d thought the
first whale seemed different from the one we had chased.

Of course, this whale was drowned, too. When it sounded, the other whale
must have crossed our line while feeding with open mouth. Feeling the
strange sensation of the hemp in the back of its mouth, the creature had
instinctively closed its jaws and, in the struggle, wound the line about
its body and been drowned.

Of course, this had kept the first whale down until it had drowned and,
marvelous to relate, we had got the both of them--and a tidy addition to
our cargo they proceeded to make. The luck of the second mate's boat
became proverbial after that haul.

But despite our luck, the real grind of the whaleman's life was taking
hold of us now. It was work--hard, bone labor--if we "had luck," and it
was likewise work if we missed and rowed hour after hour after an
elusive sperm or, at the end of the day, had to row empty handed back to
the bark.

Ben Gibson loved money; but he admitted to me that a fifteen hundred
dollar prize for the voyage would scarcely pay him for the work and
grind of our daily life aboard the Scarboro.

CHAPTER XIX

IN WHICH IS REPORTED A SERIES OF MISADVENTURES

It began much as other busy days had begun for us of the Scarboro, since
we got upon the whaling grounds; the fires under the trying-out kettles
were scarcely quenched when, just at daybreak, came the hail of the man
in the crowsnest:

"On deck, sir! Ah-h blows!"

"Where away?" bawled Captain Rogers, who seemed tireless himself and
expected every man and boy aboard to catch the inspiration of a sight
that had now become terribly commonplace to us--a spouting cachelot.

"Two p'ints on yer weather bow, sir."

The captain started up the rigging and in a moment the lookout repeated:

"Thar she blo-o-ows!"

"I see her!" bawled the captain. Then turning, his roar penetrated to
the fo'castle: "All hands on deck! Tumble up here! Lively now! Sperm
whale, ain't she, John?"

"Aye, sir, sir!" returned the lookout. "There she breaches!" as one of
the creatures up-ended. A dozen had suddenly come into sight--appearing
like imps in a pantomime--"from the vasty deep."

As Captain Hi came down Mr. Robbins reached the quarter.

"Seems a powerful sight of whales, Mr. Robbins," the old man said,
passing the mate the glasses.

Mr. Robbins went up and took a good squint all around the horizon.

"Three hundred if there's one, Cap'n!" he declared with reverent