{"product_id":"2940013740280","title":"Breed of Battle","description":"ME AND MY WHITE BULLDOG Mike was peaceably taking our beer in a\u003cbr\u003ejoint on the waterfront when Porkey Straus come piling in, plumb\u003cbr\u003epuffing with excitement.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Hey, Steve!\" he yelped. \"What you think? Joe Ritchie's in port\u003cbr\u003ewith Terror.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well?\" I said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, gee whiz,\" he said, \"you mean to set there and let on like\u003cbr\u003eyou don't know nothin' about Terror, Ritchie's fightin' brindle bull?\u003cbr\u003eWhy, he's the pit champeen of the Asiatics. He's killed more fightin'\u003cbr\u003edogs than--\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yeah, yeah,\" I said impatiently. \"I know all about him. I been\u003cbr\u003elistenin' to what a bear-cat he is for the last year, in every Asiatic\u003cbr\u003eport I've touched.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well,\" said Porkey, \"I'm afraid we ain't goin' to git to see him\u003cbr\u003eperform.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why not?\" asked Johnnie Blinn, a shifty-eyed bar-keep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well,\" said Porkey, \"they ain't a dog in Singapore to match\u003cbr\u003eag'in' him. Fritz Steinmann, which owns the pit and runs the dog\u003cbr\u003efights, has scoured the port and they just ain't no canine which their\u003cbr\u003eowners'll risk ag'in' Terror. Just my luck. The chance of a lifetime\u003cbr\u003eto see the fightin'est dog of 'em all perform. And they's no first-\u003cbr\u003eclass mutt to toss in with him. Say, Steve, why don't you let Mike\u003cbr\u003efight him?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Not a chance,\" I growled. \"Mike gets plenty of scrappin' on the\u003cbr\u003estreets. Besides, I'll tell you straight, I think dog fightin' for\u003cbr\u003emoney is a dirty low-down game. Take a couple of fine, upstandin'\u003cbr\u003edogs, full of ginger and fightin' heart, and throw 'em in a concrete\u003cbr\u003epit to tear each other's throats out, just so a bunch of four-flushin'\u003cbr\u003etin-horns like you, which couldn't take a punch or give one either,\u003cbr\u003ecan make a few lousy dollars bettin' on 'em.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"But they likes to fight,\" argued Porkey. \"It's their nature.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It's the nature of any red-blooded critter to fight. Man or dog!\"\u003cbr\u003eI said. \"Let 'em fight on the streets, for bones or for fun, or just\u003cbr\u003eto see which is the best dog. But pit-fightin' to the death is just\u003cbr\u003etoo dirty for me to fool with, and I ain't goin' to get Mike into no\u003cbr\u003esuch mess.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Aw, let him alone, Porkey,\" sneered Johnnie Blinn nastily. \"He's\u003cbr\u003etoo chicken-hearted to mix in them rough games. Ain't you, Sailor?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Belay that,\" I roared. \"You keep a civil tongue in your head, you\u003cbr\u003ewharfside rat. I never did like you nohow, and one more crack like\u003cbr\u003ethat gets you this.\" I brandished my huge fist at him and he turned\u003cbr\u003epale and started scrubbing the bar like he was trying for a record.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I wantcha to know that Mike can lick this Terror mutt,\" I said,\u003cbr\u003eglaring at Porkey. \"I'm fed up hearin' fellers braggin' on that\u003cbr\u003ebrindle murderer. Mike can lick him. He can lick any dog in this lousy\u003cbr\u003eport, just like I can lick any man here. If Terror meets Mike on the\u003cbr\u003estreet and gets fresh, he'll get his belly-full. But Mike ain't goin'\u003cbr\u003eto get mixed up in no dirty racket like Fritz Steinmann runs and you\u003cbr\u003ecan lay to that.\" I made the last statement in a voice like a\u003cbr\u003eirritated bull, and smashed my fist down on the table so hard I\u003cbr\u003esplintered the wood, and made the decanters bounce on the bar.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070308794608,"sku":"2940013740280","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013740280_p0.jpg?v=1763589606","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013740280","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}