But I pretended instead to be bored by his importunities, choosing to
rub it in. To her who longed for his friendly notice,--a little throaty
bark, a lift of the paw, perhaps a winsome laying of his head along her
lap,--I affected indifference to his infatuation for me. I pretended
always to have been a perfect devil of a fellow among the dogs, and
professed loftily not to have divined the secret of my innumerable and
unvarying conquests.
"Dogs are so foolishly faithful," remarked Miss Lansdale, with polite
acerbity.
"I know it," I conceded; "that fellow thinks I am the most beautiful
person in all the world."
She said "Indeed?" with an inflection and a sweeping glance at me which
I found charged with meaning. But I knew well enough that I had for all
time mastered a certain measure of her difficult respect.
"And he's such a fine dog, too," she added in a tone intended to convey
to me the full extent of her pity for him.
"I have him remarkably well trained," I said. "I can often force him to
notice people whom I like, especially if they are clever enough to let
him see that they like me rather well."
"It would be almost worth while," she remarked with a longing look at
Jim but none at me.
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