Up from below came the
deep growl of the skipper, "Foremast head, there, what d'ye say?"
"B-b-b-blow, s-s-sir," stammered Abner; "a big whale right in the
way of the sun, sir." "See anythin', Louey?" roared the skipper
to my companion, just as we had both "raised" the spout almost in
the glare cast by the sun. "Yessir," answered Louis; "but I
kaint make him eout yet, sir." "All right; keep yer eye on him,
and lemme know sharp;" and away he went aft for his glasses.
The course was slightly altered, so that we headed direct for the
whale, and in less than a minute afterwards we saw distinctly the
great black column of a sperm whale's head rise well above the
sea, scattering a circuit of foam before it, and emitting a
bushy, tufted burst of vapour into the clear air. "There she
white-waters! Ah bl-o-o-o-o-o-w, blow, blow!" sang Louis; and
then, in another tone, "Sperm whale, sir; big, 'lone fish,
headin' 'beout east-by-nothe." "All right. 'Way down from
aloft," answered the skipper, who was already half-way up the
main-rigging; and like squirrels we slipped out of our hoops and
down the backstays, passing the skipper like a flash as he toiled
upwards, bellowing orders as he went.
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