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The more Nora knew of Jahthearted in spite of his morose appearance, and his sense of huht within that gave hireatest love, and when he spoke of them his enthusiasm transformed his ho , that had saved hied them to tell him how Einstein saved their lives Travis recounted a colorful story about going hiking and alry bear He described how Einstein warned hiave chase, how Einstein challenged and repeatedly foiled the beast Nora was able to tell a story closer to the truth: harassment by a sexual psychopath whose attack had been interrupted by Einstein and who had been held by the retriever until the police arrived

Keene was impressed "He really is a hero!"

Nora sensed that the stories about Einstein had so completely won the vet Over that, if he did spot the tattoo and knehat it ht let theo in peace once Einstein was recovered If Einstein recovered

But as they were gathering up the dishes, Keene said, "Sa why your wife calls you ’Travis’

They were prepared for this Since assu new identities, they had decided that it was easier and safer for Nora to continue calling hi to use Sa up They could claiiven hiin was a private joke; inks at each other and foolish grins, they could ito explain further That was how they handled Keene’s question, but they were in no rin foolishly with any conviction, so Nora was not sure they carried it off In fact she thought their nervous and inept perforht increase Keene’s suspicions if he had any

Just before afternoon office hours were to begin, Keene received a call froone to lunch, and who now reported that the headache had been complicated by an upset stomach The vet was left to handle his patients alone, so Travis quickly volunteered his and Nora’s services

"We’ve got no veterinary training, of course But we can handle any reed, "and between us we’ve got one pretty good brain We could do just about anything else you showed us how to do"

They spent the afternoon restraining recalcitrant cats and dogs and parrots and all sorts of other anies to be laid out, medicines to be retrieved from the cabinets, instruments to be washed and sterilized, fees to be collected and receipts written So and diarrhea, left messes to be cleaned up, but Travis and Nora tended to those unpleasantnesses as uncoly as they performed other tasks

They had twoKeene, they had a chance to be in the surgery with Einstein throughout the afternoon Between chores, they stole a fewwords to hi no worse The downside of being around Einstein continuously was that they could see, to their dis any better, either

Their other purpose was to further ingratiate theive him a reason to be beholden to them, so he would not reconsider his decision to allow thereater than usual, Keene said, and they were not able to close the office until after six o’clock Weariness-and the labor they shared-generated a warether, Ji animal stories culled from his experiences, and they were almost as comfortable and friendly as they would have been if they had known the vet for uest bedroom for them, and provided a few blankets hich to ery Travis and Nora would sleep in the real bed in shifts, each spending half the night on the floor with Einstein

Travis had the first shift, froht was left on in the far corner of the surgery, and Travis alternately sat and stretched out on the piled blankets in the shadohere Einstein lay

So wasBut sometimes he ake, and his respiration was horribly labored, and he whimpered in pain and-Travis someho-in fear When Einstein ake, Travis talked to hiood moments and happy times over the past six htly soothed by Travis’s voice

Unable towas of necessity incontinent A couple of times he peed on the plastic-covered mattress With no distaste whatsoever, with the sa for a gravely ill child, Travis cleaned up In a curious way, Travis was even pleased by the mess because, every time Einstein peed, it was proof that he still lived, still functioned, in some ways, as norht The sound of rain on the roof wasthe first shift, Jim Keene appeared in pajamas and a robe The first tied his IV bottle Later, he administered an injection after the exaht now they did not have to see signs of ih that there were no indications of deterioration in the dog’s condition

Frequently during the night, Travis wandered to the other end of the surgery and read the words of a si above the scrub sink:

TRIBUTE TO A DOG

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts hirateful or treacherous, is his dog Astands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that couards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince When all other friends desert, he re and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens

-Senator George Vest, 1870

Each time he read the tribute, Travis was filled aneonder at Einstein’s existence What fantasy of children was s were fully as perceptive and wise and clever as any adult? What gift froprove able to coedies with full understanding of theirmore joy, more respect for the mysteries of nature, more sheer exuberance over the unanticipated wonders of life? So’s personality and hule creature, one had a hope of a species at once as gifted as humankind but more noble and worthy And what fantasy of adults was ent species would be found to share the vast, cold universe and, by sharing it, would at last provide some relief from our race’s unspeakable loneliness and sense of quiet desperation?

And what other loss could bethan the loss of Einstein, this first hopeful evidence that hureatness but of godhood?

These thoughts, which Travis could not suppress, shook hi hi an emotional basket case, he went into the downstairs hall, where Einstein would not be aware of- and perhaps be frightened by-his tears

Nora relieved hio upstairs, for he was reluctant to leave Keene’s surgery

Exhausted but protesting that he would not sleep, Travis tu pursued by a yellow-eyed thing icked talons and foreshortened alligator jaws He was trying to protect Einstein and Nora, pushing the theot around Travis and tore Einstein to pieces, then savaged Nora-it was the Cornell Curse, which could not be avoided by a sie of na and fell to his knees and lowered his head because, having failed Nora and the dog, he wanted to die, and he heard the thing approaching-click-click-click and he was afraid but he also welcomed the death that it pro "Einstein," she said urgently "He’s having convulsions"

When Nora led Travis into the white-walled surgery, Ji to hiive him room to work

She and Travis held each other

After a few minutes, the vet stood up He looked worried, and he did not make his usual effort to siven him additional anticonvulsants I thinkhe’ll be all right now"

"Has he gone into the second stage?" Travis asked "Maybe not," Keene said

"Could he be having convulsions and still be in first stage?" "It’s possible," Keene said