the sum of the
whole added together would make it up. Now, how long d'ye think it
would take them?--guess."

Fred Borders smiled as he said this, and looked round the circle of men.

"I know," cried one; "it would take the whole forty thousand _a week_
to do it."

"Oh! nonsense, they could do it easy in two days," said another.

"That shows how little you know about big numbers," observed Tom
Lokins, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. "I'm pretty sure it
couldn't be done in much less than six months; workin' hard all day,
and makin' allowance for only one hour off for dinner."

"You're all wrong, shipmates," said Fred Borders. "That young doctor
told me that if they'd begun work at the day of creation they would
only have just finished the job last year!"

"Oh! gammon, you're jokin'," cried Bill Blunt.

"No, I'm not," said Fred, "for I was told afterwards by an old
clergyman that the young doctor was quite right, and that anyone who
was good at 'rithmetic could work the thing out for himself in less
than half an hour."

Just as Fred said this there came a loud cry from the mast-head that
made us all spring to our feet like lightning.

"There she blows! There she breaches!"

The captain was on deck in a moment.

"Where away?" he cried.

"On the lee beam, sir. Sperm whale, about two miles off. There she
blows!"

Every man was at his station in a moment; for, after being some months
out, we became so used to the work, that we acted together like a piece
of machinery. But our excitement never abated in the least.

"Sing out when the ship heads for her."

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Keep her away!" said the captain to the man at the helm. "Bob
Ledbury, hand me the spy-glass."

"Steady," from the mast-head.

"Steady it is," answered the man at the helm.

While we were all looking eagerly out ahead we heard a thundering snore
behind us, followed by a heavy splash. Turning quickly round, we saw
the flukes of an enormous whale sweeping through the air not more than
six hundred yards astern of us.

"Down your helm," roared the captain; "haul up the mainsail, and square
the yards. Call all hands."

"All hands, ahoy!" roared Bill Blunt, in a voice of thunder, and in
another moment every man in the ship was on deck.

"Hoist and swing the boats," cried the captain. "Lower away."

Down went the boats into the water; the men were into their places
almost before you could wink, and we pulled away from