Then Mrs. Weldon, turning to her companions, "And now, my friends,"
said she, "let us ask Heaven for strength and courage for ourselves."

Yes! They could not too earnestly implore the aid of Him who can do all
things, for their situation was one of the gravest!

This ship which carried them had no longer a captain to command her, no
longer a crew to work her. She was in the middle of that immense
Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from any land, at the mercy of the
winds and waves.

What fatality then had brought that whale in the "Pilgrim's" course?
What still greater fatality had urged the unfortunate Captain Hull,
generally so wise, to risk everything in order to complete his cargo?
And what a catastrophe to count among the rarest of the annals of
whale-fishing was this one, which did not allow of the saving of one of
the whale-boat's sailors!

Yes, it was a terrible fatality! In fact, there was no longer a seaman
on board the "Pilgrim." Yes, one--Dick Sand--and he was only a
beginner, a young man of fifteen. Captain, boatswain, sailors, it may
be said that the whole crew was now concentrated in him.

On board there was one lady passenger, a mother and her son, whose
presence would render the situation much more difficult. Then there
were also some blacks, honest men, courageous and zealous without a
doubt, ready to obey whoever should undertake to command them, but
ignorant of the simplest notions of the sailor's craft.

Dick Sand stood motionless, his arms crossed, looking at the place