thenceforward the speed with which the wounded man got better was marvellous except to those who knew how the body of man under primitive conditions and perfectly healthy can recover from what in civilization must be fatal injuries. i have alluded to this in one of the earliest chapters in dealing with the accident to philip, c. b.’s father, although his injuries were far less dangerous than those that his son had just sustained. but in four days after the ship had left honolulu, c. b. was able to come on deck without assistance, and to take short walks up and down the deck until pain within, along the track of the newly-healed wound, warned him to rest.
as the captain had hoped, the ship was now the abode of peace, as far as could be seen, and there was perfect harmony between all hands, even mr. winsloe having regained his original placidity of temper. all that now seemed in doubt was the capacity of the new harponeers, who, however, as far as their ship work went, shaped thoroughly well. so day after day slipped away and the vessel drew gradually near the turbulent japan grounds without as yet a single spout having been seen.
the captain was just beginning to get fretty,[pg 199] for his average was falling faster than he liked, when without intimating that such was his intention c. b. turned up one morning in the gravy-eye watch and told merritt that he had come to stay. he was a bit trembly and weak still, but felt no pain whatever from his wounds, which had perfectly healed, and he therefore argued that he would be much better at work than lolling about. merritt fully agreed and at first break of dawn c. b. climbed aloft into the main crow’s-nest, merritt, whose lookout it was with him, staying behind to finish a new lance-cap he had been making. c. b. was somewhat surprised to find how the climb made him pant, forgetting the recent strain upon his bodily resources, but got into the rings and, leaning over, began to feast his eyes upon the glory and majesty of the sunrise, nowhere more impressive than when seen from such a vantage point as this.
he fell into a reverie while gazing, thinking of the splendours of the new jerusalem, when he was rudely aroused by the mellow call of merritt far below him “blo-o-o-o-w.” he gazed wildly around endeavouring to see where the sighted whale could be, but it was not until looking down to see if possible in which direction merritt was looking that he saw to his intense chagrin that there were four whales almost alongside the ship. then in accordance with custom he added his call to merritt’s, and the two at the fore joined in the long minor cry.
of course the captain was immediately on deck, and at his sharp incisive orders the whole of the ship’s company flew into a state of violent activity. then suddenly his voice was heard pealing upward, “way down from aloft all but christmas! you stop there and look after the signallin’; i’m goin’ t’[pg 200] take the boat.” it was a bitter pill for c. b. to swallow in spite of his certainty that the skipper was acting in the kindest and most thoughtful way. but he was so keen upon his work and so anxious to show how completely fit he was that for a little while he felt quite unhappy. then as the boats pushed off and set sail he recovered himself and remembered how important were the duties he had to perform.
for he was now in sole charge of the ship, being entrusted with the task of keeping her to windward of the school with the aid of the shipkeepers, that is the carpenter and cooper, cook and steward and four hands. there are also many well understood signals to be made by manipulating the upper sails, signals which are eagerly watched by those in charge of boats whose sphere of vision is very limited as compared with that of a man elevated so far above the sea as a ship’s topgallant mast-head. these signals tell of the whale’s sounding or reappearance, of the direction in which he heads, in fact, all his or their movements, and of course the watcher is enabled to follow the progress of the work and regulate movements of his ship thereby. consequently it was no sinecure post that c. b. had been appointed to, but rather one that would test to the full his newly gained acquaintance with the art of ship handling.
as he stood there watching the departure of the four boats, which from his lofty position looked like tiny specks of white dotting the glittering surface of the sea, he could not help passing mentally in review the events of the past few months. he had recently had many opportunities for introspection and reverie, but somehow all his musings had been mixed up, unmethodical and leading[pg 201] nowhere. now, however, realizing as he did the novelty of his position, he was led to trace backward step by step the way by which he had been brought thither, and the recollections affected him deeply. a strange sense of exultation seized him, delight in that he had been so signally favoured of god in all his undertakings, gratitude that he had been kept from falling, but never once did he feel puffed up with the false idea that it was his strength of character, his goodness that had kept him.
