Steve Young Part 19

The next minute the word was given to sit fast and be silent, and the boats were rowed rapidly toward the great shoal, which must have numbered a thousand or fifteen hundred, while the water was one ma.s.s of foam.

"Are these good, these white whales?" said Steve to the captain, as the boat cut through the water, and Johannes stood ready with his harpoon, a very different implement from that provided for the walrus, being barbed so as to form a kind of hook, and, once through, could not be withdrawn from the gutta-percha-like side, of which it would take up a loop tough enough to hold the stoutest sea-horse they could strike. The harpoon used for the white whale was lighter, and had a head which somewhat resembled a half-moon, fitted to work at the end of the shaft, and slight, so that one point of the half-moon would stand in a line with the pole, while the other was secured by a band to the shaft. When the harpoon was driven into the whale, the band which held the second point of the head down to the pole was pushed off in pa.s.sing through the skin and flesh, while at the first tug upon the line attached to the harpoon the loose head would be drawn crosswise, forming instead of a spear a double barb, which was strong enough to hold in the flesh without being drawn out.

The captain was too intent upon the shoal to answer Steve's question, which he repeated.

"Good, my lad? Yes. The oil is the purest and best to be had, and very valuable; but of course not to be obtained in such quant.i.ties as are procured from the larger whales. I hope we shall get three or four, though. They will help to fill up our tanks."

"I wish he'd think more of finding the _Ice Blink_ than of filling the tanks," thought Steve; but the next moment he, too, was thinking of nothing but the shoal of fish, as the men called them, though they were air-breathing animals instead; for now the chase became exciting. The belugas seemed to take no notice of the boats, but they were going rapidly through the water in chase of their prey, and when a fine one was selected it dived and went away swiftly beneath the water, so that it was difficult to tell where the creature would rise again.

Johannes gave his orders to the men, so that they might row toward the spot where the whale was likely to rise, and so give him a chance to hurl his harpoon before the animal had time to dive again. But this was not easy. Whether the curious blunt-nosed, white-skinned, active creature, with its back clear of all fish-like fin, was on the alert for the coming harpoon or for the meal it was seeking it is impossible to say, but certainly it showed a remarkable activity in keeping just out of reach. It would rise just exactly where not expected, and the whole business of the chase had to be gone through again and again.

Steve was too much occupied with the efforts of their own harpooner to pay any heed to what was going on aboard the other boat, and divided his time between watching the tall, active Norseman and the spot where it was antic.i.p.ated that the whale would rise.

At last, after hard pulling, fortune favoured the men's efforts. They had had a long tug, and there being no sign of the quarry they sought Johannes bade the rowers rest, while he stood with one foot resting upon the gunwale expectant.

"It's of no use," said the captain; "it must have gone right on. Look, Steve, how plentiful they are yonder. That's where we ought to have the boat."

He pointed to where pretty well a hundred of the great creatures were flapping in and out of the water; but Steve shook his head.

"Be too dangerous," he said. "Ah, look!"

He started to one side, for at that moment something of a creamy-white suddenly shot out of the water close to the bows of the boat, rose high with a graceful bend, and was curving over to make a plunge down into the depths, when--_whish_! _thud_!--the harpoon was thrown; it stuck a short distance behind the creature's head, and then with one blow the water was sent flying over the occupants of the boat, while the line was running rapidly out of the tub as the white whale disappeared from sight.

Like its relative the leviathan, of fifty or sixty feet in length, which boasts of a mouth big enough to hold a jollyboat and crew, who would doubtless find their quarters exceedingly uncomfortable on account of the forest of whalebone hanging down from the roof, the white whale cannot keep under water long without coming up to breathe; but the one Johannes had so cleverly struck nearly carried out the whole of the line, which Steve watched darting out ring by ring over the bows, till, in spite of the riskiness of the proceeding, the second Norseman seized the end which lay outside the tub, and gave it a hitch round a block in the bows left for the purpose.

"Be ready for a ride, Steve," said the captain, "if he does not pull us under before they can cut the rope; in that case be ready for a swim."

"The first for preference," thought Steve; but neither event occurred, for the rope suddenly ceased running, and as Johannes armed himself with one of the great lances which lay along the thwarts, his companion rapidly hauled in the slack line and laid it in rings once more.

Practice had made the man wonderfully perfect in this duty, and fathom after fathom was laid in, while the whale remained under so long that the captain shouted to Johannes:

"Has the harpoon come out?"

"I don't know yet, sir; I'm afraid so," was the reply. "These fish are so tender; they are often lost in this way."

And all the time the second man kept on hauling in the line, and the others lay on their oars, for the rope came up straight out of the deep water.

"Yes, sir, he has gone, I fear," said Johannes.

