Got pluck, too, that whale has. Can always tell when a whale's got
pluck. Them old ones are ugly customers when they gets their pluck up,"
he would say, nodding his head decidedly and encouragingly.
The ship was now kept away a point or two, and proceeded under easy
sail. There was something thrilling in the scene, and every heart on
board beat with excitement as the boats went swiftly on, one commanded
by the first officer, the other by Tite. Neither of these two young men
had seen a whale killed; but there were in the boats old whalemen, who
had successfully thrown both harpoon and lance.
The huge monster could now be seen clearly with the naked eye by those
on the ship's deck, sporting lazily on the surface, his bright black
sides now falling, now rising, like the hull of some water-logged ship,
and throwing up thin white volumes of spray, over which the sun's rays
reflected with singular brilliancy. Nearer and nearer the boats
approached the monster, the first officer's boat being a little ahead.
Now the stern boat ceased pulling, and the men laid on their oars.
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