Chapter 128 Summary

The Pequod is met by a fast approaching boat. Ahab asks if the crew of this vessel, called The Rachel, has seen Moby Dick. He receives an affirmative answer, but the captain is too overwhelmed with his own troubles to talk about the whale long. Moby Dick had appeared the day before while the crew was trying to catch from a herd of whales. A single boat was sent after the white whale. The watch from the mastheads thought the crew in the boat got a harpoon into Moby Dick, but then disappeared from sight. The captain was looking for news of that boat or any of its crew. They hadn't been heard from since. Adding to the tragedy of the situation, the captain's twelve-year-old son was on board the missing boat. The captain asks Ahab's help in finding his boy. Although the...