From the deck of the Battles there came a roar for a sharp spade, while Mr. Macy was exhorting his men to heave and heave hearty. There were only a few feet to gain, for the whaleboat was almost lapping the hull of the schooner. What they would have done when they had gained a place under her quarter I could not imagine. I wondered. Mr. Macy might have been in the same predicament, but it was not likely. He was not the man to go ahead without plan, and he was working as if for a definite end. What that plan was we were not to know, for the spades succeeded in severing the line before the hulls lapped, and the frayed end dropped into the water. It was fortunate, perhaps. What chance would six men have had against twenty or more? In the brief struggle the Battles had gone on farther {202} than she meant to, and was now some distance astern of us; but as soon as she had succeeded in dropping Mr. Macy she stood up along our starboard beam, a short distance away. Meanwhile, Mr. Baker’s boat had been lowered, taking the captain, and had pulled out a few boat’s lengths, and lay there, waiting for the Battles. The men who had been working on the carcass of the whale had stopped work, and stood watching to see what would happen. The Battles came on until she was nearly abeam of us, then she slacked off her sheets, spilling the wind from her sails. Her crew seemed interested in the surgical operation on the whale. “Did you find any?” hailed the man who seemed to be in command. Captain Nelson paid no attention to this question, but his men pulled toward the schooner. “What do you want?” the man demanded sharply. “Keep off! Stay where you are, and let’s settle it.” “I ’m coming aboard of you,” Captain Nelson said. “I ’m coming to see Cap’n Coffin. There are some matters to be settled between us.” The Battles was shooting ahead, losing way slowly, and the men in the captain’s boat again began pulling. “You can’t see Cap’n Coffin,” the man began impatiently. “You ’ve been told that often enough. Damn it,” he added, almost changing his mind, “if I should let you come aboard and see Cap’n Coffin, I ’d warrant you ’d have all the time you wanted to settle any matters that ’re on your mind. It ’d serve you right, and if the consequences ’d be all on your own head, I ’d do it. But they would n’t and I won’t. I never will. Understand?” We heard the conversation plainly, and I was curious to know what he meant by his remark about consequences. It did not seem to give Captain Nelson any concern. He made no reply, and the boat continued to pull toward the {203} schooner. Mr. Macy had been coming up quietly while the Battles was busy with Captain Nelson, and he was not far astern, his men pulling strongly and easily. We heard the order to trim in the sheets, and at the same time several men took their places at the side, holding spades in their hands. It was their old trick. The captain’s boat was only a few strokes off. “Keep off!” was the warning.