The sadness of a dog abused by boys, one of whom says by way of justification: "It isn't as if it's my dog, anyway ..." To which you object that only two conclusions, then, are possible. Either this beast has a master and is loved, in which case why is he following such company? Or else he has no master, or his master is as indifferent to him as these youths, in which case what it the use of belongingness in the world?