1. What was the extent of the airplane journey of the author? Had he ever been in an airplane before? How did he happen to sit with the pilot? How many people were in this plane?
2. What was the most exciting moment in his adventure? In about what year did this ride occur?
3. Pronounce and define: persistency, ricocheting, percolated, speedometer, maelstrom, promiscuously, recognize, tonneau.
4. If you have been close to an airplane tell what about it impressed you. What are airplanes used for now?
PRAYER FOR THE PILOT
By Cecil Roberts
Listen to the Pilot's prayer—
Send him wind that's steady and strong,
Grant that his engine sings the song
Of flawless tone, by which he knows 5
It shall not fail him where he goes;
Landing, gliding, in curve, half-roll—
Grant him, O Lord, a full control,
That he may learn in heights of Heaven
The rapture altitude has given, 10
That he shall know the joy they feel
Who ride Thy realms on Birds of Steel.
(Reprinted by permission of Frederick A. Stokes Company from Poems by Cecil Roberts.)
A BATTLE WITH A WHALE
By Frank T. Bullen
Before the discovery of petroleum, whale oil was generally used for lighting. Whaling was then one of the big businesses of our country. Our whalers sought their game in all the waters of the world where the big animals were to be found. A whaling cruise usually lasted from two to five years. The following description of harpooning a whale is an actual experience of the author.
"There she white-waters! Ah, bl-o-o-o-o-w, blow,
blow!" sang Louis; and then, in another tone,
"Sperm whale, sir; lone fish, headin' 'beout east-by-nothe."
"All right. Way down from aloft," answered the
skipper, who was already halfway up the main rigging; and 5
like squirrels we slipped out of our hoops and down the
backstays, passing the skipper like a flash as he toiled upwards,
bellowing orders as he went. Short as our journey
down had been, when we arrived on deck we found all
ready for a start. But as the whale was at least seven 10
miles away and we had a fair wind for him, there was no
hurry to lower, so we all stood at attention by our respective
boats, waiting for the signal. I found, to my
surprise, that although I was conscious of a much more
rapid heartbeat than usual, I was not half so scared as I15
expected to be— that the excitement was rather pleasant
than otherwise.
"Lower away boats!" came pealing down from the
skipper's lofty perch, succeeded instantly by the rattle of
the patent blocks as the falls flew through them, while the 20
four beautiful craft took the water with an almost simultaneous
splash. The ship keepers had trimmed the yards
to the wind and hauled up the courses, so that simply
putting the helm down deadened our way and allowed the
boats to run clear without danger of fouling one another. 5
To shove off and hoist sail was the work of a few moments,
and with a fine working breeze away we went.
Our boat, being the chief's, had the post of honor; but
there was now only one whale, and I rather wondered
why we had all left the ship. According to expectations, 10
down he went when we were within a couple of miles of
him, but quietly and with great dignity, elevating his tail
perpendicularly in the air and sinking slowly from our
view.
The scene was very striking. Overhead, a bright-blue sky 15
just fringed with fleecy little clouds; beneath, a deep-blue
sea with innumerable tiny wavelets dancing and
glittering in the blaze of the sun; but all swayed in one
direction by a great solemn swell that slowly rolled from
east to west, like the measured breathing of some world-supporting 20
monster. Four little craft in a group, with
twenty-four men in them, silently waiting for battle with
one of the mightiest of God's creatures—one that was
indeed a terrible foe to encounter were he but wise enough
to make the best use of his opportunities. 25
My musings were very suddenly interrupted. Whether
we had overrun our distance, or the whale, who was not
"making a passage" but feeding, had changed his course,
I do not know; but anyhow he broke water close ahead,
coming straight for our boat. His great black head, like 30
the broad bow of a dumb barge driving the waves before
it, loomed high and menacing to me, for I was no longer
forbidden to look ahead. But coolly as if coming alongside
the ship, the mate bent to the big steer oar and swung
the boat off at right angles to her course, bringing her back
again with another broad sheer as the whale passed foaming.
This maneuver brought us side by side with him before he 5
had time to realize that we were there. Up till that instant
he had evidently not seen us, and his surprise was correspondingly
great.
