The boy travellers in the Far East : adventures of two youths ... - Library

64:
THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
goes ahead at full speed. His jaw is set very low, and sometimes he turns
over, or partly over, to strike his blow.
" This time he whirled and took the bow of the boat in his mouth,
crushing it as though it had been made of jJaper. We jumped out, the
oars tlew all around us, the sea was a mass of foam, and the whale chewed
the boat as though it was a piece of sugar-candy and he hadn't seen any
for a month.
" We were all in the M'ater, and nobody hurt. The first mate's boat
had killed its whale inside of ten minutes, and before he tried to sound.
They left the whale and came to pick us up ; then they hurried and made
fast to liim, as another ship was coming up alongside of ours, and we might
lose our game. It is a rule of the sea that you lose your claim to a whale
when you let go, even though you may have killed him. Hang on to him
and he's yours, though you may hang with onlj' a trout-line and a minnow-
hook. It's been so decided in the courts.
" The captain sent another boat from the ship, and we soon had the
satisfaction of seeing my whale dead on the water. He got the lance
right in his vitals, and went into his 'flurry,' as we call it. The flurry is
IN THE WH.VLE S J.4.\V.