“This goes ahead of anything in my experience,” was the reply. “I only hope the old man will cut his cable before he loses sight of us, or that he has had sense enough to take our bearings so that he can pick us up again. Now that we have got a quiet spell, I suppose we might as well finish bailing before the next performance begins.”
After they had rid the boat of all the water she had shipped, they began once more to haul in on their trawl. They reasoned that if the schooner came back they would be so much ahead with their work, and if she did not, they could pitch the fish overboard; while, in the mean time, the occupation would keep them from worrying over what might happen.
They had got nearly to the end of their trawl, and the dory was again deeply laden with fish, when Breeze cried out, joyfully, “Here she comes back!”
He was right. The white sails of the schooner could be seen, though at a great distance from them, and they knew that she had in some way got rid of her unwelcome tow-boat, and was on her way back.
Two of the other dories that had been left behind now approached them, and a man in one of them called out, “I don’t suppose you fellows have got any fresh water aboard, have you?”
“Yes, we have plenty of it,” shouted Wolfe. “I declare I had forgotten it, though, and I’m awfully thirsty myself,” he added to Breeze.
The latter had no reason to regret his thoughtfulness when he saw how heartily they all enjoyed the water and a lunch of biscuit that, but for him, they would have gone without.
So far had the schooner been towed before the whale had managed to clear himself from his encumbrance that she was nearly two hours in making her way back to them. Her skipper had refused to cut the cable, for he was a part owner in the vessel, and did not want to be put to the expense of a new one. Thus he showed one of the traits in his character that made him so unpopular. He was always ready to sacrifice the comfort, and even the safety, of his men, rather than run the risk of losing money.
At last the schooner did return to the waiting dories, and their loads of fish were transferred to her deck, after which the trawls were rebaited and again set out. Then came a busy time spent in “dressing down;” that is, cleaning the fish, cutting off their heads, splitting and salting them, and finally packing them in the hold. After this, the trawls were again hauled and again set for the night. Owing to the delay of the morning, the second catch had to be “dressed down” by lantern-light, so that it was nearly eleven o’clock before the tired crew were allowed to throw themselves into their bunks for a few hours’ sleep.
The air during the day had been growing steadily colder, and before dark the peculiar chill denoting the presence of ice at no great distance had been noticed, and had occasioned some anxiety. The season was unusually backward, and a recent succession of northerly gales had driven the arctic ice almost to the edge of the Gulf Stream. This had been reported before the Vixen left Gloucester; but, as her crew had not yet met with any ice, they hoped it had again gone north, and that they were to escape it entirely.