that of course was owing to the simple, sensible, christian training which he had received, drawn direct from the fount of infinite wisdom. that teaching had always been valued by him, but never more than now when he could see whither its results had led him. and then he thought of the miserable men that had assailed him, had hated him without a cause, and remembering how barren their lives must have been of the advantages he had enjoyed, his heart swelled with a great pity for them.
all this time he watched the boats receding, spreading out as they went, and deeming it time to get a little nearer to them gave the order to keep her away for a little as with the stiff breeze blowing the ship could sail faster than the boats. he watched the whales settle, gave the signal that caused the boats to heave to—hove his own ship to, and waited intently watching until they rose again to his great joy quite close to the boats. it was truly wonderful to watch from that height the stern conflict going on, where the combatants were apparently reduced in size to pigmies and specks. so i should imagine would a battle between two armies look from a balloon or a great hunting scene with lions and tigers as the quarry, except[pg 202] that here there was nothing to obstruct the view. presently he saw all four boats starting off in different directions without sails or the use of oars, and he knew that each one had gotten fast to a whale. now he began to pray for guidance as to what he should do in the event of the whales running like that for long, since the simple rule of keeping to windward would hardly suffice. then he noticed that one of the boats was being towed by its whale directly towards the ship at such a speed that the monster was raising a great bow wave almost like that ahead of one of our bluff bowed tramps going full speed.
but also to his amazement and almost consternation he noticed that the fast whale was accompanied by two loose whales, one on either side, who were evidently determined to keep up with him, but whether with the notion of helping him or not it was impossible to tell. c. b. had heard of such things, and had put them aside as we often do the matters we do not know whether to believe or not, but which certainly appear to us incredible. it does not do, however, to be too sceptical with regard to what is done or attempted by whales, because we may thereby lose some hints which may be most useful to us in an emergency.
now he saw that the swiftly coming craft was his boat, and that the skipper was in the bow. nearer, nearer, nearer she came, and c. b.’s pulses quickened as he noted they were heading straight for his broadside. “hard a starboard,” he cried, “let her come right up. let go starboard main and cro’jack braces, haul all after yards round.” and as the ship swung up into the wind, bringing the advancing boat head on to her, c. b. saw merritt fling the turns off the loggerhead, letting the boat[pg 203] fly by only a foot or two clear of the stem. and the ship slowly filled round to the starboard tack, c. b. filling the fore yards as she did so. if any sailor objects that he never heard of tacking ship this way, let me tell him that many acts of seamanship are performed or were performed in whalers that not only were never heard of, but would have been impossible anywhere else, just as it would be impossible for many of our long lean four-posters to back and fill up a river like a geordie brig on a good flood.
keeping his eager eyes upon the scene below him, c. b. noted that rapid as the whale’s progress had been on the surface he was now moving very sluggishly downwards and so he turned his attention to the other boats which he found were scattered widely, but all three evidently having some trouble with their whales. he became very anxious as to his position and was about to keep away again when he saw that the whale his skipper was fast to was coming up at a great rate. and when he reached the surface he was still accompanied by the other two whales, who seemed determined to put every obstacle in the way of his being killed that they could. both captain taber and mr. merritt were fully alive to the danger of injuring a “loose” whale while fast to another one, but something had to be done, so captain taber fired a bomb lance at one of the loose whales which was between him and the whale he was fast to. c. b. heard the crack of the shot and the boom of the exploding bomb, and then saw, just as if a submarine mine had gone off, a tremendous upheaval in the water where it was evident that the intruder had got his mortal wound, and had gone immediately into his death flurry.
[pg 204]
there was no question as to the danger of the situation, danger, too, which no amount of energy or skill could avert. the three huge beasts, apparently maddened by pain and fright, and mixed up with the line, which was a mass of entanglement, fairly surrounded the boat. even if she had not been threatened with being smashed every moment by the writhings and plungings of the mighty creatures, it was obvious that she was only kept afloat by incessant baling, owing to the immense amount of water which was hurled over her in the struggle.
the apparently inevitable end came soon after c. b. had shouted from his perch an order to man the spare boat and keep her in instant readiness for lowering. one of the whales rose by the side of the hemmed-in boat with widely extended jaws, fell over upon it sideways, at the same time clashing those awful jaws together. boatmen and whales disappeared for a moment in a wallow of crimson flecked foam. c. b. waited no longer. snatching at a backstay, he glided to the deck, shouted as soon as his feet touched the rail—
“take hold, chips, an’ keep as near me as you can.”
