Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-04-22
DAILY SHORT STORY
Squid and Whale.
copyright. 1901. by c. b. Lewis.I


fell upon the sea and all night long we
lay without further motion than the
heave of the ground swell When
morning came there was I'D sign of
wind. and the watch was washing
down decks when q strange thing hap
pened
The brig was suddenly lifted up and
thrown on her beam ends, and strug-
CLING out from under her bottom, but
held alongside on the port side, came
a whale sixty feet long and a gigantic
squid or octopus. The whale had one
OF the squid's tentaclcs in his mouth
and was tearing at it, while the seven
others We're wrapped around him like
SO many ropes.
Before we had recovered our wits
the brig was on Il level keel and under
way again. and never did a craft have
q stranger tow. The squid released
two of his arms and attached them to
the forward keel of the brig. while the
others held even tighter than before,
and away we went through the water
at the rate of five or six miles an hour.
the whale doing the towing and the
squid acting as tow rope.
When the big fish found himself fast
alongside he was terribly frightened.
and, as for us, we didn't propose TO
run any risk to chop him loose. From
q o'clock in the morning till 10 at
night we We're tOwed to the south and
almost in a straight course Twenty
different times in that interval the
whale tried to break away. but his
ways in vain. At 10 O'Clock he had eX-
hausted himself and lay without mo-
ton for over two hours.
What he would do when he recover
ed his strength and had time to think
things over was q question of serious
import TO lis. but we could do nothing
but wait. Heretofore he had not used
his tail, one blow of which would have
smashed in our bulwarks for dis
lance of thirty feet. but there was no
telling what he would do when he
started off again.
Along about midnight, when all was
quiet and most of the watch were doz-
ing, the Ieviathan suddenly tried to
sound. There was light enough to see
him plainly. and the mate was looking
his efforts to get his head down and
his tail UP. the monster became thor
Oughly mad. He dashed the sea with
his tail, rolled from side to side, and
now and then he would lift his head
and shake it as a dog shakes Il hat.
The blows of his gigantic flukcs We're
something awful, and had he swung
i'll on us he must have sent the brig
TO the bottom in short order. He work
ed away for half an hour before he
gave up. and it amazed us to note the
strength of the grip which held him
fast. The arms of the octopus We're
like wire cables. The whale worked
away like a steam engine before he
would realize his helplessness, and
then he went away to the south at 4
pace that was recorded in the log at
ten miles an hour. The run lasted
about fifty minutes; then the pace
proved too much for him, and he slack
ened down abort one-half, and he kept
at that till long after daylight.
There were three ships i'll sight as
day broke none of them being over
four miles away, and as we were seen
to be moving along with all sails furl
III anu dlIlOSl dt5siIliSi lllC W Allb an VI
them signaled to know what was
wrong. AS we could not signal the
sentence. I'VE are being lowed by q
whale we had TO leave their curiosity
unqualified. We were being lowed dead
on To the coast of Sumatra, and as no
effort Of ours could alter things the
captain ordered the boats provisioned
and made ready for the worst. At high
noon, with the brig making Il steady
four miles an hour. the island of Mas
was hove up over the bows, and at /
O'Clock in the afternoon was only five
miles away The whale held for ii as
If he intended 10 run ashore. but ~
two miles distance. in water about fif-
teen feet deep, he struck 4 rock or Il
reef and was held fast while the brig
ran on to him.
We saw what was coming and took
to the boats. but it was Il close shave
from being swamped by the heavy
seas kicked up. AS the keel of the
brig hit the whale lie hammered her
until he knocked her bows TO pieces.
The reef caught her keel at the same
time, but after being held fast for Il
moment she surged over it to sink like
a stone in the deep waters beyond.
The whale rested after his frantic
struggles. and the blood which stained
the sea proved that lie was badly hurt
After half an hour or so he made off
to the west, dragging 4 lot of wreck
age after him by the tangle, and after
watching him out of sight we pulled
ashore at the village of Wember with
ship and cargo total loss. and no
man having saved anything except the
clothes on his back.
AS for the giant squid, we all saw
him as the whale struck the reef, but
when we had lowered the boats and
pulled away he had loOsened his hold
on the sinking wreck and disappeared
from sight. 1t may be that the wreck
he had caused became his home after
sinking into the depths of the sea.