MR. STIP. For--ah--rats. (_By way of concession._) _Or_ bluebottles, of course, if you prefer it. The E. L. I think I would rather have something more characteristic. He has such a pretty way of lying on his back with all his paws sticking straight up in the air. I never saw any _other_ dog do it. MR. STIP. Precisely. But I doubt whether that particulah pose would be effective--in a photograph. The E. L. You think not? Where _has_ he got to, now? Oh, _do_ just look at him going round, examining everything! He _quite_ understands what he's wanted to do; you've no idea what a clever dog he is! MR. STIP. Ray-ally? How would it do to have him on a rock in the middle of a salmon stream? The E. L. It would make me so uncomfortable to see it; he has a perfect _horror_ of wetting his little feet! MR. STIP. In _that_ case, no doubt----Then what do you say to posing him on an ornamental pedestal? We could introduce a Yorkshire moor, or a view of Canterbury Cathedral, as a background. The E. L. A pedestal seems _so_ suggestive of a cemetery, doesn't it? MR. STIP. Then we must try some other position. (_He resigns himself to the commonplace._) Can the dog--ah--sit up? The E. L. Bee-yutifully! Fluffy, come and show how nicely you can sit up! FLUFF (_to himself_). Show off for this fellow? Who pretends he's got rats--and hasn't! Not if _I_ know it! [_He rolls over on his back with a well-assumed air of idiotcy_. The E. L. (_delighted_). There, _that's_ the attitude I told you of. But perhaps it _would_ come out rather too leggy? MR. STIP. It is--ah--open to that objection, certainly, Madam. Perhaps we had better take him on a chair sitting up. (FLUFF is, _with infinite trouble, prevailed upon to mount an arm-chair, from which he growls savagely whenever_ MR. STIPPLER _approaches_.) You will probably be more successful with him than I, Madam. The E. L. I could make him sit up in a _moment_, if I had any of his biscuits with me. But I forgot to bring them. MR. STIP. There is a confectionah next door. We could send out a lad for some biscuits. About how much would you requiah--a quartah of a pound? _He goes to the speaking tube._ The E. L. He won't eat _all_ those; he's a _most_ abstemious dog. But they must be _sweet_, tell them. (_Delay. Arrival of the biscuits. The_ ELDERLY LADY _holds one up, and_ FLUFF _leaps, barking frantically, until he succeeds in snatching it; a manoeuvre which he repeats with each successive biscuit_.) Do you know, I'm afraid he really _mustn't_ have any more--biscuits always _excite_ him so. Suppose you take him lying on the chair, much as he is now? (MR. STIPPLER _attempts to place the dog's paws, and is snapped at_.) Oh, _do_ be careful! MR. STIP. (_heroically_). Oh, it's of no consequence, Madam. I am--ah--_accustomed_ to it.