The morning call., 1894-05-13

Joe, the Lascan. cut it loose with long
! spades ground to a razor sharpness, as
they stood in spiked boots upon the slowly
revolving body.
When all the blubber was gotten aboard
| there was an examination made for am
| bergris. and then the head was fastened
and cut from IL slg dpft sI8peo fsas, carcass
mvriads nj sharks that had appeared as
! though by magic.
The head. having been hacked into two
great wedge shaped pieces, was then
broug aboard, and, as it measured fully
one-third Of the entire length OF us owner,
this was no chld's play. But the Two
sacks in the top, where the spout holes
Law. contained several barrels OF pure
spermaceti each, and that was the only
way in which it could be safely secureu;
| The remainder of the head was composed
of layers of rich oily fat which was apou'
the same worth as the other pluDDer'
Frank had thought this work OF cutting
n'' distasteful, but it was followed by
perfect revelation of discomfort-tne Try
ing out" &4s|
He soon felt himself completely coated
with nauseous sperm oil. 1t was In DIS
hair, in his ears, in his throat; and look
+ where he might he could see nothing Dut
| piles Of soft. quiverng blubber. Besides,
| the dense cloud of smoke from the burn
/ ing blu ubber-that from which the oil had
! been extracted heing used as fuel beneath
the great "trypots"-nearIy choked and
! blinded him.
| The sport of going on" the whaler be-
came fading memory during the subse-
| Quent ordeal.
Frank felt as though the oil had actually
| permeated his blood. The decks were
! slippery with it; he stepped on small
pieces of scrap" wherever he went. to
which the passing days in that warm
cliT ate did not contribute any especial
charm.
There was oil in the 'lobscouse," oil in
the boiled rice-or ''strike me blind" as
the men termed it-oil 10 his tea pannikin,
oil IN his coffee, oil in his pea soup, oil
in his "salt horse" oil everywhere,
And when the trying ou' was finally
completed, the little Emerald had to be
scrubbed and secured fore and aft and
nearly to her royal poles, with soap, sand,
I've and holystOne the toughest sort OF
job. Nor did that take away all the dis
agreeable odor Of raLcid oil.
Then, too, hey mightkilla a second whale
in the morning, and mat would mean a
repetition of all the discomforts OF the past
few days.
Frank still felt like an ola untrlmmed
lampwick.
When this was all done and Frank had
his watch below he straddled his seachest
aud began to do some slow, earnest fgur-
ing on il.
He had decided to calculate what would
be his recompense for four years OF such
experiences with the chance Of being
crushed by the flukes of some ugly bull
whale.
He bad started in debt to the captain to
the extent of S7S for his outfit. TD this
bad TO be added the shoes, clothes, etc,
which he had already been forced TO tax @
from the ''slop chest"
The little Emerald could not possibly
carry back more than 22O0 barrels Of OIL
Frank did not care To bank upon the
chance of her finding any great amount of
am mbergrls.
Zone hundred and seventy-fve into
2200.' he said slowly to himself. and began
to work out the problem-nOt a parlicu-
larly promising one.
When the result stared up at him he
wondered II he could have figured cor
reetly. He knew enough abOnt the price
OF oil TO see that he would indeed be FORUM
nate II, at the end of the voyage, he found
himself free from debt to Captain
Buomsby not to mention even moderate
recompense for the hardsbiDs of which he
now had fair knowledge!
To be specific Frank found there would
be only about $40 or $50 coming to him at
the very most-S12 net saving each year.
to make generous allowance!
mot if | know itI' the young American
exclaimed under his breath. when he had
gone over the decidedly startling figures a
correctness.
Therefore. 1t was that he regarded with
unusual interest a small red hgAt hlch
was visible over the starboard beam when
he was next on deck.
He was not afraid of hard, honest work.
but he had experienced all the whaling
be cared to-at whaler's pay.
he had decided upon dropping over the
side that night and swimming to the shore,
which was dimly outlined about two miles
distant.
The light was one on brig which had
been sighted that afternoon and which was
thought to be bound for an American port.
Captain Boomsby sat on camp stool on
deck. his back against the cabin-h0use.
but the light in his pipe had ceased to be
visible for some time, and Frank con-
cluded that he had fallen asleep This
was chance which might not occur again.
Captain BOomsby kept an unusually sharp
eye upon the crew when the Emerald
touched at any of the islands.
Slipping his feet ont of his Shoes Frank
slid down the fore channels and dropped
into the sea unnoticed by the others of the
watch. Once in the water he struck out
silently toward the distant vessel. There
was not breath of air stirring. He swan
STEADILY for some time then foated TO rest.
then swan on again, and so alterna ately
swimming and floating he finally reached
the brig with its friendly light.
lie might have been nipped by a shark,
but he had not stopped 10 think of dangers,
There was the chance too that changing
ships might have been mpng out of the
frylng-pan into the fire. Fortune favored
him, however, with vessel which was
short IN her crew and, moreover, a breeze
sprang up which carried her we'll out of