To see Louis raise his harpoon high above his head and
with a hoarse grunt of satisfaction plunge it into the black, 10
shining mass beside him, up to the hitches, was indeed a
sight to be remembered. Quick as thought he snatched up
a second harpoon, and as the whale rolled from us it flew
from his hands, burying itself like the former one, but lower
down the body. The great impetus we had when we 15
reached the whale, carried us a long way past him, out of all
danger from his struggles. No hindrance was experienced
from the line by which we were connected with the whale,
for it was loosely coiled in a space for the purpose in the
boat's bow, to the extent of two hundred feet, and this was 20
cast overboard by the harpooner as soon as the fish was
fast.
He made a fearful to-do over it, rolling completely over
several times, backward and forward, at the same time
smiting the sea with his mighty tail, making an almost 25
deafening noise and pother. But we were comfortable
enough while we unshipped the mast and made ready for
action, being sufficiently far away from him to escape the
full effect of his gambols.
After the usual time spent in furious attempts to free 30
himself from our annoyance, he betook himself below, leaving
us to await his return and hasten it as much as possible
by keeping a severe strain upon the line. Our efforts in
this direction, however, did not seem to have any effect
upon him at all. Flake after flake ran out of the tubs until
we were compelled to hand the end of our line to the second
mate, to splice his own on to. Still it slipped away, and 5
at last it was handed to the third mate, whose two tubs
met the same fate. It was now Mistah Jones's turn to
"bend on," which he did with many chuckles, as of a man
who was the last resource of the unfortunate. But his
face grew longer and longer as the never-resting line continued 10
to disappear. Soon he signaled us that he was
nearly out of line, and two or three minutes after, he bent
on his "drogue" (a square piece of plank with a rope tail
spliced into its center, and considered to hinder a whale's
progress at least as much as four boats) and let go the end. 15
We had each bent on our drogues in the same way, when
we passed our ends to one another. So now our friend was
getting along somewhere below, with 7200 feet of one-and-a-half-inch
rope, and weight additional equal to the
drag of sixteen thirty-foot boats. 20
Of course we knew that unless he were dead and sinking
he could not possibly remain much longer beneath the
surface. The exhibition of endurance we had just been
favored with was a very unusual one, I was told, it being a
rare thing for a cachalot to take out two boats' lines before 25
returning to the surface to spout.
Therefore we separated as widely as was thought necessary,
in order to be near him on his arrival. It was, as
might be imagined, some time before we saw the light of
his countenance; but when we did, we had no difficulty 30
in getting alongside of him again. My friend Goliath,
much to my delight, got there first and succeeded in picking
up the bight of the line. But having done so, his chance
of distinguishing himself was gone. Hampered by the
immense quantity of sunken line which was attached to
the whale, he could do nothing and soon received orders to
cut the bight of the line and pass the whale's end to us. 5
He had hardly obeyed, with a very bad grace, when the
whale started off to windward with us, at a tremendous
rate. The other boats, having no line, could do nothing to
help; so away we went alone, with barely a hundred fathoms
of line in case he should take it into his head to sound again. 10
The speed at which he went made it appear as if a gale of
wind were blowing, and we flew along the sea surface,
leaping from crest to crest of the waves with an incessant
succession of cracks like pistol shots. The flying spray
drenched us and prevented us from seeing him, but I fully15
realized that it was nothing to what we should have to
put up with if the wind freshened much. One hand was
kept bailing out the water which came so freely over the
bows, but all the rest hauled with all their might upon the
line, hoping to get a little closer to the flying monster. 20
Inch by inch we gained on him. After what seemed a
terribly long chase we found his speed slackening, and we
redoubled our efforts.
Now we were close upon him; now, in obedience to the
steersman, the boat sheered out a bit and we were abreast25
of his laboring flukes; now the mate hurls his quivering
lance with such hearty good will that every inch of its
slender shaft disappears within the huge body.
"Lay off! Off with her, Louey!" screamed the mate;
and she gave a wide sheer away from the whale, not a 30
second too soon. Up flew that awful tail, descending with
a crash upon the water, not two feet from us.
"Out oars! Pull, two! starn, three!" shouted the mate;
and as we obeyed, our foe turned to fight.
Then might one see how courage and skill were such
mighty factors in the apparently unequal contest. The
whale's great length made it no easy job for him to turn, 5
while our boat, with two oars a side and the great leverage
at the stern supplied by the nineteen-foot steer oar, circled,
backed, and darted ahead like a living thing animated by
the mind of our commander. When the leviathan settled,
we gave a wide berth to his probable place of ascent; 10
when he rushed at us, we dodged him; when he paused, if
only momentarily, in we flew and got home a fearful thrust
of the deadly lance.
