De Vere was politely sulky.
"Bulldogs, oh, ah, well, I do not know that I do."
He looked at Goby, who was also sulky and feeling very much out of it. But the subject of bulldogs appealed to him, because he saw it didn't amuse his rival.
"I'll give you a real good pup, Bob," he said, good-naturedly; "one that no one could get for a sovereign.
"A real pedigree pup?"
"With a pedigree as long as your own," said Goby.
Bob sighed, and laid his hand on Goby's.
"I say, Pen, isn't Captain Goby a real good 'un?" he asked. "Baker says—"
But what Baker said does not come into this history, as the lunch finished, and they all went into the garden. Goby spoke to Bob as they went out.
"I say, Bob, get hold of that ass De Vere, and talk to him as hard as the very deuce, will you?"