It remained calm all that day, and the two vessels were in close
proximity. Miss Waters sat aft under an awning rigged over the after
part of the poop and gazed down at the smooth surface of the sea. Small
objects went floating slowly downward through the clear medium, sending
scintillating rays of light as they twisted with the motion. I found
time to do some work upon the wheel gear, for the calm weather permitted
the unreeving of the tackles as the vessel would not steer. Between
times I had a small chance to sit upon the taffrail and answer certain
questions that only a mate is expected to answer to passengers. Miss
Waters seemed preoccupied and took more than usual interest in the
movements of Brown, who seemed willing to aid me in my work by keeping
as close to me as possible. Twenty-five feet beneath the surface of the
sea the keel of the _Arrow_ showed above the void beneath all. Miss
Waters was gazing down absently into the depths when she suddenly made
out a vague form, brownish yellow in the light, as all objects appear at
great depths. The form grew larger, undulating, waving, but steadily
increasing in size. Then, at a depth of about fifty feet the shape of a
giant turtle appeared.
“Look,” she cried, “what a monster! What can it be?”
Brown looked over the rail, but failed to make the animal out. I saw the
turtle would come to the surface, and called two men to get a boat
ready.
“Looks like a logger-head,” I said, “and, if you care to, you can have
the sport of catching him.”
“I certainly will, then,” she cried, and sprang up ready to get into the
small boat. Crojack hardly liked the proceedings, but I made it all
right with him by a promise of a fine turtle steak for supper. Then,
getting the whale-irons, of which we had two aboard, into the small
boat, I called Brown and two men to get into her, and we were soon
alongside the _Arrow_.
“Come,” I said to Miss Waters, “let us see what kind of a sailor you
are, for, if you can get in and out of a small boat while the _Arrow_ is
rolling in this swell, you can prove yourself.”
She sprang instantly into the mizzen channels, disdaining the help
offered by Crojack, and then dropped lightly into the small boat’s
bottom. We were all ready and shoved clear of the ship’s side.
The turtle had risen to the surface of the sea about ten fathoms
distant, but, on seeing the ship and hearing the noise, he had sounded
again. However, I knew he would soon reappear, and I forthwith made my
way forward and made an iron ready for him. We rowed silently over the
oily ocean, keeping a sharp lookout for the game. The two ships seemed
suddenly very small and distant, and the vastness of the sea became
apparent. It is always that way, and when a person has never been upon
the broad sea in a small boat, the very greatness of the surrounding
space affects one. Miss Waters seemed subdued, and I noticed that she
was gazing anxiously now and then at the _Arrow_ that lay wallowing and
rolling like a log.
“I don’t think we better go too far away, do you?” she asked.
“That turtle will take us a long way before we get him,” I answered. “If
you are afraid, we will go back.”
She blushed a trifle at this.
“We’ll not go back until you show us whether you are able to get him or
not,” she said, with some spirit.
That settled it. We would get him if there was any show. I liked the
spirit of the girl. Brown said nothing.
“Aye tank dat’s him, sur, right over dere t’ starboard,” said the Swede
pulling the stroke oar. The head of the turtle rose slowly above the
surface and remained there. We stopped the boat, and waited for him to
get quiet before starting to creep upon him. Then, with great caution,
we sent the craft drifting slowly toward him, the oars making no noise.
I held the iron ready, and waited until we were within a couple of
fathoms. Then I plunged the weapon through his forward flipper, and it
toggled fast. We had him.
But he was a determined monster, and he weighed nearly five hundred
pounds. He started off across the ocean, and, in spite of all our
efforts, we could not stop him. Hauling the line short, we poked him and
jabbed him with the boat-hook, but he heeded this very little, keeping
his head well down and drawn in out of the way. All the time he swam
vigorously with his flippers, and we found that we were gradually
getting a long way from the ship.
“If we only had something to kill him with,” said Brown.
“Aye tank I do it, den,” said the Swede, who had been most interested in
the affair; “I catch ’em in de old country--so.”
He drew his sheath-knife and lashed it firmly upon the butt-end of the
boat-hook. Then he went forward and leaned over the bow, while we hauled
the boat as close to the turtle as we could. Watching his chance, the
sailor made a lunge, and drove his blade through the creature’s neck.
This had the effect of slowing down his efforts, although it far from
finished him. Wounded and harassed as he now was, we gained upon him,
and in ten minutes had him landed safely in the bottom of the boat,
although he almost swamped the craft in his final struggles.
“He’s big and ugly enough for anything,” said Miss Waters. “Do you mean
to eat the monster?”
“He will make excellent steak for all hands,” I answered. “However, if
you don’t like him, we might swap some of him for a piece of fresh pork.
They have pigs aboard the _Countess of Warwick_, and Garnett told me
they would probably kill one to-day. What do you say, shall we go aboard
of her?”
“By all means. I would like nothing better,” she answered.
I looked at the cloudless sky. There was not the slightest sign of a
breeze. I determined to risk old man Crojack’s wrath. Then I remembered
that I was responsible for the young woman. I had taken her out upon the
open ocean almost without her uncle’s consent. We had drifted over a
mile from the ship, and, although the weather promised to remain calm
and clear, we were on the edge of the equatorial belt, and squalls would
soon be of hourly occurrence.
“I reckon we better not go aboard her without first getting the
captain’s permission,” I said.
“I suppose you are afraid to,” she answered. “Two officers in one small
boat, and not able to do things without permission.”
“I take no responsibility at all,” said Brown, “but I think Mr. Gore is
right. Better keep on the good side of the old man, and we may be able
to go again to-morrow.”
“A man who is good because afraid to be bad is a mighty mean fellow, I
allow,” I said; “but that isn’t the nature of the emotion which governs
me in this case.”
“You have so many queer emotions, I hardly know what to think at times,”
she answered; “but, if you want to go back aboard the _Arrow_, why, go
ahead. I’m simply a passenger. And then, I’m not especially fond of
pork, even if we haven’t had fresh meat for a month or two.”
“Nevertheless, you shall have some to-morrow, if they do their killing,”
said Brown. “As for me, I’ll eat turtle. One don’t get good fresh turtle
every day. Besides, the day after to-morrow is Thanksgiving Day.”
“The pig is the turkey of the seamen,” I said, and I noticed the face of
the Swede pulling the stroke oar beam in anticipation. “They’ll
certainly kill pork soon on board that ‘Johnny Bull.’ It’s a pity the
old man didn’t bring something besides those stringy fowls along with
him.”
“It seems so funny to have Thanksgiving with a temperature of ninety,
and with thin linen clothes,” said Miss Waters. “I’d forgotten all about
it.”
We came alongside the _Arrow_, and a line of heads poked over the waist,
for the men had seen our catch and were curious. A tackle soon heaved
the turtle on deck and then we followed, but I left the small boat to
tow astern in a most unseamanlike manner, for I had plans for the
morrow.