or the
coast, which he could not see indeed, but which he felt clearly in the
distance.

The first land he encountered was a high hogback of rock which proved
to be an island. Swimming around under its lea, he ran into a little
herd of seals of his own kind, and hastened confidently to fraternize
with them.

The strangers, mostly females and young males, met his advances with a
good-natured indifference. One of the herd, however, a big dog-seal
who seemed to consider himself the chief, would have none of him, but
grumbled and showed his teeth in a most unpleasant manner. The Pup
avoided him politely, and crawled out upon the rocks, about twenty
feet away, beside two friendly females. He wanted to get acquainted,
that was all. But the old male, after grumbling for several minutes,
got himself worked up into a rage, and came floundering over the rocks
to do up the visitor. Roughly he pushed the two complaisant females
off into the water, and then, with a savage lunge, he fell upon the
Pup.

But in this last step the old male was ill-advised. Hitherto the Pup
had felt diffident in the face of such a reception, but now a sudden
red rage flared into his eyes. Young as he was, he was as big as his
antagonist, and, here on land, a dozen times more nimble. Here came in
the advantage of Captain Ephraim's training. When the old male lunged
upon him, he simply wasn't there. He had shot aside, and wheeled like
a flash, and secured a hold at the root of his assailant's flipper. Of
course in this position he too received some sharp punishment. But he
held on like a bulldog, worrying, worrying mercilessly, till all at
once the other squealed, and threw up his muzzle, and struggled to get
away. The Pup, satisfied with this sign of submission, let him go at
once, and he flounced off furiously into the water.

As a prompt result of this victory, the Pup found himself undisputed
leader of the little herd, his late antagonist, after a vain effort to
effect a division, having slipped indolently into a subordinate place.
This suited the Pup exactly, who was happy himself, and wanted
everybody else to be so likewise.

As spring advanced, the herd worked their way northward along the
Newfoundland coast, sometimes journeying hurriedly, sometimes
lingering for days in the uninhabited inlets and creek mouths. The Pup
was in a kind of ecstasy over his return to the water world, and
indulged in antics that seemed perhaps frivolous in the hea