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The captain nodded “I’ll get cook to fetch you some soup Then it’s back to the fo’c’sle with you”
The captain relented and let Caleb stay in his cabin until all the blubber had been rendered into oil and stored in barrels, then he summoned the forecastle hands on deck He praised them for their hard work, and said:
“You all know that a whale ate the green hand like Jonah in the Bible I’ Caleb will soon be back at his work I’ his pay for time lost The only one on this ship who’s allowed to shirk his job is a dead man”
The corins from the assembled hands
Dobbs continued “Now,Caleb looks different than you remember him The foul juices of the whale’s innards have bleached him whiter than a boiled turnip” He cast a stern eye on the crew “I’ll allow no one on this ship to ht of another man’s misfortune That’s all”
The ship’s officers helped Caleb climb onto the deck The captain asked Caleb to re his face like a asp came from the crew
“Take a good look at our Jonah and you’ll have sorandchildren,” the captain said “He’s no different froet us some whales”
The captain had purposely called Caleb a Jonah, a seaman’s naht of it he’d suck the wind out of the sails of unfavorable comparisons to the biblical character who’d been sed by a great fish A few hands quietly suggested heaving Caleb over the side Fortunately, everyone was too busy for mischief The sea that had been so barren now teemed hales There was no doubt that the ship’s fortunes had changed for the better It was as if the Princess had beconet for every whale in the ocean
Every day, the boats were launched after cries from the lookout The cast-iron try-pots bubbled like witches’ cauldrons An oily pall of black sray The cook saay on his fiddle Within months of Caleb’s encounter with the whale, the ship’s hold was filled to capacity
Before the long voyage hoiven shore leave Dobbs put into Pohnpei, a lush island known for its handsoness to provide services and goods to visiting whale vessels from every part of the world crowded the harbor
Dobbs was Quaker by upbringing and didn’t indulge in spirits or native woious beliefs took second place to his sailing orders:home a shipload of oil How he accohed heartily as boatloads of drunken and raucous crewmen stumbled back on board or were fished out of the water into which they’d fallen
Caleb stayed on board and watched the con smile The captain was relieved that Caleb showed no interest in shore leave The natives were friendly enough, but Caleb’s bleached hair and skin ht cause problems with the superstitious islanders
Dobbs paid a courtesy call to the A the visit the consul was notified that a tropical sickness had struck the island Dobbs cut hishe wrote:
Last day of shore leave Captain visits US Consul A Markham, who conducted tour of ancient city named Nan Madol Upon return, Consul advised of sickness on island Ended liberty and left island in a hurry
The remnants of the crew stumbled back onto the ship and promptly fell into a rum-soaked snooze The captain ordered the sobered-up hands to raise the anchor and set sail By the time the cherry-eyed men were roused from their bunks and ordered back to work, the ship ell at sea With a steady breeze, Dobbs and hisin their own beds in a few months time