other. And he feels of 'em, and orders 'em to run about. And
Nolan leans against the rails, with his head hung down, and pats me. And
Miss Dorothy comes over beside him, but don't say nothing, only wipes
her eye with her finger. A man on the other side of the rail he says to
the Master, "The judge don't like your dog?"

"No," says the Master.

"Have you ever shown him before?" says the man.

"No," says the Master, "and I'll never show him again. He's my dog,"
says the Master, "and he suits me! And I don't care what no judges
think." And when he says them kind words, I licks his hand most
grateful.

The judge had two of the six dogs on a little platform in the middle of
the ring, and he had chased the four other dogs into the corners, where
they was licking their chops, and letting on they didn't care, same as
Nolan was.

The two dogs on the platform was so beautiful that the judge hisself
couldn't tell which was the best of 'em, even when he stoops down and
holds their heads together. But at last he gives a sigh, and brushes the
sawdust off his knees, and goes to the table in the ring, where there
was a man keeping score, and heaps and heaps of blue and gold and red
and yellow ribbons. And the judge picks up a bunch of 'em and walks to
the two gentlemen who was holding the beautiful dogs, and he says to
each, "What's his number?" and he hands each gentleman a ribbon. And
then he turned sharp and comes straight at the Master.

"What's his number?" says the judge. And Master was so scared that he
couldn't make no answer.

But Miss Dorothy claps her hands and cries out like she was laughing,
"Three twenty-six," and the judge writes it down and shoves Master the
blue ribbon.

I bit the Master, and I jumps and bit Miss Dorothy, and I waggled so
hard that the Master couldn't hold me. When I get to the gate Miss
Dorothy snatches me up and kisses me between the ears, right before
millions of people, and they both hold me so tight that I didn't know
which of them was carrying of me. But one thing I knew, for I listened
hard, as it was the judge hisself as said it.

"Did you see that puppy I gave first to?" says the judge to the
gentleman at the gate.

"I did. He was a bit out of his class," says the gate gentleman.

"He certainly was!" says the judge, and they both laughed.

But I didn't care. They couldn't hurt me then, not with Nolan holding
the blue ribbon and Miss Dorothy hugging my ears, and the kennel-men