Free Jules Verne by Dick Sand - a Captain at Fifteen Page A

leave
the ship."
    "That is understood."
    "If it should become necessary for the 'Pilgrim' to come to us, I shall
make a signal to you, by hoisting a flag at the end of a boat-hook."
    "Rest assured, captain, I shall not lose sight of the whale-boat,"
replied Dick Sand.
    "Good, my boy," replied Captain Hull. "Courage and coolness. Behold
yourself assistant captain. Do honor to your grade. No one has been
such at your age!"
    Dick Sand did not reply, but he blushed while smiling. Captain Hull
understood that blush and that smile.
    "The honest boy!" he said to himself; "modesty and good humor, in
truth, it is just like him!"
    Meanwhile, by these urgent recommendations, it was plain that, even
though there would be no danger in doing it, Captain Hull did not leave
his ship willingly, even for a few hours. But an irresistible
fisherman's instinct, above all, the strong desire to complete his
cargo of oil, and not fall short of the engagements made by James W.
Weldon in Valparaiso, all that told him to attempt the adventure.
Besides, that sea, so fine, was marvelously conducive to the pursuit of
a cetacean. Neither his crew nor he could resist such a temptation. The
fishing cruise would be finally complete, and this last consideration
touched Captain Hull's heart above everything.
    Captain Hull went toward the ladder.
    "I wish you success," said Mrs. Weldon to him.
    "Thank you, Mrs. Weldon."
    "I beg you, do not do too much harm to the poor whale," cried little
Jack.
    "No, my boy," replied Captain Hull.
    "Take it very gently, sir."
    "Yes—with gloves, little Jack."
    "Sometimes," observed Cousin Benedict, "we find rather curious insects
on the back of these large mammals."
    "Well, Mr. Benedict," replied Captain Hull, laughing, "you shall have
the right to 'entomologize' when our jubarte will be alongside of the
'Pilgrim.'"
    Then turning to Tom:
    "Tom, I count on your companions and you," said he, "to assist us in
cutting up the whale, when it is lashed to the ship's hull—which will
not be long."
    "At your disposal, sir," replied the old black.
    "Good!" replied Captain Hull.
    "Dick, these honest men will aid you in preparing the empty barrels.
During our absence they will bring them on deck, and by this means the
work will go fast on our return."
    "That shall be done, captain."
    For the benefit of those who do not know, it is necessary to say that
the jubarte, once dead, must be towed as far as the "Pilgrim," and
firmly lashed to her starboard side. Then the sailors, shod in boots,
with cramp-hooks would take their places on the back of the enormous
cetacean, and cut it up methodically in parallel bands marked off from
the head to the tail. These bands would be then cut across in slices of
a foot and a half, then divided into pieces, which, after being stowed
in the barrels, would be sent to the bottom of the hold.
    Generally the whaling ship, when the fishing is over, manages to land
as soon as possible, so as to finish her manipulations. The crew lands,
and then proceeds to melt the lard, which, under the action of the
heat, gives up all its useful part—that is, the oil. In this
operation, the whale's lard weighs about a third of its weight.
    But, under present circumstances, Captain Hull could not dream of
putting back to finish that operation. He only counted on melting this
quantity of lard at Valparaiso. Besides, with winds which could not
fail to hail from the west, he hoped to make the American coast before
twenty days, and that lapse of time could not compromise the results of
his fishing.
    The moment for setting out had come. Before the "Pilgrim's" sails had
been brought aback, she had drawn a little nearer to the place where
the jubarte continued to signal its presence by jets of vapor and water.
    The jubarte was all this time swimming in the middle of the vast red
field of crustaceans, opening its large mouth automatically, and
absorbing at each draught myriads of animalcules.
    According to the experienced ones on board,