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They could see rolling sternward immense volumes of thick smoke, gleaming yellow under the light of the blazing fires; and the figures of men looming like giants in the glare of the garish flames, some standing in front of the furnace, others moving about, and actively engaged in some species of industry, that to the eye of any other than a whalesman might have appeared supernatural.
The old whalesman was not long aboard before getting confirmed in his conjecture that the ship was the same whose boats had harpooned and "drogued" the cachalot, the carcass of which had been encountered by the Catamaran.
There was no mystery about the incident that had occurred. It had scarce created surprise; for the moment that the old whalesman felt the shock, he knew what had caused it, as well as if he had been a simple spectator. The others, warned by him that danger might be expected in the passage of the whales though then unapprised of its exact nature were fully aware of it now.
Just as the ci-devant whalesman had finished making this observation, the cachalots came past, causing the sea to undulate for miles around the spot, as if a tempest had swept over, and was succeeded by its swell. One after another passed with a graceful gliding, that might have won the admiration of an observer viewing it from a position of safety.
What, after all, if they had proceeded from the decks of the whaler? The old whalesman had not thought of this before; and, now that he did think of it, it caused such a commotion in his mind, that he could hardly restrain himself from crying out "Ship ahoy!" He was hindered, however, by a quick reflection that counselled him to caution.
A process of reasoning that passed through the mind of the old whalesman, founded upon his former professional experiences, conducted him to it. If it be the whale-ship, reasoned he, she must have come back in search of the cachalot. Her crew must have known that they had killed it.
"Golly!" cried Snowball, after regarding the whales for a moment, "dey am a-comin' dis way!" "They be," muttered the old whalesman, in a tone that did not show much satisfaction at the discovery. "They're coming right down upon us. I don't like it a bit.
After many years spent thus professionally, and with continued success, the ci-devant whalesman, man-o'-war's-man, ex-captain of the Catamaran, and master of the African trader, retired from active life; and, anchored in a snug craft in the shape of a Hampstead Heath villa, is now enjoying his pipe, his glass of grog, and his otium cum dignitate.
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