“Oh! gammon, you’re jokin’,” cried Bill Blunt.
“No, I’m not,” said Fred, “for I was told afterwards by an old clergyman that the young doctor was quite right, and that any one who was good at ’rithmetic could work the thing out for himself in less than half-an-hour.”
Just as Fred said this there came a loud cry from the mast-head that made us all spring to our feet like lightning.
“There she blows! There she breaches!”
The captain was on deck in a moment.
“Where away?” he cried.
“On the lee beam, sir. Sperm whale, about two miles off. There she blows!”
Every man was at his station in a moment; for, after being some months out, we became so used to the work, that we acted together like a piece of machinery. But our excitement never abated in the least.
“Sing out when the ship heads for her.”
“Ay, ay, sir.”