“Call all hands,” shouted the captain.
“Starboard watch, ahoy!” roared the mate, in that curious hoarse voice peculiar to boatswains of men-of-war. “Tumble up, lads, tumble up! Whale in sight! Bear a hand, my hearties!”
The summons was almost unnecessary. The “starboard watch” was—with the exception of one or two uncommonly heavy sleepers—already on deck pulling on its ducks and buckling its belts.
“Thar she breaches, thar she blows!” again came from the crow’s-nest in the voice of a Stentor.
“Well done, Dick Barnes, you’re the first to raise the oil,” remarked one of the men, implying by the remark that the said Dick was fortunate enough to be the first to sight a whale.
“Where away now?” roared the captain, who was in a state of intense excitement.
“A mile an’ a half to leeward, sir.”
“Clear away the boats,” shouted the captain.
“Masthead, ahoy! D’ye see that whale now?”
“Ay, ay, sir. Thar she blows!”