. Bob's dogs have to be rough and tough, for
he is that sort of a man. His affection for them is rough, He expects them to go where he will go, show cour- age, spirit, affection, and, in return, he is prepared to get wet for them, stay up all night caring for them and behave as paternally towards them as he would to a child of his own. He believes certain things about dogs that put them on a plane at the same level as that of man, and he says quite bluntly that he thinks More of them than he does of most of his neigh- bours. 'Now take Mick,' he said the other day. 'What man would jump into a freezin' stream to go after a swimmin' rat, get washed down an' come back 'alf an hour later wi' the rat in 'is mouth?' He bad me there, and I couldn't name the man. I couldn't think of anything but Mick that Bob could have bidden to his will and received from it such touching obedience. He choked with emotion as he added, that dog an' me's so close 'c knows what 1 think before I've thunk it.
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