“They wasn’t,” declared Cap’n Pem, “jes or’nary blackfish.”
“But this is a whale,” argued Tom.
“Jes dumb luck o’ Mr. Kemp,” replied the old whaleman. “Jes happened to be ’long o’ them there grampuses. An’ ’tain’t much o’ a whale neither—jes a baby.”
“Well it’s just our luck to be in the boat that didn’t get the whale,” lamented2 Jim. “Did you have much of a tussle3, Mr. Kemp?”
“Nothin’ worth while,” responded the second officer. “Towed us a bit and died with nary a flurry.”
“I didn’t know they had sperm4 whales ’way up here,” said Tom, as the crews bent5 to their oars6 with the whale in tow.
[44]
“Don’t, so everlastin’ly often,” Cap’n Pem told him. “Come warm weather, they swims in by the Banks now an’ ag’in—that is, sparm do—an’ times gone there used to was a powerful lot o’ Biscay whales ’roun’ about the New Englan’ coast. Yes, sir, I recollec’ when a ship could v’yage out o’ New Bedford or Nantucket an’ fill up with Biscay ile an’ bone inside o’ six weeks.”
The schooner7 had now caught a light wind and was bearing down upon the boats. A few moments later, the whale was alongside and the two boats had been hoisted9 to the davits. Then followed the dirty, busy work of cutting in and boiling, with all of which the boys were familiar from their cruise in the Antarctic. But the whale, as Cap’n Pem had said, was scarcely more than a baby. The work was all over before midnight, with twenty barrels of oil stowed in the schooner’s hold.
“Pretty good beginning—for three days out of port,” chuckled10 Captain Edwards. “I reckon you boys—ahem, owners—must be mascots11. Just hope the luck holds all through.”
“Well, there won’t be any bo’sun birds to bring bad luck, anyway,” laughed Jim. “Although I suppose there must be some bad omen8 even up here or sailors wouldn’t be satisfied.”
[45]
“Plenty on ’em,” declared Cap’n Pem. “But don’t go to talkin’ an’ a-bringin’ o’ it on. Ain’t it bad ’nough to have that there black cat aboard—an’ nary a dod-gasted soul a-knowin’ where she come from?”
The boys roared. “I knew you’d find something,” cried Tom. “Why, I thought the cat belonged to the crew. Why don’t you kill her or something if she’s such bad luck?”
“Kill her!” exclaimed the old man. “By the eternal, don’t ye know no more’n thet? Ye mought jes as well kill a Mother Cary’s chicken or a bo’sun bird. No sirree! Let good enough alone’s my motter.”
“Well, you are the most superstitious12 old whaleman I ever saw,” laughed Tom. “I’ll bet the cat’s what brought the good luck.”
Cap’n Pem snorted. “Ye mark my words,” he muttered as he strode aft. “We’ll be gittin’ inter13 some sort o’ mess long o’ that there cat yit.”
But for the next three or four days none on the Narwhal could have asked for better weather. The breeze, though light, was fair and steady. The sea ran in long, easy swells14 and the schooner, curtseying gently and with every stitch of canvas set, pressed steadily15 on her course.
Then one night the boys were awakened16 by the tolling17 of a bell and the ear-splitting screech18 of a[46] horn. Hastily throwing on a few clothes, they hurried on deck.
At the first glance about they realized what the trouble was. The man at the wheel was barely visible, although less than a dozen feet distant. The faint light of the binnacle was a mere19 glow and the sails, spars, and forward part of the vessel20 melted into nothingness. The Narwhal was enveloped21 in a dense22 fog.
From the unseen bows of the ship came the monotonous23 tolling of the bell. At intervals24 the raucous25 horn screeched26 from the blanket of gray mist. Borne in strangely ghostly fashion from the blackness, came the voices of men.
Tom glanced at his watch and found that it was nearly sunrise but nowhere was there a hint of light or of dawn.
“Gosh, but it’s thick!” exclaimed Tom. “I wonder where we are.”
