ient to place all their gear
in readiness and to lower them into the water.

The captain himself went in one as harpooner, the second mate in the
other. I should have liked to go, but I knew that it was useless to ask
leave of the captain.

Away the boats pulled at a rapid rate to windward, the direction in
which the whales had been seen, and that we might keep as near them as
possible the ship was hauled close up. They were soon not discernible
from the deck, and on they went increasing their distance till even the
look-out from the masthead could no longer distinguish them. Still the
first mate had carefully noted the direction they had taken, and seemed
to have no doubt about picking them up. The weather, however, which had
been fine all day, now gave signs of changing, and in a short time the
wind began to blow in strong gusts, creating a nasty sea, but still it
was not worse than whale-boats have often to encounter.

Whether or not they had succeeded in striking a fish we could not tell,
for the days were very short, and evening drew on.

Fresh look-outs were sent to each of the mastheads, and we waited with
anxiety for their reports. They soon hailed that they could see neither
of the boats. At length, the darkness increasing, they were called
down, and lanterns were got ready to show the position of the ship.

"Shouldn't be surprised if we were to lose our skipper and the boats'
crews," said Horner to me. "I've heard that such accidents have
happened before now."

"I hope not," I answered, "for although our captain is a severe man, it
would be dreadful to have him and the other poor fellows lost out in
this stormy ocean, with no land for hundreds of miles where they could
find food and shelter, even were they to reach it."

While we were speaking a heavy squall struck the ship, and the remaining
hands were ordered aloft to take two reefs in the topsails. Jim and I
were on the fore-yardarm. We had just finished our task, when Jim
declared that he saw a light away to windward.

On coming on deck we told Mr Griffiths. He at once ordered a gun to be
fired as a signal. A blue light was then burnt, the glare of which, as
it fell on our figures, gave us all so ghastly an appearance that
Horner, who had never seen one before, cried out, "What has come over
you fellows? Is anything dreadful going to happen?"

As the firework died out we looked in the direction Jim had seen the
light, and in a little