CHAPTER IX
TOWED TO SEA
With hearts that beat hard and fast in the excitement of the moment,the three boys stood up to catch a glimpse of the ocean monster. It wasthe first whale they had ever seen, and they never had expected to viewone in its native element.
Jerry's hand trembled so he could scarcely send the sparking leverforward, to increase the speed of the craft. As it clicked over therachet the _Dartaway_ shot ahead. Sam, standing up in the bow, poisedhis arm to hurl the harpoon. Then, as though alarmed by the approachof the boat, and probably mistrusting the throbbing of the engine, thewhale "sounded."
With a turn of its massive flukes, it sunk downward into the depthswhence it had emerged but a few minutes before to breathe.
"He's gone!" exclaimed Bob.
"Quiet!" cautioned Sam. "That's nothing." He was speaking in a whisper."Got to expect that. We'll land him yet. Put her a little further out,skipper, and stand ready to go astern when I give the word."
Slowing down the engine, Jerry steered the boat in obedience to motionsfrom Sam's hand. The old man kept his eye fixed on the water, as thoughhe could see into the depths, and watch the whale coursing forward.
Whether he could or not his instinct seemed to tell him about where thecreature would rise. The _Dartaway_ had been sailing along not morethan ten minutes when again came that curious boiling and bubbling ofthe water.
This time it was off to the left, about a quarter of a mile away. Therewas no need to tell Jerry in which direction to steer. He increased thespeed of the engine, and was darting toward the spot, when once morethe whale spouted.
"There she blows!" cried Bob, unable to withhold his enthusiasm.
"Easy now," cautioned Sam. "We don't want to frighten him again. Put meclose, skipper."
Jerry slowed down the motor, so as to make less noise and threw thewheel over. Nearer and nearer the craft approached the big creature,that was resting easily on the surface of the ocean.
But again they were doomed to disappointment. They were within a shortdistance of the monster, but not close enough to enable Sam to throwthe harpoon, when the whale, with a mighty blow of its flukes, whichraised a wave that careened the _Dartaway_, sank into the depths.
"We'll never get him!" cried Ned.
"Leave it to Salt Water Sam," was the old man's reply.
Once more he scanned the water with his keen eye. Again Jerry, obeyingthe motions of his hand, sent the boat forward. The boys were now quitea distance from shore, and there was no other craft near them. Theflotilla of boats was two miles away, still cruising around where thewhale had first been seen, and the occupants looking for the monsterwere too far off to see what those in the _Dartaway_ were about.
"Get ready!" came the old sailor's voice, and, once more the boys'hearts beat violently. Sam motioned for Jerry to steer the boat to theright. Hardly had the direction been changed than again there was thatcurious bubbling, and the whale spouted for the third time.
"He must be hurt!" said Sam, in a low tone. "Or else he wouldn't comeup so often to breathe. I think I can land him this time. Easy now!Right for him, skipper!"
Jerry was calmer now. He held the wheel steadily, and his hands did nottremble as he shoved the levers over. Old Sam gave a last look at thecoils of line in the tub to see that they were free.
Closer and closer to the monster the boat approached. The boys couldsee the black sides glistening in the sun. It seemed that the whale wasa thousand feet long, though as Sam told them afterward, it was onlyone of the smallest species. But to the boys it was large enough.
At a signal from the old man, Jerry shut off the engine, almostcompletely, giving it just enough gasolene to keep it from beingstalled. His hand was on the reverse lever, ready to throw in theclutch, and then to start the motor at full speed astern.
The _Dartaway_ was merely under enough power to give her steerage way.Sam, by a nod of his head, indicated to Jerry to approach the whalebroadside on, as they were now coming up to the monster's tail. Oneblow from the mighty flukes, and there would be no boat left.
Nearer and nearer to the creature the _Dartaway_ was sent. Now it waswithin one hundred feet. Now it was seventy-five. Still the whalehad not taken fright. The boys could hardly breathe from the fiercebeating of their hearts.
As for Sam, he was as cool as though he was about to pull in a smallfish which he had hooked. He stood rigid in the bow, the terribleharpoon poised over his shoulder.
Suddenly his arm shot forward. There was a whistling sound, a hissingthrough the air. Something flew from the boat, and struck the whale.
The next instant the boys saw, sticking up from the whale's back, astraight shaft. It was the handle of the harpoon. The iron had entereddeep into the flesh.
"Hard astern!" yelled Sam. "Astern for your lives!"
Jerry never moved more quickly than he did to throw the reverse gearin, and send the gasolene and sparking levers over. With a splutter androar the motor got into action, and the _Dartaway_ began to back.
And only just in time, for the whale fairly leaped out of the waterfrom the pain of the iron. Then it brought its great flukes down on thesurface, sending up a shower of spray that soaked the occupants of theboat.
The line began to run from the tub and over an improvised roller Samhad fastened in the bow. So rapidly did it spin out that the bearingsbegan to smoke, and the old sailor dipped up water in a tin can andbegan pouring it over the wood, to prevent it from catching fire.
"Struck good and deep!" he cried. "Old Sam is some good yet."
The engine was still running on the reverse, but, in a few minutes theboys noticed that they were going forward.
"What's the matter?" asked Ned.
At that the last of the line was out of the tub, but before then it hadbeen quickly caught around a cleat, by Sam.
"We're being towed out to sea," the old sailor said. "Don't be afraid.It's what I expected."
The Motor Boys on the Atlantic; or, The Mystery of the Lighthouse Page 9
