6 C 



84 



RECREATION 



tell Laddie, that was the cat, and Petro, 

 that was the parrot, and me about his strange 

 adventures on land and sea. Of course, we 

 could not understand all of it, but he liked 

 nothing better than to get down in that great 

 armchair, his pipe in his mouth, Petro on the 

 back of the chair, Laddie on one side and 

 me on the other. Then we four would sit 

 sometimes through a whole evening, he talk- 

 ing and we listening, and when he would get 

 excited with his tale and raise his voice, or 

 strike out with his fist, Laddie would arch 

 his back, I would growl or bark, and Petro 

 would scream: "Aye, aye, ma hearty!" 

 Oh, it was great ! and I ought to have been 

 perfectly contented and behaved myself, 

 but a dog who had had so much excitement 

 as I had always known could hardly be ex- 

 pected to be perfectly satisfied with such an 

 uneventful existence. 'Tis true I had a little 

 change, when the Captain would take me 

 with him in his boat Nancy No. 2 and 

 we would be out all day fishing. I enjoyed 

 that immensely, but I had gotten into roving 

 ways, and some days I just could not stay 

 at home. Several times, I am ashamed to 

 say, I got into little fights, and when I would 

 come sneaking home my master showed 

 plainly he disapproved of my conduct. 



Among the few visitors to our house was a 

 sailor by the name of Howard; he was a 

 gunner on board the United States revenue 

 cutter Bear that often came into port here 

 (she did service in Alaskan waters in sum- 

 mer and came South in winter); he was 

 a right nice sort of a man and my master 

 and he were great friends. 



One day when he was at our house and 

 my master had been having me do all the 

 cute little tricks he had taught me, the con- 

 versation turned on pets and he asked where 

 I came from. Then my master told him about 

 finding me half dead in the lumber yard, 

 and as much about me as he knew, ending 

 with: "I expect nothing else but what he 

 will get killed some day, he is such a little 

 fighter, and lately I can't keep him at home 

 at all." Gunner Howard laughed and said: 

 "He ought to live on shipboard — he would 

 have to stay there; better let me see if they 

 don't want him on our ship; he would help 

 to amuse us with his antics on one of our 

 long cruises." 



I presume the Captain gave his consent to 



this plan, for the next day Gunner Howard 

 came back and with him was a very fine 

 looking gentleman, whom he introduced to 

 my master as Mr. Helmat, an officer of the 

 Bear. I liked that man right off, he had a 

 kind face, but I knew by the shape of his 

 jaw that when he said I must do a thing I 

 would have to do it — you know some people 

 affect you that way. 



Well, we got to be great friends, and I 

 did my best tricks for him, for which he 

 patted me on my head kindly, but went 

 away. I was a little disappointed, as I had 

 begun to think I'd like to be a sailor first- 

 rate. A day or two later he came again, and 

 this time he asked me if I wanted to go with 

 him and I barked my willingness and cheer- 

 fully left the home that had sheltered me in 

 my greatest hour of need. 



I don't believe I was ungrateful. I was 

 quite fond of my old master, the Captain, 

 but he was away so much and it was woe- 

 fully stupid to be shut up all day with that 

 tomcat and a screaming parrot. 



My new master took me at once on board 

 the ship, introduced me to the other dogs, 

 gave me to understand I was to behave 

 myself, and then took me down into his room 

 and showed me where I was to sleep, on the 

 foot of his bed, and there I did sleep every 

 night but two (of which I will tell you later) 

 for over two years — two beautiful happy 

 years. 



CHAPTER IV 



I LEARN THE FIRST DUTY OF A SAILOR 



How different that life on shipboard was 

 from any of my former experiences. But the 

 thing which seemed strangest to me was the 

 way they had of telling the time. Instead of 

 clocks that struck the hour they rang bells; 

 for example, at twelve o'clock they rang 

 eight bells. It was very confusing, but I 

 finally got accustomed to it, and knew what 

 the different bells meant. 



I lived almost entirely in the officers' 

 quarters, not the Captain's, of course, 

 although I called upon him often, and had 

 many a dainty bit from his table. I think 

 it was he who gave me my first taste of 

 champagne. I don't think much of that 

 stuff, for I noticed folks often act so silly 

 after drinking it. 



When the Bear was in port during the 



