Aileen Aroon, A Memoir

by William Osborn Stoddard

river, had he notdesisted. At last both dog and sheep were exhausted and drew off, as ifby mutual consent. The dog seated himself close to the outer edge ofthe platform, which was about three feet higher than the river's bank,and Toby went, as he was wont to do, and stood between his master'slegs, resting his head fondly on the captain's clasped hands, but nevertook his eyes off the foe. Just then a dog on board one of the shipshappened to bark, and the Falmouth dog looked round. This was Toby'schance, and he did not miss it nor his enemy either. He was upon himlike a bolt from a catapult. One furious blow knocked the dog off theplatform, next moment Toby had leaped on top of him, and was chasing theyelling animal towards his own ship. There is no doubt Toby would havecrossed the plank and followed him on board, had not his feet slippedand precipitated him into the river. A few minutes afterwards, whenToby, dripping with wet, returned to the platform to look for hismaster, he was greeted with ringing cheers; and many was the plasterspent in treating Toby to fruit. Toby was the hero of Galatz from thathour; but the Falmouth dog never ventured on shore again, and his masteras seldom as possible.

  On her downward voyage, when the vessel reached Selina, at the mouth ofthe river, it became necessary to lighten her in order to get her overthe bar. This took some time, and Toby's master frequently had to go onshore; but Toby himself was not permitted to accompany him, on accountof the filth and muddiness of the place. When the captain wished toreturn he came down to the river-side and hailed the ship to send aboat. And poor Toby was always on the watch for his master if no oneelse was. He used to place his fore-feet on the bulwarks and bleatloudly towards the shore, as much as to say: "I see you, master, andyou'll have a boat in a brace of shakes." Then if no one was on deck,Toby would at once proceed to rouse all hands fore and aft. If themate, Mr Gilbert, pretended to be asleep on a locker, he would fairlyroll him off on to the deck.

  Toby was revengeful to a degree, and if any one struck him, he wouldwait his chance, even if for days, to pay him out with interest in hisown coin. He was at first very jealous of two little pigs which werebought as companions to him; but latterly he grew very fond of them, andas they soon got very fat, Toby used to roll them along the deck like acouple of footballs. There were two parties on board that Toby did notlike, or rather that he liked to annoy whenever he got the chance,namely, the cook and the cat. He used to cheat the former and chase thelatter on every possible occasion. If his master took pussy and satdown with her on his knee, Toby would at once commence to strike her offwith his head. Finding that she was so soft and yielding that this didnot hurt her, he would then lift his fore-foot and attempt to strike herdown with that; failing in that, he would bite viciously at her; and ifthe captain laughed at him, then all Toby's vengeance would be wreakedon his master. But after a little scene like this, Toby would alwayscome and coax for forgiveness. Toby was taught a great many tricks,among others to leap backward and forward through a life-buoy. When hishay and fresh provisions went down, Toby would eat pea-soup, invariablyslobbering all his face in so doing, and even pick a bone like a dog.He was likewise very fond of boiled rice, and his drink was water,although he preferred porter and ale; but while allowing him areasonable quantity of beer, the captain never encouraged him in thenasty habit the sailors had taught him of chewing tobacco.

  It is supposed that some animals have a prescience of coming storms.Toby used to go regularly to the bulwarks every night, and placing hisfeet against them sniff all around him. If content, he would go and liedown and fall fast asleep; but it was a sure sign of bad weather comingbefore morning, when Toby kept wandering among his master's feet andwould not go to rest.

  Pea-soup and pork-bones are scarcely to be considered the correct foodfor a sheep, and so it is hardly to be wondered at that Toby got verythin before the vessel reached Falmouth.

  Once Toby was in a hotel coffee-room with his master and a friend of thelatter's, when instead of calling for two glasses of beer, the captaincalled for three.

  "Is the extra glass for yourself or for me?" asked his friend.

  The extra glass was for Toby, who soon became the subject of generalconversation.

  "I warrant noo," said a north-country skipper, "that thing would kick upa bonnie shine if you were to gang oot and leave him."

  "Would you like to try him?" replied Captain Brown.

  "I would," said the Scot, "vera muckle."

