Soon after , Dr. Livesey 's horse came to the door and he rode away , but the captain held his peace that evening , and for many evenings to come . 2 Black Dog Appears and Disappears IT was not very long after this that there occurred the first of the mysterious events that rid us at last of the captain , though not , as you will see , of his affairs . It was a bitter cold winter , with long , hard frosts and heavy gales ; and it was plain from the first that my poor father was little likely to see the spring . He sank daily , and my mother and I had all the inn upon our hands , and were kept busy enough without paying much regard to our unpleasant guest . It was one January morning , very early -- a pinching , frosty morning -- the cove all grey with hoar-frost , the ripple lapping softly on the stones , the sun still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to seaward . The captain had risen earlier than usual and set out down the beach , his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat , his brass telescope under his arm , his hat tilted back upon his head . I remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off , and the last sound I heard of him as he turned the big rock was a loud snort of indignation , as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livesey . Well , mother was upstairs with father and I was laying the breakfast-table against the captain 's return when the parlour door opened and a man stepped in on whom I had never set my eyes before . He was a pale , tallowy creature , wanting two fingers of the left hand , and though he wore a cutlass , he did not look much like a fighter . I had always my eye open for seafaring men , with one leg or two , and I remember this one puzzled me . He was not sailorly , and yet he had a smack of the sea about him too . I asked him what was for his service , and he said he would take rum ; but as I was going out of the room to fetch it , he sat down upon a table and motioned me to draw near . I paused where I was , with my napkin in my hand . `` Come here , sonny , '' says he . `` Come nearer here . '' I took a step nearer . `` Is this here table for my mate Bill ? '' he asked with a kind of leer . I told him I did not know his mate Bill , and this was for a person who stayed in our house whom we called the captain . `` Well , '' said he , `` my mate Bill would be called the captain , as like as not .
He has a cut on one cheek and a mighty pleasant way with him , particularly in drink , has my mate XXXXX .
Bill Livesey evening first gales hoar-frost leer left morning parlour