“Where I wish we wasn’t,” replied a voice so close to the boys that they jumped. “Right plumb27 on the Grand Banks,” continued the invisible speaker, whom the boys now recognized as Captain Edwards.
“What’s wrong with the Banks?” asked Tom.
“Nothing wrong with them,” replied the skipper who now stepped from the curtain of fog and stood[47] near the boys. “But Lord alone knows when we may be a-knockin’ into a fishin’ smack28, or a-bearin’ down on a dory, or gettin’ run down by a liner. I wish to heaven this condemned29 fog would lift.”
Hardly had he ceased speaking when there was a hoarse30 shout from forward, a tearing, grating sound, and a vast dark mass loomed31 alongside as the Narwhal scraped past a fishing schooner, snapping off the smack’s jib boom. A moment later the stranger was lost in the fog and only faint, angry cries told of her whereabouts.
“Sarved the lubbers right!” exploded Cap’n Pem, as he came hurrying aft to see if the Narwhal had been injured. “Never a-blowin’ o’ nary a horn, nor a-ringin’ o’ their bell!”
“Did it hurt us any?” asked Tom excitedly.
“Carried away a couple of backstays,” replied the skipper. “Lucky we was both headed the same way.”
By now the fog was getting lighter32 with the rising sun. The boys could see the lower portions of the sails, the lower masts, the ship’s deck as far forward as the forerigging, and the dull gray-green sea for a few hundred feet about the schooner. Beyond that, all was a solid wall of gray through which the Narwhal forged slowly ahead, horn and bell constantly[48] sounding warnings, and with men aloft striving to peer into the impenetrable murk.
“I should think they’d stop and anchor, or heave to until it lifts,” remarked Jim.
“Better to keep movin’,” declared Mr. Kemp, who was peering first to one side and then the other. “Long as we’ve steerage way on, we’ve a chance to dodge33 another ship—if we see ’em in time.”
Presently, from the starboard, came the sound of a bell. Then from ahead came the muffled34 roar of a horn, and soon, from all directions, there were warnings issuing from the fog.
“Golly, there are boats all around us!” cried Tom. “Look! See there, Jim.”
Jim turned in time to see a ghostly phantomlike shape appear as if by magic—a schooner with all sails set, and seemingly within a dozen yards of the Narwhal. But almost before he could grasp the fact that it was a vessel, it had vanished as weirdly35 as it had appeared.
For an hour or more the schooner picked her way through the fog, often swinging sharply to port or starboard at the skipper’s hoarsely36 bellowed38 orders, a dozen times avoiding collision with a smack by a few feet and twice swerving39 just in time to avoid running down the tiny bobbing dories.
[49]
At last the bells and horns grew faint. The captain breathed more freely and declared he must have left the fleet astern. As the fog began to lift and a wider expanse of sea and the upper sails became visible, the boys decided40 all danger was over and prepared to go to the cabin and dress properly.
Then, from the lookout41, a frightened yell rang out. A shrieking42 bellow37 roared from the fog ahead. With a bound Captain Edwards leaped to the wheel. “Hard aport!” he screamed, as he grasped the spokes43 and strained with the steersman at the helm. Startled, realizing that imminent44 unknown peril45 threatened, confused by the shouts, orders and rush of men, the boys stood gazing helplessly about.
Then once more that ear-splitting, terrific bellow thundered from the fog. As the Narwhal’s head swung slowly to starboard, a vast, towering, mountainous shape came tearing, rushing, through the fog. Dimly through the opaque46 gray mist, the terror-stricken boys saw the tremendous fabric47 bearing down upon them. Far above the schooner’s crosstrees reared the lofty stem of a gigantic steamship48. Within a cable’s length of the Narwhal, the billowing mass of foam49 about the keen steel stem roared with the sound of surf. Each second the boys expected to hear the crashing blow, to feel the splintering, terrific[50] impact that would spell their doom50. Paralyzed with fright, they stood motionless and speechless. Nothing, they felt, could save them. The great, shearing51 prow52 of the steamer seemed to overhang their heads. Their staring eyes glimpsed dim, tiny figures leaning over the rails far above, shouting, gesticulating, life rings in hand.
