r it was fixed he jumped clean out of the water. Then there was the
usual battle. It was fierce and long; so long that I began to fear we
would have to return empty handed to the ship. We put ten harpoons into
him, one after another, and had a stiff run between the fixing of each.

It is astonishing the difference between the fish. One will give you no
trouble at all. I have often seen a good big fellow killed in half an
hour. Another will take you half a day, and perhaps you may lose him
after all. The whale we were now after, at last took to showing fight.
He made two or three runs at the boat, but the mate, who was in command,
pricked him off with the lance cleverly. At last we gave him a severe
wound, and immediately he dived.

"That was into his life," remarked Tom Lokins, as we sat waiting for him
to come up again. The captain's boat was close to ours, about ten yards
off. We had not to wait long. The sudden stoppage and slacking off of
all the lines showed that the whale was coming up. All at once I saw a
dark object rising directly under the captain's boat. Before I could
make out what it was, almost before I could think, the boat flew up into
the air, as if a powder magazine had exploded beneath it. The whale had
come up, and hit it with his head right on the keel, so that it was
knocked into pieces, and the men, oars, harpoons, lances, and tackle
shot up in confusion into the air.

Immediately after that the whale went into his flurry, but we paid no
attention to him, in our anxiety to pick up our companions. They all
came to the surface quickly enough, but while some made for the boats
vigorously, others swam slowly and with pain, showing that they were
hurt, while one or two floated, as if dead, upon the water.

Most of the men had escaped with only a few cuts and bruises, but one
poor fellow was hauled out of the water with a leg broken, and another
was so badly knocked about the head that it was a long time before he
was again fit for duty. The worst case, however, was that of poor Fred
Borders. He had a leg broken, and a severe wound in the side from a
harpoon which had been forced into the flesh over the barbs, so that we
could hardly get it drawn out. We laid him in the stern of the boat,
where he lay for some time insensible; but in a short time he revived,
and spoke to us in a faint voice. His first words were--"I'm dying,
messmates."

"Don't say that, Fred," said I, while my he