Louis let drive, "fastening" a whopper about twenty
feet long. The injured animal plunged madly forward, accompanied
by his fellows, while Louis calmly bent another iron to a "short
warp," or piece of whale-line, the loose end of which he made a
bowline with around the main line which was fast to the "fish."
Then he fastened another "fish," and the queer sight was seen of
these two monsters each trying to flee in opposite directions,
while the second one ranged about alarmingly as his "bridle" ran
along the main line. Another one was secured in the same way,
then the game was indeed great. The school had by this time
taken the alarm and cleared out, but the other boats were all
fast to fish, so that didn't matter. Now, at the rate our "game"
were going it would evidently be a long while before they died,
although, being so much smaller than a whale proper, a harpoon
will often kill them at a stroke. Yet they were now so tangled
or "snarled erp," as the mate said, that it was no easy matter to
lance them without great danger of cutting the line. However, we
hauled up as close to them as we dared, and the harpooner got a
good blow in, which gave the biggest of the three "Jesse," as he
said, though why "Jesse" was a stumper.
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