g run a quarter of a mile without stoppin'. Now, that's
the way with sum foaks. If you want to hear war tawk jest put a fence
between 'em; and if you want it stopped, jest take the fence away. Dogs
is mighty like peepul anyhow. They've got karacter. Sum of em are good,
honest, trusty dogs that bark mity little and bite at the right time.
Sum are good pluk, and will fite like the dickens when their masters is
close by to back em, but ain't worth a cent by themselves. Sum make it a
bizness to make other dogs fite. You've seen these little fices a
runnin' around growlin' and snappin' when two big dogs cum together.
They are jest as keen to get up a row and see a big dog fite as a store
clerk or a shoemaker, and seem to enjoy it as much. And then, there's
them mean yaller-eyed bull terriers that don't care who they bite, so
they bite sumbody. They are no respekter of persons, and I never had
much respekt for a man who kept one on his premises. But of all mean,
triflin', contemptible dogs in the world, the meanest of all is a
country nigger's houn--one that will kill sheep, and suck eggs, and lick
the skillet, and steal everything he can find, and try to do as nigh
like his master as possibul. Sum dogs are filosofers, and study other
dogs' natur, just like foaks study foaks. It's amazin' to see a town dog
trot up to a country dog and interview him. How quick he finds out
whether it will do to attack him or not. If the country dog shows fite
jest notis the consequential dignity with which the town dog retires. He
goes off like there was a sudden emergency of bisness a callin' him
away. Town dogs sumtimes combine agin a country dog, jest like town
boys try to run over country boys. I wish you could see Dr. Miller's dog
Cartoosh. He jest lays in the piazzer all day watchin' out for a stray
dog, and as soon as he sees him he goes for him, and he can tell in half
a minit whether he can whip him or run him; and if he can, he does it
instanter, and if he can't he runs to the next yard, where there's two
more dogs that nabor with him, and in a minit they all cum a tarin' out
together, and that country dog has to run or take a whippin', shore.
I've seen Cartoosh play that game many a time. These town pups remind me
powerfully of small editurs prowlin' around for news. In my opinyun they
is the inventors of the interview bisness.

INTERVIEWERS

If it ain't a doggish sort of bisnes I'm mistaken in my idees of the
proprietes of life.