CHAPTER FIVE

An Adventure

For quite some time, the voyage of the Abraham Lincoln, had no incidents, but on the 30th of June, the ship met a crew of American whale catchers, following a great whale. They begged Ned to go onboard to help them catch the whale they had in sight. Our captain agreed to let him go aboard their ship, as we would now see Ned's great skill as a whale catcher. Ned, instead of only catching the one whale insight, caught another, as well.

Every man onboard was watching the seas carefully day and night, in hopes of receiving the award of two thousand dollars. I, however, was not interested in such a prize, but my curiosity forced my eyes in the direction of the sea, along with the ship's crew. The front and back of the ship were crowded with people watching the seas, each hoping to first spot the mysterious sea animal. No one could eat or sleep. Twenty times a day, we heard one man or another announce that they had seen the great sea animal, but they had been mistaken. For three months, we lived this way with continual excitement and anxiety.

On the 5th of November, our ship was less than two hundred miles from the coast of Japan. This was the last night we would continue in these waters before heading towards Europe to end our journey.

"Come, Conseil," I said, "This is the last chance to win the two thousand dollars."

"Sir," replied Conseil, "I had never intended to win the prize."

"You are right, Conseil. We have all been quite foolish, wasting our time in looking for this sea monster. We should have been back in France six months ago."

"In your home, sir," replied Conseil, "and in your museum, sir, is where I wish to be."

Just a moment later, we suddenly heard Ned Land cry out, "Look out there! The very thing we are looking for!"

(end of section)