306 A DAY AT FRAMHEIM 



open his mouth ye gods, what teeth! I inwardly 

 rejoice that I was not in Lindstrom's trousers that day. 



' If you notice," he continues, with a smile, " you will 

 see that Lindstrom still sits down cautiously. I myself 

 have a mark on my left calf, and a good many more of 

 us have the same. There are several of us who still 

 treat him with respect. And here we have Lassesen 

 -that's his pet name; he was christened Lasse 

 almost pure black, as you see. I believe he was the 

 wildest of the lot when they came on board. I had 

 him fastened up on the bridge with my other dogs, 

 beside Fix those two were friends from their Green- 

 land days. But I can tell you that when I had to pass 

 Lasse, I always judged the distance first. As a rule, he 

 just stood looking down at the deck exactly like a mad 

 bull. If I tried to make overtures, he didn't move- 

 stood quite still; but I could see how he drew back his 

 upper lip and showed a row of teeth, with which I had 

 no desire to become acquainted. A fortnight passed in 

 this way. Then at last the upper lip sank and the head 

 was raised a little, as though he wanted to see who it 

 was that brought him food and water every day. But 

 the way from that to friendship was long and tortuous. 

 In the time that followed, I used to scratch him on the 

 back with a stick; at first he jumped round, seized the 

 stick, and crushed it between his teeth. I thought 

 myself lucky that it was not my hand. I came a little 

 nearer to him every day, until one day I risked my 



