The Spirit-Spout — Moby-Dick

Weeks pass as the Pequod sails slowly through several whaling grounds. Life on deck grows quiet and routine.

One moonlit night Fedallah stands watch at the main-mast head. After nights of silence he suddenly cries out that he sees a whale spout ahead.

The jet looks silver in the moonlight, like something holy rising from the sea. The crew is thrilled. Ahab orders more sail and drives the ship forward.

But when they chase it, the spout vanishes. Every sailor swears he saw it once, but not twice.

The same phantom spout returns on later nights. Each time it disappears when pursued. It always seems farther ahead, as if leading the ship on.

Some sailors begin to believe it is Moby Dick himself, beckoning them toward a distant meeting. The mild, lonely seas feel strangely empty and ominous.

Then the weather turns violent near the Cape. Sea birds cling to the rigging. The black waves heave like a troubled conscience.

In the storm Ahab stands grimly on deck for hours, lashed to the rail while the crew swings in bowlines. Few words are spoken.

One night Starbuck goes below and finds Ahab asleep in his chair, still wet from the storm. Charts lie open. His closed eyes face the cabin compass.

Starbuck shudders. Even in sleep, the old captain seems fixed on his purpose.