The Judge, he was a fierce-looking man with specs on his nose, and a red
beard. When I first come in he didn't see me owing to my being too quick
for him and dodging behind the Master. But when the Master drags me
round and I pulls at the sawdust to keep back, the Judge looks at us
careless-like, and then stops and glares through his specs, and I knew
it was all up with me.
“Are there any more?” asks the Judge, to the gentleman at the gate, but
never taking his specs from me.
The man at the gate looks in his book. “Seven in the novice-class,” says
he. “They're all here. You can go ahead,” and he shuts the gate.
The Judge, he doesn't hesitate a moment. He just waves his hand toward
the corner of the ring. “Take him away,” he says to the Master. “Over
there and keep him away,” and he turns and looks most solemn at the six
beautiful bull-terriers. I don't know how I crawled to that corner.
I wanted to scratch under the sawdust and dig myself a grave. The
kennel-men they slapped the rail with their hands and laughed at the
Master like they would fall over. They pointed at me in the corner, and
their sides just shaked. But little Miss Dorothy she presses her lips
tight against the rail, and I see tears rolling from her eyes. The
Master, he hangs his head like he had been whipped. I felt most sorry
for him, than all. He was so red, and he was letting on not to see the
kennel-men, and blinking his eyes. If the Judge had ordered me right
out, it wouldn't have disgraced us so, but it was keeping me there while
he was judging the high-bred dogs that hurt so hard. With all those
people staring too. And his doing it so quick, without no doubt nor
questions. You can't fool the judges. They see insides you.
But he couldn't make up his mind about them high-bred dogs. He scowls at
'em, and he glares at 'em, first with his head on the one side and then
on the other. And he feels of 'em, and orders 'em to run about. And
Nolan leans against the rails, with his head hung down, and pats me. And
Miss Dorothy comes over beside him, but don't say nothing, only wipes
her eye with her finger. A man on the other side of the rail he says to
the Master, “The Judge don't like your dog?”
“No,” says the Master.
“Have you ever shown him before?” says the man.
“No,” says the Master, “and I'll never show him again. He's my dog,”
says the Master, “an' he suits me! And I don't care what no judges
think.” And when he says them kind words, I licks his hand most
grateful.
The Judge had two of the six dogs on a little platform in the middle of
the ring, and he had chased the four other dogs into the corners, where
they was licking their chops, and letting on they didn't care, same as
Nolan was.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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