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Einstein whined unhappily

"What’s eating you?"

Einstein just stood there, riveted by the phone

With a sigh, Travis said, "Well, I’ve had all the bewilder to wax mysterious, you’ll have to do it withoutdinner for hie and went into the living roo in peculiar communion with the telephone He switched on the TV, sat in the big ar into so out there?"

A clank A clatter The sound of claws scrabbling against a hard surface A thue you do," Travis warned, "you’re going to have to pay for And how’re you going to earn the bucks? Might have to go up to Alaska and work as a sled dog"

The kitchen got quiet But only for a moment Then there were a couple of clunks, a rattle, a rustle, ued in spite of himself He used the re hit the kitchen floor with a bang

Travis was about to go see what had happened, but before he rose fro was carrying the telephone directory in his jaws He must have leaped repeatedly at the kitchen counter where the book lay, pawing it, until he pulled it onto the floor He crossed the living room and deposited the book in front of the ared the directory with his nose, then gazed at Travis expectantly

"You want me to call soain

Travis said, "Noould you want me to call? Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, Old Yeller?"

The retriever stared at hilike eyes, which were more expressive than ever but insufficient to communicate what the animal Wanted

"Listen, maybe you can readin frustration, the retriever padded out of the roo around the corner into the short hallway that served the bath and two bedroo, but he decided to wait and see what happened next

In less than a ht-by-ten photograph in his mouth He dropped it beside the phone directory It was the picture of Paula that Travis kept on the bedroo day, ten months before she died She looked beautiful-and deceptively healthy

"No good, boy I can’t call the dead"

Einstein huffed as if to say Travis was thickheaded He went to aits contents, and caold-fraazine, pulling it open and leafing through its pages, tearing a few in the process

Moving to the edge of the ar forward, Travis watched with interest

Einstein paused a couple of tiazine, then continued to paw through it Finally, he came to an auto brunette ain, and woofed

"I don’t get you"

Pawing the pages again, Einstein found an ad in which a sarette He snorted at Travis

"Cars and cigarettes? You want inia Sliazine rack, Einstein returned with a copy of a real-estate azine that still showed up in the h Travis had been out of the racket for two years The dog pawed through that one as well until he found an ad that featured a pretty brunette real-estate saleswoman in a Century 21 jacket

Travis looked at Paula’s photograph, at the blonde sent, and he remembered the other ad with the brunette and the automobile, and he said, "A woman? You want me to callsome woently took hold of Travis’s wrist and tried to pull hio I’ll follow you"

But Einstein was taking no chances He would not let go of Travis’s wrist, forcing hisroo room, into the kitchen, to the wall phone There, he finally released Travis

"Who?" Travis asked again, but suddenly he understood There was only one wo had an to wag his tail

"And you think that’s who just called us?"

The tail wagged faster

"How could you knoas on the line? She didn’t say a word And what are you up to here, anyway? Match woofed twice

"Well, she was certainly pretty, but she wasn’t e, didn’t you think?"

Einstein barked at him, ran to the kitchen door and juain, ran around the table, barking all the way, dashed to the door and juradually it beca

About the woman

She had been in some kind of trouble this afternoon in the park Travis re shorts He had offered to help the woman, and she had refused But had she reconsidered and phoned hio, only to discover that she did not have the courage to explain her plight?

"You really think that’s who called?"

The tail started wagging again

"Welleven if it was her, it’s not wise to get involved"

The retriever rushed at hi of his jeans, and shook the deniht, already! I’ll do it Get o of hi on the slick linoleum He returned with the directory in his jaws

Only as Travis took the phone book did he realize that he had expected the dog to understand his request The anience and abilities were now things that Travis took for granted

With a jolt, he also realized that the dog would not have brought the directory to hi room if it had not understood the purpose of such a book