"It seemed to me," said he, "that I must have passed half an hour under water, though, of course, I know that the whole transaction did not occupy more than a minute, from the time I went out of my boat till I was in the captain's. I was to blame myself for being caught so much off my guard, for knowing that my new line was dangerous, I ought to have had the hatchet or boatknife in my hand the whole time the whale was sounding. But after the alarm was shouted, I hadn't time to pull the knife out of the becket before I was overboard. I was caught with a round turn round my thigh, though, of course, I cannot tell how it got there. I know that I made a grab for the boat knife, but was hurried away out of the reach of it; that I felt in my pocket for my jackknife, and drew it partly out; that I then felt the strain suddenly ease up at the moment the line was cut inboard; that I seized it with my hands and shoved it off my leg; but from that time I can tell nothing till I began to revive in the other boat on my way to the ship. I can give you no idea, in words, of how I felt while I was being dragged through the water by the leg, but I should say there was a resistance like passing through a solid wall that seemed to _flatten_ me, as it were, and that a thousand sledge-hammers were clanging right in my ears. We lost our second mate in that way, when I was in the Plutarch," continued Mr. Grafton, thoughtfully; "and many another good man has met his death in the same manner, gone past help almost before he could see the danger." "Ah! Misther Grafton," said Farrell, "I may say that's the only time I ever felt glad to get my fist clutched in yer hair, was when I see it bobbing up close to our boat, sir. But, I'm thinking ye had about as narrow a chance for yer life as meself had, the night I went after the parr-puses, bad luck till 'em." The next morning, Fisher, who was at the masthead, reported four sails in sight, three to the leeward of us, and one off the weather beam running down for us under all sail. "Look sharp!" cried the old man, "he must see something if he is running off. Don't let him get a large whale right under our noses!" I observed that he and the mate exchanged significant glances, and I thought too that there was a merry twinkle in his eye. I relieved Fisher at the masthead after breakfast, and not long afterwards, the captain, who had been getting sights to determine his longitude by chronometer, hailed me from the deck. "How does that sail to windward bear now?" "Two points abaft the beam, sir," I answered. "Is he running off yet?" "Yes, sir; headed right at us," said I. "We ought to see him from deck by this time, then," said the old man. "I don't think you can, sir," I answered. "He don't seem to near us much."