Sam and Dodger looked. The yelping animal was easy to spot. Standing stiff-legged, the street mutt yapped insistently at a short figure in a patched and tattered long coat. Pedestrians gave the interaction a wide berth. Finally responding, the derelict swatted a bagged bottle ineffectually at the animal, which lunged at the threatening hand and missed. The dog barked a few more times, then fled when he gray-haired heap of rags took a few scuttling steps in its direction.