All fear was forgotten now—I panted, thirsted, for his
life. Once, indeed, in a sort of frenzy, when for an instant 15
we lay side by side with him, I drew my sheath knife and
plunged it repeatedly into the blubber as if I were assisting
in his destruction.
Suddenly the mate gave a howl: "Starn all—starn all!
oh, starn!" and the oars bent like canes as we obeyed. 20
There was an upheaval of the sea just ahead; then slowly,
majestically, the vast body of our foe rose into the air.
Up, up it went, while my heart stood still, until the whole of
that immense creature hung on high, apparently motionless,
and then fell—a hundred tons of solid flesh—back 25
into the sea. On either side of that mountainous mass the
waters rose in shining towers of snowy foam which fell in
their turn, whirling and eddying around us as we tossed and
fell like a chip in a whirlpool. Blinded by the flying spray,
bailing for very life to free the boat from the water with 30
which she was nearly full, it was some minutes before I
was able to decide whether we were still uninjured or not.
Then I saw, at a little distance, the whale lying quietly. As
I looked he spouted, and the vapor was red with his blood.
"Starn all!" again cried our chief, and we retreated to a
considerable distance. The old warrior's practiced eye had
detected the coming climax of our efforts, the dying agony, 5
or "flurry," of the great mammal. Turning upon his side
he began to move in a circular direction, slowly at first,
then faster and faster, until he was rushing round at
tremendous speed, his great head raised quite out of water
at times, clashing his enormous jaws. Torrents of blood 10
poured from his spout hole, accompanied by hoarse bellowings
as of some gigantic bull, but really caused by the
laboring breath trying to pass through the clogged air
passages. The utmost caution and rapidity of manipulation
of the boat was necessary to avoid his maddened 15
rush, but this gigantic energy was short-lived. In a few
minutes he subsided slowly in death, his mighty body reclined
on one side, the fin uppermost waving limply as he
rolled to the swell, while the small waves broke gently over
the carcass in a low, monotonous surf, intensifying the 20
profound silence that had succeeded the tumult of our
conflict with the late monarch of the deep.
—The Cruise of the Cachalot.
1. Boats were always lowered when whales were sighted within rowing distance. Why? How many were lowered in this instance? How many men were in each? Who was in command of each?
2. There was considerable rivalry between the boats of the same ship to be the first to harpoon and the first to give the final lance thrust. Was there rivalry shown here?
3. How many feet of rope did the whale take out when he sounded? Reduce this to miles. How many feet of rope were there in each boat?
4. Find five words in the story for your classmates to define.
THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
By Leigh Hunt
This is an old tale of adventure, the incident occurring in the days of chivalry. But it is of sufficient dramatic interest to cause Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton and Robert Browning each to use it also as the subject for a poem. As you read it try to picture the scene as it is developed line by line.
sport,
And one day, as his lions fought, sat looking on the court.
The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride,
And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge with one for 5
whom he sighed;
And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,
Valor and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts
below.
Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws; 10
They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went
with their paws;
With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one
another,
Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous 15
smother;
The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the
air;
Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here
than there." 20
De Lorge's love o'erheard the king, a beauteous lively
dame,
With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes which always
seemed the same;
She thought, "The count, my lover, is brave as brave can 5
be;
He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
I'll drop my glove to prove his love; great glory will be
mine."10
She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at
him and smiled;
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild;
The leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his
place,15
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's
face.
"By Heaven," said Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose
from where he sat;
"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like 20
that."
1. Where did this incident take place? How do you know?
2. Imagine yourself in a seat near King Francis. Tell what is happening in the arena. Make your description vivid.
3. What is your opinion of the lady? Did De Lorge treat her properly? In answering this, consider the fact that he did the rash act simply as gallantry. What could he have done instead of going among the lions? Why did he choose to go?
4. Leigh Hunt (1784-1859) was an English poet, essayist, and critic. Most of his poetry is witty and clever.
HOW BUCK WON THE BET
By Jack London
Buck was a cross between St. Bernard and Scotch shepherd bloods, and a wonderful dog he was. He made a name for himself in Alaska, during the Klondike gold rush, and his owner, Thornton, was envied by all the miners in that land where dogs take the place of horses. Thornton once boasted that Buck could pull a thousand pounds on a sled—break it out and "mush," or draw, it a hundred yards. Matthewson bet a thousand dollars that he could not.
