Ch.2: On Board the Rachel

Ishmael was picked up by the Rachel in the Pacific in the vicinity of Australia. By this time Captain Gardiner had resolved himself to the death of his 12 year old boy and was preparing to sail east to the western Hemisphere once again. He had filled his barrels with oil but his heart was fuller still with that loss.

"And what sad tale do you have to tell, Son, that here you bob on this coffin?" were the first words Gardiner spoke to Ishmael.

"Sir, a tale full as heavy for all but me of those who sailed the Pequod with Ahab. Moby Dick not only had Ahab lashed to his side with a harpooner's noose, taking him to the depths, but turned and stove in the Pequod, too. I fear, as Job's messengers said, I alone am left to tell."

"Well, lad...your name?"

"Ishmael, Sir."

"Perhaps you have some tribes yet to bear with a dear Nantucket girl. You're welcome aboard and, once recovered, may serve aboard the Rachel as you did the Pequod... as carpenter's mate, if you choose."

"Aye, Sir, although I've been before the mast my sailing days, I'll try my hand at a trade that will do me once ashore as much or more than my schoolmaster days did."

And that was how he met Saint Bob...