CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Only Survivor

The story's finished, and I alone survived the wreck.

As I was being dragged under the sea by the whirlpool, being pulled round and round toward the center, a black object shot up from the center. A coffin-shaped life saver shot out from the center and floated by my side. Even after death, my best friend had saved my life. It was Queequeg's coffin life saver.

For one whole day and one whole night I floated on it. The sharks did not harm me as they swam by, and the wild sea birds flew over me with their mouths shut tightly.

Floating all alone at sea, I had much to think about. I thought of Ahab going after his goal even though it meant death, and of the White Whale's answer of revenge. The memory of Queequeg's kindness protected and kept my spirits alive, just as his coffin chest now kept my body above the sea.

On the second day I saw a ship's sail coming nearer and nearer. Seeing me in the water, she stopped to pick me up at last. It was the Rachel, still looking for her missing children. But instead she had found me, Ishmael, another missing child.

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