  Accordingly Toby was imprisoned in one corner of the room, where he wasfirmly held by the Scotch skipper; and Captain Brown, after giving Tobya glance which meant a great deal, left the room. No sooner had he gonethan Toby struggled clear of the Scotchman, and took the nearest routefor the door. This necessitated his jumping on to the middle of thetable, and here Toby missed his footing and fell, kicking over glasses,decanters, and pewter pots by the half-dozen. He next floored ahalf-drunken fellow, over whose head he tried to spring, and so securedhis escape, and left the Scotch skipper to pay the bill.

  One day Captain Brown was going up the steps of the Custom-house, whenhe found that not only Toby but Toby's two pigs were following close athis heels. He turned round to drive them all back; but Toby neverthought for a moment that his master meant that _he_ should return.

  "It is these two awkward creatures of pigs," thought Toby, "that mastercan't bear the sight of."

  So Toby went to work at once, and first rolled one piggie downstairs,then went up and rolled the other piggie downstairs; but the one piggiealways got to the top of the stairs again by the time his brother piggiewas rolled down to the bottom. Thinking that as far as appearanceswent, Toby had his work cut out for the next half-hour, his masterentered the Custom-house. But Toby and his friends soon found some morecongenial employment; and when Captain Brown returned, he found them alltogether in an outer room, dancing about with the remains of a new matabout their necks, which they had just succeeded in tearing to pieces.

  Their practical jokes cost the captain some money one way or another.

  One day the three friends made a combined attack on a woman who wascarrying a young pig in a sack; this little pig happened to squeak, whenToby and his pigs went to the rescue. They tore the woman's dress toatoms and delivered the little pig. Toby was very much addicted todescribing the arc of a circle; that was all very good when it wasmerely a fence he was flying over, but when it happened that a windowwas in the centre of the arc, then it came rather hard on the captain'spocket.

  In order to enable him to pick up a little after his long voyage, Tobywas sent to country lodgings at a farmer's. But barely a week hadelapsed when the farmer sent him back again with his compliments, sayingthat he would not keep him for his weight in gold. He led his, thefarmer's, sheep into all sorts of mischief that they had never dreamedof before, and he defied the dogs, and half-killed one or two of them.

  Toby returned like himself, for when he saw his master in the distancehe baa-ed aloud for joy, and flew towards him like a wild thing,dragging the poor boy in the mud behind him.

  Toby next took out emigrants to New York, and was constantly employedall day in sending the steerage passengers off the quarter-deck. Henever hurt the children, however, but contented himself by tumbling themalong the deck and stealing their bread-and-butter.

  From New York Toby went to Saint Stephens. There a dog flew out and bitCaptain Brown in the leg. It was a dear bite, however, for the dog, forToby caught him in the act, and hardly left life enough in him to crawlaway. At Saint Stephens Toby was shorn, the weather being oppressivelyhot. No greater insult could have been offered him. His anger andchagrin were quite ludicrous to witness. He examined himself a dozentimes, and every time he looked round and saw his naked back he tried torun away from himself. He must have thought with the wee "wifiekiecomin' frae the fair--This is no me surely, this is no me." But whenhis master, highly amused at his antics, attempted to add insult toinjury by pointing his finger at him and laughing him to scorn, Toby'swrath knew no bounds, and he attacked the captain on the spot. Hemanaged, howe
ver, to elude the blow, and Toby walked on shore in a pet.Whether it was that he was ashamed of his ridiculous appearance, or ofattempting to strike his kind master in anger, cannot be known, but forthree days and nights Toby never appeared, and the captain was verywretched indeed. But when he did return, he was so exceedingly penitentand so loving and coaxing that he was forgiven on the spot.

  When Toby arrived with his vessel in Queen's Dock, Liverpool, on a rainymorning, some nice fresh hay was brought on board. This was a greattreat for Toby, and after he had eaten his fill, he thought he could notdo better than sleep among it, which thought he immediately transmutedto action, covering himself all up except the head. By-and-by the ownerof the ship came on board, and taking a survey of things in general, hespied Toby's head.

  "Hollo!" he said, "what's that?"