I had my wish gratified, and I shall never make another wish of that kind. We were sailing along easily in a moderate northerly wind about the middle of the afternoon when the Admiral’s cry came down to us. There were two spouts to the eastward. I watched them rather listlessly, for I had rather lost interest in spouts. An albatross or a frigate bird would have roused much more interest. We were seeing albatrosses occasionally, and one had followed the ship for two days, picking up scraps from the galley, and finally following the carcass of a whale when we cut it adrift. But the whole whale business had become a matter of routine. Three boats were called away, Mr. Baker’s, Mr. Brown’s, and Mr. Macy’s. I had to move, for I was in the {175} way of one of them; and I moved as little as possible, and gave them no further attention. Then I heard Mr. Brown speaking to me. “Here, Tim,” he said. “If you think you can pull one of these oars, tumble in here, but be quick about it.” Instantly I was all attention. I jumped for the boat, but stopped. “The captain said,” I objected, “that I could n’t go until he—” “Captain’s orders,” he interrupted sharply. “Go or not, but be quick or the other boats ’ll get away first.” I made no reply, but gave a little nervous laugh of delight, and tumbled in. I did not know whether I could row one of the long, heavy oars or not, but I could take two hands to it, and I had rowed all my life in every kind of a boat, light and heavy. We took the water, and cast off the falls, and shoved clear. Then we stepped the mast and set the sail, and were off after my first whale. All the men were kind and helpful, but the Prince took me especially under his wing, and told me what my duties were in stepping the mast. When we were under sail he gave me rapid instructions as to my duties in meeting every emergency that ever arose in connection with the capture of a whale. I could not remember a quarter of them. It was all I could do to understand them. Fortunately I did not have to remember. No emergency arose. We came up with our whale without much pulling, the Prince planted both his irons, and we backed off furiously. The whale stopped, astonished, Mr. Baker came up on the other side, and Starbuck got an iron fast; but not before the whale had recovered his power of motion, so that Starbuck’s iron entered at the small, and not near the side fin, where he had meant to place it. Mr. Baker’s boat was deluged with water by a sweep of the flukes, and the whale was under way, head out. Mr. Macy, I saw later, had struck the other whale, and was having no trouble. {176}