"Haven't you ever seen a vicious dog fly at Hedulio?" Muso pursued.
"Many a time," Tanno admitted.
"Did you ever see one bite him?" Muso asked.
"Never!" Tanno affirmed.
"Can you recall what happened?" queried Muso.
Tanno rubbed his chin.
"It seems to me," he said, "that every time I saw a snarling cur or an open-mouthed watch-dog rush at Caius, the dog slowed his rush before he reached him, circled about him, sniffing, and trotted back where he came from."
"Did you never see Hedulio beckon such a dog, handle and gentle him, even pet him."
"Once I did, as I now recall," Tanno confessed, "yet I thought nothing of it at the time and forgot it at once."
"Probably," Muso conjectured, "you thought the dog was only pretending to be cross and was really tame."