they will lose him, I
fear;" but at that moment Mr Falconer's boat dashing on, as he stood up
in the boat with his glistening harpoon raised above his head, away it
flew with unerring force, and was buried in the side of the huge animal.
A loud cheer rose from the men in the boats and those on deck, and the
whale, hitherto so quiet, began to strike the water with his vast tail,
aiming with desperate blows at his advancing enemies. Now his enormous
bottle-nose-shaped head rose in the air--now we saw his flukes lashing
the water, his body writhing with the agony of the wound the sharp iron
had inflicted. The water around him was soon beaten into a mass of
foam, while the noise made by his tail was almost deafening.

Kitty stood eagerly watching the scene, and looking somewhat pale, for
it seemed as if the boat could scarcely escape some of those desperate
blows dealt around.

I had felt very anxious about my friend.

"Never fear," said Dick; "he knows what he is about. See, it's `stern
all.'"

The boat backed out of the way; the monster's tail rose for an instant
and disappeared.

"He has sounded," cried Dick.

Away ran the line. An oar was held up in the boat.

"That means that the line has run out," said Dick.

The nearest boat dashed up, and a fresh line was bent on. That soon
came to an end, and another, and yet another was joined to it.

"He has eight hundred fathoms out by this time," shouted Dick, "and if
he does not come up soon, he will be lost. But no, it's `haul in the
slack;' he is rising; they are coiling away the line in the tubs."

Directly afterwards the blunt nose of the animal rose from the sea, and
a spout was projected high into the air. Mr Falconer's boat was being
hauled rapidly towards it. A long lance with which he was armed was
quickly buried in the side of the huge creature, going deep down into a
vital part. The other boats gathered round it, from each a lance was
darted forth, the whale rolling over and over in his agony, and coiling
the rope round him, when suddenly, with open jaws, he darted at one of
the boats, and then attacked another. Kitty shrieked out with fear, for
it was Mr Falconer's boat which was overtaken, and was seen, shattered
to fragments, flying into the air, while the other was capsized; and now
the whale went so swiftly along the surface, that it seemed he must
after all escape. Two of the boats were not yet fastened, and, without
stopping to help the