"No,that&aos;snottheGeneral&aos;sdog,
"saystheoliceman,withrofoundconviction,
"theGeneralhasn&aos;tgotonelikethat。Hisaremostlysetters。
"
"Doyouknowthatforafact?
"
"Yes,yourhonour。
"
"Iknowit,too。TheGeneralhasvaluabledogs,thoroughbred,andthisisgoodnessknowswhat!Nocoat,noshae。。。Alowcreature。Andtokeeadoglikethat!。。。where&aos;sthesenseofit。IfadoglikethatweretoturnuinPetersburgorMoscow,doyouknowwhatwouldhaen?Theywouldnotworryaboutthelaw,theywouldstrangleitinatwinkling!You&aos;vebeeninjured,Hryukin,andwecan&aos;tletthematterdro。。。Wemustgivethemalesson!Itishightime!
"
"YetmaybeitistheGeneral&aos;s,
"saystheoliceman,thinkingaloud。
"It&aos;snotwrittenonitsface。。。Isawonelikeittheotherdayinhisyard。
"
"ItistheGeneral&aos;s,that&aos;scertain!
"saysavoiceinthecrowd。
"H&aos;m,helmeonwithmyovercoat,Yeldyrin,mylad。。。thewind&aos;sgettingu。。。Iamcold。。。YoutakeittotheGeneral&aos;s,andinquirethere。SayIfounditandsentit。Andtellthemnottoletitoutintothestreet。。。Itmaybeavaluabledog,andifeveryswinegoesstickingacigarinitsmouth,itwillsoonberuined。Adogisadelicateanimal。。。Andyouutyourhanddown,youblockhead。It&aos;snouseyourdislayingyourfoolofafinger。It&aos;syourownfault。。。
"
"HerecomestheGeneral&aos;scook,askhim。。。Hi,Prohor!Comehere,mydearman!Lookatthisdog。。。Isitoneofyours?
"
"Whatanidea!Wehaveneverhadonelikethat!
"
"There&aos;snoneedtowastetimeasking,
"saysOtchumyelov。
"It&aos;sastraydog!There&aos;snoneedtowastetimetalkingaboutit。。。Sincehesaysit&aos;sastraydog,astraydogitis。。。Itmustbedestroyed,that&aos;sallaboutit。
"
"Itisnotourdog,
"Prohorgoeson。
"ItbelongstotheGeneral&aos;sbrother,whoarrivedtheotherday。Ourmasterdoesnotcareforhounds。Buthishonourisfondofthem。。。
"
"Youdon&aos;tsayhisExcellency&aos;sbrotherishere?VladimirIvanitch?
"inquiresOtchumyelov,andhiswholefacebeamswithanecstaticsmile。
"&aos;Well,Inever!AndIdidn&aos;tknow!Hashecomeonavisit?
"Yes。
"
"Well,Inever。。。Hecouldn&aos;tstayawayfromhisbrother。。。AndthereIdidn&aos;tknow!Sothisishishonour&aos;sdog?Delightedtohearit。。。Takeit。It&aos;snotabadu。。。Alivelycreature。。。Snaedatthisfellow&aos;sfinger!Ha-ha-ha。。。Come,whyareyoushivering?Rrr。。。Rrrr。。。Therogue&aos;sangry。。。anicelittleu。
"
Prohorcallsthedog,andwalksawayfromthetimber-yardwithher。ThecrowdlaughsatHryukin。
"I&aos;llmakeyousmartyet!
"Otchumyelovthreatenshim,andwrainghimselfinhisgreatcoat,goesonhiswayacrossthesquare。