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Updated: April 30, 2025
His head, with several fathoms of his back, protruded above the surface, which at intervals he "fluked" with his tail, as if giving a signal to those preceding him, either to direct their onward course, or warn them of some threatened danger. He had a vicious look about him, notwithstanding his patriarchal appearance, and the ex-whalesman uttered an exclamation of warning as he approached.
The "drogues" and flag proved that belief on their part, and the ex-whalesman knew that it would be well worth their while to return in search of the whale. It was this very knowledge that had sustained his hopes, and delayed him so long by its carcass.
The ex-whalesman, however, soon made himself intelligible, and in ten minutes after the crew of the Catamaran, instead of shivering in wet clothes, with hungry stomachs to make them still more miserable, might have been seen standing in front of an immense fire, with an ample supply of wholesome food set before them, and surrounded by a score of rude but honest men, each trying to excel the other in contributing to their comfort.
"Golly! it am a ship," interposed Snowball, "a ship on de fire!" "No! no!" impatiently answered the ex-whalesman, "nothing o' the sort. It's a whaler `tryin'-out' her oil. Don't you see the men yonder, standin' by the try-works, are throwin' in the `scraps'? Lord o' mercy! if they should pass us without hearing our hail! Ship ahoy! whaler ahoy!"
It was the thought of this that came into the mind of the ex-whalesman; and rendered him apprehensive, as he saw the school of cachalots coming on towards the spot occupied by the frail embarkation.
And the sailor once more put forth his cries with all the power that lay in his lungs. To this was added the stentorian voice of the Coromantee, who, quickly catching the explanation given by the ex-whalesman, saw the necessity of making himself heard. For some moments the deck of the Catamaran rang with the shouts, "Ship ahoy!"
But the experience of the ex-whalesman forbade any such belief. He knew the ship to be a whaler, the moving forms to be men, her crew, and he knew, moreover, the reason why these had not answered his hail. They had not heard it. The roaring of the great furnace fires either drowned or deadened every other sound; even the voices of the whalesmen themselves, as they stood close to each other.
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