As a matter of fact
we began to feel Jeff something of a traitor--he so often flopped
over and took their side of things; also his medical knowledge
gave him a different point of view somehow.
"I'm sorry to admit," he told them, "that the dog, with us,
is the most diseased of any animal--next to man. And as to temper
--there are always some dogs who bite people--especially children."
That was pure malice. You see, children were the--the RAISON
D'ETRE in this country. All our interlocutors sat up straight at once.
They were still gentle, still restrained, but there was a note of
deep amazement in their voices.
"Do we understand that you keep an animal--an unmated male animal--
that bites children? About how many are there of them, please?"
"Thousands--in a large city," said Jeff, "and nearly every
family has one in the country."
Terry broke in at this. "You must not imagine they are all
dangerous--it's not one in a hundred that ever bites anybody.
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