The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-04-23
IN OCEAN FIGHT.
Eattlc With n Big Whale i'll the
South Seas.

cIllIS, yet III shadow, three vaDOry Spir-
ais of varying heights show clearly.
But what can three mean? Two of
them we can account for-the broad.
bushy one and the tiny jet only four
or five feet high. The third, however
closely associated with the other two,
and Of great height, puzzles us-does
not delay us, though. for with paddles
unshippcd We urge the progress of our
craft toward those vast unconscious
mammals so pleasantly solourning in
the shade. We are abreast of them
helms are put up, and all four boats
bear down upon them with the swoop
of gigantic hawks. When but a ships
length away, sails are rolled up as If
automatically. Noiseless as fish we
glide into the shadow and-strike. What
an awful uproar breaks up that sweet
solitude; the shoutngs OF excited men.
the furious struggles of wounded levia-
thans, whose mighty tail strokes rever-
berate in hollow thunder along the
echOing cliffs. The heretofore placid
sea Kisses and boils. and the boats toss
rs in n maelstrom. What can be amiss?
Not thus is the humpbacE mother wont
to meet an attack unless her youngling
is injured. All, that is it. surely. Her
calf must be dead, and. If so. then
heads must needs be cool and hands
sliilful or there will be many Numbers
lost from our good ships messes.
Two boats disappeared TO windward
in a smother of spray. and we who re-
main dimly imagine in some disinter-
ested fashion what manner of hump.
back they may be fast to. But not for
long. for suddenly toward us comes
rushing a family outlined black mass
piled high with snowy foam. and we
must needs exert every muscle 20 avoid
that terrible onslaught We do Just
succeed-the mighty one passes. ana
disappears. Oh, for some shelter. If
only a shallow reef. But there is none.
Crash! and like an earthquake shock
come the maddencd mothers Gukes
against the side Of the other hoat, hurl.
ing her and her disintegrated contents
far shoreward. Never again will that
boat molest whale. And also, oh.
sorrow and shame. never again will
Hallott Wlnslow, best. brightest. brav,
est of harpOOners see the blessed sun
rise. His neck Is broken. Now, while
she is venting her fury upon the float
ing fragments let us escape. But there
are our shipmates, and as swiftly as
our shaking limbs aiicw We pick them
up, expecting every moment TO go even
as they went-and then?
The next few minutes passed like
some hideous nightmare. frantic, joint
wrenching endeavors to keep out of the
way of the monster bent upon our de-
structiOn, and sudden eruptions. up
heavals of the sea, so close to us that
destruction seemed impossible of avoid
ance And all this time, wherever we
went In the turmoil, We never lost sight
of the calf whale. As II to call our
crime continually to remembrance it
kept us company. tossing helplessly
upon the tormented waters. At last
and although | feel sure that half an
hour had not passed, yet the time
seemed interminable-we found our
selves, almost exhausted. close to the
rocks, where an overhanging ledge,
thickly clothed with dropping branches,
jutted out above deep water. but only
about three feet above the surface.
With one last fash of energy we all
sprang for shelter, scrambled like mon
keys into the tangle of the trees, just
as the unbreathed parent rushed at our
deserted boat oci crushed it into
matchwood. returning again and again
to the fragments until they We're al
most ground into splintcrs. All the
while we hung precariously. fearfully,
just above the terrible tumult. pos
sessed with the idea that even here we
were hardly safe from so redoubtable
foe.
And then into the blazing sunshine.
which had now crept up to our refuge,
there sprang the other whale towing
behind him the two surviving boats.
still unlnjured. Upon our almost be-
numbed brains fell a deeper fear. Were
we about 10 witness the destruction Of
all that little company so swiftly near
ing this place OF utmost dangeri No
long suspense, for out from the shadow
OF our cliff sprang the yengeful mother
to meet her spouse and finish her great
work OF retribution. But as she came
we saw the bull whale slacken speed.
saw the two boats spread out fanwise
behind him, saw the COW rush between
them fully exposed. A pun of white
smoke, and presently tiny report as
OF arrevolver shot. Then for few mo.
ments our view was obscured by tumb-
ling waves raised by the two monsters
In their furry. the one OF death. the