CHAPTER XIIITHE FIRST SEAL-HUNT
For an hour or more Phil Ryder sat in the stern of the boat, alternately bailing, shouting, and casting hopeful glances at the schooner’s rail every few moments in the full expectation of seeing some one who would relieve him from his unpleasant position. During this time he was painfully conscious of a most vigorous appetite, that was whetted by occasional tantalizing whiffs that came floating back to him from the galley. At length he began to believe that by some strange oversight he must have been forgotten, and that if anything was done to relieve the situation he must do it himself. He thought that if he could only haul his boat up close under the stern of the schooner he might be able to climb up the rope, and so gain her deck. As no other plan offered, he proceeded to put this one into execution, and stepping forward into the bow of the boat, without regard to the increase of water that this movement caused to flow in through the plug-hole, he seized the rope and began to pull with all his might. The instant the stern was raised and the bow lowered by this transfer of weight the boat sheered wildly to one side. Then she was brought back with a sudden jerk that very nearly capsized her, and immediately made a furious rush in the opposite direction, until her bow was so nearly dragged under that to save himself and restore the former state of affairs Phil was compelled once more to spring aft. His sole plan for escape hadresulted in dismal failure, and so much water had entered the boat during the experiment that to keep her from swamping he had need to bail furiously for another hour. At the end of that time he had once more got the better of the exasperating leak, so that he could rest for a few minutes. Then he must fall to bailing again. So in resting and bailing by turns the long afternoon hours were slowly worn away. The poor lad was faint from hunger, cold, wet, and furious at the supposed carelessness that had left him in such an unpleasant, not to say dangerous, position.
It was not until nearly sunset that the welcome sound of a voice came to his ears. Looking up, he saw Ebenezer’s black face peeping over the rail, and heard him announce, “Suppah, sah!”
“Haul in on the painter, you grinning idiot!” shouted Phil, whereupon the negro placed his hand to his ear and called back: “Yes, sah. Suppah!”
“Oh, what an old stupid!” groaned Phil, sinking back despairingly in the stern of the boat. “I may stay here until I starve or drown for all the help he’ll give me.”
Just then came another shout, and a new hope sprang into the breast of the despairing lad as he saw the lank but powerful frame of Jalap Coombs rising above the rail, and felt that his boat was being drawn towards the schooner. When it was at length pulled up as close as possible the mate shouted:
“Now, lad, make a climb for it hand over hand, and I’ll stand by to give ye a h’ist when ye get within reach.”
A minute later Phil stood safe and sound on theSeamew’sdeck, but so angry that he broke out at once with:
“That’s as mean a piece of business as I ever heard of, and if I can find out who is responsible for it,I’ll pay him back, see if I don’t! It’s an outrage! and—”
“Steady, lad! Steady!” interrupted Jalap Coombs. “Your trouble’s all over now, and there ain’t no use kicking it into life again. As my friend old Kite Roberson uster say—”
“Oh, hang Kite Robinson!” cried Phil.
“So, now! So! What did poor old Kite ever do to you that ye should want to hang him? ’Tain’t right to speak so onrespectful agin them as is older than you be, and ’twon’t do no good nuther. As my old friend uster offen say, ‘Ef ye kick a trouble, it’ll kick back, but there ain’t no trouble in the world kin stand up agin a good broad grin.’ So jest ye give a grin ’stead of a kick, and ye’ll feel all right.”
Phil could not help laughing at the very homeliness of this advice, and with that laugh his recent experience did really begin to look as much like a joke—though a rather serious one, to be sure—as an outrage. In another moment he was following Jalap Coombs into the cabin, where Captain Duff and the two other hunters were already seated at supper.
How warm and bright and cosey the cabin did seem! Phil wondered how he could have thought it dingy and stuffy. How good it was to see a bountifully provided table once more, and people! He even felt an almost friendly feeling towards the captain, whose broad red face loomed above one end of the table.
“Hello, Ryder!” roared that individual. “Too bad ye was left out in that boat so long, but fact is I’ve been turned in all the afternoon, and I neglected to mention it to Mr. Coombs when he went on watch. The wust of it to me would have been the missing of my dinner; but I don’t suppose you minded that, seeing as ye ain’t pertickerler ’bout eating noway.”
“The worst of it was that as a plug was out of theboat, I had to bail nearly all the time to keep her from swamping,” replied Phil.
“Sho, now! That so? Waal, it give ye something to do, and kep’ ye from idleness, which some folks finds mighty hard to stand. I don’t mind it much myself, but then we ain’t all made alike.”
Phil was too busy eating to make any reply to this, and at the same time he was wondering if a new cook had been found to take Ebenezer’s place. Certainly nothing he had previously eaten on board theSeamewhad tasted half so good as that supper.
