Hugh didn't get clipped, Duke did. (Reread it last month.)

But I would have to go with H. Beam Piper's Little Fuzzy. Always equipped, always learning, always playing. And anyone who is two feet tall and weighs 20 pounds who can pull a a 20 pound bow or hump 15 pounds of gear, and isn't afraid to approach an alien being many times larger has to be respected.