My Hodder and Stoughton "definitive" Kipling gives
Slippy. Three older Oxford dictionaries of various size give slippy as a
colloquial or slang word for,of persons, sharp or quick. Dates for this use
include 1847. But there is no such definition given for slippery. I feel in the
context that slippy meaning quick fits better than slippery. There is no
suggestion that GD is a slippery customer. Quite the reverse. But he has to be
quick.
Ken Frazer
