Fighting the Whales | Page 3

a
feller when he's runnin'. If you keep it up till you a'most split your
timbers, passion has no chance. It must go a-starn. Now, lad, I've been
watchin' ye all the mornin', and I see there's a screw loose somewhere.
If you'll tell me wot it is, see if I don't help you!"
The kind frank way in which this was said quite won my heart, so I sat
down on the old cask, and told the sailor all my sorrows.
"Boy," said he, when I had finished, "I'll put you in the way o' helpin'
your mother. I can get you a berth in my ship, if you're willin' to take a
trip to the whale fishery of the South Seas."
"And who will look after my mother when I'm away?" said I.
The sailor looked perplexed at the question.
"Ah! that's a puzzler," he replied, knocking the ashes out of his pipe.
"Will you take me to your mother's house, lad?"
"Willingly," said I, and, jumping up, I led the way. As we turned to go,
I observed that the old gentleman with the gold-headed cane was
leaning over the rail of the pier at a short distance from us. A feeling of
anger instantly rose within me, and I exclaimed, loud enough for him to
hear:
"I do believe that stingy old chap has been listening to every word
we've been saying!"
I thought I observed a frown on the sailor's brow as I said this, but he
made no remark, and in a few minutes we were walking rapidly
through the streets. My companion stopped at one of those stores so
common in seaport towns, where one can buy almost anything, from a
tallow candle to a brass cannon. Here he
[Transcriber's note: two pages missing from book]
I've got neither family nor friends, and I'm bound for the South Seas in

six days; so, if you'll take it, you're welcome to it, and if your son Bob
can manage to cast loose from you without leaving you to sink, I'll take
him aboard the ship that I sail in. He'll always find me at the Bull and
Griffin, in the High Street, or at the end o' the pier."
While the sailor was speaking, I observed a figure standing in a dark
corner of the room near the door, and, on looking more closely, I found
that it was the old gentleman with the nose like his cane knob. Seeing
that he was observed, he came forward and said:
"I trust that you will forgive my coming here without invitation; but I
happened to overhear part of the conversation between your son and
this seaman, and I am willing to help you over your little difficulty, if
you will allow me."
The old gentleman said this in a very quick, abrupt way, and looked as
if he were afraid his offer might be refused. He was much heated, with
climbing our long stair no doubt, and as he stood in the middle of the
room, puffing and wiping his bald head with a handkerchief, my
mother rose hastily and offered him a chair.
"You are very kind, sir," she said; "do sit down, sir. I'm sure I don't
know why you should take so much trouble. But, dear me, you are very
warm; will you take a cup of tea to cool you?"
"Thank you, thank you. With much pleasure, unless, indeed, your son
objects to a 'stingy old chap' sitting beside him."
I blushed when he repeated my words, and attempted to make some
apology; but the old gentleman stopped me by commencing to explain
his intentions in short, rapid sentences.
To make a long story short, he offered to look after my mother while I
was away, and, to prove his sincerity, laid down five shillings, and said
he would call with that sum every week as long as I was absent. My
mother, after some trouble, agreed to let me go, and, before that
evening closed, everything was arranged, and the gentleman, leaving
his address, went away.

The sailor had been so much filled with surprise at the suddenness of
all this, that he could scarcely speak. Immediately after the departure of
the old gentleman, he said, "Well, good-bye, mistress, good-bye, Bob,"
and throwing on his hat in a careless way, left the room.
"Stop!" I shouted after him, when he had got about half-way down
stair.
"Hallo! wot's wrong now?"
"Nothing; I only forgot to ask your name."
"Tom Lokins," he bellowed, in the hoarse voice of a regular boatswain,
"w'ich wos my father's name before me."
So saying, he departed, whistling "Rule, Britannia," with all his might.
Thus the matter was settled. Six days afterwards, I rigged myself out in
a