"No!" cried the other, for the slack line suddenly tightened and was jerked out of his hand; then the water parted about a dozen yards from the boat, the head of the whale appeared, and then the whole of the creature, as it rose higher, curved right over, and descended head first again, its tail giving a peculiar wave in the air before it disappeared, while all had a glimpse of the harpoon shaft, which directly after was seen floating on the surface of the water.

"Gone this time!" cried Steve in disappointed tones.

"Yes, he has gone almost straight down."

"And we have lost him?"

"I hope not, sir," said Johannes, leaning over the side, as the boat glided on, and picking up the long shaft of the harpoon.

"And you've lost the head of the harpoon, too."

"Oh no, that's fast to the line," replied the man; "the shaft is meant to come out, so that it shall not be broken."

"I did not understand that," muttered the boy, as the line that had been recovered now began to run out again as rapidly as before, hissing over the gunwale, and judging from the speed looking as if the last ring would soon be out and the whale dragging at the boat.

The captain was evidently of the same opinion, for he spoke to Johannes, who was standing like a statue with his lance ready.

"Will he snap the line, do you think?"

"No, sir. If he runs all out, we shall have a sharp tug; but the rope will hold."

"He won't pull us under water, will he?" cried Steve.

"Oh no, sir; no fear of that. He'll swim near to the top after this run, and keep on coming up to breathe. He may give us a ride. Here he comes again."

For the rope ceased running once more, showing how accurately the length of line was calculated for giving the creatures the full extent of their rush and no more.

Once more it was rapidly hauled in, and laid down in rings in the tub; but before half was recovered there was a movement, which was seized upon as a signal how to act, for the whale was not to have more line, the latter being rapidly twisted round the block, after which there was a tremendous jerk, and the boat's head was dragged down till it seemed as if it must admit the water, but the next minute it was rushing rapidly along sending a line of foam on either side. This lasted for a time, and then ceased, the whale rising and curving over once more, flourishing its tail in the air, and then apparently diving straight down.

More line was gained and ringed this time, when the tension ceased, and again the whale appeared, curved over, and dived down again. Then once more there was the shock, and the boat was dragged along again. But this was by no means so st.u.r.dy a tugging as the last, and before long the rope slackened, the whale came up for breath, and dived slowly.

In a few minutes more there ceased to be any idea of danger, for the captive was nearly exhausted, and the end was coming; for each dive was shorter in depth as well as time. The whale then tried fresh tactics, rising to the surface and rolling over and beating the water heavily with its tail; but all in vain: it could not rid itself of the deeply plunged harpoon, and lay for a few moments perfectly quiet.

All at once it seemed to become aware of the fact that the boat which was approaching it rapidly had something to do with its trouble, and diving suddenly it made a rush for it; but the oars were cleverly managed, and its aim frustrated, while as it pa.s.sed close by the bows Johannes' great lance struck it full, penetrating deeply before it was s.n.a.t.c.hed out, and the next minute the whale was a dozen yards astern lashing the water with its tail.

An order or two rapidly executed, and the boat was pulled to within safe distance; Johannes made two tremendous lunges with his lance, and the whale turned slowly over and lay quivering for a few minutes; then it was still, and the men gave a cheer.

"Poor whale," thought Steve, who was far from being hardened over such matters; but he tried to think that this capture meant so many gallons of beautifully clear oil, and money for defraying the expenses of their search, and he now stood up to have a good long look at their prize, which was fully fifteen feet long and proportionately heavy.

And now, the excitement of the chase being over, the question arose where was the _Hvalross_, and where was the other boat? These questions were answered by the two vessels, which formed with them a triangle, whose sides were about a mile in length; while, to add to the satisfaction of the adventure, the other boat was showing a signal, and they could see that it was towing something astern.

Meanwhile Johannes and his fellow-harpooners were busily securing a rope to their prize and drawing in and laying up their line. Next the harpoon was carefully cut out from where it was deeply imbedded in the animal's back; and then the boat's head was turned for the ship, which was steaming slowly towards them as they rowed on towing their carefully secured prize astern.

"I'm glad they've had good luck, too," said Steve; "but, I say, what has become of the shoal?"

"Gone right away, sir," replied Johannes. "We startled them, and they smelt danger. We may catch up to them by-and-by."

"Not to-day," said Captain Marsham quietly. "Pull, my lads;" and he steered so that they might get nearer to their companions' boat and the _Hvalross_ be reached by them both at once.

"You are right, sir," said Johannes in his quiet, independent, but respectful manner; "we shall not see the whales again to-day, and we must make haste if we are to reach the ship before it comes."

"Before what comes?" said Steve, wondering at the man's manner.

"Look," he said, pointing to the north-west.

"What at?" replied Steve; "the long line of ice?"

"No," said Captain Marsham. "Look right beyond the ire. Another of those pests--troubles of arctic voyaging, my boy," he continued, correcting himself.