again. Some could tell of furious fights with whales that made our blood boil; others could talk of the green fields at home, until we almost fancied we were boys again; and some could not tell stories at all. They had little to say, and that little they said ill; and I noticed that many of those who were perfect bores would cry loudest to be heard, though none of us wanted to hear them. We used to quench such fellows by calling loudly for a song with a rousing cl orus.

It was not till the night was far spent, and the silver moon was sailing through the starry sky, that the Yankees left us, and rowed away with a parting cheer.

SIX

CHAPTER XI.

RETURN HOME.

IX months after our "gam" with the Yankees Tom Lokins and I found ourselves seated once more in the little garret beside my dear old mother.

If

"Deary me, Robert, how changed ye are !" "Changed, mother! I should think so! you'd gone through all that I've done and seen since we last sat together in this room you'd be changed too."

"And have ye really seen the whales, my boy?" continued my mother, stroking my face with her old hand.

"Seen them?ay, and killed them too—many of them."

"You've been in danger, my son," said my mother earnestly, "but the Lord has preserved you safe through it all.”

"Ay, mother, He has preserved my life in the midst of many dangers," said I, "for which I am most thankful; but He has done more than that.

He has preserved my soul in the midst of dangers of a far worse kind than one's body falls in with while fighting the whales. I'll tell ye of that some other time when we are alone."

There was a short silence after this, during which my mother and I gazed earnestly at each other, and Tom Lokins smoked his pipe and stared at the fire.

"Robert, how big is a whale ?" inquired my mother, suddenly.

"How big? why it's as big as a small ship, only it's longer, and not quite so fat."

"Robert," replied my mother gravely, "ye didn't use to tell untruths; ye must be jokin'."

"Joking, mother, I was never more in earnest in my life. Why, I tell you that I've seen, ay, and helped to cut up, whales that were more than sixty feet long, with heads so big that their mouths could have taken in a boat. Why, mother, I declare to you that you could put this room into a whale's mouth, and you and Tom and I could sit round this table and take our tea upon his tongue quite comfortable. Isn't that true,

Tom?"

My mother looked at Tom, who removed his pipe, puffed a cloud of smoke, and nodded his head twice very decidedly.

"Moreover," said I, "a whale is so big and strong, that it can knock a boat right up into the

air, and break in the sides of a ship. One day a whale fell right on top of one of our boats and smashed it all to bits. Now that's a real truth!"

Again my mother looked at Tom Lokins, and again that worthy man puffed an immense cloud of smoke and nodded his head more decidedly than before. Being anxious to put to flight all her doubts at once, he said solemnly, “Old ooman, that's a fact!"

"Robert," said my mother, "tell me something about the whales."

Just as she said this the door opened, and in came the good old gentleman with the nose like his cane-knob, and with as kind a heart as ever beat in a human breast. My mother had already told me that he came to see her regularly once a week, ever since I went to sea, except in summer, when he was away in the country, and that he had never allowed her to want for anything. My mother one day said to him, "I wonder, sir, why ye take so much thought for a poor old body like me;" to which he replied, "God tells me, 'Blessed are they that consider the poor.' As I want God's blessing, this is one of the means I take to get it ; so, you see," said he with a smile, "I'm a selfish old fellow, for I'm thinking of myself as well as you."

I need scarcely say that there was a hearty

meeting between us three, and that we had much to say to each other. But in the midst of it all my mother turned to the old gentleman and said

"Robert was just going to tell me something about his adventures with the whales."

"That's capital" cried the old gentleman, rubbing his hands. "Come, Bob, my boy, let's hear about 'em."

Being thus invited, I consented to spin them a yarn. The old gentleman settled himself in his chair, my mother smoothed her apron, folded her hands, and looked meekly into my face. Tom Lokins filled his pipe, stretched out his foot to poke the fire with the toe of his shoe, and began to smoke like a steam-engine; then I cleared my throat and began my tale, and before I had done talking that night, I had told them all that I have told in this little book to you, good reader, almost word for word.

Thus ended my first voyage to the South Seas. Many and many a trip have I made since then, and many a wonderful sight have I seen, both in the south and in the north. But if I were to write an account of all my adventures, my little book would grow into a big one, I must therefore come to a close.

The profits of this voyage were so great, that I was enabled to place my mother in a position of