A QUADRUPEDAL MARINER.
I may still further digress, and say, that on one occasion we had at sea with us a dog evidently born to a marine life. He was really attached to that ship, and apparently never cared to go ashore. If taken on shore by the captain or one of the officers, he would quite likely get lost; but he always knew enough to make his way back to the landing. If the ship was tied to the dock, he could select her from dozens of others. He never made a mistake, and never went aboard the wrong craft. At sea he would stand his watch as regularly as any one of the officers. When the starboard watch was called, he roused himself up, and went on deck. Sometimes, when he would be lying asleep, a call would be made for all hands, and he would be the first on deck. The rest of the crew, when called out, were generally obliged to put on some article of dress—at any rate, a hat, and possibly a coat; but Charley, as the dog was called, had no toilet to make, and consequently he would be the first at his post.
If he saw a man pulling at a line, he would seize it, and pull also; and sometimes, when there was no chance for him to pull at the line, he would seize the rear man by the seat of his trousers, and pull away for dear life. The men didn’t like this sort of thing, as sometimes he included a little flesh in the folds of the trousers; and Charley got a good many threshings in consequence. But he was so anxious to do something, that within fifteen minutes after he was threshed, if he saw a line of men hauling in a rope which he could not get hold of, in would go his teeth into the trousers of the rear man,—and he had long and strong teeth too.
Every dog has his day, and Charley had his. As before stated, he could pick out his own craft among dozens of ships. If she was anchored from the shore, he would come down to the water’s edge, give a look around, and discover the ship. Then he would strike boldly into the water, and swim towards her. Somebody would see him, and a rope would be lowered, with a noose at the end. Charley would put his fore paws in the noose, seize the rope with his teeth, and be drawn on deck.
CHARLEY’S FATE.
One day, when the ship was at anchor in the Bay of Panama, Charley started to swim out, as usual. The bay was full of sharks, and just as he had reached the side of the ship, and was putting his paws through the noose lowered to receive him, there was a swirl of the water. The head and belly of a large shark were visible for a moment, and with a single yelp of pain and terror, Charley was dragged under the water, and never seen again.
XLVIII.
OUT OF PRISON.