into the boat and with a whirr of the falls they were off, not a moment too soon. two whales were dead and a third was still moving about as if unable to leave the spot; but clinging to fragments of the destroyed boat were the crew, all hurt and hurt badly, and the skipper, sustained by merritt, looked almost as if he had fought his last fight.
disregarding entirely the urgency of securing the whales, all the men were saved and brought on board with utmost speed. then it was found that three of them were absolutely helpless as far[pg 205] as work was concerned, while the skipper needed instant attention if his life was to be saved. merritt, though sorely bruised and fatigued, took upon himself this duty, and with c. b. to help him they made an examination of the captain’s body. they found that his left arm was broken in four places, most of the flesh was torn and lacerated on that side of his body, his left thigh was out and his left foot crushed. yet so great was the man’s vitality, and also because there had been but little loss of blood, that the good fellow was really not so nearly gone as might have been expected.
“now, boy,” said merritt, “you got your hands fuller’n ever you had ’em. git on deck an’ sen’ me the cook and steward, an’ tell ’em t’ bring a handy billy with ’em. i must get that thigh in fust off. then you gotter get hold o’ the’ whales. get ’em alongside; they’s two hundred barrel on ’em, i do believe, and then dig out fer the other fellows. they’ll be all right, i guess, fer i’ve noticed that things like these scarcely ever gets too bad for a man to handle. now git.” and c. b. got, climbed to his lofty perch again, finding however that when he reached there he had a strange giddiness come over him for a few moments. he sent up a swift prayer for strength under his heavy burden, remembering how recent had been his great weakness.
then he sprang up like a giant, and shouted the necessary orders to bring the ship down on the whales, which were lying almost side by side. he did not want to lower a boat, so conned the ship with utmost care, and when he headed straight for them he had the yards backed to deaden her way a little. then taking an iron prepared with an ordinary towline attached, he darted it as she came near enough, and hauled one whale alongside at[pg 206] the same time as one of the shipkeepers performed a similar feat on the whale which lay at the opposite side of the ship.
technicalities about any business are bound to become tiresome, no matter how interesting the business may be in itself, or i would explain the enormous amount of labour and skill expended upon getting these two whales properly secured by a length of chain round the small of their bodies and a hawser attached to that. a small cut would explain it better than a page of letterpress. all hands worked nobly (ah, how nobly do the rank and file often work for honourable reasons, knowing that no recognition ever comes their way), and at last the two vast bodies were well secured astern, and c. b. had now to solve the problem of getting his ship to where the other boats were waiting for him, with those two enormous masses hanging to his stern.
somewhat wearily he mounted to the crow’s-nest again, only remembering as he did so that in the excitement of his manifold duties he had forgotten to eat, and it was now nearly noon. so he hailed the deck and ordered all hands to snatch what bites they could, but be ready to trim sails as needed. he received the usual answer, and went on with his scrutiny of the vast blazing expanse spread out before him. at last to his great relief he located the three boats, each certainly fast to a whale, and as far as he could judge with the whales dead. fortunately, i had almost said providentially, but remembered c. b.’s persistent efforts to keep his ship to windward, the boats were all well to loo’ard, which simplified his task considerably.
but oh! the weary, weary wait of it all. a whaleship’s best gait is slow, with two whales towing[pg 207] it is hardly perceptible, and presently with a delightful start, as if he had made an original discovery, c. b. decided that he might relieve himself of his duty without any harm or hindrance, having set the course. so he came down and was astonished to find how the food set before him revived him and made him take quite a roseate view of difficulties which a few minutes before seemed almost unsurmountable.
when he had been thus refreshed he gave orders for all cutting gear to be got ready, knowing that there would be plenty of time and that the hands were all rested. then he went below, where he found his skipper bandaged and swathed until he looked like a mummy sleeping soundly with only a light flush on his face, and merritt, a half emptied plate of food by his side, sitting almost bolt upright, fast asleep, but looking as ghastly as a dead man. but then with people of that complexion you never can tell. they are not to be judged by ordinary rules at all.
