THE WORLD OF ICE. 49

“ They're lost!” cried Fred Ellice in a voice of horror.

“Not a bit of it, youngster; they're safe enough,
[ll warrant,” replied the captain, as his own boat flew
past the spot, towed by the whale-—< Pay out, Amos
Parr; give him line, or he'll tear the bows out of us.”

“Ay, ay, sir,” sang out Amos, as he sat coolly pour-
ing water on the loggerhead round which a coil of
the rope was whizzing like lightning; “all right.
The mate’s men are all safe, sir; I counted them as
we shot past, and I seed Buzzby come up last of all,
blowin’ like a grampus; and small wonder, considerin’
the dive he took.”

“Take another turn of the coil, Amos, and hold on,”
said the captain.

The harpooner obeyed, and away they went after
the whale like a rocket, with a tremendous strain on
the line and a bank of white foam gurgling up to the
edge of the gunwale, that every moment threatened to
fill the boat and sink her. Such a catastrophe is of
not unfrequent occurrence, when whalemen thus towed
by a whale are tempted to hold on too long; and
many instances have happened of boats and_ their
crews being in this way dragged under water and lost.
Fortunately the whale dashed horizontally through
the water, so that the boat was able to hold on and
follow, and in a short time the creature paused and
rose for air. Again the men bent to their oars, and
the rope was hauled in until they came quite close
to the fish. This time a harpoon was thrown and a
deep lance-thrust given which penetrated to the vital

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