"I took them off out of respect to the yellow dog you keep."

"He lies in a very natural attitude--eh?"

"You don't tell me he was _stuffed_!"

The old man's eyes beamed a contemptuous pity.

"You are indifferently sharp, my dear sir, for a housebreaker. Come
in. Set down those convicting boots, and don't drip pools of water
in the very doorway, of all places. If I must entertain a burglar, I
prefer him tidy."

He walked to the fire, picked up a poker, and knocked the coals into
a blaze. This done, he turned round on me with the poker still in his
hand. The serenest gravity sat on his large, pale features.

"Why have I done this?" he asked.

"I suppose to get possession of the poker."

"Quite right. May I inquire your next move?"

"Why," said I, feeling in my tail pocket, "I carry a pistol."

"Which I suppose to be damp?"

"By no means. I carry it, as you see, in an oil-cloth case."