"Whaling, I repeat. We were chasing an enormous spermaceti whale. I was carrying the harpoon and tackle, and as we got within range I let fly at him with all my force. Now, perhaps I ought not to say it, but there were not many men who could approach me in handling the harpoon. I spitted the animal clean through the middle."
"Dear me!"
"No sooner did he feel himself struck than he sounded. Out went the line, but hang me if I could pay out fast enough, for he jerked me clean off my perch into the water."
"Dreadful!"
"Shocking!"
Mr. Mole smiled grimly.
"Not so bad as it sounds, after all," he said. "It startled me a bit, as you may suppose."
"It would, of course," said Dick, tipping the wink to Jefferson.
"But I had got back my presence of mind in half a crack, so I hauled in my line until I found myself on the whale's back. There I stuck on like grim death, jobbing and stabbing away with one hand, while I held on to the hilt of the harpoon with the other. I had only a dirk or short sword with me, but it was quite long enough for the whale."
"No doubt, no doubt," exclaimed Dick.