All Jerry could do was to crawl and squirm and belly forward, and always he was met by a snarling mouthful of teeth.

Even so, he would have got the wild-dog in the end, had not Borckman, in passing, reached in and dragged Jerry out by a hind-leg.

Again came Captain Van Horn's call, and Jerry, obedient, trotted on aft.
A meal was being served on deck in the shade of the spanker, and Jerry, sitting between the two men received his share.

Already he had made the generalization that of the two, the captain was the superior god, giving many orders that the mate obeyed.

The mate, on the other hand, gave orders to the blacks, but never did he give orders to the captain.
Furthermore, Jerry was developing a liking for the captain, so he snuggled close to him.