Old Spot gave her a pitying look.
"It's plain," he said, "that you don't come from a sporting family, as I do, or you'd never speak in that fashion of a nice new shotgun. You know I'm a sporting dog. I'm a pointer. I point out the game for the hunters."
The Muley Cow gave a sort of snort and tossed her head.
"It's lucky for Johnnie Green," she sniffed, "that I'm not a sporting cow, or he might not have any butter on his bread."
II
TEASING THE CAT
When Miss Kitty Cat came to the farmhouse to live she soon showed old dog Spot that she could fight like a vixen. The first time he cornered her she put some scratches on his nose that he never forgot. And after that he always took great pains to keep out of reach of Miss Kitty's claws.
So long as Miss Kitty Cat ran away from him Spot would follow her, yelping madly. But when she stopped, he stopped too, digging his own claws into the dirt in order to leave a safe distance between Miss Kitty and his nose.
[He quickly discovered that there were ways in which he could tease Miss Kitty Cat that annoyed her greatly, while keeping his nose out of harm's way.] Growling always made her tail grow big. Barking made her spit at him. But there was something else that angered her still more. When Spot stood stock still one day, with his tail stuck straight out behind him, and pointed at her with his nose, he made her almost frantic.
"What are you pointing at with that long nose of yours?" Miss Kitty Cat snarled.