“I ’ve never seen them fighting, lad. But those who have seen it tell me that they draw off from each other a little way, and go at each other full tilt. They turn on their side, like, to give their jaws play, and bite and wrench and tear. Sometimes they ’ll use their jaws like fencing foils, without drawing off; but however they do it, they must be savage at it. If they fence, they don’t wear masks.” “Shall we see fighting whales, Peter?” He smiled. “We may see ’most anything, lad. It ’s hard to tell. I ’ve never seen ’em, but perhaps my turn is due for that this voyage.” I wished fervently that we might see it. I watched for it with new interest, and whenever we raised a pod I hoped that they might take it into their heads to fight—fight among themselves, not us. I told Peter of my hope one day. “Bless your heart, lad,” he said, unsmiling, which was good of him, “they won’t fight. They ’re in the same school. Wait until you see a schoolmaster take on a fellow of about the same size that ’s trying to get his job. Then you may see it.” I knew nothing about schoolmasters, but I was ashamed {319} to ask, and I said nothing. We were trying-out at the time, and the air was filled with the acrid black smoke of scrap, and the deck covered with oil mixed with soot. Only the day before we had raised a pod of large whales, and I had had great hopes, for they were of a size to make a good fight if they took a notion to. But nothing seemed farther from their intention than to fight among themselves. They led us a very pretty chase—from their point of view. We were pulling hard after them from sunrise until noon. Mr. Macy had the only chance. George Hall got an iron well into one, but it twisted off near the head, and all got away. We had scarcely got the boats on the davits when a whale rose and spouted, not a hundred yards from the ship. Mr. Baker bellowed out for a crew on the instant, and I ran to his boat, the first one there. The Prince, Peter, Kane, and the Admiral were the others. We had the boat in the water, tumbled in, and were pulling for the whale in less than a minute. The Prince struck with both irons, and the whale sounded at once, with a grand flourish of flukes. He sounded out very nearly all our line; so nearly all of it that we bent on a drug, while Mr. Baker hailed the ship for more. Mr. Tilton’s boat was already in the water, beginning to pull toward us, but we held the whale at that depth, with but two flakes of line left in the tub.