She sprang instantly into the mizzen channels, disdaining the help offered by Crojack, and then dropped lightly into the small boat’s bottom. We were all ready and shoved clear of the ship’s side.
The turtle had risen to the surface of the sea about ten fathoms distant, but, on seeing the ship and hearing the noise, he had sounded again. However, I knew he would soon reappear, and I forthwith made my way forward and made an iron ready for him. We rowed silently over the oily ocean, keeping a sharp lookout for the game. The two ships seemed suddenly very small and distant, and the vastness of the sea became apparent. It is always that way, and when a person has never been upon the broad sea in a small boat, the very greatness of the surrounding space affects one. Miss Waters seemed subdued, and I noticed that she was gazing anxiously now and then at the Arrow that lay wallowing and rolling like a log.
“I don’t think we better go too far away, do you?” she asked.
“That turtle will take us a long way before we get him,” I answered. “If you are afraid, we will go back.”
She blushed a trifle at this.
“We’ll not go back until you show us whether you are able to get him or not,” she said, with some spirit.
That settled it. We would get him if there was any show. I liked the spirit of the girl. Brown said nothing.
“Aye tank dat’s him, sur, right over dere t’ starboard,” said the Swede pulling the stroke oar. The head of the turtle rose slowly above the surface and remained there. We stopped the boat, and waited for him to get quiet before starting to creep upon him. Then, with great caution, we sent the craft drifting slowly toward him, the oars making no noise. I held the iron ready, and waited until we were within a couple of fathoms. Then I plunged the weapon through his forward flipper, and it toggled fast. We had him.
But he was a determined monster, and he weighed nearly five hundred pounds. He started off across the ocean, and, in spite of all our efforts, we could not stop him. Hauling the line short, we poked him and jabbed him with the boat-hook, but he heeded this very little, keeping his head well down and drawn in out of the way. All the time he swam vigorously with his flippers, and we found that we were gradually getting a long way from the ship.
“If we only had something to kill him with,” said Brown.