Matthewson's sled, loaded with a thousand pounds
of flour, had been standing for a couple of hours, and
in the intense cold (it was sixty below zero) the runners had
frozen fast to the hard-packed snow. Men offered odds of
two to one that Buck could not budge the sled. A quibble 5
arose concerning the phrase "break out." O'Brien contended
it was Thornton's privilege to knock the runners loose,
leaving Buck to "break it out" from a dead standstill.
Matthewson insisted that the phrase included breaking the
runners from the frozen grip of the snow. A majority of the 10
men who had witnessed the making of the bet decided in his
favor, whereat the odds went up to three to one against Buck.
There were no takers. Not a man believed him capable
of the feat. Thornton had been hurried into the wager,
heavy with doubt; and now that he looked at the sled 15
itself, the concrete fact, with the regular team of ten dogs
curled up in the snow before it, the more impossible the task
appeared. Matthewson waxed jubilant.
"Three to one!" he proclaimed. "I'll lay you another
thousand at that figure, Thornton. What d'ye say?"
Thornton's doubt was strong in his face, but his fighting
spirit was aroused—the fighting spirit that soars above
odds, fails to recognize the impossible, and is deaf to all save 5
the clamor for battle. He called Hans and Pete to him.
Their sacks were slim, and with his own the three partners
could rake together only two hundred dollars. In the
ebb of their fortunes, this sum was their total capital;
yet they laid it unhesitatingly against Matthewson's six 10
hundred.
The team of ten dogs was unhitched, and Buck, with his
own harness, was put into the sled. He had caught the
contagion of the excitement, and he felt that in some way
he must do a great thing for John Thornton. Murmurs of 15
admiration at his splendid appearance went up. He was in
perfect condition, without an ounce of superfluous flesh,
and the one hundred and fifty pounds that he weighed were
so many pounds of grit and virility. His furry coat shone
with the sheen of silk. Down the neck and across the 20
shoulders, his mane, in repose as it was, half bristled
and seemed to lift with every movement, as though excess
of vigor made each particular hair alive and active. The
great breast and heavy fore legs were no more than in
proportion with the rest of the body, where the muscles 25
showed in tight rolls underneath the skin. Men felt these
muscles and proclaimed them hard as iron, and the odds
went down to two to one.
"Gad, sir! Gad, sir!" stuttered a member of the
latest dynasty, a king of the Skookum Benches. "I offer 30
you eight hundred for him, sir, before the test, sir; eight
hundred just as he stands."
Thornton shook his head and stepped to Buck's side.
"You must stand off from him," Matthewson protested.
"Free play and plenty of room."
The crowd fell silent; only could be heard the voices of
the gamblers vainly offering two to one. Everybody 5
acknowledged Buck a magnificent animal, but twenty
fifty-pound sacks of flour bulked too large in their eyes for
them to loosen their pouch strings.
Thornton knelt down by Buck's side. He took his head
in his two hands and rested cheek on cheek. He did not 10
playfully shake him, as was his wont, or murmur soft love
curses; but he whispered in his ear. "As you love me,
Buck. As you love me," was what he whispered. Buck
whined with suppressed eagerness.
The crowd was watching curiously. The affair was growing 15
mysterious. It seemed like a conjuration. As Thornton
got to his feet, Buck seized his mittened hand between
his jaws, pressing it with his teeth and releasing it slowly,
half reluctantly. It was the answer, in terms not of speech
but of love. Thornton stepped well back. 20
"Now, Buck," he said.
Buck tightened the traces, then slacked them for a
matter of several inches. It was the way he had learned.
"Gee!" Thornton's voice rang out, sharp in the tense
silence. 25
Buck swung to the right, ending the movement in a plunge
that took up the slack and with a sudden jerk arrested his
one hundred and fifty pounds. The load quivered, and
from under the runners arose a crisp crackling.
"Haw!" Thornton commanded. 30
Buck duplicated the maneuver, this time to the left. The
crackling turned into a snapping, the sled pivoting and the
runners slipping and grating several inches to the side.
The sled was broken out. Men were holding their breaths,
intensely unconscious of the fact.
