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 Bill had bitten off more than he could chew, and that Bingo was about to do the same. Dad took up a position of safety, looking over our wall, and saw Bingo preparing to attack. Bill wagged（摇摆） the famous index finger at the dog,

"You're not biting me sirree. You come over here and I will just fetch you one."
Here Bill revealed 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 Bingo 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 Bingo's aggressive lurch⁵ toward Bill and Bingo's sudden acquiescence⁶（默许） . Bill 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 Bill'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 dives 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 Bill alone."
When he heard of Bill'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!"
Bingo 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.