Пятнадцатилетний капитан / Dick Sand. A Captain at Fifteen. Уровень 2

The whale-boat darted like an arrow along the surface of the waves.

But the boat could not keep pace with the whale. The whale did not moderate its speed.

“Confound it![20 - Confound it! – Чёрт возьми!]” exclaimed the captain; “the animal is dragging us away from the �Pilgrim’. But sooner or later, however, it must come to the surface; the whale is not a fish, you know.”

He and his companions began to look serious. Then they observed a slight slackening in the tension.

“Thank Heaven!” cried the captain; “the beast is tired at last.

He cast his eye towards the “Pilgrim”. It was a long distance, but when he hoisted the flag on the boat-hook, he saw that Dick Sand and the negroes at once began to get as near as possible to the wind.

Meantime, the whale rose to the surface of the water. It remained motionless, waiting for its calf. Captain Hull ordered his men to pull towards the whale as rapidly as they could.

“Now, my lads!” shouted the captain.

“Quite ready, captain,” answered the boatswain.

“It looks suspicious,” said the captain; “but go on! straight ahead!”

Captain Hull was becoming more excited every moment.

The whale only turned round a little in the water. It was evidently still looking for its calf. All of a sudden it gave a jerk with its tail which carried it some few yards away.

The men were all excited. Was the beast going to escape again?

But no: the whale merely turned, and now was rapidly beating the water with its enormous fins.

“Look out, Howick, it’s coming!” shouted Captain Hull.

The boat swerved to avoid the blow. There was a sudden pause. The whale spouted up two gigantic columns of blood and water, lashed its tail, and renewed its angry attack upon the boat.

“Bale away, men!” cried the captain.

The sailors set to work, they were baling with all their might. Captain Hull cut the harpoon-line, because the whale made no further attempt to escape.

There was no alternative but to face the encounter. The whale caught the boat with a violent blow from its dorsal fin.

“Where’s Howick?” screamed the captain in alarm.

“Here I am, captain; all right!” replied the boatswain.

“The rudder’s smashed,” he said.

“Take another, Howick; quick!” cried the captain.