condition as a sea-captain's widow led her to think she could
talk French to me, and her attempts made me wonder which of us
knew least of that language. And then a most disturbing incident
occurred--we missed Robber, who must have run away at the door
instead of following us into the house. Our distress at having
lost our good dog after having brought him all the way there with
such difficulty occupied us exclusively during the first two
hours we spent in this new home on land. We kept constant watch
at the window until, of a sudden, we joyfully recognised Robber
strolling unconcernedly towards the house from a side street.
Afterwards we learned that our truant had wandered as far as
Oxford Street in search of adventures, and I have always
considered his amazing return to a house which he had not even
entered as a strong proof of the absolute certainty of the
animal's instincts in the matter of memory.

We now had time to realise the tiresome after-effects of the
voyage. The continuous swaying of the floor and our clumsy
efforts to keep from falling we found fairly entertaining; but
when we came to take our well-earned rest in the huge English
double bed, and found that that too rocked up and down, it became
quite unbearable. Every time we closed our eyes we sank into
frightful abysses, and, springing up again, cried out for help.
It seemed as if that terrible voyage would go on to the end of
our lives. Added to this we felt miserably sick; for, after the
atrocious food on board, we had been only too ready to partake,
with less discretion than relish, of tastier fare.

We were so exhausted by all these trials that we forgot to
consider what was, after all, the vital question--the probable