The dog grabbed it, and
retired under the sofa. This was an odd thing for him to do, and we
commented upon it. Suddenly a thought occurred to Hollis, and he took
out his money and began counting it.
"By Jove," he exclaimed, "I've given that little beast
half-a-sovereign--here, Tiny!"
But Tiny only backed further underneath the sofa, and no mere verbal
invitation would induce him to stir. So we adopted a more pressing plan,
and coaxed him out by the scruff of his neck.
He came, an inch at a time, growling viciously, and holding Hollis's half-
sovereign tight between his teeth. We tried sweet reasonableness at
first. We offered him a sixpence in exchange; he looked insulted, and
evidently considered the proposal as tantamount to our calling him a
fool. We made it a shilling, then half-a-crown--he seemed only bored by
our persistence.
"I don't think you'll ever see this half-sovereign again, Hollis," said
Gadbut, laughing. We all, with the exception of young Hollis, thought
the affair a very good joke. He, on the contrary, seemed annoyed, and,
taking the dog from Gadbut, made an attempt to pull the coin out of its
mouth.
Tiny, true to his life-long principle of never parting if he could
possibly help it, held on like grim death, until, feeling that his little
earnings were slowly but surely going from him, he made one final
desperate snatch, and swallowed the money.
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