It had begun with the dog, a black retriever. The gypsy who sold it to us took advantage of our ignorance, saying that it was a golden retriever, and that it would turn gold later. All golden retriever puppies were black at first. He was obviously expecting us to fall in love with the dog, so that by the time we found out we'd been sold a pup, we wouldn't be wanting a refund. He was right, that was exactly what happened, only we got revenge by giving him a rotten rooster and telling him it was a pheasant, well hung.