142 THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



steward, who locked him up in a room in the 

 hold, where he assured me the dog would be safe 

 and well looked after. Our staterooms were on 

 the hurricane-deck. Mr. Devereux, my assistant, 

 occupied a cabin with me, and the other two were 

 near by. These cabins were entered by doors 

 opening on deck. During the height of the gale 

 off Cape Hatteras, when the wind and rain 

 together were making an uproar, to which was 

 added the creaking and groaning of the ship and 

 laboring of the engine, Mr. Devereux and I were 

 awakened (it took little to arouse us) by a scratch- 

 ing at the door of the stateroom. It was Grouse ; 

 and getting up and opening the door, he was dis- 

 covered in a drenched condition, but overjoyed to 

 have found his friends. The point to be empha- 

 sized is the fact that this dog was travelling for 

 the first time on board a steamer. He had never 

 been on a large vessel before, for his former trip 

 to Florida had been by rail. He was not allowed 

 to do more than cross the steamer's gangplank 

 when he was taken by the steward and confined 

 below. In order to reach my stateroom he had 

 either to ascend various stairways in the interior 

 of the ship and pass through the cabins and so 

 escape to the upper deck, or to climb up the 

 semi-stairlike ladders that connected the three 

 decks on the outside. He probably followed this 

 latter course. Moreover, in all the tumult and 



