poor steers were
broken-spirited things.

But there was one among them whose spirit kept its flag in the air,
"The Black Devil," as the cook had named him fondly ... a steer, all
glossy-black, excepting for a white spot in the center of his forehead.
He behaved, from the first, more like a turbulent little bull than a
gelding. The cook fed him with tid-bits from the galley.

He had evidently been someone's pet before he had been sold for live
meat, to be shipped to China.

When we took him on board by the horns he showed no fear as he rode in
the air. And, once on his feet again, and loose on deck, he showed us
hell's own fight--out of sheer indignation--back there in Brisbane. He
flashed after us, with the rapid motions of a bullfight in the movies.
Most of us climbed every available thing to get out of his reach. He
smashed here and there through wooden supports as if they were of
cardboard.

The agile little ex-jockey kept running in front of him, hitting him on
the nose and nimbly escaping--in spite of his wing-like, wasted arm,
quicker than his pursuer ... that smashed through, while he ducked and
turned....

"I'll be God-damned," yelled the captain from the safe vantage of the
bridge, "fetch me my pistol," to the cabin boy, "I'll have to shoot the
beast!"

All this while the big black Jamaica cook had been calmly looking on,
leaning fearlessly out over the half-door of the galley ... while the
infuriated animal rushed back and forth.

The cook said nothing. He disappeared, and reappeared with a bunch of
carrots which he held out toward "The Black Devil."...

In immediate transformation, the little beast stopped, forgot his anger,
stretched forth his moist, black nuzzle, sniffing ... and walked up to
the cook, accepting the carrots. The cook began to stroke the animal's
nose....

"_You_ little black devil," he said, in a soft voice, "you're all right
... they don't understand you ... but we're going to be pals--us
two--aren't we?"

Then he came out at the door to where the steer stood, took "The Black
Devil," as we henceforth called him, gently by the under-jaw,--and led
him into a standing-place right across from the galley.

* * * * *

As we struck further north under vast nights of stars, and days of
furnace-hot sunshine, the heat, confinement, and dry, baled food told
hideously on the animals ... the sheep seemed to endure better, partly
because they were not hal