LOT.
ON DORGS.
Dorgs are very useful animals, especially when you have nothing handy for dinner, and can get them to catch a rabbit for you.
A dorg is a very devoted animal, and should not be taxed, as its master often is, by its various eccentricities--when it makes off with his dinner, for instance, or leaves dental impressions on the meat in the pantry. Indeed, its owner is sometimes tempted to imitate his canis in the lifting business, and often with such success as to get board and lodging free.
Dorgs are pugnacious critters. I had one that set on every fellow of its kind he came across, and took such an affectionate grab of his foe, that nothing would divide them till death did them part.
I noticed, however, that this dorg of mine was mostly fond of the smaller fry, attacking them most vigorously, and barking from the door-steps at the larger.
I once had a dorgy (diminutive of dorg, alias puppy,) which was very fond of me, especially when I gave it something nice--which is nothing but human nature in the third degree. It got knocked about a good deal, especially its legs, so that it contracted a sort of hopping movement. I could not get it to catch mice; it seemed to think them third cousins, or something of the kind, and was very fond of playing with them; while, on the other hand, I had a large dorg which we kept by us when we took grain from the rick--I think he managed about 30 per minute. I never could follow them down his throat, but his increased bulk was a kind of index to the number. He generally lay by the kitchen fire twenty-four hours after his banquet, to recover himself.