feeling that in both cases the men were better without interference on his part he went on deck again, and seeing the carpenter and cooper standing by, he went up to them and said—
“the captain and mr. merritt are both doing well, they’re fast asleep. have you had your dinner?” they both nodded and he then went on, “i’ll look after the ship now if you’d both like a little rest, for i reckon it’ll be another hour before we are up to the first boat, and it will be hard enough for us all then.”
the two old tradesmen looked at him and then at each other, finally muttering—
“i guess we’ll keep you company. what you can do we can, and anyhow you ain’t half a bad chap.” that was all, but it meant a good deal.
now of the subsequent proceedings in picking[pg 208] up the three whales i need not write, except to say that as soon as mr. winsloe got on board c. b. handed the control of the ship over to him with a full report of what had happened since he had left the skipper’s company. the story of the next week is just one of savage unremitting toil, only to be compared to the way in which men work for the saving of their lives. mr. winsloe developed in a direction that c. b. had never suspected him of, he became a bowelless taskmaster, apparently needing no rest himself nor imagining that anybody else could want any.
merritt took his place in the fighting line the next day, apparently none the worse for his awful experiences, although a keen observer might have seen in his sunken cheeks and hollow eyes indelible signs of the great struggle. but the poor skipper was in evil case. only the natural vigour of his constitution and the tremendous force of his will pulled him through. for four days he lay alternating between stupor and delirium, never left by night or day, of course, entirely unconscious of how the great business of the voyage was being carried on without him.
when at last he emerged into the land of sense winsloe was with him, having snatched a few minutes from the work to come down and have a look at his suffering chief. and when he found that the captain was sane again he felt a great lump in his throat, a weight lifted from his chest, for with all his undoubted faults he loved the skipper and would have felt his loss, in spite of the immediate benefit to himself, as a blow for which there could be no adequate compensation. captain taber raised his sadly attenuated hand and groped for that of mr. winsloe, saying feebly—
[pg 209]
“well, winsloe, how goes it? are all the other boats back?”
“yes, sir,” replied winsloe, “and nobody hurt to speak of but yourself. but you’ve had a pretty bad time, sir, an’ i guess you don’t know that it’s the thick end of a week since you was brought aboard. you’ll be glad to know, an’ i think it’ll do you more good than all the doctors’ stuff in the world, that we’ve cut in five whale, an’ i’m figurin’ that there’s between four an’ five hundred bar’l of oil very nearly ready to run down. so we ain’t done so mighty bad after all.”
the effect upon the wounded man was magical. his eyes sparkled, and he even made one effort to rise, but winsloe put out a restraining hand. “well,” the captain cried in quite a strong voice, “i feel like shoutin’ ‘glory hallelujah!’ if that ain’t great! but say, you ain’t told me how long this job took ye?”
“it’s just seven days to an hour since we started, an’ pretty late in the day it was, for christmas was mighty slow in getting down to us, bein’ handicapped by your two whale——”
“two whale,” almost yelled the skipper. “d’ye mean t’ say that we saved two?”
“yes, sir, that’s a true bill. i ain’t heard all about it, but merritt can tell ye, or christmas. they was on in that piece, i was about six mile to looard, an’ wonderin’ pretty bad what all the waitin’ meant. an’ before i go, sir, as i don’t think you orter be tried too much, i wanter say that these yer new harponeers of ours is the whole thing. i don’t want no better men, an’ i ain’t goin’ t’ wear mournin’ fer pepe and louis any longer. both at strikin’ whale and steerin’ boat they’re the limit, an’ as fer work, well, they suit me, an’ i ain’t the[pg 210] easiest man to please in the matter o’ cuttin’ in an’ tryin’ out. now do try and get a sleep agen, sir, an’ don’t put in any time worryin’, because everythin’s goin’ jist as it orter.” and he slipped on deck.