"Now, mush!"
Thornton's command cracked out like a pistol shot. 5
Buck threw himself forward, tightening the traces with a
jarring lunge. His whole body was gathered compactly
together in the tremendous effort, the muscles writhing and
knotting like live things under the silky fur. His great
chest was low to the ground, his head forward and down, 10
while his feet were flying like mad, the claws scarring the
hard-packed snow in parallel grooves. The sled swayed
and trembled, half started forward. One of his feet slipped,
and one man groaned aloud. Then the sled lurched ahead
in what appeared a rapid succession of jerks, though it never 15
really came to a dead stop again—half an inch—an
inch—two inches. The jerks perceptibly diminished; as
the sled gained momentum he caught them up till it was
moving steadily along.
Men gasped and began to breathe again, unaware that 20
for a moment they had ceased to breathe. Thornton was
running behind, encouraging Buck with short, cheery
words. The distance had been measured off, and as he
neared the pile of firewood which marked the end of the
hundred yards, a cheer began to grow and grow, which 25
burst into a roar as he passed the firewood and halted at
command. Every man was tearing himself loose, even
Matthewson. Hats and mittens were flying in the air.
Men were shaking hands, it did not matter with whom,
and bubbling over in a general incoherent babel. 30
But Thornton fell on his knees beside Buck. Head was
against head, and he was shaking him back and forth.
Buck seized Thornton's hand in his teeth. As though
animated by a common impulse, the onlookers drew back
to a respectful distance.
—The Call of the Wild.
(From The Call of the Wild, by Jack London, used by permission of The Macmillan Company, Publishers, and by arrangement with Mrs. Charmian K. London.)
1. Jack London (1867-1916) was a Californian by birth. He early began roving, and his voyages and tramps took him all over the world. He was a keen observer and a virile writer. The Call of the Wild is perhaps the best known of his many tales. You observe from the extract that his stories are full of action. They are moving pictures in words.
2. What was the situation that led up to the bet? Where is this event supposed to have taken place? Read the lines that show the men are miners.
3. How much was staked against Buck? Who was for the dog? Against him? How did he respond? How did the men who bet against Buck show they were good losers?
THE LOSS OF THE DRAKE
By Charlotte M. Yonge
The Newfoundland coast is a peculiarly dangerous one,
from the dense fogs that are caused by the warm
waters of the Gulf Stream. These waters rushing up from
the equator here come in contact with the cold currents from
the pole. As they meet, they send up such heavy vapor 5
that day can sometimes scarcely be discerned from night;
even at little more than arm's length objects cannot be distinguished,
while from without, the mist looks like a thick,
sheer precipice of snow.
In such a fearful fog, on the morning of the 20th of June, 10
1822, the small schooner Drake struck suddenly upon a
rock and almost immediately fell over on her side, the waves
breaking over her. Her commander, Captain Baker,
ordered her masts to be cut away, in hopes of lightening
her so that she might right herself, but in vain. One boat
was washed away, another upset as soon as she was
launched, and there remained only the small boat called
the captain's gig. 5
The ship was fast breaking up; the only hope was that
the crew might reach a small rock, the point of which could
be seen above the waves at a distance that the fog made
difficult to calculate, but that, it was hoped, might not be
too great. A man named Leonard seized a rope and sprang 10
into the sea, but the current was too strong for him; he
was carried away in an opposite direction and was obliged
to be dragged on board again.
Then the boatswain, whose name was Turner, volunteered
to make the attempt in the gig, taking a rope fastened 15
round his body. The crew cheered him after the
gallant fashion of British seamen, though they were all
hanging on by the ropes to the ship, with the sea breaking
over them and threatening every moment to dash the vessel
to pieces. Anxiously they watched Turner in his boat, as 20
he made his way to within a few feet of the rock. There
the boat was lifted high and higher by a huge wave, then
hurled down on the rock and shattered to pieces; but the
brave boatswain was safe, and contrived to keep his hold
of the rope and to scramble up on the stone. 25
Another great wave, almost immediately after, heaved
up the remains of the ship and dashed her down close to
this rock of safety. Captain Baker, giving up the hope of
saving her, commanded the crew to leave her and make
their way to the rock. For the first time he met with 30
disobedience. With one voice they refused to leave the
wreck unless they saw him before them in safety. Calmly
he renewed his orders, saying that his life was the last and
least consideration, and they were obliged to obey, leaving
the ship in as orderly a manner as if they were going ashore
in harbor. But they were so benumbed with cold that
many were unable to climb the rock and were swept off by 5
the waves; among these was the lieutenant.
