The Project Gutenberg EBook of My Doggie and I, by R.M. Ballantyne

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Title: My Doggie and I

Author: R.M. Ballantyne

Release Date: June 7, 2007 [EBook #21752]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MY DOGGIE AND I ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

MY DOGGIE AND I, BY R.M. BALLANTYNE.

CHAPTER ONE.

EXPLAINS ITSELF.

I possess a doggie--not a dog, observe, but a doggie. If he had been a
dog I would not have presumed to intrude him on your notice. A dog is
all very well in his way--one of the noblest of animals, I admit, and
pre-eminently fitted to be the companion of man, for he has an
affectionate nature, which man demands, and a forgiving disposition,
which man needs--but a dog, with all his noble qualities, is not to be
compared to a doggie.

My doggie is unquestionably the most charming, and, in every way,
delightful doggie that ever was born. My sister has a baby, about which
she raves in somewhat similar terms, but of course that is ridiculous,
for her baby differs in no particular from ordinary babies, except,
perhaps, in the matter of violent weeping, of which it is fond; whereas
my doggie is unique, a perfectly beautiful and singular specimen of--of
well, I won't say what, because my friends usually laugh at me when I
say it, and I don't like to be laughed at.

Freely admit that you don't at once perceive the finer qualities, either
mental or physical, of my doggie, partly owing to the circumstance that
he is shapeless and hairy. The former quality is not prepossessing,
while the latter tends to veil the amiable expression of his countenance
and the lustre of his speaking eyes. But as you come to know him he
grows upon you; your feelings are touched, your affections stirred, and
your love is finally evoked. As he resembles a door-mat, or rather a
scrap of very ragged door-mat, and has an amiable spirit, I have called
him "Dumps." I should not be surprised if you did not perceive any
connection here. You are not the first who has failed to see it; I
never saw it myself.

When I first met Dumps he was scurrying towards me along a sequestered
country lane.