"I suppose it must be very profitable to tempt them to take such risks," remarked Chester.
"It is quite profitable," said the Captain; "a single whale often yields whalebone and blubber to the value of thirty-five hundred or four thousand dollars."
"I should think that might pay very well, particularly if they took a number."
"Our whale fishing is done mostly by the New Englanders, isn't it, papa?" asked Grace.
"Yes," he said, "they went into it largely at a very early date; at first on their own coasts, but they were deserted by the whales before the middle of the eighteenth century; then ships were fitted out for the northern seas. But for a number of years the American whale-fishery has been declining, because of the scarcity of whales and the substitutes for whale oil and whalebone that have been found. However, New Bedford, Massachusetts, is the greatest whaling port in the world.
"Now it is nearing your bedtime, my boy, and I think you have had enough about the whale and his habits for one lesson."
"Yes, papa; and I thank you very much for telling it all to me," replied Ned, with a loving, grateful look up into his father's face.