Captain Baker last of all joined his crew. It was then
discovered that they were at no great distance from the
land, but that the tide was rising and that the rock on which
they stood would assuredly be covered at high water. The 10
heavy mist and lonely coast gave scarcely a hope that help
would come ere the slowly rising waters must devour them.
Still there was no murmur. Again the gallant boatswain,
who still held the rope, volunteered to make an effort to
save his comrades. With a few words of earnest prayer, 15
he secured the rope round his waist, struggled hard with the
waves, and reached the shore, whence he sent back the news
of his safety by a loud cheer to his comrades.
There was now a line of rope between the shore and the
rock, just long enough to reach from one to the other when 20
held by a man at each end. The only hope of safety lay
in working a desperate passage along this rope to the land.
The spray was already beating over those who were
crouched on the rock, but not a man moved till called by
name by Captain Baker, and then it is recorded that not 25
one, so summoned, stirred till he had used his best entreaties
to the captain to take his place; but the captain
had but one reply: "I will never leave the rock until every
soul is safe."
Forty-four stout sailors had made their perilous way to 30
shore. The forty-fifth looked round and saw a poor woman
lying helpless, almost lifeless, on the rock, unable to move.
He took her in one arm, and with the other clung to the
rope. Alas! the double weight was more than the much-tried
rope could bear; it broke halfway, and the poor
woman and the sailor were both swallowed in the eddy.
Captain Baker and three seamen remained, utterly cut 5
off from hope of help. The men in best condition hurried
off in search of help, found a farmhouse, obtained a rope,
and hastened back; but long ere their arrival the waters
had flowed above the head of the brave and faithful captain.
All the crew could do was, with full hearts, to write 10
a most touching letter to an officer who had once sailed
with them in the Drake, entreating him to represent their
captain's conduct to the Lords of the Admiralty.
"In fact," said the letter, "during the whole business
he proved himself a man whose name and last conduct 15
ought ever to be held in the highest estimation by a crew
who feel it their duty to ask, from the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty, that which they otherwise have not the
means of obtaining; that is, a public and lasting record
of the lion-hearted, generous, and the very unexampled 20
way in which our late noble commander sacrificed his
life in the evening of the 20th of June."
This letter was signed by the whole surviving crew of the
Drake, and in consequence, a tablet in the dockyard chapel
at Portsmouth commemorates the heroism of Captain 25
Charles Baker.
—A Book of Golden Deeds.
1. Retell the main events of this story as briefly as you can. You can do this best by making a careful outline of the points set forth. Hand your topics to your teacher.
2. What is the rule aboard ship in case of abandoning the vessel? What accidents at sea do you know about?
THE WALRUS HUNT
By Robert M. Ballantyne
The following episode is from Ungava: A Tale of Eskimo Land, a "classic" of the fifties and sixties. Ungava is full of thrilling adventure, based on the author's own experiences as a young fur trader in the Hudson Bay country. Ballantyne (1825-1894) belonged to the family of famous Edinburgh publishers that issued Scott's works.
Just prior to the incident quoted below, Annatock had discovered a walrus frozen to death and was engaged in chopping him up. Then appears walrus number two, who was thoroughly alive.
Not far from the spot where this fortunate discovery
had been made, there was a large sheet of recently
formed black ice, where the main ice had been broken away
and the open water left. The sheet, although much melted
by the thaw, was still about three inches thick, and quite5
capable of supporting a man.
While Annatock was working with his back to this ice,
he heard a tremendous crash take place behind him. Turning
hastily round, he observed that the noise was caused by
another enormous walrus, the glance of whose large round 10
eyes, and whose loud snort, showed clearly enough that he
was not frozen like his unfortunate companion. By this
time the little boy had come up with Edith and the sledge,
so Annatock ordered him to take the dogs behind a hummock
to keep them out of sight, while he selected several 15
strong harpoons and a lance from the sledge. Giving
another lance to Peetoot, he signed to Edith to sit on the
hummock while he attacked the grisly monster of the deep
single-handed.
