“Why, boy, that would never do. Some of us would be called as witnesses, and the rest would disappear. The voyage would be broken up and the owners would be the losers. When the captain gave Jake his licking he gave him his judge and jury and everything else.”
We were at a little landing, and a road led up from it into the island. On each side of the road was a wall made of large blocks that looked like brown stones. Lakeum told me that these blocks were pieces of lava, that the island was volcanic and that there were on it many extinct craters. For the first time I saw oranges on the trees, and it seemed to me as if I had entered into a new world. Pretty soon down the road came a cart driven by a boy. In it was a man seated on a chest. The cart was unlike any I had ever seen. It was a crude affair, and the wheels were of solid wood. Lakeum greeted the newcomer as follows:
“Well, Mr. Silva, I never saw you before, but there’s no need of an introduction. I know who you are. I’m Lakeum, the first mate. Let’s get your chest aboard.”
Silva showed a row of dazzling teeth and Lakeum continued, “I gave the men leave. There they are up the road, coming this way. They’ll all be here in a minute, except one.”
Silva showed his teeth again and said, “Hard ticket, eh? Got a good poundin’, did he? But he’s better off. The ship must stand it. He’s spent the money the outfitter let him have—spent it before he came aboard, and he has got on a new suit, such as it is, and it ain’t cost him nothin’.”
Silva grinned again. Then the smile vanished, and lowering his tone he said, “I feel almost like desertin’, too. I come back here to get married, and I’ve just left my little wife. I’ve been married only two weeks. She wanted to see me off. I couldn’t stand it. It’s a hard life we whalemen lead.”
Though a boy, I was touched by the brave fellow’s words. All the men showed up but one, and Silva took his place. As we pulled for the ship I knew that it would be many months before we should again pull for the shore.
CHAPTER III
ABOUT WHALES
We now bore away south—all hands anxious to see whales. One morning the captain called us aft and addressed us as follows:
“I want to tell you about the prizes. Every man who sights a whale that is captured gets a prize. If the whale makes fifty barrels or less, a flannel shirt; if over fifty barrels, five dollars. These are the prizes given away during the voyage. Then at the end of the voyage the owner will give two gold watches—and good gold watches, too—one to the man who raises the largest sperm whale during the voyage, and the other to the man who raises the largest bowhead, that is the whales that stow down the greatest amount of oil. Keep your eyes open.”