but in spite of the mate’s cheery words he was far from satisfied with the condition of things. both merritt and c. b., though neither of them made any complaint, showed unmistakable signs of the enormous strain that had been put upon them lately, c. b. especially, who was, as we know, hardly convalescent when the pressure began. besides that, the other members of the captain’s boat’s crew were hardly fit to go on much longer, although with rare fortitude they had stuck to their task until work was almost done, and then were given lighter jobs—in fact, the general routine of the ship was relaxed in view of the recent great effort. so when mr. winsloe took his usual rough sights for position and found that they were only about a couple of days’ sail with the present wind from the bonin islands, he determined to steer for them, and in the absence of any positive command on the part of the captain, to go in and take a few days’ rest.
and as, in any case, he was not going out of his way, he shaped his course for peel island and carried sail to the fair wind then blowing, with the object of making as much headway as possible, although under ordinary circumstances, being now really in the great northern haunt of the cachalot, he would have been in the usual cruising trim which i have described as being pursued on the offshore ground. but much to his relief the captain, though still remaining very weak, kept his faculties and a clear head, so that when winsloe broached the subject to him of making for port lloyd in order to give the[pg 211] crew and himself a chance to recover, he gave the plan an emphatic sanction. “for,” he said, “i ain’t as young as i uster be, an’ a smash up such as i’ve had ain’t calculated to make me feel any spryer. and although i’ve got no shadow of doubt as to your ability t’ carry on, winsloe, t’ the end of the chapter, i really should feel happier with the kellick down in the ten fathom hole. moreover, tain’t as if we ain’t earned a rest. that last catch of ours hez pulled our average up bully.”
it was therefore with a light heart that winsloe saw the bold outlines of peel island standing out against the clear blue of the sky on the third morning after the above conversation, and he noted with much satisfaction how cheerful all hands seemed to be at the prospect of a few days in harbour anywhere, whether it was possible to get any of the so-called luxuries usually craved by sailors or not. only two of the crew had been there before, one of them being merritt, and he showed interest almost amounting to enthusiasm as he described the wonders of the unique harbour to c. b. it was also, he said, almost like his native place to him, for there he would certainly find some people of the same strange mixture of races as he was himself, chinese, japanese, spaniards, italians, kanakas, and americans having settled in the strange place at different times, and their descendants being now fairly numerous.
captain taber being still too weak to be moved with safety, and mr. winsloe never having been into the place before, mr. merritt became pilot, and c. b., who was well able to criticize, was charmed at the consummate ease with which his chum took the vessel in under all sail in spite of the baffling winds, which necessitated constant attention to[pg 212] the braces and halyards. port lloyd is nothing but the crater of a mighty volcano, extinct ages ago, and by some awful convulsion of nature sunk down low enough for one breach in it to form the entrance with a general depth of over twenty fathoms, while the remaining sides of the crater tower up to a height of seven or eight hundred feet. as might be expected there are many reefs and ledges within the harbour, but they are easily seen from aloft when coming in, and the central anchorage, into which a vessel must needs be warped by kedges, is a natural dock with an almost level bottom of ten fathoms depth, secure from every wind that blows and with splendid holding ground.
into this beautiful nook the eliza adams was taken and secured to the immense satisfaction of all on board, and especially to mr. winsloe, who now felt able to take that rest which he badly needed, and, as there were several whaleships there, to get advice from other commanders about the state of his captain’s health. besides, it was an ideal place for all those things that a ship like a whaler needs, good water, plenty of fruit and vegetables, and swarms of excellent fish.
the sails were hardly furled before the captains of three of the whaleships, the phoenix, the james arnold, and the coral were alongside and coming on board were received by mr. winsloe with great delight. they heard of the adventure which had laid captain taber low with grave faces, and after mr. winsloe had first ascertained that captain taber was fit to receive them they descended to his cabin and greeted him with that deep cordiality which used to be so marked a feature among these men, brothers in arms, knowing and respecting one another from a thorough knowledge of the[pg 213] high qualities that went to make up the complete whaleman.
but when they saw the wreck of their old friend, and had made a careful examination of his injuries, they decided that although it was nothing short of a miracle that he had made so good a recovery, it was hopeless his attempting to finish the voyage. it was evident, they said, that he must for at least a year to come have complete rest and immunity from worry, and they gave it as their decided opinion that he should give up the ship to winsloe and go home. and although they did not say so to him, they were also of opinion that george taber would never again be fit to command a ship in the great and strenuous business of sperm whaling.
