I am not a big dog and I don’t know very much, but I know more than I
used to. The reason why I know more than I used to is because I asked
Carlo some questions once. I asked him what made him so gaunt and thin
and why he had such an enquiring expression on his face and such a hump
on the top of his head. He didn’t answer right away, and--I noticed the
enquiring expression vanished. He looked quite decided. Then something
happened,--I don’t know exactly what, but Mary, the cook, told the
butler that it made her dizzy just to look on. And then Carlo said:--
“One reason why I am gaunt and thin is because I am not a little
up-start of a pug,--of no earthly use under Heaven, and nothing to do
but waddle around and accumulate fat.
“The reason I have an enquiring expression on my face is because I am
ever on the outlook to anticipate my master’s will and do his slightest
bidding.
“As for the hump on the top of my head, that is a mark given by the
Creator only to dogs that have intellect. Pray that yours may grow!”
That is all he said, but it was enough for one day and has furnished me
food for thought ever since.