Part 16 (1/2)

To see ladies who shriek, and put gloved hands on my back--hands covered with dead skin?... ugh!

(_Feminine voices are heard--Hers among them--and the clear tinkling of a little bell; then the door opens and a very diminutive toy terrier enters, alone. She's black and tan, seems in love with herself, and comes forward with a mincing step_.)

THE LITTLE DOG, (_voice way up in her head_)

I'm the darling little dog, so pretty!

(TOBY _is struck dumb with admiration and astonishment_. KIKI, _indignant, has jumped on top of the piano and remains an unseen and hostile spectator_.)

THE LITTLE DOG, (_astonished at not hearing the chorus of admiration that everywhere greets her, is reciting_--)

I'm the darling little dog, so pretty! I weigh only one pound, eleven ounces, my collar is of gold, my ears of black satin, lined with s.h.i.+ny rubber, my nails are polished like the beaks of little birds. (_Catching sight of_ TOBY-DOG.) Oh!--someone--(_silence_). He's rather good-looking.

(_They ogle and strut_.)

TOBY-DOG

How tiny she is!

THE LITTLE DOG

Sir--don't come near me.

TOBY-DOG

Why not?

THE LITTLE DOG

I don't know. My mistress knows. She's not here. She stayed in the other room.

TOBY-DOG

How old are you?

THE LITTLE DOG Eleven months, (_reciting_) I'm eleven months old. At the dog show, my mother took first prize for beauty. I weigh only one pound eleven ounces and--

TOBY-DOG

You've said that already. What makes you so little?

KIKI-THE-DEMURE, (_from the piano_)

She's ugly, and has an evil odor. Her paws are deformed, she can't stand still an instant, and this dog takes pains to make himself fascinating!

THE LITTLE DOG, (_very coquettish and talkative_) It's my lineage, of course. One can hold me in a m.u.f.f. You've seen my new collar? It's gold....

TOBY-DOG

And what's that hanging from it?