Moby Dick; Or, The Whale
Page 21
CHAPTER 20
All Astir
A day or two passed, and there was great activity aboardthe Pequod. Not only were the old sails being mended, but new sailswere coming on board, and bolts of canvas, and coils of rigging;in short, everything betokened that the ship's preparations werehurrying to a close. Captain Peleg seldom or never went ashore,but sat in his wigwam keeping a sharp look-out upon the hands:Bildad did all the purchasing and providing at the stores;and the men employed in the hold and on the rigging were workingtill long after night-fall.
On the day following Queequeg's signing the articles,word was given at all the inns where the ship's companywere stopping, that their chests must be on board before night,for there was no telling how soon the vessel might be sailing.So Queequeg and I got down our traps, resolving, however, to sleepashore till the last. But it seems they always give very longnotice in these cases, and the ship did not sail for several days.But no wonder; there was a good deal to be done, and there isno telling how many things to be thought of, before the Pequodwas fully equipped.
Every one knows what a multitude of things--beds, sauce-pans, knivesand forks, shovels and tongs, napkins, nut-crackers, and what not,are indispensable to the business of housekeeping. Just so with whaling,which necessitates a three-years' housekeeping upon the wide ocean,far from all grocers, costermongers, doctors, bakers, and bankers.And though this also holds true of merchant vessels, yet not by any meansto the same extent as with whalemen. For besides the great lengthof the whaling voyage, the numerous articles peculiar to the prosecutionof the fishery, and the impossibility of replacing them at the remoteharbors usually frequented, it must be remembered, that of all ships,whaling vessels are the most exposed to accidents of all kinds,and especially to the destruction and loss of the very things uponwhich the success of the voyage most depends. Hence, the spare boats,spare spars, and spare lines and harpoons, and spare everythings,almost, but a spare Captain and duplicate ship.
At the period of our arrival at the Island, the heaviest storageof the Pequod had been almost completed; comprising her beef,bread, water, fuel, and iron hoops and staves. But, as before hinted,for some time there was a continual fetching and carrying on boardof divers odds and ends of things, both large and small.
Chief among those who did this fetching and carrying wasCaptain Bildad's sister, a lean old lady of a most determinedand indefatigable spirit, but withal very kindhearted, who seemedresolved that, if she could help it, nothing should be foundwanting in the Pequod, after once fairly getting to sea.At one time she would come on board with a jar of picklesfor the steward's pantry; another time with a bunch ofquills for the chief mate's desk, where he kept his log;a third time with a roll of flannel for the small of some one'srheumatic back. Never did any woman better deserve her name,which was Charity--Aunt Charity, as everybody called her.And like a sister of charity did this charitable Aunt Charitybustle about hither and thither, ready to turn her hand and heartto anything that promised to yield safety, comfort, and consolationto all on board a ship in which her beloved brother Bildadwas concerned, and in which she herself owned a score or twoof well-saved dollars.
But it was startling to see this excellent hearted Quakeresscoming on board, as she did the last day, with a long oil-ladlein one hand, and a still longer whaling lance in the other.Nor was Bildad himself nor Captain Peleg at all backward.As for Bildad, he carried about with him a long listof the articles needed, and at every fresh arrival,down went his mark opposite that article upon the paper.Every once in a while Peleg came hobbling out of his whalebone den,roaring at the men down the hatchways, roaring up to theriggers at the mast-head, and then concluded by roaring backinto his wigwam.
During these days of preparation, Queequeg and I often visitedthe craft, and as often I asked about Captain Ahab, and how he was,and when he was going to come on board his ship. To these questionsthey would answer, that he was getting better and better, and wasexpected aboard every day; meantime, the two Captains, Peleg and Bildad,could attend to everything necessary to fit the vessel for the voyage.If I had been downright honest with myself, I would have seenvery plainly in my heart that I did but half fancy being committedthis way to so long a voyage, without once laying my eyes on the manwho was to be the absolute dictator of it, so soon as the shipsailed out upon the open sea. But when a man suspects any wrong,it sometimes happens that if he be already involved in the matter,he insensibly strives to cover up his suspicions even from himself.And much this way it was with me. I said nothing, and triedto think nothing.
At last it was given out that some time next day the shipwould certainly sail. So next morning, Queequeg and I tooka very early start.