And then, with a hissing53 roar like a passing train, the huge liner swept by. Endless rows of port holes filled with white faces rushed past the terror-stricken boys. The next second the Narwhal was bobbing and jumping like a cork54 on the tumbling heaving wake, with only the pall55 of smoke and the churning foam to mark the liner’s passage.
Leaping upon the schooner’s wildly tossing taffrail, Captain Edwards shook his fist at the spot where the liner had disappeared in the fog. Cap’n Pem, unable to stand on the rail, seized a belaying pin, hurled56 it after the liner and, throwing his cap on the deck, fairly danced with rage.
“Consarn their everlastin’ hides!” he screamed. “A-tearin’ ’crost these here Banks like a house afire, an’ fog thicker’n cheese. Blasted murderers! A-riskin’ lives o’ honest sailor men jes fer to make time an’ save a few dirty, blasted dollars! I’d like to git at ’em!”
[51]
Despite the narrow escape, the seriousness of the situation, and the old whaleman’s earnestness, the boys could not suppress a grin at the old fellow’s towering and thoroughly58 justified59 rage at the reckless officers of the liner.
Then, as if the steamship’s passage had been the signal, the fog lifted rapidly. A fresh breeze came up and presently the Narwhal was speeding over a wide clear sea with only a few wisps of whitish vapor60 to mark the fog which had so nearly brought an end to the schooner and those upon her.
“Didn’t I tell ye that there black cat would a be bringin’ o’ bad luck!” cried Cap’n Pem, as his temper cooled down and the fog disappeared.
“Nonsense!” laughed Tom. “She brought good luck three times now—first the whale, then escaping from that schooner, and then being saved from the steamer. And I shouldn’t wonder if she made the fog lift, too.”
“Humph!” snorted the old man. “’Course ye’ll have it your way, but if she didn’t bring that there fog an’ that consarned pesky liner, what did?”
“And if she didn’t save us and make the fog clear, what did?” responded Jim.
Cap’n Pem pursed his mouth, jerked his cap down over his eyes and stumped61 off. “No use[52] argufyin’,” he declared. “But ye’ll see! Mark my words.”
Three days after their narrow escape from the liner, the boys saw Cape57 Breton light. Tacking62 in long reaches, the Narwhal worked across the Gulf63 of St. Lawrence, and with the thrill of seeing strange lands, Tom and Jim stared through their glasses at the forbidding shores of Newfoundland and at bleak64 Anticosti.
It was slow, hard work beating against tides, currents and head winds. Late in the season though it was, masses of ice still lingered in the coves65 of the shores. Once, as they watched the dirty white masses of ice, Tom cried out in delight as he saw a number of sleek66 brown creatures scramble67 into the sea when the schooner approached.
“Hurrah, those were seals!” he cried.
“Yep, harbor seal,” said Captain Edwards. “Not worth much. But you’ll see a-plenty of real seals after a bit. Shouldn’t wonder if we’d get some hides up round Belle68 Isle69. Never did see so pesky much ice in the Gulf this time o’ year.”
At last the Straits of Belle Isle were reached, the wind shifted and once more sailing free, the Narwhal made good time through the narrow waterway between Newfoundland and Labrador.
[53]
As they passed the lonely, wave-washed Belle Isle, men were sent aloft on the lookout for seals. Nothing but a few herds70 of the little harbor seals were seen, however, and these were so wary71 that Captain Edwards vowed72 it would be a waste of time to attempt to hunt them.
Then, swinging past Cape St. Lewis, the schooner was headed up the coast of Labrador for Hebron where she was to put in for Eskimos.
Two days after passing the Cape, the boys were scanning the ugly green sea with their glasses when a faint, shimmering73, cloud-like shape rose upon the horizon.
“Oh, there’s a ship!” exclaimed Jim. “And a big one.”
Mr. Kemp looked up, shaded his eyes with his hand and stared in the direction Jim indicated. “Ship!” he exclaimed. “That’s a berg.”
