to get our sail down; and at any moment that wretched iron through our upper strake might tear a plank out of us.  Our chief, foaming at the mouth with rage and excitement, was screeching inarticulate blasphemy at the other mate, who, not knowing what was the matter, was yelling back all his copious vocabulary of abuse.  I felt very glad the whale was between us, or there would surely have been murder done.  At last, out drops the iron, leaving a jagged hole you could put your arm through.  Wasn’t Mr. Count mad?  I really thought he would split with rage, for it was impossible for us to go on with that hole in our bilge.  The second mate came alongside and took our line as the whale was just commencing to sound, thus setting us free.  We made at once for the other ship’s “fast” boat, and the compliments that had gone before were just casual conversation to what filled the air with dislocated language now.  Presently both the champions cooled down a bit from want of breath, and we got our case stated.  It was received with a yell of derision from the other side as a splendid effort of lying on our part; because the first ship fast claims the whale, and such a prize as this one we were quarrelling about was not to be tamely yielded.

However, as reason asserted her sway over Mr. Count, he quieted down, knowing full well that the state of the line belonging to his rival would reveal the truth when the whale rose again.  Therefore we returned to the ship, leaving our three boats busy waiting the whale’s pleasure to rise again.  When the skipper heard what had happened, he had his own boat manned, proceeding himself to the battle-field in expectation of complications presently.  By the time he arrived upon the scene there were two more boats lying by, which had come up from the third ship, mentioned as working up from to leeward.  “Pretty fine ground this’s got ter be!” growled the old man.  “Caint strike whale ‘thout bein’ crowded eout uv yer own propputty by a gang bunco steerers like this.  Shall hev ter quit it, en keep a pawnshop.”

And still the whale kept going steadily down, down, down.  Already he was on the second boat’s lines, and taking them out faster than ever.  Had we been alone, this persistence on his part, though annoying, would not have mattered much; but, with so many others in company, the possibilities of complication, should we need to slip our end, were numerous.  The ship kept near, and Mr. Count, seeing how matters were going, had hastily patched his boat, returning at once with another tub of line.  He was but just in time to bend on, when to our great delight we saw the end slip from our rival’s boat.  This in no wise terminated his lien on the whale, supposing he could prove that he struck first, but it got him out of the way for the time.