It was a noticeable fact that from that time on our young hunter seemed to enjoy his meals as much as any of those who sat at the cabin table. It was also observed that Captain Duff every now and then broke into a hoarse chuckle at meal-times without any apparent cause.
Early the next morning, several seals having been seen from the schooner’s deck, the three boats were cleared away and sent forth in pursuit of the shy but coveted game. In each boat were a hunter, a boat-puller, and a steersman; each was provided with a sail, oars, and a boat compass, and in each were stowed a breaker of fresh water and a bag of sea-biscuit. The hunter sat or stood in the bows forward of the mast, where he could have an unobstructed view ahead and on both sides. He was provided with both a rifle and a shot-gun, one or the other of which was always in his hands ready for instant use. He also carried a plentiful supply of cartridges.
The boat-puller sat amidship, and rowed or trimmed sail as occasion might demand; while the steersman, occupying the stern, not only steered the boat, but kept careful note of the courses taken by means of his compass, and of weather indications. He of course is always an experienced sailor. All three were warmlyclad, and each had an oil-skin suit ready at hand. A long-handled gaff or sharp hook of steel lay along the thwarts, where it could be readily reached by any one of the three.
When the boats left the schooner they separated until about half a mile apart, and then ran down the wind, all steering exactly the same course. They were followed by theSeamew, under shortened sail, and steering the same course as they. Thus, though they might lose sight of her through distance, darkness, or fog, they were pretty certain to find her again, though it often happens that seal-hunting boats are lost, sometimes to be picked up after days of anxious drifting, and not infrequently never to be seen or heard of more.
Serge was ordered to go as boat-puller in the craft of which Phil was the hunter, much to the satisfaction of both lads. As they were the least experienced of the three crews, they were given the schooner’s best sailor-man for boat-steerer, no other than Jalap Coombs himself.
Phil felt rather nervous as he found himself actually embarked on the career of a seal-hunter, and realized how largely the success of the cruise depended on his individual efforts. To be sure, he had, by his own carelessness, cut himself off from sharing any of its profits, but he felt that he had a reputation at stake. So, like all young sportsmen, he was extremely anxious to make as good a “bag” as either of the other hunters who were on the same quest as himself. Thus he was determined to do his very best, if only to show Ike Croly and Oro Dunn that there were other people in the world who could shoot as well as, if not a little better than, they.
This first hunting day was a gray one, with occasional flurries of rain, but fortunately without fog—arare circumstance in those latitudes. For an hour or more the occupants of the mate’s boat held their course without catching sight of the coveted game, thoughthe eyes of all three searched thedull surface of thewaters incessantly. They heard several faint shots from the direction taken by the other boats, and these only made them the more anxious to discover game of their own. Suddenly a sharp whisper of “There’s one!” from the stern of the boat caused both lads to look around.
“THE EYES OF ALL THREE SEARCHED THE WATERS INCESSANTLY”
“THE EYES OF ALL THREE SEARCHED THE WATERS INCESSANTLY”
“Where?” cried Phil, eagerly, not realizing in his excitement that he was speaking aloud.
“Gone,” answered the mate, dryly, but in a tone of great vexation, “to see who ye was hollering at.” With this he pointed to the right, where the boys saw, already out of range, a dark object fleeing with incredible swiftness and a series of curious boundings, by which its body was thrown clear of the water by each impulse.
“Oh!” exclaimed Phil. “That’s too bad! What an idiot I was!”
“Never mind, son,” replied Jalap Coombs, consolingly. “Better luck next time; but mind and don’t speak out loud again till your seal’s in the boat.”
The next was discovered by Phil himself, and, holding up his hand warningly, he pointed to it. It lay on the surface asleep, and ere its keen sense of smell, which in a seal is active even in slumber, warned it of the presence of its enemies, they were within range. As it finally lifted its startled head a sharp report rang out, and it was dead.
“Quick, Serge!” shouted the mate. “Row to it afore it sinks, as it surely will unless it had just drawn in a breath.” The animal had sunk when they reached the spot, but so short a distance that the body could still be reached by the gaff and drawn into the boat.Phil’s eyes sparkled as he gloated over this his first seal, and while Serge was skinning it he eagerly searched for another.
The next one, discovered an hour later, took the alarm before they got within shot-gun range, and bounded away. “He’s a lucky beggar!” said Jalap Coombs, in a disgusted tone; but Phil, dropping the useless shot-gun and snatching up his rifle, took a quick aim and fired.
“The very prettiest wing shot that ever I see!” cried the exulting mate, as three minutes later they hauled the dead seal into the boat. “Plumb through the head, too!”
So with varying fortunes the day wore on until it was time to return to the schooner, unless they wished to remain out all night. In the boat were five handsome skins and one seal, just killed, that still retained its glossy coat. Now their sole anxiety was to know whether either of the other boats had beaten them or not. The mate thought they were “high line” for that day, but Phil was doubtful.