Chapter 2 Find the Beast Captain Farragut was a good sailor.
It was as if he and the boat were one spirit.
It was clear that either this man would eventually kill the sea monster, or else the monster would kill him.
I could see no other choice.
The rest of the men on board felt the same.
The narwhal must be stopped.
When Captain Farragut offered 2000 to the first man to see it, the sailors became even more excited.
The most eager of all was a man named Ned Land.
Ned was known as the Prince of Harpooners.
He could throw a spear better than any other man.
Ned did not think a whale of such great size could exist.
He was the only man on board who felt this way.
He had a hard time believing that there was a man-made ship out there, but a narwhal seemed impossible.
I tried to change his mind, but he was stubborn.
A man-made boat just made more sense than a whale.
The captain and crew searched the waters for three months.
But as time passed, everyone got tired.
It looked as though the narwhal had gone for good.
The sailors couldn't hide their disappointment.
They were starting to talk of going home, even though Captain Farragut spoke against it.
If he was to keep his crew together, he would have to make some changes quickly.
Give me three days, the captain said.
If the monster did not appear in the next three days, the boat would be turned around.
The Abraham Lincoln would return home.
This gave the crew some hope.
If they didn't find the beast, at least they would be going back to their normal lives.
The sailors gathered on the deck again.
At least one group of men was watching for a sign at all times.
Two days passed.
The men tried everything to draw out the monster.
They threw food overboard.
Small boats went out from the ship, leaving no area of water unsearched.
Men searched day and night, but for nothing.
On the third day, the captain had no choice but to turn around.
The narwhal was nowhere in sight.
Even Captain Farragut knew it was time to head home, but as the boat turned, so did the sailors' luck.
A voice rang out through the silence.
It was the voice of Ned Land, the only non-believer on the ship.
And the words he shouted brought everyone running to sea.
Captain Farragut gave the order to stop.
The ship slowed to a halt, rocking gently with the waves.
I searched the darkness, wondering how the man had seen anything.
My heart beat as if it would break.
But Ned was not wrong.
We all saw the object he pointed to.
It lit up the sea with a strange glow.
The shine on the water made an oval shape.
We could feel the warmth coming from below the water.
One of the officers tried to explain away the object in scientific terms.
No, I replied, see, see, it moves.
It is going forward and backward.
It is rushing toward us.
A loud cry rose from the crowd.
Silence, said the captain.
Reverse the engines.
We need to go back.
The orders were followed and the ship moved away from the creature.
But the wild beast raced toward us even faster.
We held our breath as we waited for the animal to catch us.
I secretly prayed for the Abraham Lincoln would never survive an attack by a beast of this size.
Suddenly, the light faded.
We felt some relief.
But then it came up on the other side as if the animal had slid under our ship.
We expected a crash at any moment.
Instead, the huge creature raced away without attacking.
The captain had a look of disbelief on his face.
"'Mr.
Aranax,' he said to me, "'I don't know what to think.'
I answered with a question to which I already knew the answer.
"'You now believe this is an animal of nature?'
I do indeed, the captain replied.
It seems to be a giant electric narwhal.
I think nothing less than a torpedo will stop this beast, I added.
Yes, with this power, it must be the most terrible creature ever created.
We must keep watch carefully.
The sailors spent the night watching the sea for a sign.
The light from the monster went out around midnight.
Within an hour, a loud whistling began.
By morning, the crew was getting mad at the animal.
They tried harpooning it and shooting it with a gun.
Their efforts didn't seem to hurt the beast at all.
Attacks during the day seemed pointless.
The beast rarely appeared above the water.
When we did see it, we always seemed to be so far behind.
As night came, the waters got rough.
The lights that shone around the beast allowed us to close in on it more easily.
The captain wanted to bring the beast down.
Several shots fired by the crew hit the creature.
Ned stood watch with his harpoon.
I stood with him at the side, praying we would see the beast.
When he saw his first chance, Ned threw the harpoon at the animal.
I held on to the railing, trying to fight the waves made by the great animal.
The harpoon hit a hard object and sent up a blast of water.
The blast knocked several men over and threw me overboard before I even knew what was happening.
