Produced by MFR, RichardW, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) She Blows! And Sparm at That! by William John Hopkins [Illustration: LANCING A WHALE] SHE BLOWS! AND SPARM AT THAT! BY WILLIAM JOHN HOPKINS _Author of “The Clammer,” “Old Harbor,” “Burbury Stoke,” etc._ WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PAINTINGS BY CLIFFORD W. ASHLEY [Illustration] BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY WILLIAM J. HOPKINS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED SECOND IMPRESSION, MARCH, 1922 The Riverside Press CAMBRIDGE · MASSACHUSETTS PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. NOTE I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Clifford W. Ashley for his kindness in reading the proof of this book and in making various corrections and suggestions. W. J. H. ILLUSTRATIONS LANCING A WHALE • _Frontispiece_ FITTING OUT • 12 CUTTING-IN • 74 BAILING CASE • 88 HARPOONING PORPOISE • 122 LOWERING BOATS • 194 THE MATE • 280 A NANTUCKET SLEIGH-RIDE • 310 {1} SHE BLOWS! CHAPTER I I am nearing the evening of life. Many people think of me, I know, as a man who has attained to as much as one can reasonably hope for in this life—if they think of me at all. It is not so much, after all. The things I have aimed for and missed seem, at times, much more important than those I have had. But I put this thought by. Youth expects a good deal; and when one is young—and for a long time after; indeed, until a man is old—he finds hope at the bottom of the cup, enough of it to drown the taste of the bitter draught he has taken. I have evolved the theory that a man is old only when, the cup drained, there is no hope left in it. Thank God, I have not yet reached that point. But I am inclined to reminiscence, and it scares me somewhat, for proneness to reminiscence is a symptom of age. I know that well, and garrulity is its sister. I am going to give my inclination to reminiscence play in writing of an experience of my youth. It may help to prevent me from boring my friends, and if you find this narrative becoming tedious, nothing is easier than to put the book down.