Chapter VII: What They Saw

When the whale was in his first flurry of pain, he sent the boat high into the air with one stroke of his mighty tail, and like loose articles the boys were scattered out of it into the boiling vortex of water. This was the sight that had called forth the alarm on board the _Sea Eagle_, and made the captain spring to quick action.

No time was to be lost, for the boys were as helpless as straws in the maelstrom. One thing was fortunate, they were all pretty fair swimmers, but that would not help them if the whale should, in his fury, chance to see them. But here, their very insignificance saved them from his first rush. The mother and her young had taken the alarm and were forging away to the southward.

The boys were now but several dark spots in the swirling waters. Jo had the closest call, for one of the flukes of the whale's tail swept a huge wave over him, and he thought he was going to be carried to the bottom of the ocean. Jim at the very first had called out a warning, "Boys, keep away from the boat." It was a lucky thing that he did so. For as soon as the whale caught sight of it he made a furious surge for it, and, opening his great jaws, he caught it squarely across the middle.

There was a crunching sound, only more intense, as when a dog crushes a bone. As Jo said afterward, "It wasn't more than a toothpick for him." Meanwhile the boys were swimming in the opposite direction as fast as their arms and feet could propel them. The whale now became aware of a new enemy bearing down upon him.

Only this was even larger than he was, though of the same color. It was making a chug-chug sound as it came towards him. In the dim brain of the whale was an idea struggling for birth. Was this a strange sea monster that was going to contest with him the supremacy of the seas, or was it some of his antediluvian ancestors come back to earth, I mean to sea, again?

There the reasoning of the whale stopped. A sudden blind fury came over him and he charged for the _Sea Eagle_. Two rifle shots rang out from the deck of the ship, and one tore deep into the black carcass. Then the monster threw his flukes into the air and down he sounded towards the depths of the sea.

In a moment the yacht was alongside the exhausted swimmers, and they were hauled aboard. Jeems Howell was about done for, and had to be worked over for some time; Jo also had shipped considerable salt water, but Jim and Juarez were in tolerable condition considering the experience they had been through.

"I hope you lads are satisfied now," grumbled the captain.

"He chawed our boat to kindling wood," said Jim, looking ruefully to where the fragments strewed the sea.

"He would have done the same by you, if we hadn't come along," remarked the captain. "Served you right, too."

"I hate not getting him, that's what worries me," said Jim.

"How did you feel when he tilted you and the boat up in the air?" inquired Tom curiously.

"Can't say," replied Jim. "It was so sudden, and I didn't take any notes."

"I felt like I was going to be another Jonah," remarked Jo feebly.

"He's the Jonah," remarked the captain, pointing a contemptuous thumb at Jeems, who had just gotten to his feet.

"How can I ever thank you, Captain?" asked Jeems Howell, who had a sly streak of humor at times. "You saved my life at the risk of your own. It was a noble deed, and one long----"

"Oh, g'wan with you," cried the captain. "I don't want none of your banquet speeches."

To escape the infliction, he retreated to the quarter deck, where he stood ready to repel any thankful survivors who might creep upon him. Tom was busy asking questions about the whole unfortunate business, for he had a very inquisitive mind, had Tom. Jeems, however, was the only one among the gallant survivors inclined to humor him. Jim was looking longingly over the expanse of ocean, not thinking of his dripping clothes, but as though he had lost something, as indeed he had. He was minus one large whaleboat and one small boat. It was not the boat, however, that he was looking for, and no one but Jim would have taken a continued interest in his whaleship but would have given him up for lost.

"There he blows!" he cried suddenly. "Let's try for him again."

"No more of that," roared the captain. "Not while I'm alive on this boat." Jim smiled. He had not really intended to go after him in the boat because he realized how foolhardy such a performance would be, but he had another scheme in mind, and he prepared to carry it out.

"Come on, boys, let's give him a shot from the cannon," he cried.

"That's the idea!" exclaimed Juarez. "We will bring the ship up close enough to get a good aim."

"I'd like to get even with him for the kick he gave me," cried Jo viciously.

"Well, you boys are the beatingest," remarked the captain.

