Soa Rip an' me goes out a-walkin' o' evenin's, he bein' a dog as did
credit tiv a man, an' I catches a lot o' rats an we hed a bit of a
match on in an awd dry swimmin'-bath at back o't' cantonments, an' it
was none so long afore he was as bright as a button again. He hed a
way o' flyin' at them big yaller pariah dogs as if he was a harrow
offan a bow, an' though his weight were nowt, he tuk 'em so suddint-like
they rolled over like skittles in a halley, an' when they coot he
stretched after 'em as if he were rabbit-runnin'. Saame with cats when
he cud get t' cat agaate o' runnin'.

One evenin', him an' me was trespassin' ovver a compound wall after
one of them mongooses 'at he'd started, an' we was busy grubbin' round
a prickle-bush, an' when we looks up there was Mrs. DeSussa wi' a
parasel ovver her shoulder, a-watchin' us. 'Oh my!' she sings out;
'there's that lovelee dog! Would he let me stroke him, Mister Soldier?'

'Ay, he would, mum,' sez I, 'for he's fond o' laady's coompany. Coom
here, Rip, an' speeak to this kind laady.' An'Rip, seein' 'at t'mongoose
hed getten clean awaay, cooms up like t' gentleman he was, nivver a
hauporth shy or okkord.

'Oh, you beautiful--you prettee dog!' she says, clippin' an' chantin'
her speech in a way them sooart has o' their awn; 'I would like a dog
like you. You are so verree lovelee--so awfullee prettee,' an' all
thot sort o' talk, 'at a dog o' sense mebbe thinks nowt on, tho' he
bides it by reason o' his breedin'.

An' then I meks him joomp ovver my swagger-cane, an' shek hands, an'
beg, an' lie dead, an' a lot o' them tricks as laadies teeaches dogs,