Raggety

He had just come to live in the house of The Great Man, and as neither Raggety nor I were quite sure whether The Great Man would allow him to stay or not, it behooved us both to be exceedingly circumspect. It was therefore most unfortunate that The Great Man should have chosen to behave so strangely. They were playing Bridge that evening, The Great Man and the others, and Raggety politely put aside the curtains with his nose and advanced into the room to ask them how the game was going. He waited a moment, waving a propitiating tail, then advanced further. At this critical moment he came under observation and The Great Man ordered him from the room.

Now, between you and me, I do not believe that Raggety had ever been ordered from a room. Let us plead in extenuation that he did not understand the order. At any rate, he did not go. So of course the order was more vehemently repeated. Stunned, astonished, surprised, Raggety remained passive. Then The Great Man came to him and took him by the collar to pull him ignominiously from the room. Now neither a well-bred dog nor man allows fingers to be inserted under his collar without protest. Raggety protested. He shook off the offending hand and taking the nearest finger, vigorously pinched it between his teeth. It was his way of saying quickly and positively, “None of that, please,—let go.” Then, to end the unpleasant scene, he left the room, while the others bound up the pinched finger,—no skin was broken, no blood flowed,—and soothed the wounded feelings of The Great Man.

And I hearing the tale trembled, fearing that Raggety’s protest meant banishment for him.

But there is a pleasant sequel to the tale.

A day or two later, while his fate was hanging in the balance, Raggety again nosed aside the curtains of the rooms of The Great Man. The latter tells the rest of it this way: “I had been drowsily reading the newspapers, probably took a cat-nap and woke with a consciousness of something breathing in the room. I looked about for our big cat but could not find him. Then on the floor, beside my chair, that little cock-eared dog was sitting up, quietly begging.” Mr. Great Man opened his eyes to find Raggety sitting up on his haunches, waving entreating paws. Nor would he get down until The Great Man stretched out a forgiving hand, took his paw, and there was peace between them. As The Great Man says, “When one gentleman asks pardon of another whom he has hurt, what can the latter do but forgive him generously?” So The Great Man and Raggety have been firm friends ever since.