Dan'l grinned with the old jeer in his eyes. "Aye, I've no doubt, Mr.
Brander. Go at it, man."
They had not so much as a vial of morphia to deaden the pain; but Dan'l
slumped into delirium at the first stroke of the knife Brander had
whetted to a razor keenness. His body twitched in the grip of Willis Cox
and Loum.... Faith helped Brander tie the arteries; Roy stood by to give
what aid he could....
When it was done, Faith said the _Sally_ would lie at anchor till Dan'l
died or mended; and in two weeks Brander told her the man would live.
She nodded.
"Then we'll go out and fill our casks," she said, "and then for home."
Brander looked at her with shining eyes. "Aye, fill our casks," he
agreed, as though it were the most natural thing in the world to stick
to that task till it was done. They put to sea.
Dan'l was going to live; but the man was broken. He was not to quit his
bunk through the months of the homeward cruise; he was wasted by the
fury of his own passions, by the shock of his crippling injury.... He
had aged; there was no longer any strength in the man. So old Tichel
came into his own at last; he became the titular master of the ship, and
Faith was content to let him hold the reins, so long as he did as she
desired. Willis Cox yielded precedence to Brander; Brander was mate.
When they sighted whales, all three of them lowered, while Faith kept
ship. Their work had been nearly done before Noll died; they lacked less
than a dozen whales to fill. Young Roy, to his vast content, was allowed
to take out a boat and kill one of that last dozen, while Brander in his
boat lay watchfully by.
Came a day, when the trying out was done, that Brander went to Faith.
"We're bung up," he said. "The last cask's sweating full."
Faith nodded happily, and swung to Mr. Tichel. "Then let's for home,"
she said.
* * * * *
For the rest, the matter tells itself. They hauled in to the nearest
island port and overhauled and recoopered the water casks, and took on
wood and water for the five months' homeward way. They stocked with
potatoes and vegetables. The crow's nests came down, and to'gallant
masts were set to carry canvas on the passage. The gear was stripped
from the whaleboats and stowed away, and two of the boats were lashed
atop the boathouse, with the spares. The rigging had a touch of tar, the
hull and spars took a lick of paint, the wood-work shone with
scraping....
So, to sea. The first day out saw the dismantling of the tryworks; and
broken bricks flew overside for half that day, all hands joining in the
sport of it. Then a clean deck, and a stout northwest wind behind them,
and the long easterly stretch to the Horn was begun....
That homeward cruise was a pleasant time for Faith and Brander. They
were much together, speaking little, speaking not at all of
themselves.... Save once, Faith said, smiling at him shyly:
"I knew you hadn't done it, even when I told them to put you in
irons...."