
pluck. Them old ones are ugly customers when they gets th