“Ay, ay,” he muttered, sorrowfully, “there it goes at last—back again to its watery chambers below, as though it would flee from the torturing pain caused by those barbed irons. Would to heaven that we had succeeded in killing it! It must suffer terribly!”
He turned, and, glancing at the compass in his possession, hurried off, with the intention of returning to the ark. He had not gone far, however, when he heard upon his right a light pattering noise, such as a dog might have made in running over the ice. His curiosity being excited, he moved in the direction of the sound, peering keenly through the fog as he advanced. The footfalls receded rapidly, but pressing steadily forward, the young man was enabled, before long, to distinguish the faint outline of some animal gliding swiftly on ahead of him. He quickened his steps into a run; as he did so the object disappeared behind an iceberg. Marline soon gained the frozen mass, but the creature, whatever it was, had vanished.
“This is strange!” muttered the harpooner. “The animal must be pretty swift of foot to get out of my sight so quickly; though it is true the fog would hide it, if it were only a few yards from me. Perhaps, however, it has crawled into some hollow in the ice.”
So saying, he commenced to peer into the nooks and crevices among the bergs, after which he climbed to their summits to look for rifts, using his boat-hatchet freely when he encountered any rugged mass that might contain a secret chamber; but his search was unrewarded. He thrust the hatchet in his belt, and had turned once more for the purpose of making his way to the ark, when his glance fell upon an object that caused him to utter an exclamation of surprise and horror. He advanced a few steps to assure himself that he was not deceived by any peculiarity in the formation of the ice; then he moved to the side of the object and eyed it closely. It was the skeleton of a human being, extended upon a shelf of ice that protruded from the lower part of a lofty berg. Bleached by wind and sunshine it had evidently lain here for many weeks. Every particle of flesh had been stripped from its bones by some hungry bear that had been cast adrift upon the floe. It lay upon its back so that its hollow sockets, partially glazed over with ice, were turned upward as if it were trying to discover whether or not its spirit had passed to the ethereal shores of Heaven. Marline gazed upon it for a long time, and then clapped his hand to his brow, as though some sudden recollection had flashed across his mind.
“Ay, ay!” he exclaimed, as he pointed to the broken ribs of the skeleton; “it must be so! The remains before me are none other than those of George Wills, whose story was related to me by one of the crew of the Comus, a week ago.”
He turned away with a sigh, and once more consulting his compass, moved off in the direction of the ark.
The story of which he had spoken, may be told in a few words.
George Wills, a native of Nantucket, sailed from New Bedford in the whaler Comus, on the 18th of September, 18—. Being a strong, active young man, and an excellent sailor, he was soon promoted from a foremast hand to the position of harpooner in the mate’s boat. In due course of time the vessel arrived upon the whaling grounds, in the Ochotsk Sea, where there was no lack of opportunities for the new boat-steerer to try his skill in wielding the barbed iron. Much to his own satisfaction and that of the first officer, he proved as expert in this work as he was in handling the marlinespike and the oar.
One morning the four boats were got ready for one of those protracted whale-hunts so common in the north-west. The crews were provided with a plentiful stock of provisions and fresh water, as they intended to remain absent from the ship for several days. George Wills being very partial to expeditions of this kind, was in excellent spirits. Little did he imagine the gloomy fate in store for him.
At five o’clock, A. M., the boats were lowered; and after pulling about fifteen miles from the ship, the crews sighted whales in a large floe to leeward. The eight vessels were soon in the ice, and separating, each gave chase to a whale. Before long the mate’s boat was within five fathoms of a huge bowhead.