But he made no objection to this plan, and took the wheel himself, so as to maneuver the _Sea Eagle_ to within good striking distance of the big mammal. Meanwhile, the boys lost no time in getting the small cannon ready for the fray. All was excitement and energy. Here was a target worth shooting at. The whale seemed to be resting after his recent exertions, and was rolling easily on the surface of the ocean.

Tom stripped the jacket of canvas from the shining gun of brass, Juarez and Jo got the ammunition from the hold, and soon had the charge ready to fire. Jim stood prepared to aim. The boys waited impatiently for the right moment to come, when the yacht would be as close to the quarry as it would be wise to venture. Steadily the little ship bore down toward the whale, keeping half quartered to it.

It seemed that he must take alarm and the boys held their breath in fear lest the monster should take fright and make a sudden disappearance into the depths. The harpoon still sticking high up on his side gave a line to aim by. Then Jim depressed the muzzle of the cannon until it was point blank at the long black target now shelving up from the blue surface of the ocean. Just as the whale wakened to his danger, Jim pulled the lanyard and fired. There was a roar, a white gush of smoke, and the shell tore into the vitals of the great whale.

Then there was action to which the disturbance when the whale was harpooned was a mere flurry. He thrashed the ocean into foam and the blood from his wound dyed the waters crimson. At last he rose bodily in the air and fell back upon the surface of the ocean with a mighty whack that could have been heard for miles. The waters retreated from his fall in great waves that made the little steamer rock.

There was great jubilation on the deck of the _Sea Eagle_ when Jim made that shot, which was not so remarkable either, when one considers the size of the target and the nearness of the object aimed at. But the captain was decidedly enthusiastic over Jim's success, and clapped him heartily on the back with manifest approval.

"You ought to be in the navy, lad," he cried. "You are a born American gunner. Old Paul Jones ought to have had you."

"That wasn't a hard shot, Captain," remarked Jim. "It was your navigating that really deserves the credit."

"Too bad we have to leave him," said the captain. "That fellow would be good for a lot of oil."

"I should like a closer look at him," urged Jim. "I believe I'll lower the other boat and board him."

"I reckon he can't do you any harm now, Skipper," said the captain, "and I suppose a whale does look cur'us to you. I see by that harpoon that you made a pretty good shot with the iron; just a little nearer to the shoulder and you would have fetched him."

The boat was all ready to lower and in a jiffy they had it in the water. Tom was allowed to go along this time, but Jeems Howell was among the missing, he absolutely and steadfastly refused to go on the excursion.

"Come along, Jeems," urged Jo. "You never saw a dead whale."

"But I have seen a live one, and my curiosity is satisfied," replied Jeems.

"He won't bite you, jump in," said Tom, who was quite brave now.

"How do I know that he is really dead?" replied Jeems. "Like as not he will give a last flop and crush you. The deck for me."

Realizing that it was useless to urge Jeems the boys pulled away from the _Sea Eagle_, and rowed over to the dead whale.

"My! but he is a monster," said Juarez. "Let's board him."

"All right," agreed Jim.

So Tom jammed the bow of the boat against the whale's side, and the three J's--Jim, Jo and Juarez--made a landing on Whale Island. It made Jo feel a little squeamish standing upon the mass of the dead monster that yielded under his foot. It seemed that his tread must surely cause the whale to make a final effort to get rid of his enemies.

"He must be all of seventy feet," cried Jim, pacing as far as he could.

"His head is eight or ten feet long," said Juarez.

"Too bad you can't take some of him for a souvenir," said Tom.

"We are mighty glad that he didn't get any of us for a souvenir," remarked Jo.

"I'm going to get my harpoon any way," said Jim. As he wrenched at it, the whale suddenly rose with a gentle heave, and Jo was almost paralyzed with fright, and even Juarez turned somewhat pale. However, it was only an unusually large wave that had raised the whale up and allowed the placid carcass to slide down again.

"Ahoy there, squall coming!" hailed the captain's voice from the quarter deck of the _Sea Eagle_. "Get aboard quick."

The boys obeyed, but with obvious reluctance, for the whale had much of interest for them yet. But they saw the squall whitening over the ocean from the northwest quarter, and coming with great rapidity.

"We don't want to worry the old man any more to-day," suggested Jim, "so we will pull for the shore."