While these preparations were being made, the walrus
dived, and while it was under water the man and the boy
ran quickly forward a short distance and then lay down
behind a lump of ice. Scarcely had they done so when the
walrus came up again with a loud snort, splashing the water 5
with its broad, heavy flippers—which seemed a sort of
compromise between legs and fins—and dashing waves
over the ice as it rolled about its large, unwieldy carcass.
It was truly a savage-looking monster as large as a small
elephant and having two tusks of a foot and a half long. 10
The face bore a horrible resemblance to that of a man.
Its crown was round and bulging, its face broad and
massive, and a thick, bristling mustache—rough as the
spines of a porcupine—covered its upper lip and depended
in a shaggy dripping mass over its mouth. After spluttering 15
about a short time, it dived again.
Now was Annatock's time. Seizing a harpoon and a
coil of line, he muttered a few words to the boy, sprang up,
and running out upon the smooth ice, stood by the edge
of the open water. He had not waited here more than a 20
few seconds when the black waters were cleft by the blacker
head of the monster, as it once more ascended to renew its
elephantine gambols in the pool.
As it rose the Eskimo threw up his arm and poised the
harpoon. For one instant the surprised animal raised 25
itself breast-high out of the water and directed a stare of
intense astonishment at the man. That moment was fatal.
Annatock buried the harpoon deep under its left flipper.
With a fierce bellow the brute dashed itself against the ice,
endeavoring in its fury to reach its assailant; but the ice 30
gave way under its enormous weight, while Annatock ran
back as far as the harpoon line would permit him.
The walrus, seeing that it could not reach its enemy in
this way, seemed now to be actually endowed with reason.
It took a long gaze at Annatock, and then dived. But the
Eskimo was prepared for this. He changed his position
hastily and played his line the meanwhile, fixing the point 5
of his lance into the ice in order to give him a more effective
hold. Scarcely had he done so when the spot he had just
left was smashed up, and the head of the walrus appeared,
grinning, and bellowing as if in disappointment.
At this moment Peetoot handed his uncle a harpoon, and 10
ere the animal dived the weapon was fixed in his side.
Once more Annatock changed his position; and once again
the spot on which he had been standing was burst upwards.
It was a terrible sight to see that unearthly-looking monster
smashing the ice around it and lashing the blood-stained 15
sea into foam, while it waged such mortal war with the
self-possessed and wary man. How mighty and strong
the one! how comparatively weak and seemingly helpless
the other! It was the triumph of mind over matter—of
reason over blind brute force. 20
But Annatock fought a hard battle that day ere he came
off conqueror. Harpoon after harpoon was driven into the
walrus—again and again the lance pierced deep into its
side and drank its lifeblood; but three hours had passed
away before the dead carcass was dragged from the deep 25
by the united force of dogs and man.
—Ungava: A Tale of Eskimo Land.
1. Find the picture of a walrus, and tell what the animal looks like. Get a description of a walrus from your reference library, if possible.
2. Describe Annatock's method of hunting the walrus.
3. Be prepared to give a two-minute talk on the Eskimos, touching on race to which they belong, methods of obtaining food, and mode of living.
THE RESCUE
On a bright moonlight night, in the month of February,
1831, when it was intensely cold, the little brig which
I commanded lay quietly at her anchors inside of Sandy
Hook. We had had a hard time beating about for eleven
days off this coast, with cutting northeasters blowing and5
snow and sleet falling for the most part of that time.
Forward, the vessel was thickly coated with ice, and it
was hard work to handle her as the rigging and sails were
stiff and yielded only when the strength of the men was
exerted to the utmost. When we at length made the port, 10
all hands were worn down and exhausted.
"A bitter cold night, Mr. Larkin," I said to my mate as
I tarried for a short time upon deck. The worthy down-easter
buttoned his coat more tightly around him, and looking
up to the moon replied, "It's a whistler, Captain; and 15
nothing can live comfortably out of blankets to-night."
"The tide is running out swift and strong, and it will be
well to keep a sharp lookout for this floating ice, Mr. Larkin,"
said I, as I turned to go below.
About two hours afterward I was aroused from a sound 20
sleep by the vigilant officer. "Excuse me for disturbing
you, Captain," said he, as he detected an expression of
vexation in my face, "but I wish you would turn out and
come on deck as soon as possible."
