The man went past us, stepping like a dancing-master and swinging his little cane. There was perfume on him, because I smelled it as he went past. He didn’t look back as he went through the door. We didn’t turn our heads to look after him for quite a few minutes, but then I went to the door and peeked in. He had gone up-stairs.
“He might find Motu,” says I.
“Not m-much chance,” says Mark, “and we may fool him into thinkin’ Motu isn’t here.”
“Don’t believe it,” says I. “For all his funny talk and dude clothes, I’ll bet he’s a sharp little customer. If he’s got it into his head Motu’s here, he’ll stick around till he’s certain one way or the other.”
“Maybe so,” says Mark. “All we can do is try.”
We sat there feeling pretty anxious, and it seemed like most of the morning and part of the afternoon had passed before we heard anything of The Man Who Will Come again. Then we didn’t hear from him exactly. It was from Motu’s dog we heard.
The dog was asleep in the old dining-room, a big place about fifty feet square. It was bare of furniture. All of a sudden we heard the dog give a growl that grew up into a roar. Then there was a sort of scurry and scramble, and we dashed in to see what was up.
In the middle of the room stood The Man Who Will Come, with the same happy grin on his face that he’d worn when he met us outside. In front of him the dog was crouching for another spring and growling as savage as a pack of wolves. Just as we got there the dog sprang. Well, sir, I thought it was all day with Mr. Jap, for the dog was as big as he was. But what followed was as pretty a sight as I ever hope to see. The man waited till the dog was in the air with his fangs almost at his throat. Then, quicker than the space between two things, and graceful as a weasel, he just took one step and bent his body to the side. The dog whirled right on by, but as he passed the man whacked him a good one right across the muzzle with his little cane.
“Ho, big dog!” he says. “You are not so polite brought up in first-rate society. I will teach you to learn. Ho!”
The dog roared and jumped again, and once more the man dodged just enough to let him pass, and slapped him over the nose with his little stick. He laughed while he did it, and acted as careless as if he was just playing a game instead of trying to save his life from a savage dog.