Aftermyhusbanddiedsuddenlyfromaheartattackonthetenniscourt， ， nine， eight， six， threeandeighteenmonths， andIwasoverwhelmedwiththeresponsibilitiesofearningaliving， caringforthechildrenandjustplainkeepingmyheadabovethewater.
Iwasfortunatetofindawonderfulhousekeepertocareforthechildrenduringtheweek， butfromFridaynightstoMondaymornings， thechildrenandIwerealone， ， everyunusualnoise， anylate-nightphonecall—.
.I， however， -cared-fordogcomefrom？ Wasitsafetoletthechildrenplaywithastrangedogeventhoughheseemedgentle， "German" ， .
Thefollowingmorningwemadephonecallsandcheckedlost-and-foundadsforGerman'sowner， ， meanwhile， madehimselfpartofthefamilyandgood-naturedlyputupwithhugs， ， soagainhewasallowedtosleepinthebasement.
， ， ， heleapedontothehoodandputhisnoseonthewindshield， .
''tappear， ， ， ， andagainhestayeduntilMondaymorning， whenourhousekeeperarrived.
—， warmpresence， ， andheardthatlowgrowlbegindeepinhisthroat， weknewwewereprotected.
AsGermanbecamepartofthefamily， ， hetookuponhispositionbythefrontdoorandremainedthereuntilthemorning.
Eachweek， betweenGerman'svisits， Igrewalittlestronger， alittlebraverandmoreabletocope； .
'svisitstoourhouse—maybehisownerwentawayonweekends—， andbecausenomatterhowabandonedandalonewefeel， somehow， somewhere， .
