o pray, and that he might be sure God would answer his prayer.
He said he would that very night; and next morning he told me that he
had prayed, and that he felt happier than he had ever done before. I
had not another word with him after that; but I only wish that you and
every one in the ship were like Rob Burton. I know little more about
him than what I have told you, but that is enough to give me comfort;
and if I ever get home and can visit his mother, it will give her
comfort too, for she is a Christian woman, and had taught him to pray,
and had never ceased praying for him, he said. Of that he was sure."

"Then do you think he has gone to heaven?" asked Harry.

"Yes," answered old Tom; "for God has promised that He will receive all
who trust in Jesus. Whatever are their sins, He will put them as far
from Him as the east is from the west; that though they be red like
scarlet, they shall become white as wool."

"I wish that I understood these things better than I do," said Harry,
earnestly.

"You have your Bible, Harry; read that, with prayer for grace to
understand it."

Harry said he would try and find time; and he actually took out a small
Bible which his mother had put into his chest, and carried it in his
pocket; but he did not like reading it when Dickey was looking on, and
somehow or other never found the time he expected.

Dickey tried his best to do away with the impression old Tom had made on
Harry's mind; and the thoughtless boys soon, like the rest of the crew,
forgot the fate of poor Burton. All hands were, indeed, kept actively
employed. Numerous whales appeared, several of which were captured, and
night after night the crew were engaged in "cutting in" and "trying
out"--that is, cutting the blubber off the body of the animal and
boiling it in huge cauldrons on deck. The bright glare falling on the
masts and rigging, and the sturdy frames of the sailors, as they stirred
up the cauldrons, placed on tripods, with their forks, gave them the
wildest and most savage appearance.

"I don't think my mother and sister would recognise the ship if they
were to see us now," observed Harry to his companion, as they stood aft,
ready to cast off the carcase of a whale which had been stripped of its
blubber, and had an opportunity of observing the scene going on beyond
them.

"They would think we were a set of spirits from the lower world busy
over some diabolical work, I suspect," said Dickey.

The