Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-05

got home in IT months. We sailed for .
long time without much luck. but two days
out from the coast of Africa we ran into a
school of whales. A school Is maybe a dozen,
or maybe the whole ocean will look tull Of
them, and this was a good full school. and we
stayed with them until we got all we could
hold. Threw our hard bread and -four and
molaSSes overheard to make room for Gil. The
sailors filled up their chests with bread and
-four to bring home. In three weeks we Lad
our ship filled with oil. Everything shat would
hold oil was full. We struck one whale after
that, and we thought would take his blub-
Der on board and try it out after we got hume,
but the harpoon broke and he got away.
when our ship got back to MattapOisett
had shot up to six feet tall. and my mother,
who was coming to meet me, turned back in
disappointment, for she thought wasn't there.
brought her present of fine shell box that
had . glass face, from the Barbados.
brought my grandmother o pound of tea. six
clay pipes and some tobacco ] did pretty we'll
on that voyage, for I got one barrel, or 81
gallons, Of Oil out of every lis barrels, and oil
was high. $1.S4 gallon; it was tOpnotch
in whaling business for price. III never
forget that figure" and the captain smiled
broadly. "A long time ago that was, too
I made about four or five hundred dollars that
trip. We didn't find any ambergris in any
whale that voyage. We always knew as soon
as we harpooned a whale whether she had any
ambergris or not She usually diScoIors the
water for q long ways, but If she has any am
bergris, she doesn't.
Capt. Hitler took up his now cold pipe, and
lighting it with the deliberate motions of a
man nearing 80, leaned back in his chair
and smoked and thought back into the years
that were gone, while the window in the stove
grew redder until it glowed like angry
watching eye.
well" said the captain, finally rousing
from his At of meditation IT made two
voyages in the Willis. Went round Cape Horn
and round the coast of Africa. I was getting
older and was the harpooner. stood in the
bow Of the whaleboat and harpooned the
whale, and then changed ends with the boat
steerer, who took a lance and killed the whale.
That was the voyage when 1 had my loot
crushed in a whales Jaws. won't ever Tor
get that, for 1t made me lame fer Ing time
and I have long scar on my ankle. too even
now
There are always six men in the whaleboat.
and the ship lookout watches the whaleboat
and the ship moves up as the harpooned whale
in his death agony lows the boat away from
the ship. Well, this time I'm telling you about.
we were chasing whales in he Pacific in the
vicinity of the Galapagos Islands; they re rot
inhabited, I've been told. sometimes instead
of gaff the whaleboat has a spirit. One end
goes into beckett around the mast and in
using the spirit we used sometimes to sail onto
the whale instead of rowing. I had harpooned
the whale and my next job was 20 roll the
sail up
I'VE were in the middle of a big school of
whales, and my harpooned whale was towing
us ahead at terrific speed, like a speed boat
goes nowadays was rolling the sail up and
standing up with one foot on the gunal when
along came a big whale toward our boat with
his mouth hanging open. When he struck the
boat went overheard and my feet slid into
the whales mouth and out again all In