e sufficed to fill. His friends came to
it in such numbers that even a man as easy-going as the doctor might
have said with Socrates, "My house is small, but may it please Heaven
never to fill it with friends!"

To complete the description of the _Forward_ it is sufficient to say
that the kennel of the large Danish dog was constructed under the
window of the mysterious cabin but its savage inhabitant preferred
wandering between decks and in the hold; it seemed impossible to tame
him, and no one had been able to become his master; during the night
he howled lamentably, making the hollows of the ship ring in a sinister
fashion. Was it regret for his absent master? Was it the instinct
of knowing that he was starting for a perilous voyage? Was it a
presentiment of dangers to come? The sailors decided that it was for
the latter reason, and more than one pretended to joke who believed
seriously that the dog was of a diabolical kind. Pen, who was a brutal
man, was going to strike him once, when he fell, unfortunately,
against the angle of the capstan, and made a frightful wound in his
head. Of course this accident was placed to the account of the
fantastic animal. Clifton, the most superstitious of the crew, made
the singular observation that when the dog was on the poop he always
walked on the windward side, and afterwards, when the brig was out
at sea, and altered its tack, the surprising animal changed its
direction with the wind the same as the captain of the _Forward_ would
have done in his place. Dr. Clawbonny, whose kindness and caresses
would have tamed a tiger, tried in vain to win the good graces of
the dog; he lost his time and his pains. The animal did not answer
to any name ever written in the dog calendar, and the crew ended by
calling him Captain, for he appeared perfectly conversant with ship
customs; it was evident that it was not his first trip. From such
facts it is easy to understand the boatswain's answer to Clifton's
friend, and the credulity of those who heard it; more than one repeated
jokingly that he expected one day to see the dog take human shape
and command the manoeuvres with a resounding voice.

If Richard Shandon did not feel the same apprehensions he was not
without anxiety, and the day before the departure, in the evening
of April 5th, he had a conversation on the subject with the doctor,
Wall, and Johnson in the poop cabin. These four persons were tasting
their tenth grog, and probably thei