Two days after meeting with the Matilda Sayer the crow’s-nest reported whale in the usual manner. But this time it was a lone whale of very large size steadily making a passage across the ground at a leisurely pace. Now a lone whale is always potentially very dangerous, because his loneliness is due to the fact that he has been cast out of the society of his kind. A big bull whale only maintains his position as leader of the school as long as he is able to beat all aspirants to the dignity. And as the young bulls growing up are continually striving to attain that position, it will easily be seen that to keep it the holder must be of exceptional strength and vigour, while the day will surely come when in the natural order of events he will have to abdicate, which does not mean that he may t
