i only had dad's account of what happened next, as it was out of sight of the window on to our yard. he was firmly of the opinion that *ll had *tten off * than he could chew, and that *ngo was about to do the same. dad took up a position of safety, looking over our wall, and saw *ngo preparing to attack. *ll wagged（摇摆） the famous index finger at the dog,
"you're not *ting me sirree. you come over here and i will just fetch you one."
here *ll r*aled a gnarled（粗糙的） stick, about three feet long. he didn't wield1 it aggressively, but held it at his side. it seemed to stir *ngo into decision and he lunged forward, gushing2 a hoarse3（嘶哑的） throaty snarl4 as he moved.
there was some confusion about what happened between *ngo's aggressive lurch5 toward *ll and *ngo's sudden acquiescence6（默许） . *ll later said he thought that the dog caught a glimpse of the stick, and had second thoughts, but my father didn't agree, and told me so later.
"that dog was headed for *ll's leg as sure as eggs is eggs. he'd made his move! fully7 committed! " here my dad raised his eyebrows8 in appeal and reached for a footballing simile9, " look, it was like a goalkeeper who spanes full stretch across a goalmouth（球门） to stop a shot. he can't go backwards10, if he misread the ball, he has to watch as it floats in - right?"
i had to agree, having seen a succession of port vale goalkeepers do exactly that.
"right! that's what the dog did, only it stopped in mid11 flight. i'm telling you - as sure as if it hit a wall. stopped dead, and turned round and left *ll alone."
when he heard of *ll's account of the stick saving him, dad shook his head vigorously,
"absolutely not. the stick was what made the dog go for him in the first place!"
*ngo had somehow stopped, dead in the air, if you listened to dad. the dog then became almost cowed, wagging his tail uncertainly, licking his chops（排骨） in the way dogs do when they have been caught digging up flower beds - his ears flat to his head, his eyes peering up from his lowered head, lowered this time in uncertainty12.
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