“Sure,” replied the second mate. “Pretty sizeable one too.”
“Oh, let’s sail over and see it!” exclaimed Jim.
“Less we see of ’em the better it’ll suit me,” said the skipper who had been studying the berg. “But you’ll have a chance to see it all right. We’ll have[54] to go out of our course if we don’t want to bump plumb into it.”
Rapidly the berg rose before the schooner, a massive mountain of ice, its summit carved and melted into spires75, pinnacles76 and huge, overhanging shelves, steep precipitous sides rising from the wide hummocky77 base just above the waves and gleaming and shimmering with every color of the rainbow.
“Gee, isn’t it pretty!” cried Jim. “I never knew ice was so many colors. And look at those big caves in the sides.”
“And look—oh look, Jim!” exclaimed Tom. “There’s some one on it! See, right in front of that big green cave!”
“What in tarnation ye talkin’ of?” demanded Cap’n Pem. “Here, gimme them glasses.”
Adjusting the glasses, the old whaleman stared fixedly78 for a moment at the distant iceberg. “Some one on it!” he exclaimed. “Waal, I’ll be blowed if there beint—but ’tain’t no human critter. That there’s a whoppin’ big b’ar!”
“A bear?” cried Tom. “Hurrah! that’s all the better. Oh say, Captain Edwards, can’t we go over and shoot him?”
“Hmm,” muttered the skipper, “I dunno, but I reckon you can. Pem, soon’s ever we get ’bout half[55] a mile from the berg, have the yards swung an’ lower the sta’board quarter boat. White bear skins is worth takin’ and it’ll give the boys—I mean owners—a chance to try their hands. Better let Mr. Kemp go along with ’em.” Then, turning to the boys, he continued. “Now mind you do just as Mr. Kemp tells you. Bergs is mighty79 pesky things, an’ a gun shot’s li’ble to start a break or a slide or topple the dumb thing clean over. Better to lose the bear than get kilt.”
The boys scarcely heard what he said. Filled with excitement at thoughts of visiting the berg and shooting a polar bear, they dashed to their cabin, hastily got out their rifles and, stuffing their pockets with cartridges80, rushed back on deck.
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1
triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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lamented
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| adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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sperm
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| n.精子，精液 | |
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5
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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6
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mascots
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| n.吉祥物( mascot的名词复数 ) | |
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12
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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13
inter
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| v.埋葬 | |
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14
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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tolling
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| [财]来料加工 | |
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screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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raucous
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| adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的 | |
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screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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smack
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| vt.拍，打，掴；咂嘴；vi.含有…意味；n.拍 | |
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condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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32
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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dodge
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| v.闪开，躲开，避开；n.妙计，诡计 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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bellow
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| v.吼叫，怒吼；大声发出，大声喝道 | |
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38
bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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39
swerving
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| v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的现在分词 ) | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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41
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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42
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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43
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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47
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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48
steamship
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| n.汽船，轮船 | |
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49
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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50
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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51
shearing
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| n.剪羊毛，剪取的羊毛v.剪羊毛( shear的现在分词 )；切断；剪切 | |
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52
prow
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| n.(飞机)机头，船头 | |
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53
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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54
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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55
pall
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| v.覆盖，使平淡无味；n.柩衣，棺罩；棺材；帷幕 | |
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56
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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57
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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58
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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59
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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60
vapor
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| n.蒸汽，雾气 | |
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61
stumped
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| 僵直地行走，跺步行走( stump的过去式和过去分词 )； 把（某人）难住； 使为难； （选举前）在某一地区作政治性巡回演说 | |
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62
tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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63
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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64
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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coves
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| n.小海湾( cove的名词复数 )；家伙 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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scramble
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| v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料 | |
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belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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iceberg
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| n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人 | |
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spires
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| n.（教堂的） 塔尖，尖顶( spire的名词复数 ) | |
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76
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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hummocky
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| adj.圆丘般的，多圆丘的；波丘地 | |
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fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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