Fighting the Whales | Page 4

blue jacket, white ducks, and a straw hat, and went to sea.
CHAPTER II
AT SEA
My first few days on the ocean were so miserable that I oftentimes
repented of having left my native land. I was, as my new friend Tom
Lokins said, as sick as a dog. But in course of time I grew well, and
began to rejoice in the cool fresh breezes and the great rolling billows
of the sea.
Many and many a time I used to creep out to the end of the bowsprit,
when the weather was calm, and sit with my legs dangling over the
deep blue water, and my eyes fixed on the great masses of rolling
clouds in the sky, thinking of the new course of life I had just begun. At
such times the thought of my mother was sure to come into my mind,
and I thought of her parting words, "Put your trust in the Lord, Robert,
and read His Word." I resolved to try to obey her, but this I found was
no easy matter, for the sailors were a rough lot of fellows, who cared

little for the Bible. But, I must say, they were a hearty, good-natured set,
and much better, upon the whole, than many a ship's crew that I
afterwards sailed with.
We were fortunate in having fair winds this voyage, and soon found
ourselves on the other side of the line, as we jack-tars call the Equator.
Of course the crew did not forget the old custom of shaving all the men
who had never crossed the line before. Our captain was a jolly old man,
and uncommonly fond of "sky-larking". He gave us leave to do what
we liked the day we crossed the line; so, as there were a number of wild
spirits among us, we broke through all the ordinary rules, or, rather, we
added on new rules to them.
The old hands had kept the matter quiet from us greenhorns, so that,
although we knew they were going to do some sort of mischief, we
didn't exactly understand what it was to be.
About noon of that day I was called on deck and told that old father
Neptune was coming aboard, and we were to be ready to receive him.
A minute after I saw a tremendous monster come up over the side of
the ship and jump on the deck. He was crowned with seaweed, and
painted in a wonderful fashion; his clothes were dripping wet, as if he
had just come from the bottom of the sea. After him came another
monster with a petticoat made of sailcloth and a tippet of a bit of old
tarpaulin. This was Neptune's wife, and these two carried on the most
remarkable antics I ever saw. I laughed heartily, and soon discovered,
from the tones of their voices, which of my shipmates Neptune and his
wife were. But my mirth was quickly stopped when I was suddenly
seized by several men, and my face was covered over with a horrible
mixture of tar and grease!
Six of us youngsters were treated in this way; then the lather was
scraped off with a piece of old hoop-iron, and, after being thus shaved,
buckets of cold water were thrown over us.
At last, after a prosperous voyage, we arrived at our fishing-ground in
the South Seas, and a feeling of excitement and expectation began to

show itself among the men, insomuch that our very eyes seemed
brighter than usual.
One night those of us who had just been relieved from watch on deck
were sitting on the lockers down below telling ghost stories.
It was a dead calm, and one of those intensely dark, hot nights, that
cause sailors to feel uneasy, they scarce know why. I began to feel so
uncomfortable at last, listening to the horrible tales which Tom Lokins
was relating to the men, that I slipt away from them with the intention
of going on deck. I moved so quietly that no one observed me; besides,
every eye was fixed earnestly on Tom, whose deep low voice was the
only sound that broke the stillness of all around. As I was going very
cautiously up the ladder leading to the deck, Tom had reached that part
of his story where the ghost was just appearing in a dark churchyard,
dressed in white, and coming slowly forward, one step at a time,
towards the terrified man who saw it. The men held their breath, and
one or two of their faces turned pale as Tom went on with his
description, lowering his voice to a hoarse whisper. Just as I put my
head up the hatchway the sheet of one of the sails, which was hanging
loose