"Well, this fellow is every inch of eighty, and I shouldn't wonder if he was ninety feet in length."
"I wish some whaler would come along and pitch into him," said Eugene. "I'd like to see the operation of catching a whale."
"If fifty whalers should come along they would not trouble this fellow," said Uncle Dick.
"Why not?"
"Because he is neither a sperm nor a right whale. He belongs to the species known as finbacks. He would not yield oil or bone enough to pay for the trouble of lowering the boats, and besides he is so swift and strong that it would be dangerous to meddle with him."
The finback kept alongside the schooner for nearly a mile, and during that time the boys had ample opportunity to take a good view of him. He sank and rose at regular intervals, executing the manoeuvre with an ease and grace that was astonishing, and now and then he showed so much of his huge bulk above the water that the boys opened their eyes in amazement, and Featherweight declared that there was no end to him. The longer they looked at him the larger he seemed to grow. At length he began to edge away from the schooner, and finally disappeared. Then each boy turned and looked at his neighbor to see what he thought about it.
"What makes you look so sober?" demanded Featherweight of Archie, who stood by pulling his chin, and gazing fixedly at the spot where the whale had last been seen.
"I was just thinking," was the reply.
"And I'll warrant we can all tell what you were thinking about," said George. "I guess there is no one in this small party who would like to be ordered into a small boat to attack a beast of that size, and you were wondering what Frank's feelings will be the first time he tries it. Well, I don't want to know them by experience."
Archie walked to the side and looked over into the water, while George turned to Dick and Bob, who just then came up. Their faces were very white.