"And such pay," said Clifton's friend, getting warm--"five times more than the ordinary pay. If it hadn't been for that, Richard Shandon wouldn't have found a soul to go with him. A ship with a queer shape, going nobody knows where, and looking more like not coming back than anything else, it wouldn't have suited this child." "Whether it would have suited you or not," answered Cornhill, "you couldn't have been one of the crew of the _Forward_." "And why, pray?" "Because you don't fulfil the required conditions. I read that all married men were excluded, and you are in the category, so you needn't talk. Even the very name of the ship is a bold one. The _Forward_--where is it to be forwarded to? Besides, nobody knows who the captain is." "Yes, they do," said a simple-faced young sailor. "Why, you don't mean to say that you think Shandon is the captain of the _Forward_?" said Cornhill. "But----" answered the young sailor-- "Why, Shandon is commander, and nothing else; he's a brave and bold sailor, an experienced whaler, and a jolly fellow worthy in every respect to be the captain, but he isn't any more captain than you or I. As to who is going to command after God on board he doesn't know any more than we do. When the moment has come the true captain will appear, no one knows how nor where, for Richard Shandon has not said and hasn't been allowed to say to what quarter of the globe he is going to direct his ship." "But, Mr. Cornhill," continued the young sailor, "I assure you that there is someone on board who was announced in the letter, and that Mr. Shandon was offered the place of second to." "What!" said Cornhill, frowning, "do you mean to maintain that the _Forward_ has a captain on board?" "Yes, Mr. Cornhill." "Where did you get your precious information from?" "From Johnson, the boatswain." "From Johnson?" "Yes, sir." "Johnson told you so?" "He not only told me so, but he showed me the captain." "He showed him to you!" said Cornhill, stupefied. "And who is it, pray?" "A dog." "What do you mean by a dog?" "A dog on four legs." Stupefaction reigned amongst the crew of the _Nautilus_. Under any other circumstances they would have burst out laughing. A dog captain of a vessel of a hundred and seventy tons burden! It was enough to make them laugh. But really the _Forward_ was such an extraordinary ship that they felt it might be no laughing matter, and they must be sure before they denied it. Besides, Cornhill himself didn't laugh. "So Johnson showed you the new sort of captain, did he?" added he, addressing the young sailor, "and you saw him?" "Yes, sir, as plainly as I see you now." "Well, and what do you think about it?" asked the sailors of the quartermaster. "I don't think anything," he answered shortly. "I don't think anything, except that the _Forward_ is a ship belonging to the devil, or madmen fit for nothing but Bedlam."