Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-02-11

lar whale never would stop running
and as he kept on we saw the sigma
lantern run up to the masthead t.
show us where the old bark lay, anC
guide US upon our return. The breezt
was fast increasing in force, and i
had suddenly become pitch dark, anf
it began to look decidedly gloomy
for us when the whale decreased hi:
speed and came to the stand still fol
which we had been SO long anxiously
waiting.
We commenced carefully hauling
in on the line, and the captain went
forward and took the lance ready tc
pierce the vitals of the whale if he
had an opportunity. 1t was so dark
and the bark war so far away,-at
least fifteen miles, -that we were al
anxious to have the job over and get
back to her protecting bulwarks, and
everybody was a little reckless, es.
pecially the captain, for without any
warning he made his dart as soon as
he found himself alongside, and with
out taking the slightest care as to the
position of the whale, or what would
become of US in the boat if he should
happen to hit us with his f1ukes in his
furry. In short, the captain, in his
anxiety TO finish the affair was about
to endanger all our lives, as the Sc
quel proved, for as he made his dart
it was replied to by the monster by
a stroke of his fukes that sent me,
for one, spinning into the air. [ fell
into the water at some distance from
the whale, presume, and luckily, as
it afterwards proved, near to one of
the floating oars, which / seized with
desperation and instinctively, for I
was scarcely in conscious state, and
all | did to preserve myself was done
from instinct. [ shall never know
how long l lay hanging on to that
oar for preservation, in semi-con-
scious state, knowing just enough to
keep my mouth out of the salty brine,
for it proved afterwards that [ had
received quite a severe blow on the
back of my head, which if it had been
a little bit stronger would have finish
ed me. AS it was, consider my hor-
ror when regaining consciousness a
few minutes later, / looked about in
vain for the boat and my comrades.
To tell their part of the story first,
for not only |, but all my shipmates
escaped, or I should not be writing
this yarn. 1t seems that when the
whale struck the boat with his flukes,
that he not only knocked it into the
air, throwing myself and one or two
overheard, but at the same time
knocked a bad hole in the bows.
Luckily the boat fell back into the
ocean right side up, and some one
had sense enough to grab a pea jack
ct and thrust it into the hole, while
the captain yelled out to set the lug
sail and pull for the ship if they de-
sired to save their lives, and that
they would be very lucky if they
reached her before sinking into a
watery and unknown grave on ac-
count of the damage the bows of the
boat had received.
In the hurry of departure, the
darkness, and the confusion | was
not missed till the boat had made a
considerable distance towards the
bark, and been kept afoat by per-
sistent bailing. Finally, my absence
was discovered, but even then, the
chances of reaching the bark were so
slim that it caused but a remark or
two, such as, ''poor fellow, he's only
gone ahead, we'll soon follow him, no
doubt. He must have been hurt when
the whale hit the boat, or else he
would have sung out for us to have
picked him up" My comrades final
ly reached the ship safely, after al
most superhuman efforts to keep the
boat afoat; but how Jared it with
poor me?
In very short time after the de-
parture of the boat | regained enough
of sense to appreciate my awful pre-
dicament, and how little chance there
was of my preserving my existence,
and | made up my mind at once that
[ must die and that quite speedily. 1t
was only a matter of endurance for
an hour or so; and just as / had
come to this, 10 and behold there
lay the whale not ten fathoms away
from me dead as a mackerel, and
luckily for me floating, the captains
thrust with the lance having evident
ly been finally fatal.
At the sight of the whale my nat
ural courage returned to me and I be-
gan to have some faint hopes that /
might yet be saved. Pushing the oar
before me / made for the side of the
huge monster and satisfied myself
4hat he was really dead. Then l COM
menced swimming around him trying
to find place by which could mount
on to his back. | had not swan very
far before / ran into the end of the
whale line that hung down over his
huge side just as it was left when the
boat parted from il as it was thrown
into the air. l grasped this with
clutch of desperation and found it Sc
curely fastened to the iron still in the
whale, as 1 had expected letting go
Of INV COR which bod carvod mo tn