"What's the matter, Mr. Larkin?" said I. 25
"Why, sir, I have been watching a large cake of ice,
which swept by at a distance a moment ago, and I saw
something black upon it, something that I thought moved.
The moon is under a cloud and I could not see distinctly,
but I believe there is a child floating out to the sea, this
freezing night, on that cake of ice."
We were on deck before either spoke another word. 5
The mate pointed out with no little difficulty the cake of
ice floating off to the leeward, with its white, glittering
surface broken by a black spot.
"Get the glass, Mr. Larkin," said I; "the moon will be
out of that cloud in a moment and then we can see distinctly." 10
I kept my eye upon the receding mass of ice while the
moon was slowly working her way through a heavy bank of
clouds. The mate stood by me with the glass, and when
the full light fell upon the water with a brilliancy only15
known in our northern latitudes, I put the glass to my eye.
One glance was enough.
"Forward, there!" I hailed at the top of my voice; and
with one bound I reached the main hatch and began to
clear away the little cutter which was stowed in the ship's 20
yawl.
Mr. Larkin had taken the glass to look for himself.
"There are two children on that cake of ice!" he exclaimed,
as he hastened to assist me in getting out the boat.
The men answered my hail and walked quickly aft. In 25
a short space of time we launched the cutter, into which Mr.
Larkin and myself jumped, followed by the two men who
took the oars. I rigged the tiller, and the mate sat beside
me in the stern sheets.
"Do you see that cake of ice with something black upon 30
it, my lads? Put me alongside of that and I'll give you a
month's extra wages when you are paid off," said I.
They bent to their oars, but their strokes were uneven
and feeble, for they were worn out by the hard duty of the
preceding fortnight; and though they did their best, the
boat made little more headway than the tide. It was a
losing chase, and Mr. Larkin, who was suffering torture 5
as he saw how little we gained, cried out, "Pull, lads! I'll
double the captain's prize; two months' extra pay. Pull,
lads! pull for life!"
A convulsive effort at the oars told how willing the men
were to obey, but the strength of the strong men was gone. 10
One of the poor fellows washed us twice in recovering his
oar and then gave out, and the other was nearly as far gone.
Mr. Larkin sprang forward and seized the deserted oar.
"Lie down in the bottom of the boat," said he to the man;
"and, Captain, take the other oar! We must row for ourselves." 15
I took the second man's place. Larkin had stripped off
his coat, and as he pulled the bow, I waited for the signal
stroke. It came, gently, but firm; and the next moment
we were pulling a long, steady stroke, gradually increasing 20
in rapidity until the wood seemed to smoke in the row-locks.
We kept time, each by the long, deep breathing
of the other.
Such a pull! We bent forward until our faces almost
touched our knees; and then throwing all our strength into 25
the backward movement, drew on the oar until every inch
covered by the sweep was gained. Thus we worked at the
oars for fifteen minutes, and it seemed to me as many
hours. The sweat rolled off in great drops, and I was enveloped
in a steam generated from my own body. 30
"Are we almost up to it, Mr. Larkin?" I gasped out.
"Almost, Captain," said he; "don't give up!"
The oars flashed as their blades turned up to the moonlight,
for the men who plied them were fathers and had
fathers' hearts.
Suddenly Mr. Larkin ceased pulling, and my heart for a
moment almost stopped its beating; for the terrible thought 5
that he had given out crossed my mind. But I was reassured
by his voice: "Gently, Captain, gently; a stroke
or two more; there, that will do," and the next moment
Mr. Larkin sprang upon the ice. I started up, and calling
to the men to make fast the boat to the ice, followed him. 10
We ran to the dark spot in the center of the mass and
found two little boys. The head of the smaller was resting
in the bosom of the larger, and both were fast asleep. The
lethargy which would have been fatal but for the timely
rescue had overcome them. 15
Mr. Larkin grasped one of the lads, cut off his shoes, tore
off his jacket, and then, loosening his own garments to the
skin, placed the cold child in contact with his own warm
body, carefully wrapping his overcoat around him. I did
the same with the other child, and we then returned to the 20
boat.
The children, as we learned when we had the delight of
restoring them to their parents, were playing on the cake
of ice, which had jammed into a bend of the river about ten
miles above New York. A movement of the tide set the 25
ice in motion, and the little fellows were borne away that
cold night and would inevitably have perished but for Mr.
Larkin's espying them as they were sweeping out to sea.