-typeexhaustsonmyoldHarleyDavidsonrattledthewindowsinthebarasIrodebacktothebar.
Thebarmaidopenedthecansformeandsaidthedog' ， buthesmelledlikedeathandlookedevenworse."Goodluck." .
， .
.
Thenextnight， whenIbroughthisfood， ， ， butnowhehadafriendandhisappreciationwasmorethanobvious.
Ididn' .
.
Thelocalveterinarianwasstillathisoffice， soIborrowedapickuptruckfrommyemployerandloadedthelimpmongrelintothecab."Isthisyourdog？" thevetaskedaftercheckingthepitifulspecimenthatlayhelplesslyonhisexaminingtable.
"No，" Isaid， "he' sjustastray."
"He' sgotthebeginningsofdistemper，"thevetsaidsadly， "Ifhedoesn' thaveahome， thekindestthingwecandoisputhimoutofhismisery."
Iputmyhandonthedog' ."He' sgotahome." Isaid.
Forthenextthreenightsandtwodays， thedog—InamedhimShep—' tdoit， butwheneverItouchedhim， histailwaggedslightlyattheverytip.
Atabout10：， ， Iwasnearlyflattenedbyajumping， .
Withtime， themangystarvingdogthatnearlydiedinmylivingroomgrewintoaneighty-poundblockofsolidmuscle， ， whenlonelinessanddepressionhavenearlygottenthebestofme， ShephasreturnedmyfavorbyshoweringmewithhisunbridledfriendshipuntilIhadnochoicebuttosmileandtrademymelancholyforafastgameoffetch-the-stick.
WhenIlookback， ' tlonelydriftersanymore.I' dsaywe' vebothcomehome.
冰冷的倾盆大雨冲刷着小城酒吧前面的柏油马路。与往常一样，我孤零零地坐在那里，凝望着雨中的昏暗。穿过积满雨水的马路就是小城的公园，那里有5英亩的草坪，还有巨大的榆树，今晚，又增添了一片到脚踝那么高的冰冷雨水。
我在那间破旧的酒吧里停留了半个小时，一口一口地品着酒。我沉思的目光终于停留在100英尺以外的一个绿色的水坑里的一团东西上。有10分钟的时间，我一直穿过落满雨水的窗户向外看，我想看看那究竟是一只动物还是一堆被雨打湿的没有生命的东西。
